Officially in the THIRD Trimester + What my new life in WA has been like!

I have no idea where time went.  This week I enter 28 weeks pregnant, putting me into my third trimester.  When I found out I was pregnant the third trimester sounded a little daunting to me.  And now here I am.  Nothing of my pregnancy is what people have made it out to be.  I thought it was going to be this terrible experience where you are moody all the time, hate your husband, feel ugly, and have cravings that take over your life.  It has so not been the case for  me.  I have felt like my normal self about ninety percent of the time, with the occasional melt downs, but those happened when I was not pregnant so I don't think it's fair to blame that on pregnancy.  Besides that I have felt beautiful, grown more in love with my husband, and feel so honored to be able to create life inside of me.  What is there to be so miserable about that?  I stop to think about what my body is actually doing, creating a WHOLE HUMAN and I think wow I am pretty awesome.  And so is God for giving women the gift of child bearing.

My entire time pregnancy has been spent in my new land, Washington state.  On November 13 God told my husband and I to move out of state, Washington specifically.  My husband began job hunting and on Dec 12 he was signed his letter of acceptance for his new position only 12 miles from Seattle. December 31 we found out we were pregnant! January 11 we were on a one way flight to Seattle, WA with just two suitcases, a couple carry on bags, and my little one in my womb.  So much change so fast.  If it wasn't for the fact that I knew God was doing all the changes I think I would of not been okay.  I look back to the past 7 months and I see how God truly graces us for His will.  When it's God idea there's such security in that.  We are never left having to figure things out on our own.  There were many details in getting us from So Cal to Seattle in two months that should of taken much more time to work out and that also should of been much more difficult but they weren't.  Every last detail was worked out for us.  If I listed everything here, this blog would be a lot longer that it already is.  All I can say is God is so impressive. Everyday He continues to do things that remind me there is seriously no one like Him.  He is the Great I Am!  It's so cool to do get to do everyday life with God, like really.  Have you ever stopped to think about that?  God Himself is with you in every little detail of your life.  You have access to the greatest Gift ever.  That brings such a strong sense of security to me even now as I type that out. Our only responsibility in this is to invite Him into every detail.  And I so do that, it would probably offend some people! Here's an example:

To avoid having another dress in my closet I will never wear again I decided to rent my dress for my maternity photoshoot.  The photo shoot is at the end of June (this weekend to be exact) and I rented the dress the first week of April to secure it because I loved it so much and didn't want to risk it not being available.  There was no way to know how "big" I was going to be from April (18 weeks pregnant) to June 23 (29 weeks pregnant) and the dress was going to arrive only days before the photo shoot.  So I asked Holy Spirit for help and for the right size.  He gave me the size and although there were a few times where I thought I was insane ordering the dress so far in advance I chose to trust the size I was given.  The dress came in a few days ago and it fits PERFECTLY!!! As if my exact measurements were taken and it was custom made for me.  That may seem superficial to some people but for me it shows me how intimate my God is.  He cares that I wear the prefect dress for my maternity photoshoot.  He actually delights in it.  And again, this may be offensive to some people, but I do this kind of stuff with God over and over again and He helps me over and over again.  I see it this way, ladies will especially get this, when you get a new dress or are shopping for a dress do you ask your friends what they think or invite them into the process? Jesus is that person for me.  He is the greatest companion and the BEST best friend.  I even invite Him to grocery shop with me because I need inspiration on what to cook and when I do my husband loves the meals!  This is so available to all of us!

Okay, so back to my new life in Washington.  With all the details being taken care of by God and us giving Him our yes, it has been the most amazing time of our lives.  My husband and I have both said this is the happiest we have ever been in our entire life.  There was still an adjustment process (more on that in a different post) but in the adjustment is the adventure.  We have both been learning so much about ourselves and about each other.   Nothing brings a married couple closer that leaving a place with all your family and friends and going somewhere where it's just you two.  It has made our covenant so much stronger.  This is exactly what Madison Grace needs, parents who have a healthy and strong marriage, more on that later as well.  With all that said, my husband has been enjoying his new job and I have been enjoying my promotion to stay at home mom and home administrator.  I get to spend slow mornings with Jesus and then basically take care of all the things required to get acclimated to a new state.  Now that we have new driver's licenses, license plates, new doctors, a new dentist, our favorite food spots, and grocery store we are spending the next 12 weeks preparing for Madison Grace's arrival and basking in the last few moments where it's just my husband and I.  We leave to Canada next weekend for our anniversary trip and are intentionally going to spend lots of time doing the things you cannot do with a newborn, like sit in a coffee shop for hours reading, talking, and sipping on chai lattes at our new favorite coffee shop! 

So much love,

Cherise