18 months!

Elijah, you are turning into such a little boy. Everyday you are losing more and more of your babyness. You surprise us with new words, expressions, and abilities. At eighteen months you are saying, Momma, Dadda, Da (dog), Ruff Ruff, Coo Coo, More, Mine, Bye, Hi, Da (there), Go, Kuh (yuck), Tss (hot), and Shh. Some words you don't say completely but we always know what you mean. Your favorite things are playing ball, reading books, being with Daddy, playing hide and seek, babbling, practicing buttons and buckles, and most of all exploring outside.




You can already go down the slide completely by yourself, which took me by surprise. My favorite thing you do is give kisses. It is the best when you just cuddle right up to me or Daddy and go in for a kiss. We love you so much and can't wait to see the man you are turning into. I cherish these moments when I can still call you my baby (though forever that is what you will be). I love tucking you in at night and singing your goodnight song. You bring more joy into our lives than you can ever know. Soon you will be a big brother, just 18 weeks away. We are overjoyed to be on this journey with you little buddy!

Love,
Mom

Prayers for October

Have you ever noticed the incredible power of prayer. We have. In raw and humbling ways.

Whether we have been down on our knees in desperation

or

in casual conversation with the One we call Dad

God always seems to take care of our needs.

Recently we have had 3 amazing answers to prayer in our lives.

First, our house sold. Second, someone anonymously donated 15,000 dollars toward the short fall on our house (without knowing that was the exact amount of the short fall). Third, a second anonymous donor gave each pastor here $1,000 for pastor appreciation month.

I love how God has used answered prayer in our lives to teach us to trust Him when and wherever He calls us. Even when it makes no sense to the world, even in a bad housing market, even when we are leaving behind the best friends we have ever made. God's always sees the big picture even when it seems I have tunnel vision. How I wish I could always trust Him fully....with every detail.

So I have decided to share some prayer requests with you (anyone who might still be reading this) because I know how God can work when we only ask.

-We are on an ongoing search for the "perfect" apartment. "Perfect" meaning it needs to have washer/dryer hookups, at least 2 bedrooms, not smell like 4 dogs lived there previously, be semi clean before the showing, and preferable have a dishwasher (I know this is stretching it, we may end up buying a portable one). Sadly we found our dream apartment, but they passed on us after finding out we had a second child on the way.

-We miss our friends! Terribly. We aren't ready for the whole "looking for new friends again" thing. We were so happy with our friends in South Dakota and now we are definitely starting back at ground zero. There are a ton of people our parent's age who we are friends and acquaintances with, but no one our own age. No one to just hang out with. We have also found this aspect of our lives hard to move forward in because we are living with our parents. It's kind of hard to invite friends over to your parent's house. :) So pray that we would find some godly couples to build relationships with.

-Personal requests, including discipline for myself. My pregnancy is going pretty well, but I am still very nauseous. My job is going well, but it is overwhelming at times.

Thanks to anyone who reads this!

To find out or not to find out

Ryan and I are facing so many decisions this time around in our pregnancy. I feel like my head won't stop spinning.

We can't seem to agree on a name (ughh...so frustrating)

Should we try for a VBAC or just schedule a repeat c-section?

But the decision we are facing at the moment is whether we want to wait to find out the gender of the baby. Four other couples I know are pregnant and they seem so resolved with their decisions to either wait or find out. I keep going back and forth. It would be so nice to plan (and buy cute clothes on sale:), but it would also be so nice to find out the old fashioned way. We found out last time around and I never regretted that decision. For some reason this time when we found out we were pregnant we thought we would wait. Now I just can't seem to decide. Our 20 week ultrasound is October 5, so we have a good five weeks until we have to make the final decision.

Either way I can't wait to see something similar to this....


Elijah 28 weeks gestation

First Haircut

We have a big boy on our hands now.

Elijah's First Haircut from Amanda Brosious on Vimeo.

Afterwards

Our little news...

Ok, so maybe it's big news...



but as of Wednesday....




Baby B (the second) is 13 weeks and 3 inches long!



Who says I can't move across five states, live with my parents/in-laws, start a new job, raise a 16 month old AND be expecting another addition 2 weeks before I'm supposed to pull off my first ever high school musical.
(*oh and by the way...living with Ryan's parents is going swell :) I know it's early but I have high hopes for a successful experience*)

On the Move

We've just arrived in Pennsylvania and are looking forward to digging into our new roles here. I will be the Worship Arts/Outreach Pastor at Christ Wesleyan Church in Milton, PA, and Amanda will be the music teacher at their school Meadowbrook Christian. We're making a lot of adjustments, but things are off to a good start! If you think to send up a prayer for us, it would be most appreciated. To all our dear friends in South Dakota... you are already greatly missed, but you always have a place in our hearts. To our new Pennsylvania friends... we are looking forward to sharing great times of ministry and fellowship together.

I'm learning this... when you say "Yes" to God, you never know where He'll take you, but it's always an incredible adventure filled with a ton of blessings!

God is good.