Approaching 27 weeks!

So, I know I haven't blogged in a while... but I feel like I haven't had much of an update. Pregnancy is still going amazing. Still feel awesome, but boy this baby girl is starting to do some serious growing!

Here's last weeks and this weeks bump :) Yeah I'm thinking I like the black wardrobe right... they say it's more slimming, right? hahah!

Will write more later!
Love ya'll,
D

Friday already?

Hey guys!

Wow this week flew by!! Hope your week was wonderful! Here's my recap of the week:

Sunday I finally broke down and bought some *gasp* maternity clothes. My pants surprisingly were still fitting, but I have officially reached the point where it would just be a little more comfortable to wear something... different. So, I set out to go shopping! My mother-in-law gave me money for my birthday and insisted that I buy some maternity clothes with it. She must know its hard for me to spend money on myself :) I got such good deals! I bought a pair of grey jeans & khaki capris from gap, and a pair of white jeans & blue jeans from H&M and my total came to a whopping $45.00!! This girl here is a sale shopper! Normally one pair of maternity bottoms are around $60. I was proud of myself, and I think Trav appreciates his sale shopper wife too :)

Trav and I went to my monthly baby appointment on Wednesday. It's such a quick visit but it's always so refreshing to hear her heartbeat and know that everything is okay with her. Her heartbeat this time was at 160 bpm and my uterus is officially way over my belly button. I've heard once you hit the 20 week mark the baby grows very fast! Let's see what my baby bump app says about her size right now... hang on... okay apparently she's as big as a spaghetti squash and weighs 1 lb! Don't you just love how they compare her to a food every week? I think it's funny.

So, in addition to my rockin' sales on Sunday, I was also blessed with a few other things this week. Over the weekend I was telling my sister and her hubby how I really wanted to invest in the angel care monitor. I've heard amazing things about it. It actually detects your baby's breathing and will send off a little alarm if the baby stops breathing for a certain amount of time. The alarm should startle the baby to breath again and also wake up the parents. Being that this is Trav's and my first rodeo we thought it would be extremely beneficial to us. You can't put a price tag on your peace of mind... and a sleep without worrying about SIDS or suffocation or something to that effect. So, anyways, this monitor is a couple hundred dollars and my sweet co-worker has offered to let me have/borrow (I'm not sure... but who cares!) her angel care monitor! She has five children and says there's other stuff I can have too! Yayy! The Lord is certainly providing and it's so amazing to see. 

As I was reading some Proverbs this morning I couldn't help but be drawn to the parenting verses... the exact ones I used to overlook. Now they mean so much more to me! Check them out:

Proverbs 22: 6 "Start children off on the way they should go, 
   and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Proverbs 22: 15 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, 

   but the rod of discipline will drive it far away."

Alright, I supposed it's time for some baby bump picture updates. Here they are!

Here I am on 4th of July, roughly 19 weeks.

My face says I'm not sure about the beer belly looking deal ;) I'm about 21 weeks here.

And here I am with the most recent. This was taken on Wednesday. 22 weeks or 5 1/2 months! This would also be the day that Trav told me I'm beginning to look very.... pregnant. hahaha! What's he going to say when I'm 8 and 9 months! ;) ps- I typically wear shirts that don't accentuate the bump as much as these do, but for those of you who don't get to see me in person I figured I could show you the real deal. :)

Guess that's all for now!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Love, D

It's FRIDAY!

A quote that I'm enjoying this morning...

Okay, so I'll admit that I "borrowed" this quote from a website that they then "borrowed" from a Weight Watchers meeting. But, I like it :) Not only can it pertain to food (and this mama sure doesn't want to gain tons of baby weight!! ;)) but to me this can apply to many different areas in our lives.... think about it. I hope it inspires you to make smart choices today!!

And a couple of verses that stuck out to me this morning:

Oh how much better some situations would go if I would believe and act on that first verse right now. A gentle answer... that's my goal today! No matter the situation or topic, I want to be gentle. And the second verse, I wonder what my life would look like if I truly believed that it is better to have a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil...

