The Pooch

As tiny as this little kiddo is, it's still making my insides stretch and groan and expand. I'm feeling ALL kinds of weird things going on. Sharp pains from ligaments stretching, dull aches in my lower back, and the worst of all, my selection of pants to wear to work quickly decreasing as the lower stomach muscles push out. Well, the clothes SELECTION isn't whats worst of all, it's this in between time of a month or two when you're not big enough (or desirious enough) to wear maternity clothes but all your pants are getting a wee bit too tight and uncomfortable. So I want to live in my fleece pants...or just sit with my pants unbuttoned all day...which doesn't vibe with working in an office of 7 men. Thus the reality of this pregnancy is now becoming visable...well, at least to me and Matthew. No one else will probably be able to tell for another two months. Then the pooch will morph into the basketball belly that I hear most girls like me have. Yeay, haven't you gals always wanted a basketball for a belly? Yeesh. So that's the latest prego news for those of you who were asking. Other than that, we've got a busy few weeks ahead. Laurel, Matthew's sister, is flying in tonight to visit with us over the weekend. We're pumped to see her since it's been WAY too long (since the wedding!) Then next weekend, we fly to Fort Collins for another long overdue visit with our friends and family out there. We're desparately trying to prepare ourselves for the beauty and stark contrast to this city of Philly. But we feel like we're in one of the better spots to return to Colorado, knowing this is now our home and our community...but it'll still be tough. I only lived there for a year, but the long stretches of road, open valleys and incredible mountains made a little place in my heart that aches every now and then. For Matthew, this is only intensified a hundred fold having been born and raised in that beautiful part of the country. After that trip, we're heading down to Charlottesville to celebrate sister Em's birthday. Then I'll be on to month 4 of this pregnancy! Hopefully we won't be moving that next week, but it all depends on the latest details in the scale right now. There are two prospective gals looking at our place as we're looking at moving into the city. That in itself holds a whole host of emotions for us. Struggling with where we feel called and the community God is providing there versus the drastically different way of life in that specific area of the city and moving onto a street where we are the minority and drug houses and crime are fairly common. Odd, since three streets down, that doesn't seem to be the case. That's the city for you though! Safety, comfort...all that must be left in Christ's hands if we take this step of faith and move into an "unknown world", in one sense. Please keep us in your prayers these next few weeks as we wrestle with that. Especially myself, thinking of being home alone most of the day and wanting to move out and love our neighbors and the community we'd become apart of...not stay a prisoner of fear in my home. Christ wants to change my heart and expand it and grow in me a new love for the brokeness of people around me, because that's what He was about. I'd much rather stay self-centered, comfort-centered, easy-life centered, than move into the life of others...even my husband's at times?! Much less strangers!?! I'm a wholed-up, self-focused mess without Christ constantly rubbing my stony, cold heart into a warm, beating heart of flesh that loves and lives outside of the "normalcy" of social rules or levels of comfort I've constructed in my safe little paradigm. PRAY FOR ME FRIENDS!