Moving Week

It has been awhile, but it hasn't been due to my laziness. It is moving week here...well it has been moving month here, but that is beside the point. We have been finishing up our packing this week and just have a couple more boxes to go.



It is hard to believe we are leaving already. I am preparing myself mentally everyday, but things keep creeping up on me and making me sad, like my hydrangea bush in full bloom making me already miss working in the the yard this year. I know there will be another flower bed to work on in California. I need to focus on the right kind of thinking. God has this planned for us and He is in control.

Well, now that my personal pep-talk is done I will fill you in on the past few weeks blessings.

Daniel had a change-of-command at work and I was able to attend. He spoke to his unit and here are a few pictures from the day.




And one of us afterward:



Later that weekend we enjoyed the Cherry Point airshow with Jim, Jenny and David. Jim flew in the airshow as part of a demonstration so we wanted to show our support.





I was spoiled rotten on Sunday when the ladies from Berean threw our family a baby shower. The theme for the shower was children's books and Melia decorated with a bedtime story theme. It was very cute.



I didn't have any group photos but this weekend we will be having a potluck after church so I will be sure to take some photos of our church family there.



The LINKS ladies also threw me a wonderful shower at a local Mexican restaurant. They know me well. I love Mexican! We had a special time playing games and sharing childhood memories. Thanks Maria for all your work put into it!

Here are some photos from the night.










Before:









After:



I was overwhelmed by every one's generosity. I really was not expecting such an out pour of gifts. I had figured it would be a great get-together/send off. The ladies blessed us immensely.



We have had some other good times with friends the last couple of weeks. Game time at the Steels, pizza night at Bill and Sandy's house, last Sunday night at the Paynes, all these great friends we look forward to seeing in the future on earth as well as in heaven.



I am meeting some ladies for one last hoorah at Baker's Square for breakfast tomorrow. I know it will be a sweet time.



I hope to write again soon, but I do not know for sure when. I will continue taking photos and post eventually. Thank you for all you support and help these last few weeks as we have packed and prepared. You all are so special to us both.

Here She Is!

Here is proof that she is a she. It is basically like Daniel says, she is sitting on a Xerox machine. Her two legs are the white V in the image. She wants to make sure Mom and Dad knows she is a girl.




Here is her head and the top of her belly. The white spots are either bone forming or cartilage so you can see her skull is not fully formed and firm yet. The black space is just liquid and/or organs forming.


As I said before, the technician said everything was appearing to be forming correctly. Praise the Lord! So far healthy kidneys, brain development and heart rate. We will know more at our next ultrasound.


Here is one last image from the other day:


She is giving us the thumbs up!

Love Ya'll!

It's a Girl!

We went to our ultrasound appointment on Friday and were delighted to find out we are having a little girl. What a blessing!

When the technician announced it I immediately started crying with joy which included laughter and definite belly movement thus the visual image started bouncing. My cries were disturbing our baby's picture. Ha! I composed my self enough to breathe softly, but it is such a delight being able to see the baby in motion while she is still inside .

I was not expecting a girl. I know everyone says it is always a 50/50 chance, but I had really thought it would be a boy considering the male dominance in Daniel's family. We had narrowed more boy's names down and I had started thinking nursery colors and themes. It was a great surprise to have to shift my thinking.

I was especially thankful for Friday because my Dad and sister were able to join us in the ultrasound room to view the baby girl. My Mom, Dad, Sarah and Andrew were all able to come down here on Thursday night to spend the weekend. It was a dear time. It was relaxing, yet we got a great deal of packing done. We also were just able to enjoy each others company with some game and movie time, two of my favorite pastimes. Thank you for making it down here family!

Well, Daniel is off of work this week so we are packing in as many projects as we can. He is currently working on some small electrical things around the house that needed checking on. No need to worry. He is incredibly cautious and has labeled everything correctly on the breaker box.

We are currently thinking of names for our baby girl, so feel free to comment and share some names. It may help us out...even the goofy ones. It may get the wheels in our head turning a different way. Yes, I know our last name is fun one to play with as well.

Ya'll have a great week. I will post pictures of the baby soon.

I have been a bad blogger...

Hello family and friends. I do intend to start this blog back up again. Trust me, I do.

I have neglected it for so long and soon it will not be the Carolina Living blog anymore. I think I need a generic blog site for Daniel and me since we move so often in the military. I am currently thinking on a good name...ha good.

We are expecting our first child in October, Lord-willing. I know I will have plenty to update family on then. We are also moving in 1 month and that will bring new adventures as well. California here we come!

I do intend to post pictures and keep whoever cares to read updated. I love reading blogs of my family and friends and it is an excellent way of keeping in touch after we move.

So our life this past year, in a nut-shell, has been wonderful. God has blessed us richly with a loving church family, Daniel consistently home and glorifying God in his work, and continual growth in our marriage. I have been so thankful for this time in our marriage. The past year has been such a great time for us to continue to learn how to honor God in our marriage by serving each other. God's grace has been abundant.

Daniel has been challenged in his walk with evangelism and how he conducts himself around non-Christians. God has blessed Daniel's earnest desire to be a light in this dark world and God has presented Daniel with several opportunities to share about Christ and the saving work He has done for sinners. We are both grateful for God's willingness to use His people in this way.

God has been teaching me many wonderful things as well; mainly in the area of confronting sin in my life. I had the opportunity to work through a book with the ladies of our church called Excellent Wife. It is namely focused on the relationship of the wife with her husband, but sin was something that was permeating all my life not only my relationship with Daniel, so several topics in the book convicted me. I know that my thought life and my tongue are major sin areas so learning how to identify and replace those thoughts with biblical truths was helpful and something I know I will struggle with all my life. I am so very thankful for the time I had going through that study with my dear Berean sisters.

Daniel has been given the opportunity to teach in our service at Berean this evening. What a beautiful thing it has been to serve at Berean these past few months! He will be teaching from Colossians 4:2-6. I heard him share it last evening in practice and I pray the Lord will use him to exhort our fellow church members.

Daniel runs his annual physical fitness test in the morning so that means pasta tonight. I need to get dinner started.

I will write again soon. I have a wonderful post about this last weekend. Daniel and two of my friends' husbands surprised us with a get-away to Wilmington Sunday evening. We had a fantastic time. I will share more later.

Thank you for your prayers for the baby and your constant love and support to Daniel and me. We are very grateful and very undeserving. We find out the gender of our little one hopefully on May 8th...stay tuned!

New Pictures!

We went to the Marine Corps Ball last night and I finally uploaded new pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot my old account info and I uploaded them under sarabellum76. You can click on my current flickr account and then search for sarabellum76. You should be able to see all the new photos I uploaded.



I hope to get better at this very soon.



Much Love!