Happy Friday!

Love, D :)

Let's try this blog thing out again, shall we?

On our way to get my Ultrasound to find out is baby Baggett is a boy or girl! 07/06/11

It's hard to believe I am nearly 21 weeks pregnant already... FIVE months!! Wow, I can only imagine how the rest of this pregnancy is going to fly by and before we know it our little girl will be in our arms.

Pregnancy is such a surreal experience. Especially the beginning stages when the bump isn't there yet and you don't feel any movement, but you keep reminding yourself your have a little baby growing inside of you. In my case it was even more surreal because I truly didn't have any of the horror side effects that some women have told me about. No morning sickness, acne, mood swings, cravings, NOTHING! The only noticeable difference for me is that some days I am more tired that normal... but, come on what do you expect, I'm growing a person inside of me! :) I consider myself blessed with this pregnancy. So far (and I almost hate to say this...) it has been easy! I'm trying to marvel in it and embrace everyday. I don't ever want to take this time in our lives for granted.This time of carrying our little one is so very short, and who knows if we will conceive again!

The other night I was laying in bed and I just got overwhelmed with how blessed Travis and I are. No, we're not rich or famous, and we definitely have our struggles... but at the end of the day we can confidently say that we have amazing families and are completely in love with each other. And now, we get to add a little one into our lives!

You see.... there's something you may not know about Travis and I. When we were dating, and even in our first year of marriage our philosophy was that we were not going to have children. We were entirely too spontaneous and adventurous to slow down for a baby. Yet somehow, our hearts began to change because I don't think we could have been any more excited to find out that I was pregnant! And then I got to thinking... "why Lord have you blessed us with this amazing miracle? For so long we weren't even wanting children... and some couples out there desperately try and try again, yet can never conceive, yet you have so easily given us this gift?". Truth is I don't know why He blesses us when we are so undeserving, but that is the beauty of the God that we love and serve. He is Sovereign and all knowing, full of love and mercy, and His ways are ALWAYS greater than our own!

Baby GIRL! Isn't she beautiful?

So now a little update on our peanut :) According to my lovely iPhone app (don't you just LOVE technology!?), our baby girl is currently 11 oz, and 10.5 inches long. For those of you visual learners, she is apparently the size of a banana or a small cantaloupe.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! My husband bought her the most darling little sleepers over the weekend in Lake George. It's her very first gift from him. I am FAR FROM a pack rat or hoarder, in fact I'm very much the opposite, but, I think these will be saved for a long time. It's something so very sweet and special. I love how much he already loves her.

I think that's all for now!

Love, D

ps- and to my long distance family, my intentions are to update this frequently so you can know all the details of what's going on with our growing family- love you!

You moved, again?

Yes. It is true. We moved again.

But...

This time it is a permanent move. Or at least a move intended for us to plant some roots.

So, how did we end up in Upstate New York anyway?

Well, after trying and trying to move up here and Travis being unable to find a job. We finally started to settle down in Houston, coming to grips with the fact that we would be there for at least five years, or so we thought. In a sense we finally stopped trying with our own efforts and we began learning how to be content right where we are.

And then it happened.

The Lord opened wide a door of opportunity for Travis to work up in New York. At first we were thrown off guard. I had planned to teach and he had planned to continue his career at ITC. We both unintentionally continued on with this void in our hearts. Feeling as if we were wandering around aimlessly, like we weren't where we were supposed to be. (Let me add also that yes I did miss my family, however, I wasn't complaining and miserable about it... this wasn't the reason we moved). Honestly, we missed a lot about NY, the seasons, the mountains, the fresh air, things to do outdoors, etc. Anyways, back to the story... so this company had a phone conference all with Travis and loved him! They decided to fly him up to the port of Albany to interview in person. They offered him the job on spot, and we were AMAZED! It all sounded too good to be true. But, there was one issue... we were still recovering from our loses in DR and quite frankly we didn't have the money to pick up and moved cross country, again. So we prayed.

