Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-38

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Names

Coming up with a name for Baby Girl #2 was really hard.  We finally decided on naming her Penelope.  We haven't thought of a middle name yet but will hopefully decide on that soon!  Penelope is not a common name these days and I am so glad for that.  One of the names we first thought of was in the top 5 for names in 2011.  We also heard a story from a friend who had originally named their baby that name after she was born.  Her husband was looking at the baby in the nursery and the nurse said, "Yeah, she is the 5th baby born today with that name."  We decided to go with a different name.  It took me a while to get used to Penelope, but now I love the name.  I think it is perfect for her. 

After we decided on the name, I looked up the meaning.  I saw that it said weaver.  Well, I didn't think that was very cool until I looked up the reason it is associated with a weaver.  Here is what I found:



In Greek mythology, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus who waited for him to return to her for twenty years. She avoided remarriage by claiming she would not remarry until she had completed her father-in-law's funeral shroud; every night, she unraveled part of the shroud so that the project would take a very long time. In literature, her name has become synonymous with faithfulness.

Also, it means duck.  My sister told me about that meaning.  Duck was Savannah's favorite word.  When I found out about that, it confirmed in my mind that I wanted to name her Penelope.

Some nicknames for Penelope that I like are Pen-Pen, Ellie, Pen, Poppy, and I am sure there are more.  

Penelope is moving all around now.  I can watch my stomach move sometimes.  I can't wait to meet her in June (or May.)

Monday, January 16, 2012

John Piper Video

 

John Piper and The Prosperity Gospel

A friend of mine on facebook posted this video today.  I have seen it before, years ago, at my church (Treasuring Christ Church).   It was really good for me to watch again.  It did make me cry but it is good truth. 
Ash

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Many Things to Celebrate

Through the grief, God has blessed us with so many things to celebrate.  Today is mine and Eric's 4th Wedding Anniversary.  It is hard to believe that it has already been 4 years.  When I look back, I am amazed at how God has grown our marriage and grown us closer together.  I am so blessed to have Eric.  He is so wonderful to me.  In the last month, I have had two different people tell me that they can really tell Eric loves me so much because of the way he talks about me around others.  That meant a lot to me and something I won't forget it.   Here are a few pictures from our wedding 4 years ago! 
 My lovely girls!
 My wonderful parents!
 Lined up and getting ready to walk down the aisle.  I was pretending like I was going to escape through the side door.
 Unity Sand.
 My dad, my sister, and me.
 This is where I get my goofiness from...my daddy!
 My hubby!

This past weekend he surprised me with a trip to the Outer Banks.  He packed the car completely without me knowing,  (I have to nap a lot these days.)  He said, "Hey, lets go take Aspen on a ride."  We got in the car and he said, "What if we keep driving?"  I said Ok!!!  Then he told me we were going on a trip.  I wouldn't let him tell me where b/c I wanted to try to guess.  I asked a few questions and figured out that it was the OBX b/c we have been talking about wanting to go there (over the last few years.)  We had so much fun.  It is beautiful there!  The weather was great.  It was in the 60s everyday (except the last day.)  We were able to take Aspen with us.  She loves the ocean!!! 


 Aspen and me on the beach.  She loves it.

Eric walking along the trail to see the Ocracoke Ponies.


Another thing we can celebrate is our sweet baby girl that is due June 1st.  We saw an ultrasound of her last Thursday.  She was so sweet!  She moves a lot now (well, I can feel it now.)  Last night, I was up until around 4 am b/c of acid reflux and it seems like she moved for most of the night.  I love it!!!  I was thinking that we really need to get our days and nights right.  haha!  Days and nights don't matter to a newborn.  They have to eat too much to worry about days and nights!  I am getting really excited about meeting her.  Tomorrow I will be halfway through the pregnancy (20 weeks.)  It has gone by quickly so far.  This pregnancy has been a little harder on me but thanks to Prilosec, I am doing much better now.  I just have to remember to take it or I will have another night like last night.  You would think since it is more of a slow release that if you forget to take it until the morning, that it will be ok...but it's not.  Even though there are a few discomforts, they are not so bad and I am so thankful for our little girl and am fine with feeling poorly for her.  (It usually is a good sign, right?)  Here is our sweet baby girl at 18 weeks, 6 days.  She is measuring big but my doctor said she wasn't going to change my due date right now.  We will see how it goes.  We might have a baby at the end of May instead of beginning of June.  Savannah came right on her due date so maybe this baby will too.  Here is a picture of our sweet little sugars.

The ultrasound tech said she could definitely confirm that it is a girl before looking at her girl parts because her mouth is open.  I thought that was hilarious.  She was already talking to us.  The ultrasound went well.  She is healthy!!!

Eric and I are so thankful for your prayers.  Please continue to lift us up.  With all this joy of a new baby comes many worries and anxieties.  We know that God holds this little girl in His hands and she will be with us as long as God wills.  We hope and pray that God will give us years and years with her.  That we will get to see her grow up, marry, have children of her own.  We love her so much already and I know Savannah would love her too.  I wonder what she will look like.  I hope she has the chubby cheeks (or as some say, "fat jaws").