How Do You Do It?

Dear SAHMs,

How do you do it?  The thought of going to a single salary at our house has us both in a tizzy.  And, mind you, I certainly am not bringing home the dough. But we have realized that losing my salary ~ were I to stay home with Miss Molly ~ is a BIG deal.  A much bigger deal than I've ever felt my salary is around these parts.

So, back to the question at hand.  Seriously, how do you do it?  Now accepting any tips, thoughts, ideas and "this works for us" tidbits.

Sincerely,
A Wannabe

16 Weeks Pregnant

Wow, what a weekend we've had!  Saturday I was 16 weeks pregnant, so we went to this great little place in town called First Glimpse.  They do 2D gender determination sonograms, 3D and 4D sonograms, prenatal massages, and classes.  They've got a great thing going in that place, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and do one of the 2D gender sonograms.

Here we are waiting in the lobby.  I was as giddy as a little school girl.  Tim looks way more nervous than me, doesn't he?

Here is a 16 weeks belly shot.  I wish my shirt wasn't so frumpy looking.  I'm definitely growing, huh?!?

We finally went back to the room, and we were all piled in there for sure!  Tim and I also had our mothers and my sister there with us!  That was so special; I'm so thankful they came and are as excited as we are about this new baby.

This is everyone except my momma who was taking the picture; I sure do wish we'd asked the sonographer to snap a picture of all of us. 

So, the sonographer came in, and as you can tell, I was so stinkin' excited!  Check out my hands, which were obviously in perpetual motion!

The first few seconds the baby's profile was on the screen were amazing.  I was so overcome with emotion that I just about could've sobbed.  I think Tim was the only one in the room not crying, and he and I were holding hands so tightly that I think we both may have lost some circulation for a minute!

The sonographer saw just about immediately what sex the baby is.  It took us a little longer, though.  This baby?  Was moving and shaking, that's for sure!  Someone had recommended I drink some caffeine before the appointment to ensure the baby was active.  Not. Necessary!  Goodness, when I can begin to feel this baby move, it's going to be constant!  That little bit was constantly kicking and stretching!  It was precious!

And. . . . .  then, Baby decided to give in and show us all its glory. And there's no doubt about it, y'all!

 we're having a GIRL!!!  And to say we're tickled pink is an understatement!  Esctatic is what we are! 

We left First Glimpse and stopped in this precious little baby store just up the street called Giggle Moon.  Tim's parents live in Columbia, so I wanted his mom to see this precious little store.  On the way there, she called Tim's dad to tell him it's a girl.  He's an avid hunter, and he's already in the market for a pink shotgun.  Which makes this momma VERY nervous!!! 

Y'all, my emotions were out of control yesterday!  We walked into Giggle Moon, and it was really like all of the girl stuff took on a new life!  I stood in the middle of that precious store and just cried tears of joy!  It was awesome!  And it really hasn't stopped!  I get teary eyed now, just writing about it!  We did get a sweet sign at the store, which I'll try to snap a picture of an post next time.  I want to do a post on the sweet gifts we've already gotten for Molly.

That's right, I need to tell you all:  Molly Miller Slocum will be her name!  And she's the most beautiful little thing I think I've ever seen! 

"For this child, I have prayed" ~ 1 Samual 1:27

Working Out and Worshiping

Well hello there, long lost bloggy-buds! So very sorry I’ve been MIA. The holidays were just crazy-busy for us, and I let blogging duties slip. Errr, for weeks. And I’m sorry!


And now, I feel like there’s so much to catch up on and blog about that I don’t even know where to start. And while I definitely want to share some Christmas pictures with all of you, today is Tuesday. Which typically means Titus 2 Tuesdays around here.

But today, I don’t have a Titus 2 post. Instead, I want to blog a little about my workout from this morning. It was just really cool, so listen up!

We hit the gym around 6:30 this morning. It’s freezing (for us, at least) here with the temperature this morning around 21 degrees. That’s brrrrrrr. . . .cooollllddd to southern bells like myself! And in true B-fashion when we parked, I said, “1-2-3! GO!” and raced to the front door of the gym. Tim walked in like a normal adult. He just shook his head and said, “I love playing games with you I never signed up for!” We laughed about that because I do that often (which is another reason my sister calls us the gayest couple ever.)

Anywho. . . . we went on and started our own workouts. I need to say here that while Tim is definitely God’s Best for me in sooo many ways, our taste in music is a little very different when it comes to working out. I love me some jammin’ praise music. I have a Run n Worship CD that I’ve loaded into iTunes and my ipod. I love listening to Third Day’s Revelation CD while I exercise. I’ll even listen to a sermon sometimes. I don’t know; it just helps me get my mind off of running, stairmastering, ellipticalling, weight lifting. You get the drift. Right? Tim isn’t a big praise music fan; I mean he loves God, don’t get me wrong. But praise music just isn’t his thing! He is over there listening to the latest rap and gangsta tunes.  It’s quite funny how different our workout playlists are, really!

Ahh, I digress. . .

So, I’m on the elliptical, listening to my Jesus music, and I started what ended up being a really amazing time of prayer, worship, and reflection. In. the. Gym... On. The. Elliptical. It was great! Have you ever prayed to God, thanking him for someone who you can see right then but who has no idea you’re praying for them? Thanking God for them? Tim is still clueless about all this, but while he was doing his own working out, I was over there lifting him in prayer, thanking God for the AMAZING man he’s given to me as my husband. I’m astounded every single day at the incredible marriage God’s blessed us with. It was really fun watching him work out while I was praying for him. And he had no clue.

And then, I ended my workout session on the stairmaster, listening to Mandisa’s Broken Hallelujah. Ah, how I love that song. See, just a few weeks ago*, while on the stairmaster, I heard that song. And I totally felt like God was prompting me to pray for someone who was heartbroken and had their own broken hallelujah. I thought of some dear friends of ours who’d experienced miscarriages and unsuccessful infertility treatments. But something kept telling me, “No, they’re okay. It’s not them.” Later that day, I read a very heart-wrenching blog by Holly, and I knew immediately she was who I’d prayed for on the stairmaster that morning. And if you read her blog, you know she sings a wonderful, beautiful broken hallelujah to our King every day of her life.

So, today, I again spent that time asking God to always fill me with hallelujahs, with true thankfulness and honor to Him, regardless of my situation. All while exercising. It was just such a great way to start what’s been a great day!

Of course, hearing the pitter-patter of Baby S’s heartbeat helped the day, too!

Tell me; what random, out-of-the-ordinary times do you find yourself having the best conversations with God? I’d love to hear about it!

*Another interesting piece of that morning on the stairmaster: that evening, I got a phone call from our friends telling us they’re pregnant! And everything so far was looking good. Still is! Praising God for that every single day!