What You've Missed

So while we were keeping our "little" secret this past couple months there has been a lot going on with me. Here's a list of the first trimester pregnancy stuff I've been going through.

1. Number one that any expecting mom can tell you, pregnancy makes you tired. Now pregnancy with twins....exhausted!! I would feel like sleeping all day and all night so much. My normal bed time has been 9 or 9:30 with 8:30 being a bed time here and there. My energy has come back a little, but 9:30 you still find me in bed.

2. A lot of people may hate me for this, but I've not had any sickness. Every once in a while if it was close to meal time I might feel queasy but a few crackers and I was okay. I'm really thankful because my doctor scared me into thinking twins would mean really mad morning sickness.

3.Cravings! At first I didn't really crave anything, but around 8 weeks I started to really get them. Number one for me is red meat. Sometimes I feel like if I don't have some form of cow I'll go insane. Just last night Morgan grilled us some steaks, and I swear I've never been more happy :) Also major craving has been OJ. I could drink it at every meal, including last night with my steak. I've also could put hot sauce on about everything. The spicier the better!!

4. Aversions. Don't come near me with scrambled eggs. Ugh, just thinking about them turns my stomach. Also sweets, especially chocolate, does not interest me at all. Which is brand new to me.

5. Random things: My nails grow super fast. I cry at everything! I get really crabby which even I have to admit. And I forget everything. I even had to look up my zip code when addressing a letter. Pregnant brain is a real thing.

That's a little bit of the things that have been going on. I enjoy looking up all the crazy old wives tales to try and figure out what these kids are, but having two I'm not sure what the old wives predictions would be.

Double the Fun

So if you were at our church this morning this blog is a repeat of what I said, but I hope you still take a little time to read it. A lot of you reading this will probably remember about our miscarriage in April. I've written about it a couple of times. After we had our loss it took a while for me to grieve and recover from our loss. It seemed that every time I got on Facebook, someone else was announcing their pregnancy. I dealt a lot with jealousy and doubt. It got to a point that I was so focused on us getting pregnant again that each month I got more and more down. Morgan basically had to stop me one day and just say "Liz, relax! It will happen when God wants it to happen. Enjoy this time we have together." I listened to him, and also started getting into the Scripture.

Each morning I would read and pray. I began praying to get pregnant, but then I started praying that I could just see what God wanted from our life. I started to feel closer to God than I have in a long time. When I would spend that time with Him I would start to feel Him speak to me saying to just trust Him and He would work it out for us.

Not much longer it seemed We finally got our positive pregnancy test. I was excited, but scared at the same time. You see what a lot of you don't know is that we had a first miscarriage in December, after only a week of knowing we were pregnant. So I was really worried about having a third miscarriage. But we made it to 8 weeks when we had our first ultrasound.

Now this is where I find God kind of having a little fun with us. You see the tech started the ultrasound and said "Oh I see two flickering heartbeats, looks like twins!" I sat up and pretty much said WHAT! Morgan was just chuckling in the corner. Total surprise, but total blessing. As we left the office and were trying to wrap our brain around twins, Morgan summed it up perfectly. He said, "Liz, you know I think God remembered how much we hurt from our losses and so He is giving us two babies!" We are so excited. Very nervous but can't wait! We are due in May, and I'll be 13 weeks on Tuesday. So far I've had a very easy pregnancy. I just hope it stays going so well. I'll try to post more on my blog to keep you updated on our progress.

I'm feeling crafty

So I decided today I'm going to develop a craft. My mom really tried to instill in us girls the domestic trades that women have learned for centuries. But mom didn't always have the patients for teaching some of these trades. I did learn to cook pretty well from her, I can make some killer apple pan dotty. She also taught me to cross stitch. It was pretty cool at the time, basically making a painting with thread and fabric. But as I grew older cross stitching didn't really have a future for me. Mom also attempted to teach me to crotchet. She has made beautiful afghans for people when they get married or have a baby. She has made me several afghans that are used a lot. But that craft just didn't translate with me. To monotonous. I picked up knitting for a while but living in Florida, I really wouldn't need knit scarves or sweaters.

So I decided to take up sewing, more precisely quilting. How hard can it be right? I picked up some books at the library (my favorite place) that gave beginner instructions and some simple patterns. This weekend is payday so I'm going to run up to Joann Fabrics and see the selection of fabric they got and get started learning to sew.

I know the days of sewing clothes because they are cheaper are over. But how cool would it be if I could be the women who sews a new quilt for people! Here's hoping!!

