14-15-16

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

Can we say chubby stage??

I am feeling much better these days. The only thing that I am complaining about is not having an appetite. I eat because I know I have to but sometimes I really just don't want to. My doctor's appointment earlier this month went well. The nurse was amazed at how long it took her to get a heartbeat because this little BB was moving around so much. Everything looked good and we go back next Wednesday the 23rd.

Our date to find out the sex is set for January 8th. We are looking forward to it but kind of crazy at the same time. That will be 20 weeks and the half way mark. CRAZY!!!

I had to go buy some maternity dress pants because my regular pants are way uncomfortable. I wore them today and what a difference it made. I got 3 pairs for $30--what a deal!!!

Too bad I can't wear my pajama pants every day. That would be wonderful!

So.....about Tulsa

***Warning: It's a long one***

I have barely been home at all this week and even the past 3 weeks so it has been a little difficult for me to get to blogging lately. I apologize.

I have pictures to update the past several weeks but I will get to those in the next day or so. I wanted to give a little more detailed information about Tulsa.

It is a bittersweet situation. And it is not a "further my career" move for Mark. It is a "what is better for our family" move. I have told maybe 1 or 2 people how difficult Mark's job situation has been on our marriage. Looking back over the past several years I have really seen how God has completely protected our marriage from Satan.

There have been times that I have really questioned why Mark was at this job. Mark's love language is Acts of Service which serves him well with the line of work that he is in. He serves his clients. So whether it be work or something else Mark has one of the biggest hearts for serving others. Because of that, he really enjoys his work and that is very important to me.

But it has not made it any easier. It is not fun to communicate with each other for several months through a notebook. It is not fun to wake up at 3:00 AM every morning and see him still working. It is not fun to see how hard he works and how beat down & exhausted he is. It is not fun for him to get home at 7:00 each night when it is not busy season. It is not fun for him to have to spend 1.5 plus hours driving each day after working so long. It is not fun.

Mark and I had the opportunity to meet some of the people in the Tulsa office when we went to visit and it was such an encouragement. While I know that there will be busy times, overall it is going to be a more family friendly situation. It is not ideal for us to have to move, but it is the best thing for us as our family is growing.

Mark's company is doing a wonderful job about being understanding and willing to work with us in our specific situation. They are going to allow him to travel back and forth each week. During busy season, if they don't need him in the office on Friday, he can come home Thursday night and work from Fort Worth on Friday. THAT IS HUGE!!! (and unheard of in his other situation) If he has to work weekends, they will fly me up to see him. When busy season has slowed down, they will let him work 4 days and come home 3.

I would love to go with him now, but there is so much involved. Our house has a ton that needs finished before it is ready to sell. I cannot imagine packing up my classroom before the end of the semester. And we would love to be able to save for the rest of the school year, since I do not plan on going back to teach in Oklahoma.

There are times when I think about leaving Fort Worth that I just start crying, but I also know what it has been like in the past and can see how incredibly different it will be. That is what makes me so optimistic about this whole thing. It is hard to think about being further away from our families but I also know that Mark and I are willing (because it is so important to us) to do what we need to make sure our kids have a relationship with them. It is hard to think about leaving our wonderful friends here but that doesn't mean our relationships have to end and it opens doors for knew ones.

We know that God can use us anywhere we go, we just have to keep Him first in our lives. HE IS GOOD and has protected & taken care of us. He will continue to protect and take care of us. We just have to be ready & open to this adventure that He has placed before us. Please continue to pray for us as we go through this and I will do my best to keep you updated.

Hopefully things will slow down soon. HA!

Tulsa

For those of you wondering, Mark left for Tulsa early this morning. I will give more detailed information soon. Right now I am trying to keep my head above water with the thousands of things happening.

It was a good weekend but please continue to pray for this whole situation.

We sure could use it!!

Anyone ever feel like this??

I do!!!

Oklahoma: Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

I know I am behind and need to update but this has to come first!

Yes, I've got this song stuck in my head but not because I recently saw the musical. In fact, I have never seen the musical and am not sure if I really want to.

Last Tuesday, Mark was working from home so he was going to bring me lunch at school. He called me a little before and said plans had changed. He received a call from one of the partners from the company he works for and she wanted to meet with him.

We were not sure what it was about and left us wondering. He called me back after he finished with her and told me that they asked him to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Completely random and a huge surprise but kind of odd considering a conversation Mark and I had the previous Saturday. This is how part of that conversation went:

(I had been gone all day and was expecting a project in the house to be finished when I got back. He was not able to work on it due to the weather-I was a little annoyed).

