An Armadillo!!

I saw a live armadillo yesterday!!!  It was so ugly. It looked and moved like a rat with a hardshell.  :)  Oh, and the night before we had a lizard on our door when we got home at night.  The week before it was two toads on our front door step.  Life is so different here in FL than it was in NH. :)  I hear NH had snow/sleet today.  :)

We have 5 more weeks of school, then just six weeks until Hannah's due date.  :)  I can't wait!!  We're up to appointments every two weeks now.  Last appt. was last Tuesday.  Mommy and baby are both healthy.  My iron was a little low, so we're working at getting that up.  Other than that, we're right on track.

We're getting into the busy time of year at school.  We have three graduations (kindergarten, highschool, and college) in the next few weeks, not to mention weekly classes and bi-weekly appointments for Hannah.  After school is over, Nathan and I plan for me to stay at home and rest/get ready for Hannah.

We're in the process of looking for a house right now too.  Nothing definite yet, but plenty of possibilities!  The Lord knows when and where we'll be once we have our house.

One thing I've been overwhelmed with the past few weeks is how the Lord provides for us--small things and big things.  We've been given so many big furniture things for Hannah--and many others on long-term loan.

GIVEN:
2 strollers; one car seat
2 floor play mat
many clothes!! (I love them!!!)
snugglie

LOANED:
carseat
bouncer
swing
diaper genie
jumper for the doorway
bathtub

FUTURE GIFTS:
pack-n-play (what we're using as her crib in our apartment)
highchair (wooden, Eddie Bauer)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head (there's more, I'm sure)...but wow!!  God is so good.  I have absolutely no need to worry or doubt God's provision.  Oh...and I should probably mention that we (finally) registered!!  We're registered at Target.  It was so much fun to go through the store and look at all the baby things.  :)   https://www.target.com/registry/baby/V1RYRB1B5BZK

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday.  This year has been different too me.  I've been thinking a lot about the unconditional love God has toward all His children.  It's hard for me to understand that God gave His only begotten Son to die for the sins of a world that still sinning against Him (Rom. 5:8).  I haven't even met Hannah yet, but already I'm so protective of her; I can't imagine standing by and letting someone else hurt her.  Yet the Father did that....for me; for my sins.  I'm so glad my wonderful Savior did not stay in the grave.  HE AROSE!!

Have a blessed day in God's house tomorrow.

~Dory

Spring Break!

The last couple weeks have been great!

Two weeks ago was Soul Winning Marathon at the college.  That means that Nathan was gone from early Wednesday morning until late Friday night.  We'd never been apart since the wedding, so it was a challenge for us.  Nathan and about 70 other students/faculty drove about 4 hours to help another church go door to door and canvas the area.  School kept me busy during the day, and the evenings filled themselves.  Wednesday was church; Thursday was errands and phone calls; Friday was extended-family night (minus Nathan).  Nathan was part of the support team.  They were in charge of supplying food and drinks, making sure accommodations/reservations were ready for the group, and other behind-the-scenes work.

We were also approved for a home-loan two weeks ago!   We're looking at about 5 different houses with our realtor tomorrow.  We're not in a rush to get into a house, but the market is definitely in our favor...especially in Florida.  We're excited to see where the Lord leads.

This past week was our Spring Break...or I should say...my Spring Break.  There were no classes at college, but Nathan still went in to work since he's on staff (he did get Friday off since he was gone so long on Soul Winning Marathon).  I was able to stay at home most of the week and clean, organize, and get ready for Hannah.  Nathan and I live in a one bedroom apartment, so we're going with a pack-n-play in the room with us for now.  I got the space for her pack-n-play cleared out (had to move two big bookcases) and was able to clean out a dresser we're using for her stuff (we had misc. storage in it before...gift bags, etc.).  Nathan and I spent our evenings relaxing...reading, playing games, movie, etc.

On Thursday morning I had planned to run some errands, but the weather had other ideas.  We had thunderstorm warnings and very severe weather. Tornados were reported being seen in cities nearby.  The college sent its workers home around noon, so Nathan got off early!  We lost our power around then and didn't get it back until around 6:30.  At one point the power company told us we'd be without power until the next afternoon!  Around supper time we decided to go to the nearby mall and grab a bite to eat...so did our neighbors! What fun!  I packed a couple card games just in case.  That night, after we got home, I found out that as a thank-you gift, someone had given Nathan and I an overnight at a hotel in Orlando..as well as money for my favorite restaurant...PANERA!  Nathan and I had already planned to go to The Holy Land Experience in Orlando on his day off on Friday, so we stayed in town for the hotel.  The next day Nathan showed me a few tourist things in Orlando, and we took the long way home, getting out and exploring what we wanted too.  It was SO NICE to get away and relax...and to do it with my best friend!   Wow...thank you so much for our gift!  Nathan knew about the night away and had planned for us to be away from our responsibilities.  I love surprises!

This week we're back to school routine.  First day went well, but wow...I'm tired.  :)  I'm looking forward to an early night tonight.  :)

Hannah's 25 weeks and Mommy's feeling great!  Eight weeks of school left!

Dory

Jerusalem model lecture at The Holy Land

The kids' room at The Holy Land...I liked the butterfly benches

The view outside our hotel room...we were on  the 8th floor of 14 floors.]

looking down from our room