About 18 months ago, after years of praying about it, Thomas and I purchased a home in the country with my parents and LOVE it. Our big farmhouse sits on 2 acres and we have 3 dogs, a fat tomcat and 15 chickens. Our home is absolutely perfect for entertaining and we have hosted many parties here! SUCH a different life than we ever imagined, but we LOVE it. Yes, we live in the same house as my parents...and it works perfectly. We each have our strengths and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes. I HATE sorting laundry, (we're doing laundry for 7, so we're ALWAYS doing laundry), but I don't mind taking it out/switching it, so, Lolli sorts it. I like to meal plan and grocery shop, so I do that and get meals somewhat prepared in the morning. Then, when Lolli gets home at 1 and I go to work, she cooks! Thomas and Pops do maintenance outside...but not mowing. Lolli has her own ZTR lawnmower and nobody touches that! We've been told it'll never work, but we've never been the kind to listen to anyone else's opinion! We wrote down exactly what we wanted in a home and everyone agreed to pray over it...and the Lord provided exactly what we asked for! What we didn't expect...at all...was that our lives would TOTALLY change on February 20th.
The morning of February 20th, I woke up feeling a little sick to my stomach...nothing major. But, after a couple weeks of night sweats I started thinking, but quickly dismissed the idea that I might be pregnant. Thomas even joked about it and I told him NO WAY! Then, without even thinking, I went to the bathroom and pulled out a pregnancy test that had probably expired 5 years before. The weekend before we were on a couples' retreat with our church and some of the other sweet ladies were giving us a hard time that we were the next to get pregnant and we QUICKLY dismissed that idea (and laughed and laughed.) So, when the test immediately came back positive, we were in complete shock. COMPLETE shock. We tried for so long to have another baby...doctors appointments, shots, invasive procedures and years of disappointment and heartache. Now, after 9 wonderful (some difficult) months, Gideon Matthias Allen joined our family 4 weeks ago. He was born September 25, 2017 at 1:07 pm after about 14 hours of labor. He weighed in at a whopping 5lb 15oz and was 18.5 inches long. Malachi was born weighing 5lb 13oz and was 18.75 inches long so they were almost identical! Giddy, as we call him, is absolute perfection and looks JUST like his Daddy!! So far, he is an INCREDIBLY easy baby. Sleeps perfectly, eats great and is growing and gaining weight by the minute! At 2 weeks, he had gained 11 oz and grown an inch in length! We are praying that he has Marie's beautiful blue eyes so she has something to help her to belong. She has always fixated on the fact that we all have green eyes and I prayed VERY specifically that Gideon would have her eyes! We'll have to wait and see on that one! Giddy is the missing piece that we didn't know we were even missing!! But...that's it! Done. No more. 😥😳
Malachi is now 9 years old and is a complete mess! He takes completely after me...which is not always a good thing! 😕 He is so incredibly smart and LOVES learning. He makes my job as a teacher easy...as a teacher and MOM at the same time...sometimes that's a little challenging! He's working his way through 4th grade and is killing it! He loves History and Math and finds English incredibly boring! Typical Boy!!
Marie is 7 and is a doll! She is a lot like her Daddy, which I find fascinating! God really knew what he was doing when He gave her to us! (As if we've ever had reason to doubt Him!) She is an AMAZING artist and just a great kid! She is in 2nd grade and doing great! School doesn't come as easily to her, but she works HARD with a great attitude and that makes it SO much more rewarding when she succeeds!! This year she has really started to bloom and I am so thankful that I get to sit beside her every day and witness her journey!
Thomas is working at our local college right now and, as always, the rock in our family! We've been on a MAJOR adventure in the last 2 years and it has been a BLAST to ride the roller coaster with him! This October 10 marked 19 years for us (dating...we've been married 13 years) and we talk all the time about how amazed we are with our life!! God has been so incredibly good to us!