Lord, if you want us to move, then you must provide the way. Even though we desire to be up there, we cannot do it in and of ourselves. Let your will be done.

And then the first miracle happened. They offered us a relocation package. The miracle part, they DO NOT offer relocation packages, ever, to anyone! Whoa Lord!! Thank you!!

So we continue the process of finalizing this job and the day we hear they are ready for us we begin packing. 36 hours of straight packing we hop into our truck and begin the 48 hour journey (which normally takes 30).  During the middle of our packing one of Travs' sweet uncles comes by and tells us that the Lord laid it on his heart to give us a certain amount of money, so he acted in obedience and gave us the gift. This is yet another blessing from the Lord because we had car trouble in New Orleans, and this money covered exactly what we owed the mechanic. WOW!! After the truck was fixed we continued on... we were so determined to get up there asap that we didn't even stop to sleep (yes, probably not the smartest thing we've done).

Hillbilly style*

*My hubby driving :)

*Proof that I drove this massive haul! (and going on 50 hrs of no sleep!)

We finally reach NY on Sat. night and Travis started work on Monday morning. I naturally start to worry and be anxious about my vocation. What am I going to do? Where am I going to work? How much will I make? Worry worry worry! A week or so later I apply for a job at Grace North, an awesome church! I wasn't too confident because they didn't even know me... but I interviewed anyway. To be honest, I thought I totally blew the interview. I never really interviewed before because the Lord has always just handed me jobs... so I was a bit unprepared to say the least. The next day I get an email from the pastor who wants me to take a spiritual gifts and personality test to see if I would even be a good fit for their staff. A couple days after I hand that in, he tells me that he needs me to fill out an application, and by this point I'm trying to now get ahead of myself... but I'm getting excited!!

So, officially as of today... I am offered a job at Grace North (and for those you who know me, know that my calling is to ministry and I love being creative). I will be the communications coordinator & event planner... basically I get to be creative, everyday!

Yayy!! So now we are both doing what we love, and with the Lords divine orchestration of our lives, the vocational void is no longer present! God is so good!

And now its time for the Baggett's to settle down :)

Be Blessed!
*D

www.wix.com/dnbaggett/design

Finally, a chance to blog :)

I finally have a day off, but only because I'm feeling a sicky... So you take the good with the bad! :)

This past week has been so crazy and the Lord has put me into so many situations that I have really had to wrestle with... for so long I have just adapted the views of everyone around me, but I have rarely ever thought for myself. For example:

Last week I worked in a severely low functioning special education class for three days. I have worked with special education for a very long time, and it's something I am not uncomfortable with. But this population was different from all the others I have experience with. They are teenagers, in junior high, and all bound by wheelchairs. They could barely move, unable to speak, were fed through feeding tubes, and had to wear diapers. I mean take my heart out of my chest and rip it into a million pieces here!! Some days its very hard for me to work in this environment because it does hurt my heart so bad. Two of the teens would occasionally lift up their delicate heads and muster up a smile at me, and that makes everything worth it. However, this third boy would never open open his eyes, and never ever move on his own. He slept all day at school and frequently would make this little noise like he was agonizing in pain. So as I sit in the classroom and just look at him, I can't help but wonder, "why, Lord?". I mean truly the only thing this 14 year old does is breathe, he doesn't know when someone is talking to him, he can't see, is he even aware of anything? And if not... what then is the point of life if he is merely breathing? I don't have an answer... just something I've been wrestling with. Modern medicine is amazing and has enabled some amazing miracles, but what if this boy was supposed to be with sweet Jesus and modern medicine is prolonged his life here just to exist? I don't know... and please don't think badly of me... It's just when you witness a day in their life, it makes you wonder....