Destin vacation

Last week we went to Destin for my birthday. I think Destin is our beach. I've never been to a prettier beach then those on the Emerald Coast. It was an absolute blast. One of the best birthday trips I have had.

Sunday we left after church (http://www.lifebasics.tv/ woot woot!!) stopped at Sonny's for a little trip fuel and headed to I-10. About halfway there it started to sprinkle on us. I absolutly hate driving in the rain, especially on the interstate with big rigs blazzing by me. By the time we reached Niceville to get off I-10 it was really coming down. I was getting bummed because I thought "Great we won't be able to do anything because it will be raining our entire trip!" By the time we got to Destin it wasn't coming down as hard and cleared up by dinner. No rain just sunny skies the rest of the trip.

We had some scallops and shrimp on Sunday night at The Fisherman's Warf (great!) then did some walking aroung Destin Commons. Monday I got up about 8 and ran in the gym at the hotel then we went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast got dressed for the beach and just relaxed.

The sun was bright, the water was crystal, the beach was deserted. Wonderful!

After we left the beach we went back got cleaned up and then ate the best crab legs in my life at a little hole in the wall place called High Tide. The hushpuppies were out of this world. Then did some shopping and had dinner that night at McGuire's which is a highlight! Then we saw The Other Guys. It was really funny.

Tuesday was pretty much the same morning routine. Lunch at a place on the water (shrimp for me!) Then we hit the Silver Sand outlet mall. Last year I really did well at this place, but this year the pickings were slim. That's pretty much it. It was so relaxing and a ton of fun. Now I just want to plan another longer vacation!! I leave you with some more pics from the beach. Enjoy!

Another year almost over

August is birthday month. We just booked a hotel in Destin to spend my birthday at the beach. I am definitly in need of a vacation. We've been under a lot of stress this past month with selling the Jeep and fixing the A/C. A few days off is very needed.

I've not really been looking forward to turning 27. I guess it will mean I'm in my late 20's. But I have to say that I'm ready to put 26 behind me. This has been one hard year. Sometimes it's hard to believe what all can happen within the course of a year. We had some good things happen to us for sure, like buying our first home and celebrating our first anniversary. But 26 held a lot of pain for us as well. I'm slowly healing from our heartbreak of lossing our baby, something I never dreamed would happen. And I have confidence that the time will come when God will finally make me a mom, my life long dream.

I've definitly drawn closer to God because of all of this. I've found that Scripture and prayer can give me hope when I seem to lose mine (funny huh, who would of thought it?) I heard a song last night while I was driving home that had me full of tears, I thought I might drive off the road. It's a song from Jars of Clay(old school) Called God Will Lift Up Your Head, I shortened the lyrics a bit,

Give to the wind your fear
Hope and be undismayed
God hears your sighs and counts your tears
God will lift up your head

Leave to His sovereign way
To choose and to command
Then shall we wandering on His way
Know how wise and how strong is His hand

Through waves and clouds and storms,
He gently clears the way
Wait because in His time, so shall this night
Soon end in joy.

Love this song

I love the band Eisley. They have such a hauntingly beautiful sound. Listen to one of my favorite songs. It's a little old, but beautiful.

Netflix insight

Morgan and I love having Netflix instant watch. I use to tease Morgan about watching the documentaries they have on there. But recently I've started watching a lot of them with him. When I got home from running last night he had one on that I've been avoiding. It was called "Lord, Save Us from Your Followers." I read the title and assumed it would be a documentary detailing the crazy antics of Christians and basically making fun of them. And it did. But not in the way I imagined.

Basically this guy, Dan Merchant, went around the country interviewing celebrities, political and religious leaders, and everyday people on the street. He would ask them they're view of Christians. Some people spoke admirably about Christians, while most had negative things to say. This didn't surprise me. The most common criticism from most of the people interviewed was the feeling of judgment and hate given to unbelievers from Christians.

Two parts in the film brought me to tears. One part was a rock radio station from somewhere up north traveled to Africa and met some Christian missionaries and were shocked at how loving and caring those people were. From what the radio personalities said, they did not know too many Christians in America that were showing this same love and kindness to their community.The second part that affected me was a group of believers in Oregon (the state with the least amount of believers) that meet every Saturday night under a bridge in town. There they minister to the homeless. They feed, cloth, and provide services such as hair washing, barbering, and feet washing. It was unbelievable to see this!

As our church is coming to a turning point and can't help but think, it's not about us, it's not about where we are, it's about serving and loving those people that need Christ.