Mark: Tara, why is it such a big deal to have it done today.
Tara: Today isn't the problem. It is the fact that we have so many unfinished projects in this house and if your company asks us to move to Oklahoma (yes I really did say that), it will take us 3 months to get this house ready to sell.
Mark: They are not going to ask us to move to Oklahoma.

(maybe he will listen to me a little more now) :).

So here we are. I will go into more detail in a future post but we are asking for prayers right now. Mark has tentatively said yes and it will depend upon how this weekend goes. We fly out on Saturday morning and are going to meet with some people from the office in Tulsa. Neither of us have ever been to Tulsa so we would like to check it out a little. It will be a very short visit but we hope that it will help us in the decision.

I will write more in detail about everything involved after our trip.

Please pray for us this weekend. We know that God can use us any where, we just want to make sure that we make the right decision during this new time in our lives.

13 weeks!

Friday I was 13 weeks. CRAZY!!!

My book says that the BB is the size of a large peach. It is amazing to me how this whole process works. It is a true picture of how amazing our God is and how miraculous He created us.

Saturday I woke up and turned to the side and thought WOW! The day before my tummy didn't look like that. Mark agreed. He said that it looked bigger which made me feel better because it wasn't me just imagining it. I am trying to hold off as long as possible before I get some different pants. Most of my pants have room for me to grow in but some of them sure are uncomfortable.

My friend Lisa is going to let me borrow her Bella Band. Hopefully that will give me some more time as well. We'll see!!!

Blessing of the Week!

"What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man."

He works so hard to provide for us and never complains. He listens to me complain all the time and still seems to have a good attitude.

He has such a servant heart and is always willing to do anything for anyone. He loves the Lord and strives to serve Him in everything he does.

Mark, you are such a blessing in my life and I cannot imagine my life without you. I look forward to see what God has in store for our future!

I love you!

12 Weeks

I was 12 weeks on Friday!

I am not showing yet but can definitely feel my pants getting tighter. I think that is has to do with the fact that I am eating all the time to keep my stomach under control! I am not trying to rush things along but this nausea could not end soon enough.

I know for some people it lasts the whole pregnancy, so I am praying that it ends soon! If I am one of the lucky ones that will experience it the whole time then it is going to be a long 9 months.

I know it will all be worth it in the end!!!

Blessing of the week!

While Mark and I experience many blessings throughout each of our days I would like to take time and highlight one each week. It's so easy to get caught up in life and forget the many blessings that God gives us each day.

I have already talked a little about this week's but I want to go a little more into detail. It was a huge blessing this week to hear from the doctor that everything looked great!

We found out I was pregnant fairly early (about 2-3 weeks) and I have been very fearful from the beginning that something was going to happen. I know in my head that the Lord is in charge and He has a plan but I worried all the time.

Going to the doctor and hearing that everything looked great was such a relief. The past several weeks I have been doing better about worrying but it was still in the back of my mind. And even now, I still think about it every so often but the difference is that not only does my head know that God is in complete control but my heart knows it as well.

We continue to pray daily for health and safety for our little one but my heart knows that no matter what, the Lord is in control and in any circumstance I will Glorify and Praise His Holy Name!

:) Blessings

Tara

Halloween Costumes

We just wanted to share this year's Halloween costumes with everyone.

Mark and I have always said that we were going to wait 5 years before having kids. Apparently God decided that this was a good plan as well. We went to the doctor today and I am 11 weeks pregnant and my due date is May 29. One day after our 5 anniversary! That is if everything is on schedule. My doctor said that everything looked really good. We go back at the beginning of January to find out the sex of the baby.

We have known that I was pregnant for several weeks and it has been a VERY hard secret to keep but we wanted to wait to tell most people until we went to the doctor for the first time.

I never thought that I would have a reason to start a blog but I thought that this would be a fun way for our families to keep up with what is going on. I also plan to use this as a "scrapbook" for the baby.

For those of you that care, I have been pretty much sick all the time. I haven't actually gotten sick but feel nauseous all of the time. I have been eating non-stop because that is the only thing that makes my stomach feel better. I know that it will pass (at least I hope) but sometimes I just want to curl up in a little ball.

Mark and I are very excited and feel very blessed that God has given us this gift!

More to come soon...