Welcome to my weekly life update where I share about my pregnancy & give you a peek into our life this past week. If you want to follow a lot more behind-the-scenes and real-time updates every week, be sure to follow my stories and posts on Instagram.
21 weeks!! Full disclosure: I just woke up from an accidental hour-long nap before this was taken so if I look extra tired and groggy it’s because I was.😉 I had planned to do an outside picture this week, but it was already dusk when I woke up! Oh well!
HIGHLIGHTS
Baby has been moving like crazy this week! I feel like I’m finally starting to believe this is really and truly happening… in fact, I told Jesse yesterday, “We are having a BABY in less than 19 weeks!”
In honor of the fact that I am beginning to believe this is really happening, I actually wrote out a list of to do’s that need to happen before April 30th (my due date). And I was a little surprised to see how many things were on the list! I don’t think I’m going to be bored these next 19 weeks — especially since I’m planning to write a 60,000-word manuscript in that timeframe, too! 😉
NOTABLE
I’ve started to be able to see the baby kicking from the outside. The kids think it’s pretty much the coolest trick ever. They are all crazy in love with this child and it is so fun to witness as a mom.
CRAVINGS
Water, water, and more water. Plus, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream.
Weight gain: 13 pounds
Our church took all of the youth group leaders to GLOW Nashville one night this past week. It was c-o-l-d, but we had such a fun night, regardless!
As we talked about on a recent podcast episode, one of our traditions for December is to create a family Bucket List where everyone gets to choose 1-2 things they want to do during the month of December.
This year, Silas wanted to go back to the Gaylord Opryland — something we had done a few years ago. It’s a HUGE hotel that they decorate beautifully for Christmas.
While there, we also went out to dinner at one of our favorite family restaurants — the Caney Fork Restaurant. We got Tableside S’mores — which is something the kids have talked about ever since they went there last time a few years ago!
I went to get my hair done one day this past week and my hair guy did Christmas-themed foils… so I had Kaitlynn (who was with me) take my photo. Only after she took my photo did we realize the hilarious placement of the plant behind me! 🙂
We did our annual Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffer run on Saturday morning. (Read more about it here.)
We are headed to Kansas tonight and will be there all week, so we celebrated our family Christmas with just the five of us today (Sunday). The kids helped plan the day and the menu — and then we all went shopping together!
It’s so fantastic when your kids are not only old enough to help you plan your Christmas menu, but then they make some of the recipes, too!
This girl got all dressed up on Saturday to go to her friend’s quinceanera.
And then Sunday morning started bright and early with Silas and Kaitlynn waking us up by jumping on our bed because they were so excited about our family Christmas celebration!
We all wore our matching Christmas jammies (Kaitlynn’s Bucket List item — she picked the jammies out, too), opened gifts, then had Cinnamon Rolls, bacon, and orange juice. Then we decorated a Gingerbread house, played a game together, and watched a Christmas movie. We also had yummy snacks — each person got to pick their snack choice for the snack spread.
Now we’re getting ready to have a yummy Smoked Turkey that Jesse made with Sweet Potato Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Layered Jello, Rolls, and Broccoli (everyone chose one of the recipes for our dinner, too!) and then open stockings together.
And then we’re packing up and leaving to drive to Kansas! What a fun day!
The aftermath after we opened presents this morning.
A few thoughts on marriage from my heart…
When we got married, I used to get so annoyed by him because I felt he was lazy and undisciplined. I tried so hard to fix and change him.
I thought it was my job as a good wife to help him “improve”. So I nagged, I passively aggressively shared Scripture, I prayed hard for him to change, and I carried around constant frustration that he was never living up to the standard I had set for where I thought he needed to be.
Yes, I was a model wife like that.
Slowly, ever so slowly, God started changing my heart to stop trying to fix him and to start focusing on my own struggles and issues and short-comings.
Guess what happened?? The more I focused on growing as a person, the more I began to see my husband in a different light.
I began to see his differences not as problems, but as strengths. For instance, he doesn’t care so much about following a rigid schedule because he cares more about living fully in the moment and loving people well. That used to grate on my every last nerve. Now I see how God knew I needed to learn so much in this area from my husband.
Today, I look at this man with new eyes of admiration and appreciation. I see how he is exactly the counterpart I need. I see how we balance each other out so well.
And also, I see a man who constantly sacrificially loves his family and others. I see a man who is servant-hearted and fiercely loyal, a man who lays down his own needs for the needs of others, who cares deeply about others, and who always puts people above projects and to do lists.
I see a man who is God’s greatest gift to me. ❤️
