A heart of thankfulness

Early in our marriage we really felt like the Lord was guiding us in a way where we could not allow all of the circumstances in life to define or drive us. This hasn't and isn't always easy to live out, but we experience frequent reminders of this. The past 8 months have been a gift in that respect. Ever since the moment we found out we were going to have a little baby angel, we felt the urgency to be thankful for our every day, for every moment, and for every gift that the Lord has for us. What I mean by gifts is not necessarily material gifts, or the good or the right things happening daily. I believe that the Lord has given us all the gift of life, of love, and of being able to experience the beauty in the world and the people around us. In many ways I have experienced being convicted for not cherishing and appreciating my every day and the little beauties that are a part of each day. 

The last 8 months have really been such a blessing, in that I have had a constant reminder (physically, emotionally and spiritually) of how precious life is. No matter what has been going on with my work, Keith's school, family, friends, etc. we have been able to cherish our days with each other and appreciate the small things in life. 

Some of my favorite things that we have been doing:

1) Going for long walks

2) Appreciating all the beauty that is in the nature around us

3) Being restful (this is something that I have not been so good at and have now experienced a new found appreciation for rest and reflection)

4) Quality time with friends and family
5) SWIMMING IN THE FJORD... I have to say that swimming in the refreshingly cold fjord water has really been amazing this summer. I don't know if it is because I am pregnant, but I crave the swims

Some other things I am extremely thankful for:

1) A wonderful place to live, and so close to my grandparents

2) A job. That I enjoy (most of the time;)

3) My health and energy

4) I can't describe how thankful I am for a smooth pregnancy

5) All the little baby kicks and nudges

6) Living in the same country as my family

7) The ability to travel to see dear family and friends

8) The love that I experience from the Lord
9) Have I mentioned that I have an amazing husband?!

We are now only around 5 weeks away from meeting our precious little angel. I feel her movement and presence all of the time and I am so excited about meeting her.Even though we have all of September left, we are going to feel a sense of relief when August is officially over. August has been both wonderful and a little hectic. We have had some amazing summer days in August, and we have had some fun celebrations. My 28th birthday was August 5th and Keith was so wonderful and made me a sweet Mediterranean style tapas picnic, which we took to the beach. The next weekend was our annual weekend with my great aunt and uncle from England. They come to Norway for a few weeks every year in the summer and they stay at their coastal cabin on an island called Hvasser that is just absolutely idyllic. We always try to visit them for a weekend, and are always so refreshed when we come home. My great aunt Inger loves to cook good food with fresh herbs from her garden, and her and Richard (my great uncle) both love to go swimming no matter the water temperature. Richard, a self-proclaimed intellectual, loves to have quite interesting conversations ranging from art to history, education to religion, architecture to politics. But no matter what we do, they are both just such kind, sweet and welcoming people that you just can't help but enjoy being with them.

Now to the hectic part of August... Keith has been working his tail off on his master thesis. So back to the story above, Keith couldn't come to the coast with us because he was working on his thesis. This was very sad since it turned out to be an amazing summer weekend, but it was also sad since that Sunday was our 6th year wedding anniversary. So I decided that I would head home earlier in the afternoon on Sunday, after swimming of course, so that Keith and I could have a romantic dinner in Oslo. But the weather was too amazing!!! So we changed our minds when I got home, and we threw our backpacks on instead, walked down to our little island to enjoy the sun and to go swimming. After our little swim, we headed to dinner at a restaurant on the water. It turned out to be such a romantic and lovely night:)

I have to be honest though. Although I love celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and births and just all the wonderful moments in life, the way you celebrate on that one day isn't the most important thing to me. When Keith proposed to me 7 and 1/2 years ago, he changed my perspective on how to celebrate. He had a great little speech, but unfortunately I don't remember everything he said. What I do remember is that he said that he didn't want that one proposal and the wedding ceremony to be the only moments where we promised to love each other fully, and where we actually lived that out. He said he wanted to propose to me every day of our lives and for us to celebrate our love and our relationship every day. He has upheld his promise! So every day we celebrate our love and our relationship and try not to take it for granted for one moment. By the way, I am well aware of how mushy I am;)

Back to the hectic part of August.... So Keith is finally done with his master thesis!!!!!!!! It isn't actually due until the 1st of September, but he has finished it and sent it to the printer today. They will turn it in Friday and be done with that sucker completely!!! I am so thankful and relieved for him. We knew of course that he would finish and I was 100% sure that it would turn out amazing. But the process is long and hard, and the last month you are definitely ready to just turn it in no matter if it is done or not. He hasn't had a single break or vacation, so now it is definitely his turn to relax.

I have also been trying to tie up any and all loose ends before I start my maternity leave the 10th of September. I only have a few more weeks of work and I am definitely starting to look forward to the break. I feel great for the most part, but I am so terribly sleepy, and sitting in an office chair all day does not feel good on my legs, back or belly. In addition, I feel really bad for being so tired because I am definitely not as sharp as I normally would be. Quite slow at times to tell you the truth.

