and suddenly life became so much SWEETER!

Yes, something sweet is certainly baking...

and no, I don't mean the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls I have in the oven right now.

This photo was taken when we first found out the news and this is how we told our families. It took them a minute to figure it out, but when I saw this cute tshirt

on Etsy I knew I had to buy it.

This is definitely our sweet, sweet blessing.

The family pictures we took at the beach last Thursday, July 21st, mean so much to us. Not only was it the perfect day with our family and these photos hold such memories for us, but July 21st was the due date for our first sweet baby. I was pregnant last October and had a miscarriage early on in December, but just chose not to talk about it on the blog. I don't really know why. Sometimes people acts like it's such a taboo subject, yet it's happened to so many women [some multiple times] and yet it's still something we never really want to talk about.

There are really no words to describe how we felt.

Devastated could come close.

Helpless. Confused. Heartbroken.

Asking over and over, "Why us Lord?"

One thing we never felt was hopeless.

When I prayed over and over, asking God "Why?", the only thing that I felt the Lord saying was "Be still and know that I am God". Chill bumps, right? Once again, He let me know quickly that MY plans mean nothing and He is always in control.

After losing my father and losing my husband's dear cousin within a year apart, I knew that my God was big enough to GIVE...yet big enough to take AWAY. But I also knew that He had never forsaken me, never left me, no matter how dark the valleys were - no matter how crushed, devastated, confused I was - and no matter how many times I questioned Him over and over. I continued to praise Him in this storm, as I'd done many times before.

I knew that's what He was telling me to do.

To stay strong, have faith, and cling to the HOPE that He would bless us again.

and indeed He did, five months later.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Since the miscarriage in the Fall, doctors wanted us to come in early this time to hear the heartbeat. So on June 20th, we heard the baby's heartbeat at 6w6d. What a glorious sound!

We also had a second ultrasound Wednesday at 12w1d and baby was healthy, very active, and had heart rate of 154. It's so wild and this seems so surreal.

He or she is set to arrive on February 7th!

Thank you to all of our friends and family who have prayed for us the past few months and we appreciate the prayers for a healthy baby in February. Also, thank you for the sweet comments and congrats on the previous post and on Facebook! We are so incredibly blessed. I am also constantly praying for those who are struggling with infertility, miscarriages, infant loss, etc. I loved this quote I found in a devotional book given to me by my sweet grandmother-in-law this past Christmas...

"Don't judge God's gifts until you've unwrapped the whole package. Often His presents are larger than they seem and take longer to unpack than you thought. But in the end, you're likely to learn that whatever pain you put into the situation is much less than His blessing...

God's gifts are perfect after all"

Amen.