Future Plans

So I feel like people want to know what Christopher and I are going to do with our lives once Chloe gets here. 

20 Weeks- half way there!!

Christopher has about a year left before he can graduate so we are moving back to Springfield for a year (at the end of August... Chloe's due date is July 31st.).

After that year we hope to find a church that will take Christopher on as a missions intern while I finish my degree online. 

That's about as far into the future we're planning right now. 

I'm 22 Weeks along today!

It may seem crazy to some to move with a newborn but we feel like if we don't go back now we will just get stuck/comfortable where we are and forget God's call for our lives. Besides, it will be so nice to just be the three of us! I cannot wait for it to be just me and Christopher again. I know it will be completely different since we'll have Chloe, but it will be amazing in its own way.

Christopher got me this devotional. It's by Catherine Claire Larson. It's wonderful!

Sometimes it's hard to understand God's timing, but as long as we trust and obey Him we will eventually see that he has everything in control.

Galatians 6:9 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Psalm 37:3-4 

Trust in the Lord , and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

- Allie

Chloe Mayme

Christopher and I found out on Monday that we are having a baby girl! 

We are so excited! 

I think I have secretly wanted a girl from the beginning of this pregnancy but I really want a boy someday. 

It has been so much fun to see Christopher light up when he talks or thinks about our daughter. I cannot wait to see him be a daddy! He is already a wonderful husband and I know he will be an amazing father. 

So I know it might seem strange but Christopher and I have had the names of our first born son and daughter since before we were engaged. So when we found out we were pregnant we knew we were having either C or M. We just didn't know which one yet.  

On February 28 (I was 18 weeks) we were so excited because our OB/GYN said we would most likely find out our baby's gender. We had been looking forward to actually calling our baby by name for a while. When we went in the doctor she said that our baby was being shy. Anytime she would try to look to see the gender our baby would have her legs crossed. She asked me to drink 3 bottles of water and she would try to check again in 20 minutes. When we went in the second time our baby kept putting her knees together. My doctor tried to make baby move but she could only see what she needed for a few seconds and she could not get a good picture. My doctor said that from what she saw our baby looked like a girl. But she told us not to hold her to that guess because she couldn't see as much as she wanted to. 

A few weeks later I went in with Christopher (He always goes with me because he's wonderful!) For my 20 week ultrasound (I was technically 19 weeks and 5 days). This ultrasound is more advanced than the one at my OB/GYN's office. It can see the heart, kidney functions, spine... And a whole lot of other things that seem impossible to see right now. Another thing we knew we were going to find out was our baby's gender. 
We had it set in our minds that we were having a girl but we knew we could not confidently shout it from the rooftops yet. 
We went into this appointment with a lot of mixed emotions. We were so excited to finally be able to find out our baby's gender but we were also scared about finding any complications (because I'm high risk) that we or our child may have to face. 

This ultrasound was so nice. 

I got to see my beautiful baby for a whole hour! About half way through we were told we were having a girl. Our daughter does not like to do what people want her to.  Anytime they tried to get a picture of her face she would put her hands right in the way. And when they tried to see her boy or girl parts she would put her knees together and do bicycle kicks. It took them awhile to see things. But by the end of the appointment we knew she was perfectly healthy and a GIRL. 

It's amazing and crazy how much God is protecting our baby girl already. Our daughter is totally fine. She has no complications as of right now. 

I am 20 weeks today and I cannot believe it. I'm halfway to seeing my beautiful daughter.

So now that we know we're having a girl let me tell you about her name. 

Chloe Mayme 

Chloe is a name I have like since high school. I won't tell you exactly where it came from because you will laugh at me. But the name Chloe reminds me of certain character traits that I hope my daughter will have. Traits like friendship, loyalty, curiosity, and kindness. 

Mayme is the first name of Christopher grandmother (it rhymes with name). She has Alzheimer's and will never know who our daughter is. But we wanted Chloe to know that even if her great grandmother can't know her, that she would have loved her. 

We want to honor Christopher's grandmother in a way that Chloe can one day understand.

Psalm 139:15-16 ESV

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.