Gender reveal!

"By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised." (Hebrews 11:11)

A friend gave me the verse above when I told her I was expecting our third child.  His faithfulness never changes and I'm so grateful.  God used the prayers of Zeke to fulfill a promise He had for our family.  We found a prayer card Zeke's Sunday school teacher had written for him over a year ago.  Zeke has faithfully believed we would add a third child to this family.  His faith has taught me so much and I thank God for these gifts he has entrusted Gregg and me to raise (and how He uses them to teach us!).

It says, "I will pray for: Mama to have another baby"

We found out the gender of our third blessing pretty early.  They now have a genetic test that is offered to mother's 35 and older.  It analyzes the chromosomes of the baby (I don't know the science).  Apparently, they look for DNA fragments and if there is a fragment of an X and Y chromosome, it's a boy, but if there are fragments of X's, it's a girl.  I apologize if that is not completely accurate!

So, I called to find out the test results and was told the gender of our baby over the phone...kind of amazing and a little surreal!

The nurse said, "Are you ready to find out?

It's a GIRL!!!!"

I couldn't believe it.  I really thought it was going to be a boy for many different reasons, but I was thrilled.  I really was at peace either way.

It was exciting, though, to begin to think specifically about this baby and make plans.  I imagine Adalynn with a sister now, which is something I didn't experience growing up.


We decided to wait to announce the gender to Zeke.  We planned a little gender reveal after his homeschool group one Tuesday.  I took a big box to our local grocery store and had them blow up a couple of pink balloons.  They wrapped it in pink and blue ribbon.  I also took mini Hershey bars and colored in the "she" portion in pink.  I placed those at the bottom of the box.

Getting ready to open the box

All the kids came outside and Zeke got to open the box.  When the pink balloons popped out, he didn't say much.  He had been praying for a boy, so I think he was in shock.  Of course, all the boys in the class were cheering "Boy, boy..." and the girls were cheering, "Girl, girl..."

Here we go...

Working...

The moment he saw pink!

He wasn't so sure about pink balloons!

It's still sinking in!

It was a fun time and something I'll always remember.  We told Adalynn when we got home, but she was really just interested in playing with the balloons!  Zeke has come around and is excited about his baby sister (Her name is still to be determined!)  He continues to kiss the baby and pray for her every day (multiple times!).  It warms my heart.  He is going to be such a good daddy someday!

Thankful!

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him." Psalm 28:7

Baby update

November has flown by!  I'm 16 weeks along and the baby is showing now, for sure!  We still haven't decided on a name.  Most of you know the gender, but I'll be sending a separate post with the gender reveal!

13 weeks

Waving

16 weeks (baby is the size of a lemon or avocado)

Giving Thanks

Zeke and I have continued our tradition of writing one thing he is thankful for on a leaf each day.  He reads me the Bible verse to me each day too.  This year, I have taped them to a paper tree trunk on our door to look like a tree.  It has been so special to see how his thankfulness is maturing!

Our completed tree

1. Jesus on the cross
2. Mommy's bean tummy
3. Hugging Daddy
4. Our house
5. God
6. Jesus and Holy Spirit
7. Train tracks
8. Riding Thomas the train with Daddy
9. My family
10. Hot wheels
11. Mommy and Daddy
12. Captain America figure
13. Legos
14. Wynna visiting
15. Our new baby
16. Catalogues
17. My new baby sister
18. Hot wheels tracks
19. Tim Hawkins DVDs
20. Goldfish crackers
21. The Action Bible
22. Painting with Daddy
23. Going to a movie with Daddy
24. Building with Daddy
25. James (the train engine)
26. Going to the library
27. Adalynn

Family Time

Wynna and Papa came down after Thanksgiving to spend the weekend with us, which was very nice.  The Halls were a little under the weather and we appreciate Wynna and Papa helping and putting up with us!

Reading the paper with Papa

Our little turkeys!

Watching Boz in her turkey outfit

Such fun to ride when Daddy pulls them

His 200 piece puzzle!

Dinner with the Cherians

Playing catch up!

I was looking back through my phone and photos and realized how much we have done that I haven't posted about.  I've been doing what I can to get through each day and try to keep some sense of normalcy for the kids.  I'm starting to feel better, so I wanted to fill you all in on the last month and a half!  Thank you all for your prayers for me and this baby.  You don't know how much it means!

Mommy's helpers

The kids have tagged along with me on a few doctor's appointments and were exposed to fast food at the beginning of the pregnancy.  Thankfully, my tastes are now for big salads with lots of good protein and fats!

Mommy eating Taco Bell

Tacos and a banana!

waiting at the endocrinologist

Waiting for the nurse practitioner to see Mommy

Zeke, the photographer!

Plains Peanut Festival

We had the privilege of seeing Daddy work at the Plains, GA Peanut Festival.  We had fun eating boiled peanuts, riding a pony, and people watching after we saw Daddy protecting Mrs. Carter!

 

 

Classical Conversations

We have continued to enjoy participating in Classical Conversations, our homeschool group.  The kids (and I) are learning so much through the songs we use to memorize information.  We are very thankful to be a part of our "CC Community!"

Adalynn looking out the window while Zeke and I work on school one morning

We use this board for our memory work each week.  Adalynn has the phone, which plays our memory songs

Kindergarten school picture

2's Preschool Picture

More memory work

In class listening to Mrs. Anita read

Dressed up for "What I want to be when I grow up day" and holding the Bible for prayer

Our little police man

Dissecting owl pellets 

Observing the external anatomy of crayfish

Trying to stay busy during Zeke's school time

Farm Field Trip

We went to Calhoun's Family Farm in Ashburn, GA for a field trip with CC.  We had a blast seeing the various wildlife, playing on the playground, going on a hayride, participating in the corn maze, watching pig races, and eating lunch together.

Zeke and Gage

Bowden, Gage, and Zeke

See-saw with Callie

Hayride with Mrs. Pilcher and friends

Figuring out the corn maze

Zeke makes buddies everywhere!

Our little tomato!

Animal hayride

Baby gator

I think it was a bull

Bison

Cows eating

Ready for the pig races

There go the pigs!

Birthday Party Fun

We got to attend our sweet friend, Lydia Grace's, 1st birthday party!

 Thomas the Train

 Gregg was able to take Zeke to ride Thomas the Train again in Cordele, GA.  He left his phone in the car, so we don't have any pictures of the day, but they have great memories!!!

Before church (they left for the train ride right after church)

After they got home.  He had a blast!

Church Fall Festival

Our church hosted a fall picnic a few weeks ago.  We got to picnic together, play games, and the kids even got to get on a real fire engine!

 Baby Hall

"Pea in the Pod!"

8 Weeks

Baby at 10 weeks!

I'll wrap it up with a few miscellaneous photos.  We are thrilled that I'm entering my 2nd trimester next week and can't wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  We are praising God daily for this gift of life!!!