He inclined to me and heard my cry

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

When I was a little kid and people would ask, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" "Mommy" is all I could ever come up with. I have always imagined myself with a house full of little ones running around with happy laughter filling the air. We were beyond thrilled when God blessed us with our precious Haley in 2008. Soon after she was born we moved to Tennessee for Toby's job and I stayed home to play with Haley. With two mortgage payments and one income, our finances got really tight, really quick. In that season God taught us so many wonderful things about how to steward His money and how to be more resourceful, but our hearts broke as we made a commitment to not have any more children until our rental house in Alabama sold and our finances freed up.

From February to August of this year, God took us on an incredible journey that culminated with us living in our little rental house in Alabama. If you haven't had a chance to read that story, please take the time to...it's incredible! (Go to the blog archives and scroll all the way to the bottom and work your way back up.) During that six months, God poured lavish blessing after lavish blessing on us. The most recent being the joy of my heart...we are finally expecting another baby! Haley will be a big sister! The icing on the cake was that we found out this incredible news on Toby's birthday a few weeks ago.

I am currently nine weeks along and baby number 2 is expected to arrive on July 8. With the exception of a small issue this week resulting in a small placenta bleed and four days of bed rest, everything is going wonderfully. The baby looked to be perfect at our ultrasound last week.

Baby 2 at 9 weeks gestation

I apologize for the poor picture quality as I am having issues with my scanner. If you look really closely you can see the outline of it's head and an arm. So tiny, yet so perfect. The baby measures to be almost 2 cm long, and to think most of it's vital organs have already formed or are close to being finished. I am amazed at such complex life on such a small scale. Our God is an amazing creator!!

Just as we prayed for Haley during this time, our prayer for this baby is perfection! I know that my God can deliver a perfect baby and I also know what an incredible miracle a perfect baby is! We are also praying for God to instill, even at this stage, a sweet spirit that is sensitive to His voice and His promptings. A spirit that will be fun and full of life and joy. Please join with us in praying for this new life, and you know I will be happy to keep you posted as the weeks go on and it's arrival gets closer.

We have told Haley that she will be a big sister. She seems excited, but I think she's mostly reflecting our excitement. When we ask her where the baby is, she often points to her own belly. She's so sweet and precious, and I know she will be a wonderful big sister!