Outside

To get through the heat and humidity of the summer here in Houston, we will be outside in the water often. We recently got lawn chairs because the girls mostly want to be in the front yard, as opposed to the back. We have really been enjoying this lately as it has allowed for a lot more opportunity to interact with our wonderful neighbors. We were out last night and the girls started to sit like Russ. Pretty cute.

Oh..... news for some, not news for others. Our next little one is a boy. If I had already told you the story then you would have expected this as we did. Otherwise, here it is: About four months ago we were praying before church with leadership for four women who were about to have their babies. Had I carried our last baby all the way to term I would have been about to give birth as well. A man in our church looked over at Russell and I and told us God told him that there was one on the way, and that it was a boy. He said he could see him running and he looked just like Russell. Three days later I took a pregnancy test and was pregnant. If you just looked at it from human perspective, without giving you details, the odds that we could have gotten pregnant when we did were pretty slim. We believed what God had told us and expected a boy, and were so happy to get to see a pictures of him Monday. Before we had the girls we decided we loved the name Samuel, and now that we are having him we are keeping that name. I refreshed myself on the meaning of the name a couple months ago, because I love that, and it means, "God has heard". What a blessing to my heart at how perfectly He orchestrates our lives. He hears my cries for the little one I miss, and He blessed me with a precious baby boy. I think God gave us that prophecy for a few reasons:

-- to continue to show us that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever - our God is still a God of prophecies

-- to take away the fear that I could have been so easily tempted to have with this pregnancy after my miscarriage

-- to draw me to a deeper love and knowledge of Him