Oh, Pacific City...here we come!

FYI: Picture overload (thanks to the most fascinating contraption ever invented, the IPhone).

And, we are off to the beach for an evening to stay in the most gorgeous beach house ever-I will post pics when we return.  It is the beach home of the couple who's house we met at many years ago...and now we get to bring Ruthie!

A few of the recent happenings. Heart is full.

A DAY WITH THIS LOVELY LADY.

(my dream property...)

Ruthie on a rhino ride with Jan and me.

Cinco de Mayo with Daddy 

One half of our amazing babysitters.

The morning of her third month birthday! 

 We started a girl's bible study and even made pizza on the Traeger!

 In love.

Lunch with daddy-o.

Dinner with parents and lovely Little.

xoxo, Anna

Off to the 70 degree weather at the Oregon Coast...

Pure joy.

Our little girl is just melting my heart.

I mean, seriously, this little clip will melt yours, too.

Once again, God has gifted us beyond our imaginations.

xoxo, Anna N (and our joyful little punkie bean)

The most humbling experience.

I am typing this with only one hand so it will be shorter (Miss Ruth is asleep in my lap).

I have never experienced hard work like this coupled with complete self sacrifice. It's the command we are supposed to live by: serve others, love the Lord...this takes both of those to a whole new level.

I have never lacked confidence like I have in the last almost two weeks. It is most certainly not the most intuitive process (future moms, know this. It will help a lot to know this is something you work hard at and learn).  The hormones (I had the easiest pregnancy with no emotional variances) coupled with her tears have just led me to an abundance of tears and multiple embraces from the most beautiful husband/father in the world.

As each day passes, with the grace of God and the knowledge that He did indeed make me to be her mother, coupled with amazing mothers and a husband who filled our room with candles the other night just when I thought I would have to collapse, things continue to fall into their beautiful place.

I have added single parents to my prayer list as well as I have been given a much larger heart for the orphan who doesn't have parents at all.

The beauty of who she is, who my husband is as a father, and how amazing God is to setup something in this world as beautiful as motherhood, has left me in awe (so have our mothers who have each spent the night for quite a few nights).

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

(I did much better at my one handed typing then anticipated! PS: thank you for all of your sweet, encouraging comments...super blessed by all of you)

So proud of her double chin already!  She eats well :)  Oh, and she is a perfect mix between Matt and I's baby pics.  Thank you, Micah for the pink tutu. Matt picked an all pink outfit the other day complete with the tutu.

Miss Morgan, Miss Emma, Miss Anna and Miss Ruth (future best friends only three days apart)

What a feeling.

Impossible without our beautiful mothers. They just happen to love each other to pieces, too :)

xoxo, Mama Anna and baby Girl (Miss Ruth)

PS: Baby, thank you for everything. I thought I loved you tons two weeks ago...I had no idea how much more I could adore and respect you in such a short period of time.  God sure blessed me with you.

PPS: Ladies- marry someone you want to be just like not someone you hope will be more like you. (just thought of this today and how true it really is)

Christmas Celebrations.

We had such a lovely last Christmas as just husband and wife (before we don the new names of Daddy and Mommy).  We went to our church's Christmas Eve gathering at the Schnitzer Hall-brought me to tears it was so beautiful- and then spent the rest of the evening at my parents house with our tradition of eating grilled cheese/tomato soup and watching White Christmas-my fave film ever.

The next morning, husband and I had a quiet morning and started a new tradition of making aebelskivers!  We read the Christmas story and just enjoyed sitting next to one another in front of the fire.  He got me an Iphone (I am back!), some amazing books AND a shopping trip to Forever 21 once the baby is out :) 

PS: Babe, you rock.  You are the best gift ever. You could always just wrap yourself up every year...

We then headed to my parent's house where we were super blessed by them and sister and just enjoyed eating monkey bread, coffee cake, and breakfast casserole (amazing!!!!!). My parents got the baby outfits for it to go home in-one for a boy, one for a girl!

After that, my family all hopped in our car and headed to Matt's brother's home in Albany to celebrate with his family.  

It was all bountifully beautiful and we cherish that Jesus' has given us the reason for not just this season, but for everything.

xoxo, Anna N

Year one of aebelskivers:  I will try not to burn them next year.

