It's a girl!

We are officially having a little girl! The ultrasound was fun, but I was so nervous the whole time. She looks perfectly healthy- 4 chamber heart, measurements are normal, we could see her little brain, and she weighs about 9 ounces. She was a little shy when it came to showing her anatomy, but she finally rolled over and even to my untrained eye it was clear that there was nothing between the legs but three little lines! The technician spent extra time looking, though, just in case, and didn't say anything until she had viewed her from several angles.

I started crying when she told me that it was a girl, and I was so thankful to the Lord that He cares for the desires of our hearts. Benjamin was with us at the appointment, and though he was a handful because he hadn't napped that morning, he was also adorable and his antics kept me laughing through the ultrasound (which wasn't the best thing, because then the picture would get blurry!).

The funniest thing that happened, though, was when the technician first did a Pelvic Ultrasound (you ladies know what I am talking about...) to check on my cervix. She told us this beforehand, but Grant was distracted with Benjamin at the time. So, my cervix and uterus show up on the screen and Grant says, "Look, Benjamin! There's your little brother or sister!" The tech and I started laughing and I said, "Grant! That's my cervix!!!" He replied, "Well, it all looks the same to me, anyway..."

I think I am still in a little bit of shock over the news, but even with our past experiences I have no trouble believing wholeheartedly that it is indeed a girl. I think it is a mixture of trusting a more skilled ultrasound technician on newer equipment, believing that God knows the desires of my heart and wants to fulfill them, and good old mother's intuition. Regardless, I can't wait to finally meet Annalee Elizabeth.

I am in a little bit of trouble, though, or should I say GRANT is because my sister-in-law and I went shopping at Gymboree yesterday and I could have spent hundreds on the most adorable baby girl stuff I've ever seen. And the accessories! I think I may need a part-time job just to keep up!

New Bedroom Suit

We bought new bedroom furniture with our tax credit, and we LOVE it! The best part, hands down, is our new King size bed with a Posturepedic mattress. It has been so comfy and was well worth every penny. We also had to get new bedding, and after dealing with the 8 throw pillows and giant comforter of our previous bedding, I decided to go for something simple and easy.



Close up of the bedding:


Dresser with mirror:


TV stand!

Southern Living

Can you say culture shock?

Seriously, though, this has been quite an experience so far. I feel like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, yet we've survived and know beyond a shadow of a doubt this is where God wants us. The hardest thing is definitely the isolation. I'm used to seeing my friends countless times a week for Bible studies, mall excursions, lunches, church, and other random purposes. To go from that to spending days at a time only seeing Benjamin and Grant is....well, it's different.

I don't know another SAHM (stay at home mom) in the area, so that makes building friendships difficult. I know God will provide friends, but I also know they will probably be different friendships than I am used to. What's that old hymn say? "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey." That's my mantra!

Some strange things about the South:
-I am constantly asked if I am from "up north" since I don't have a Southern accent. I usually say, "No, I'm from Oklahoma." They say, "Yeah, I can tell." I'm not quite sure how to take this...

-When we go to Wal-Mart we have seen entire families shopping barefoot. I guess the "No Shoes, No Shirt" thing hasn't reached Alabama yet.

-You have never experienced hospitality until you've experienced SOUTHERN hospitality. This is by far the most overwhelmingly friendly place that I have ever been. Everyone is so nice and eager to help us! I think if we had wanted it we would have had the entire church over helping us paint, clean, and unpack.

-News spreads FAST in the South. I told one person at Wal-Mart (my new home away from home since it's the only place in town to go) that Benjamin was sick and by the next day the ENTIRE church knew! Seriously, I am not exaggerating. We once got a phone call that said, "Hey, we heard you were headed to town and wanted to know if you needed anything!" Apparently a church member had passed us in their car and called various other people to let them know. Can you say fishbowl? :-)

Suffice it to say, life is different but it is fun and exciting to experience it. We miss our Piedmont family greatly, but are enjoying getting to know our Hamilton one.

Bunco!

I am determined to make the most of these last two weeks in Oklahoma, and last night was no exception. I went to Bunco at Summer Cope's house and had a blast! I didn't win anything, of course, but we had great food and great fun. Below are some pictures from the night:


Not sure what Leigha's doing....


I'm all about doing a "silly" photo, and this one was tons of fun to create.
Notice the careful editing :-)

More to come from my last weeks in the Sooner state.

Change is in the air...

Well, we are officially moving to Alabama! I can honestly say I never would have thought those words would escape my lips (or my fingers...), but here we are and I am really excited about it. We told our church family in Piedmont yesterday morning and there were a lot of tears shed. While this was heart-breaking, it was also a good thing because it means we have developed strong relationships, and that is always a wonderful experience.

Grant's last day will be April 25th, and we hope to move the following week. Our house in Alabama is beautiful! It is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and sits on four of God's most beautiful acres. Buying the house was quite an experience since I had to go house hunting on my own. It wasn't realistic for Grant to take even more time off, which left me with the monumental task of finding and buying our first home!

I looked at 10-12 different houses in my three day trip, but it was fairly obvious which house was best suited to Grant and I. The house we chose is out in the country. You cannot see another house from any point on our property. We have a huge yard and then there are woods behind the house and across the road. I can just imagine Benjamin running and playing in the grass, through the trees. It seems like an idyllic place to raise our children (yes, CHILDREN! I want at least one more :-).
Our new house:

View from the road

Front Porch

Part of our Yard