With a grateful prayer and a thankful heart...

For those of you who don't know...
"with a greatful prayer and a thankful heart."
are some of the main lyrics to one of my most favorite Christmas movies,

A Muppet's Christmas Carol.




I simply looooove this cute little movie. Love it!
"Tis the season to be jolly and joyous, fa la la.."
It's so dang cute.

But I posted that title because I do, have so much to be thankful and grateful for.
I got to spend 4 days with my amazing husband over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
It was wonderful
It was restful
It was happy
But then it got sad...on Sunday when he and I had to say goodbye again, until Christmas Break!

Some of you may know, I did get to talk to him just about every night either through email or phone, and that helped tremendously. BUT, the cold, hard truth is that it is not easy. It is not easy to say bye to your husband. Not easy when you are 7 and half months pregnant and want nothing more than for your husband to share in the joy of watching your tummy grow and see the precious baby inside move and kick and neat things. It is H A R D!!! I let on that I am doing okay, but truth is, it is a constant struggle.

I know the Lord has this in His perfect plan for our family, some how, this is making our family stronger, our marriage stronger. It makes seeing Jonathan again so much sweeter, we appreciate and value our time together so much more. We fall more in love with each other when we get to lay eyes on each other for the first time after being gone for weeks on end.

And I know it's not going to get any easier as time goes on. We will be living this goodbye, hello life for the next 6 months. We know how blessed we are that we even get to see each other, but it still is difficult to drive away, wave goodbye, in separate cars, to different locations. It stinks!

I don't show my frustration, hurt or sadness because I feel that it does me no good. I don't want to have a break down, I don't want to start crying about how nights without Jon are hard and sleepless. I tend to let myself think that people just don't want to hear that kind of thing. They need to see that I am strong, that I am a strong Army wife that can handle being away from her husband, even while pregnant. And face the reality of not having her husband around for the first few months of their first son's life. pfff.
Stinky!

That's how I am feeling, honestly. Jonathan kissed me goodbye today, and told me not to hold back. It was kind of cute that he said, "Don't deny me?!!!" meaning, don't deny that I AM missing him terribly and to tell people that...and to let them know I'm not just okay; sometimes I have bad days that I just need someone to come over and sit with me.

My answer to unending comfort is clear. The Lord! I know He is good and He is my comfort through this time of separation. I know that if I just rely on Him and His promises and read His Word daily that I will be strengthened more than I could ever imagine. I know this, and I am thankful for my Savior that makes it possible for me to have that relationship.
But, I am human. and I admit my weakness. I am trying. But know that there are bad days... and sometimes I will just need someone to call or sit with me, share in the excitement of Noah's growing lil body, share with me in the joy looking forward to being a mom, and yes, help me, help me to pack up this apartment by mid December! I don't have much time left and I have an entire apartment to pack and move.

I thought I would end this blog by letting all of you know what Jon needs prayer for since he has been away at camp. These are his specific requests:

That he would find time for prayer, good solid prayer time, not rushed and completely focused

That God would give him discernment on when to be a "loud" witness and when to be a "quiet" one

That he would find genuine fellowship with fellow believers up there

and lastly, A church! He is still searching for a genuine body of believers.

Thanks everyone for your constant prayers and support for Jonathan, he is doing well and enjoying the Army life!

New and exciting NEWS!!!

Umkay, for those of you who don't know...me and Jon and lil Noah are supposed to be stationed somewhere in Germany around May 2008.
To un-confuse/ inform you...Jon is in the Corp of Engineers, he will be finishing up training for the Corp of Engineers at the end of April. As an engineer, he will be attached to a unit. This unit is in the 1st Armored Division, which, of course you should know by now, is in Germany.




However...

..what we didn't know...was where in the heck we would be in Germany because there are so many bases there...now we know!! and the Houstons are officially going to.....(drum rolll).......

Wiesbaden, Germany!!!! Hooray! We know where we will be moving..



Where, you may ask, is this...um good question...I have been having difficulties finding a decent map of it, and it cracks Jon up that I can't.

But just know this... it's near the southwest part of Germany..near France...not too far from Frankfurt, which is great because that's where a main airport is and it's excellent for all those wonderful peeps that want to come to Germany when we move there.

Now you have motivation...you will be close to France, Belgium, Luxembourg and near Switzerland I believe.

So start getting your passports in order....



Start planning your European dream vacation you always wanted..now you have one huge excuse to go!! heheh..that would be us..you can totally stay with us! :) Hooray...and if anyone knows more about this seemingly mysterious place...please, please share the knowledge.

