And last but not least...

Pictures I took today.

Rebekah has definitely inherited my love for purses and bags! She already knows how to wear them on her arm (without me showing her) and put things in them, and as a side note, she tends to put things on or around her neck, too. (I don't know where that comes from, though!) She will carry them with her all over the house. I caught a few good shots of her this morning.

By the way, for those of you who are curious to know, the move went well. We had a very successful garage sale (Praise the Lord!) and then we finally put the house on the market last week. We are just praying for it to sell quickly so we can be on our way to living debt free! (So, if you know of someone looking to buy a super cute house in Saginaw, please send them our way! =) We are still trying to make sense of the boxes still sitting in our living room and bedroom, but overall, we are getting more settled. God is good!

More Pictures!!

I was blessed to be able to help throw a baby shower for my dear friend, Jennie back in May. I made the diaper cake and the blessing box with Elliot's name on it and the other pictures are just from the shower. It was so much fun to plan and to be a part of! Jennie had her sweet baby girl, Elliot Grace, on July 2nd, weighing in at 6 lbs 7 oz!

These are from Father's Day this year. Jason had to work, so we got a late start. But, we had a late lunch at my mom and dad's house and enjoyed some time at home before it was time to hit the hay. Rebekah was being so cute that day! The third picture is of me asking her where her belly is...she loves to show us! =)

Here is a picture of the little girl I babysit, Olivia. She just turned a year old last week, so her and Rebekah are about 3 and a half months apart.

Bekah discovered her baby bathtub when we were moving a few weeks ago. We had it out and she had a blast climbing in and out of it and making it her hang out spot. She even sat it in a few times with her juice cup and toys. It was so funny!

Just playing around! My baby loves my laundry (clean, of course). She loves to play in it and take it with her around the house. So, yes, in these next few, it is what it looks like on her head - my underwear! Haha! Yes, it is somewhat embarrasing, but not as embarrasing as it will be for her one day! I was laughing so hard that day.

Playing catch up...

with my pictures!

I know most of these are a few months old, but my sweet hubby figured out how to get my pictures to download from my camera(we were having problems with it before) and so now I have them to share! This first set of pics are from Mother's Day. The top ones are cards I made for my sister and our moms. We went to breakfast at IHOP with Jason's mom, MiMi, sister and brother-in-law and then Jason went to work and I went to a Japanese restaurant with my mom, dad, and sister and her family for lunch. Rebekah loved it there! It was quite a show as they cooked right in front of us. She especially loved the rice! I will post more pictures soon!

On the Move...

Well, after much consideration and prayer, it looks like Jason, Rebekah, and I are on the move to Benbrook! Just within the past 2 weeks things have been crazy and we're already packing boxes and moving what we can as we can do it. Although it will be lengthy, I'll try to explain...

Over the past several months, J and I have really been praying over our family and over our finances. We have always had a good income, but without me working full time, it just has been hard to put anything into our savings or for things like car repairs, etc. We have really been wanting to get ahead and get out of debt, so we've been praying fervently for an answer. A few weeks ago I was thinking about what it was like before we had Rebekah.

Two years ago we lived in an apartment complex in Benbrook where J was a courtesy officer(basically security for the apartments) and we were living rent free. The only reason we left there was because we wanted a "real" home when we found out we were expecting. God totally provided and made a way for us with our house we have now. We got a very good deal on it, and have put in hard work to make it look how we want. We will have been in the house two years in October.

Still, thinking about all of this, I was reminded that it doesn't matter if it is a house or an apartment or a mansion - it can still be a "real" home no matter what. It's what you make of it and how you view it.

So, I asked J if he would prayerfully consider going back to the same apartments. I thought that way we would be saving what we pay out in mortgage and really be able to pay on our car and student loans, which is the only debt we have. I know that I would never have considered this in the past, but for some reason I had a sense of peace about it. I was actually excited thinking about it! At first, J didn't really want to consider it. He knew it would be a good idea, but this is our house! And leaving it would not only be hard to do emotionally, but it would also be a headache to try and sell the house, and to make the adjustment to apartment life once again.

A few days later though, he agreed to checking into it, and we sought out the courtesy officer position, only this time we went to an apartment complex different than what we had previously lived in. They offered him the position and told him they needed an answer within a week because they needed someone soon. And they told us that rent would be reduced, but not free. We considered it and thought it was still a reasonable offer.

But, it was only a few days after that that J received a business card in his box at work that was from the apartments we used to live in. (Originally, we had thought about calling them first, but chose to ask the other one due to the fact that they had bigger floor plans, etc.)

The business card was signed by the apartment owner, and had a note to J that they missed him and wanted to see how the family was doing. We don't know how the owner got that card into J's box at work. We don't know how he "randomly" thought about J and wanted to get in touch with us. But we do know that God is awesome and we feel that He provided this for us. J contacted the owner and told him what we were wanting to do. There was already a courtesy officer working for him but he told J that if he wanted the position that he could have it. Just like that. He said that he would love to have us back. He wants J to start work next Monday. Talk about God's favor! How crazy is that? Just when you think you have things figured out, everything changes!

So, as I said before, we are on the move this week. We are leaving what we know as our first home as a family and into a smaller space to make a change for our family. While it is very bittersweet, we know this is what we're supposed to do, and so far every door has been opened wide for us in this whole process. It's been fast and furious, but we are excited to see what God is going to do through us and for us when it's all said and done.

Please pray for us that the house sells quickly and that we can make the transition easy! It looks like we're going to be moved by Monday, and then we'll come back for a garage sale next weekend.

Well, I guess I'm off to packing some more boxes!!

It's Official...

We're having a BOY!

We got to have our sonogram a few weeks earlier than we thought yesterday, and we are so excited and glad that we got to find out what we're having. His name is Noah James. It was so cute because his little hands were constantly up by his face. The tech said that everything is looking good and he is healthy as can be so far. He is already 1/2 a pound! They let us have a cd of all the sono pics, so I thought I'd share. Oh and just to warn you, the second one is the "revealing" one! Haha! We can't wait to buy boy stuff! Yeah!

*By the way, you may have to click on each picture to see them better!*