//Aria Evelyn//

Sorry for being quiet over here in this little space. 

Things have been anything but quiet in our little home as this little lady made her arrival the day before her due date. 

On November 19th we welcomed our sweet little girl into the world.

At 8lbs 2oz we are in love. (Although shes closer to 10lbs now and over a month old - oops!)

She was 20.5 inches long & has the most kissable chubby cheeks you've ever seen! 

Not sure if this space will go private again honestly and just become a space for me to update family. We haven't fully figured out what to do with sharing pictures of her. 

It's been a little bit of a rough transition as I was diagnosed with postnatal anxiety a few weeks after she was born. But with lots of support from family and friends things are slowly improving.

We would appreciate your prayers though as we recover & adjust to being a family of 3.

Much Love,

Lisa

Third Trimester Bump Progress

Well....I keep thinking I should update this so that I get in the rest of the bump pictures before little girl chooses to make her arrival. So far there's been tons of contractions, some even getting pretty intense and coming every 2-3 mins....only to have everything stop a few hours later. So she's keeping us guessing as to when her birthday is going to be. Till then we are just keeping on with things and trying to keep busy. So who knows....hopefully we will have some exciting news soon. In the meantime, enjoy some third trimester growth updates.

Can't believe my due date is already next week......where did the time go? Well that and I also feel like I've been pregnant forever haha! 
I should probably flip some of these photos so they are all facing the same way! oops! 

Much Love! 

Second-Trimester Bump Progress

Well I seem to be great at posting these when entering the following trimester, oh well better late than never right? I also want to be able to look back on these and see the progress clearly. Seems hard to believe in just a few short months I will be full term!?!?! When did that happen?? 

The Second trimester was definitely much easier in so many ways compared to the first. The energy burst was super helpful at getting the nursery decorated, buying baby clothes & working in general. Only frustrating part has been the painful stretching while the bump has grown - nothing a little lotion couldn't help with :) 

Food cravings: ice cream & mexican

Well to those who requested pictures, enjoy! 

Thanks to my sweet sis for the awesome maternity dress!

Hannah very kindly did some gender reveal pictures for us around this time!

See them here.

Best tip ever: these are rocking my world as they support the ever-growing bump. 

More soon on the bump progress! Unless she arrives before I get a chance to update here.

Much Love!

First-Trimester Bump Progress.

So it is likely that I will find time to head back here periodically and share pregnancy-related news for a while, then perhaps it will become a place to keep in contact with family & friends as our little girls arrives and grows. Not sure how frequently this will happen, although I do hope to try and make it a regular occurrence. I share that sort of as a disclaimer as I don't want writing here to become an interference with living life so if that starts to happen, you will see me here less again. (Although hopefully not with a 6 month+ break like last time)

A couple of people have asked for bump updates, and even though I've irregularly kept track with an app on my phone, I haven't shared many on Facebook for example. (I'm back and forth on the security of the site due to the ever-changing terms and conditions) So for now I think it's fine to share more here in this little space, but I do reserve the right to change my mind :) 

The day I found out. Andrew was actually at work, I had been feeling off all weekend & I had previously taken a test which was negative, but after the 'stomach bug' was lingering on Monday, I opted to take another test in the middle of the day. Not really sure why, well I found my little 'stomach bug.' So I texted Andrew at work to tell him. 

Most of the rest of the first trimester seems like a fog. Morning sickness hit pretty hard around 5-6 weeks, so other than working and then coming home and sleeping I really didn't do much else. It improved some around 11ish weeks but stuck around occasionally until recently (maybe even until 20 weeks). 

So here's the progress, I wasn't super regular with pictures since there really wasn't much to see in the first trimester. I have been a little more regular in the second since you can actually see the change. (sorry for the quality, most of these were my phone) 

(I promise our bed does actually get made....as much as these pictures would suggest otherwise)

That pretty much wraps up the first trimester, at the end we got to head to LA for a sweet friend's wedding which was beautiful!! I was so thankful we were able to go!! :) 

More bump progress coming soon! Much Love! 

Oh for a Joy like This.

We have been back for nearly a week and my heart still can't stop thinking about these kids. I really miss them with such a burden, their joy & thankfulness to God despite how little they have! They taught me so much! Yesterday we were asked to sit on a panel in our Sunday School class and talk about our trip and the question of what did we learn from the Kenyan people came up.

The answer is overwhelming, because I am sure we learned more from them, than they did from us. Having been on trips before I knew we wouldn't be going on to accomplish amazing things that couldn't take place without us. That was not our goal or our focus, my husband and I both wanted to go knowing we were joining an organisation already very present in Kenya. Knowing the Lord was already moving among the people in the region this group is working in and we wanted to go and encourage them, witness what the Lord was doing & who knows maybe join them someday? We both feel so burdened to not live permanently in the comfort of the western world and instead to reach other people groups. Of course God is at work in our current community which we are privileged to be a part of and I don't view any of the work here as insignificant. The Lord calls people to different places to do His work and for some that means staying exactly where they are. Our hearts just burn with a passion to do His work elsewhere someday. 

But the children over in Kenya, they amaze me. They are just some of the happiest kids I have ever seen. And it broke my heart watching their everyday routine, how little they have, yet how joyful and excited they are to spend time together and with anyone who will play with them. The pace of life over there was just enjoyable, no stress over online activity or how many likes you have on social media. Just quality time with people, loving on others and enjoying late night conversations with the pastors. My heart is just full. I have no other words to describe the feeling. 

I never got to join the children for their evening devotions as our evening schedules didn't permit that to take place. If I go back, I really want to make that happen. We heard them singing praise songs late in the evenings a few times and it was incredible. 

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Matthew 18:2-6

It took everything in me to leave, I wish we had the option to just stay permanently right now. To take on the task of loving these little babes, who were being cared for by 2 selfless amazing women 24/7. To contribute even a little to what the Lord is doing through this ministry. It feels so uncomfortable coming home and discussing Thanksgiving dinner, knowing their are hungry children where I was just a week ago. Or Christmas knowing that they don't even have a toy to call their own while most children in America have more than they could ever possibly hope to play with. 

It feels so unbalanced yet its strange to see which of the children are probably happier. (Not all, just general observations) It's very hard not to dislike the western world after going somewhere like Kenya and coming back feeling guilty about where the Lord has currently called us to. I'm still figuring out what to do with these feelings. 
Until then, I'm praying over and yearning for these kids again.....looking forward to seeing what the Lord does with this passion we both have for them. 

Plus, watching my hubby interact with the older school kids just melted my heart. That man is incredible with them, wanting to know their stories and make them feel special even if he only has a few minutes with them. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me when observing those precious moments, I was too busy etching them into my permanent memory. But it is hopefully something which will occur again and again in our future together.