"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb..." - Psalm 139:13

I have a couple great stories about the baby as he (or she!) is growing. First of all, a couple weeks ago, I started getting overwhelmed with all the baby gear we were going to need and how I had no idea how we were going to be able to afford it all. I mean, I know baby showers help a lot but I was still feeling a little stressed. So what should you do when you feel burdens on your back? Shrug them over to God! I simply prayed that God would provide all the things we need and that He would specifically lay our needs on peoples' hearts to help us where they were able to. THAT DAY God began to answer my prayer. (Notice God didn't waste any time in case I forgot that I had actually prayed about this and that things were just happening because we "got lucky.") I went to school that morning and one of the moms at my school offered me her car seat that her little boy had just outgrown. It was the exact kind I had been looking at and in near perfect condition!! She just gave it to me! As I'm lugging the big honker up 3 flights of stairs to our apartment, I see our neighbor (whom we've never met formally) just leaving her apartment. She takes one look at me and smiles.
"When are you due?" she asks happily.
"Mid-August!" I announce with just as much pride and joy as I felt!
"Well, my son has grown out of some clothes if you want them...otherwise I'll just give them away. I also have some unsused baby stuff if you're interested!"
"SURE!" I respond enthusiastically, knowing this is just another answer to the prayer I had cried that morning.
I praised God that night, knowing He was showing me that He would provide above and beyond what we could ever expect. The picture above is the ADORABLE thumbless mittens with little paws on them and matching polar bear stocking cap that came from the bag of goodies from our neighbor! Evidence that God's provision not only fulfills the need but can also be just the CUTEST THING EVER!!!!

By the way, many have asked if we are having a boy or a girl. The answer is YES! We are having a boy or a girl! We haven't found out the baby's gender, but that doesn't mean we don't have our suspicions. We both think it's a boy, and we have all along. First of all, we have a very strong leaning toward a boy's name, which has manifested itself in many key areas of our life. Also, if we were having a girl, wouldn't God have provided GIRL clothes as opposed to boy clothes? Everything we've been given has been from families with boys. Just something to consider.

I was reading some psalms out loud to the baby last night and all of a sudden, Norbert started kicking as I read! Jon and I were greatly amazed. We know baby can hear voices now, but his/her brain can't understand words. It made me think of when Mary, Jesus' mom, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and John (the Baptist) leapt in his mother's womb when Jesus came near. They may not understand with their brains what is going on, but even babies have spirits, given to them the day they were conceived. We are in love with the fact that our baby's spirit is responding to the Word of God!