Overwhelmed? Overjoyed?...I don't know...

So lots of things have been going on since Jon left. I planned, and carried out a successful Bridal shower for my wonderful sister.




It was lots of fun, but I was way too stressed out and worked a little too hard, hence the hugely swollen feet..LOL.
But, to my rescue, a my wonderful friend Karen surprised me the other day and took me to get a pedicure! Much needed, it was wonderful!



Overjoyed because I get to talk/communicate with Jon just about everyday. Things are going very well for him in Oklahoma and I get to see him for 4 days over Thanksgiving!! YAY! We cannot wait to see each other. I kept telling him my stomach has gotten so big since he last saw me, I am so anxious to know what he thinks! Noah is a growing baby!

Overwhelmed...Because I have a little less than a month to get my house all packed up and ready to move in with the sweetest family ever, The Apels!




If you don't know the story, let me sum it up. A few months ago, this loving family who host our weekly Hope Groups (which are like Bible Study/fellowship gatherings at our church at Living Hope) approached me and Jon. They boldly stated how they had been praying about it, and would love it if I were to come live with them while Jon was away!! We were speechless. We could not believe this family, who was in the middle of renovating there very first house, would even be thinking about us and in such selfless way to offer their home up to a pregnant, and soon to be new mommy! Not to mention that they were just getting past those screaming infant days with their precious baby, Asher. (who will be just about 1 year older than Noah!) These people are amazing and we love them dearly. So, my gut reaction was NO WAY! I would have to give up my lil home, my things...things! I was selfishly thinking about "things" instead of what was right for our family. So, after telling Jon I would ultimately go wherever he felt I needed to be, because I knew he had prayed deeply over it. He came to me one night and said, "Angie, I think it will be the best if you go live with the Apels!" So I gladly agreed! And now I cannot wait!
Soooo, now I am left to packing up our house...and organizing, and sorting...and such. It can be stressful, especially when you don't have your husband around to help or give opinions on what to keep and what to give away.

But, don't worry. Me and the baby are doing just dandy. My last Dr. apt. went just fine. His little heart beat is 140 and she said everything is progressing beautifully.

If anyone feels the need to help me though...I would love it! I just need direction and well, mainly just company! I want to get some major progress done before Jon comes home for a few days at Thanksgiving.

An Ode to Halloween:)

I have been requested to post the workings of my friend's brilliantly talented painting skills.
The inspiration of course...


A work in Progress....



The final product...


This is what happens when you are 6 and half months pregnant and trying to be original with yer Halloween costume....Mother Earth...Im a genius! hehehe!

Way to go Melody, I couldn't have done it without you!
And yes, My husband originally suggested we paint the eastern hemisphere, to include Asia, but, I wanted people to at least recognize what was on my belly...maybe some other time sweetheart!

Much needed Braggin!!!

Aren't we cute?! Teehe! Ok, down to business!

First of all, Jon got to camp okay. We get to talk almost every night and email a lot too. This first week has been great thanks to so many friends and family who care a lot about lil ol' me and precious Noah. Jon is doing great, he maxed his first physical fitness test. He is doing well and looking forward to Thanksgiving...we get to see him!!!

Now down to braggin...Some of you may know, Larra, a sweet friend of ours from Hope Group that is a photographer. I had asked her if she would be able to take some pics of me and Jon before he left so we would have some maternity pics together for a Christmas card and such. She gladly Obliged. What you may not know, is that this sweet lil thing is also pregnant, due a just about 2 weeks after Noah, Noah will have a friend Brody! So she agrees to shoot some pics of us in downtown Bryan. Here this adorable pregnant lady is taking our picture, getting down and up, laying on stairs, doing all sorts of movement that even I can't do right now because of lower back pains...but we were so impressed. Impressed at the passion she has for taking pics!! This girl has AMAZING talent!!! We were soooooo blessed that she agreed to take our picture. She truly captured me and Jon in a way that no one had ever been able to do, it just looks like us, our personalities are so clear in these cute pics!!! These are my favorites...










Please, please, go check out her website, LP Desinz
If you click on "order Online" then Houston Maternity, you can see all her work she did for us! A- Mazing!!!
Then you can check out her photoblog...http://lpdesignz.blogspot.com/
and read about the shoot and what an amazing woman she is and see her favs of us!!:) Such Talent! Larra you are incredibly talented! And we are so thankful that you were able to capture such a wonderfully sweet time in our lives!