So September is going to be a great month:) September will start with Keith's birthday. Well, his birthday is the 31st of August but will mark the start of a great pre-baby month. Keith will be rested, I will be home resting, and we can both spend time together and prepare for the baby.

SEND US AN UPDATE ON YOUR LIFE!! WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

8 months pregnant this weekend!!

It has been way too long since I have posted an update! I am now 8 months pregnant:) I have noticed that I seem to count the weeks as complete before I am actually through them. I get more and more excited by the day. We both just cannot wait to hold her! I look funny walking around the house because I pretty much have my belly out all the time. It probably looks totally trashy and quite funny, but I love looking at it, touching it, and making sure Keith is just as focused on it as I am, which he is. I feel like my belly is pretty big that this point and cannot imagine that I will grow for two more months! Wow! It is still such a thrill to feel her moving around. She is pretty much moving around all the time, or so it seems, and I love feeling it and seeing it.

We got to see our little girl again on a 3D ultrasound in July. It was so amazing and just fascinating to see the development.We could really see her facial features and got some great pictures of her. We think she is absolutely beautiful, but are well aware that the pictures are kind of crazy looking, even scary! I think we will have a hard time being objective about our little angel. She seems to be doing great and growing right along/above the curve. Maybe she is blessed with more length than I have ever had! I have pretty much been a munchkin all of my life, and never above average. Tall or short, she will be the most precious thing to me:-)

Although this pregnancy has been amazing, fun, wonderful, humbling, exciting, and really smooth.... I have to say that I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable. I am already having a harder time breathing, and I have a weird pain in my ribs on the right side. I am pretty sure she is perched with her booty right up in my ribs. I have also had heartburn a lot throughout this pregnancy. It has been bearable, but recently I have been waking up in the middle of the night with a lot of pain from it.  So I started researching a bit and tried a new strategy last night, and it actually worked! I read that it was a good idea to go to bed with as empty of a stomach as possible. So I ate an early and light dinner at 5pm, then took a 2 hour walk with Keith, had only 1 glass of water when I came home and went to bed at around 10pm. Thankfully I didn't wake up in pain last night!! I thought I might wake up hungry and thirsty but I really felt great.

So, a few weeks ago I got a sweet email from my mother-in-law and it just placed on my heart the importance of understanding what a blessing children are, and understanding that they are gifts to us from the Lord. They do not belong to us, but are merely placed in our care (Psalms 127:3-5). I pray that we will provide such a home of love, acceptance, joy, and peace, and that Keith and I will be able to show our children the magic and beauty in the world. I also pray that I will do as my mother-in-law has done, give her children to the Lord and support them in whatever their path may be, no matter how difficult.

Some other fun updates...

My dearest friend Hannah Alexander came for a visit in July and we had the most amazing week ever. Just fun, relaxing, active, sweet, and wonderful. We went for some amazing walks/hikes, swam in the fjord (even though it was only 60 degrees), enjoyed laying in the sun on a little coastal island called Hvasser, hung out with some of my Norwegian friends, and made some sweet artwork for our little girl's room. The last day before she left we were just hanging out in our apartment, Keith had some great music on, he was whittling a wooden knife, Hannah was making a sweet piece for the wall in our baby room, and I seriously just wanted to cry. I am sure I am just a little more mushy than normal, but Hannah really is family and we love her so much.

Picture from one of our wonderful walks...

Picture of the artwork she made for our little sweetie's room:)

Keith is in the last month of writing his master thesis and he is doing great. He is calm and positive every day, he has made a lot of progress, and the work he has done so far is really good! Since his due date is September 1st, the day after his birthday, I am determined to celebrate him a little extra this year. I am so proud of him, the sweet man that he is, how hard he works, how he has remembered to put it in perspective, and how he has been the greatest encouragement and support for me the last 8 months despite everything that he has had going on.

My sister is pregnant too! She is now around 18 weeeks pregnant and went to her ultrasound today. Unfortunatley the baby was laying cross-legged the whole time so they will have to do another ultrasound to confirm the gender, but they think it is a girl and that is also what Naomi is hoping for:) We will see!! Her due date is January 1st so we might just have a little New Year's baby:)

My 28th birthday is this coming Sunday! I am so not good at birthdays, so I don't even know what I want to do yet. All suggestions are welcome!!! I can't believe I am 28! On Saturday, my girlfriends and I will have a birthday party for all of us girls who had summer birthdays. Considering Norway shuts down in July and everyone heads on vacation, we were not able to celebrate each other. So, Saturday we will have a celebration for 4 of us!

On top of our birthday's being this month, Keith and I have been married 6 years on the 12th of August! I can't believe it has been six years, but it truly has been the best years of my life. We have gone through so much together over the last years and I am so thankful for every bit of it. The Lord really has used our relationship to bring us closer to Him.

That is all I got for now:) Send us an update! We would love to hear from you!