Lemon curd, powdered sugar, and raspberry jam were the toppings!

Grandma's are all ready!

Clearly, the grandpas are too!

Matt and his beautiful mother.

I love this man. He makes me laugh ALL of the time.  I love him.

The Hurds, the Normans and the Wrights!

The good-lookin' Normans!

The Wright clan :)  And yes, the belly is getting HUGE.

Merriest Christmas.

So I just wrote a different post and then while wrapping Christmas presents I realized that I truly do not grasp what this is about.  


I thought about this and then teared up while wrapping presents. I am selfish-I know I have many beautiful friends that might say differently (that is why you all have encouraged me for years). However, if I were to count every moment of my day I guarantee you that most thoughts would be about my condition-not the condition of those around me.


Then I started thinking of Jesus.  And being pregnant. And how dependent this baby will be on me and Matt. And how that is exactly how the Maker of this universe came to show us His love.


As a baby. 


And I am then convicted that if He was willing to give up all power and enter this world as a baby, then I need to learn how to serve others more.


This is convicting. Seriously-I still have tears in my eyes just in realizing how much more I need to love and be vulnerable.


I guess this is where Christmas is hitting me this year. This moment.


Goodness I would have been a horrible Mary :) Can you imagine if you were told that you would be the mother of Jesus?!?! And...here is the kicker, not get proud about that???


And I think, I need to surrender who I am to this God who is willing to become a baby and enter this broken world knowing He would have to die to save us from our sins.


This brings me to the word for this last year:

.humbled.


I just read this on Ann Voskamp's blog:


"God steps in front of us not so much in the lovely — but in the unlikely."


Please let me meet people in the unlikely and not just in the lovely.


All my love to all of you beautiful ladies: may we have the heart of Mary and the beauty and surrender of Jesus during this Christmas season.


Merriest Christmas.

One year ago!!!  Wow-that is what my waist used to look like :)  This was right before I got my trip to Disneyland!!!

Crafty husband made this :) It is Oregon!  

So apparently the three buttons on the left did mean we were going to be adding another Norman...this is from last new year.

xoxo, Anna and her wee one :) 

Photo ops.

My lovely sister (see her here) took pictures of handsome and I (and the wee one) a few weeks back.  Needless to say, she did an amazing job. I however realized why I dislike anything labeled "maternity" and why I have now only purchased 5 maternity items total (3 in the last few days)...reason being-my torso is slightly long so the "band" hits right in the middle. So inconvenient!

And it was about 30 degrees.  Some chic decided to wear short sleeves.  "Pregnancy brain."

The next photo was a dress that I bought while working at Ralph six years ago. I altered it quite a bit and it "fit" two weeks before this picture.  Well...it lost its "fit" in under two weeks.

Did I mention how much my husband makes me laugh?  Please marry men that make you laugh.

32 week update: Doc said that most women who are taller measure smaller at this point for a reason I don't remember. Not our case :) Our baby is quite healthy and loving the extra space. Kind of like a goldfish that grows to its tank size.  I am starting to pray it comes a little bit early.  

Oh-and this baby is a MOVER.  To the point that I screamed in the car today because it took a pretty big jab near my ribs. I am glad to know it is there (just in case the large tummy didn't solidify that).  It spent 3 hours non-stop the other night doing tae-bo movements. If only I worked out as much as the wee one...

Almost six months!

Before my beautiful/handsome/perfect-for-me husband left this morning he prayed for what you can distinctly see in the pictures below.  I am so in love with my man who holds me before he leaves for work and prays over our "family," our lives, the kind of parents we will be, etc.  Babe-I can't believe God gave me you.

Regarding the little one- it will be six months along on Monday!  So crazy! My stomach muscles kind of get sore because it is growing so well (great thing!) but it still has been such an easy/beautiful pregnancy.

On Monday morning we have an echocardiogram because Matt and his sister both have congenital heart defects (minor).  There is only a 4% chance our little one will have anything but if the doc sees anything then we will deliver out of a different hospital.  We are not worried-at all. God knows ALL he is doing and we trust Him more than 100%.

PS: I LOVE OUR HOME. The current one and the one to come...


So blessed.


xoxo, Anna N