On a POSITIVE note... I had something awesome happen at the public High School here last week. After I got done taking roll for my class this sweet girl raised her hand and asked if she could say something... she went on to say two of her guy friends got in a bad car accident the night before and they were in severe condition and asked if we would pray for them. Well obviously I wanted to jump all over that and pray right then and there, but as a teacher I am not allowed. So as she started to sob, I stood there with a heavy heart and clueless how to handle this and keep my job. The whole class was silent except for her little cry, and then this 11th grade boy stood up and said "come on guys! She means this! We need to pray right now!!" So everyone bowed their heads and he prayed for these two boys in front of the whole class, unashamedly... wow. I was blown away! Praise the Lord!!

The Second Positive note! Travis' love for the Lord is growing daily, and I have to give the glory of that to the Lord! The ladies who took the prayer challenge are now on day 16 and I can first hand say I have seen the Lord working in his life. He is blessed to have today off too, and he's running around doing things around here with his ipod in his ears singing sweet worship songs to Jesus. There is no time that makes him more attractive then when he's loving our Lord. If you aren't actively and intentionally praying for your husband, I encourage you to! It's the best marriage revolution you will ever experience!!

Be Blessed ya'll!
D

If there was one thing I wanted YOUTH to BELIEVE...

(This has been on my heart for some time now... and it's time to get it off my chest!! It's not one of my "cheery" make you feel good blogs, but its real and its raw :) )

As I sit here and think about the sweet teenagers that I sub for, and other young teens that I just know from moving around so much, I can’t help but be heartbroken when I think about the way they believe that their actions do not have long-term effects on them… Specifically their actions regarding impurity.

 As I sit here and think about the sweet teens that I sub for, and other young teens that I just know from moving around so much, I can’t help but be heartbroken when I think about the way they believe that their actions do not have long-term effects on them… Specifically their actions regarding impurity.

If I could give one message to the youth, one message that they would actually believe, take hold of and APPLY to their lives it would be this…

No matter HOW appealing it is to mess around with the opposite sex, there is absolutely no positive outcome from it. Not one, not even half of one. That is the absolute truth, because believe me I have been there! I desperately want them to realize that they do not need boyfriends or girlfriends in Junior High and High School, save it for college! Those are the best times of your lives that you never get back… they should be spent hanging out with your girls or your guys enjoying life with no responsibility of work and money.

Perhaps you think I am a hypocrite because I did indeed have a boyfriend throughout High School, and I did indeed make poor choices. But, now that I can look back on it, I can honestly share that it was utterly destructive on my life. It wasn’t worth it to lose my girlfriends, it wasn’t worth it to have a boyfriend and all the drama that comes with that, it wasn’t worth it to slowly give myself away, and it wasn’t worth it to have to carry the pain and memories with me into my marriage.

If youth could only see how devastating immorality really is, if the temporary “high” could no longer blind and seduce them they would be so much better off! Even too, that “high” does not last very long, especially if you are a believer, because the Spirit inside of you will rid you with guilt. Not only do you walk around with a guilty conscience from the Lord, but you worry about your parents catching you, you worry about what your friends might say, and you worry if that boy/girl will even like you tomorrow! It’s truly is the best way to waste your precious teenage years…

And after that, after you realize that “fun” is no longer appealing to you, you finally want to settle down with that amazing man/woman who loves the Lord and who is capable of having a great marriage…. You have to share with him or her all your dirty laundry, every person you have fooled around with and given a piece of yourself to. As you tell them, you feel humiliated and full of regret. Oh how you wish you could go back in time and choose to do the right thing. How you wish you have saved ALL of yourself for that special man or woman who you have finally met!! And then, you get to wait for their response… will they forgive you and give you a clean slate? Or will they choose to wait for someone who has “not even a hint” of sexual sin in their past? You won’t know until you get there… but believe me that is the most painful conversation you will ever have to have with your future spouse.

Instead of completely disregarding what I wrote… think about it, soak it in. If it seems like a feat that is too big for you then I encourage you to take it one situation at a time, and “DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING”! I promise you it will make your life much more enjoyable and in the end, you will thank me and believe me!!

 

Love ya’ll!

D