Maybe Baby...

Since my last post, I have really found peace by not thinking, worrying, planning, etc... I have put everything in God's hands and have been just waiting for some direction from Him for our lives and timing. Richard has felt ready for a while now and it seems that I'm more hung up on his deployment than he is. He feels like we should live as we would if we weren't living the Army life and just trust that things will work out as they should. Well this week has been interesting for me... Tuesday I went to Bible study and it was my group's week to help out, which I thought just meant bringing food and helping set up and clean up. Well, I ended up helping out in the overflow nursery. My friend Katia and I were in a room with one 2 month old, a set of 1 year old twins, and five 2-year-olds. Everybody was in diapers and nobody could talk. At first it was a little overwhelming and I was not excited about being there for 2 and a half hours... but it turned out great and I really enjoyed it. We changed everybody's diapers (at least once), wiped up spilled milk, cleaned up graham cracker crumbs, etc. Each kid took turns crying and needing something and it was very demanding, but like I said, I really enjoyed it. Wednesday I went to a substitute teacher orientation and got all set up to start filling in for elementary and middle school teachers. I could get a call any day now! So all the kid stuff this week lead me back to thinking baby. AND on Friday Richard told me that it sounds like his deployment is being pushed back a few months. So yet again the Army is changing things around and it sounds like we'll never really know what is going to happen from day to day. Richard and I talked about family plans again and he expressed that he is still feeling ready and excited. We quickly came to the conclusion that we should go for it and leave it in God's hands. So we're super excited (again) and we'll see what happens.

Plans on Hold?

So it sounds pretty sure that Richard's unit will be deploying sometime between July and August of 2008. That means if we were to get pregnant any time between now and then, he will not be around for the birth and potentially the whole first year of our baby's life! :( That sounds awful and it makes me want to wait until we know he'll be "home" for a longer stretch of time... so right now we're seeking God's will as to whether we should start using birth control again or just stop worrying about it and let it happen if that's His plan.

Letting Go

November 2007

We arrived at Fort Riley, Kansas on November 5 and started getting deeper into the Army learning process. After about two and a half weeks of hotel living we moved on post and began really settling in. Richard got into his job as a platoon leader and soon found out his unit would be deploying to Iraq sometime towards the end of 2008. At this point we still (most likely) had at least 9 months for him to be around so we were still okay with the possibility of pregnancy. At the same time it was pretty emotional for me thinking that Richard has never held a baby, changed a diaper or any of that stuff... and I really wanted him to be around for the birth, first year, etc. of our first child! It has been stressful relocating, leaving our families, making new friends, finding a church, learning the ropes of the Army, and more...

September 2007

After much prayer, discussion, and financial and emotional evaluating, Richard and I decided we were ready to make a human addition to our little family. At the time, Richard was in Virginia for training and wouldn't be home until mid-October, but I stopped taking my birth control and started preparing my body and mind to take on the challenge of pregnancy... whenever God allows it to happen. :) Richard is so cute about all this because he's excited about being a dad but also seems a little nervous about his lack of experience with babies. I know he'll be an awesome dad! :)