Waiting.....

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.
We are waiting on Karsyn Jo to make her arrival.
When you are in a waiting period the days seem to be so long and go by so slow. Everyday asking yourself "could today be the day?" 
We are so ready to see what our little girl looks like, does she look like daddy? does she look like mommy? We are so ready to hold her, cuddle her, hear her cry and see her smile for the first time. My house is cleaned, the clothes are washed, Karsyn's room is ready, and we have all the essentials we need expect that sweet blessing that God has so graciously blessed us with!

"But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently. " 

Romans 8:25 NLT

Recent belly pictures

We had a baby shower on May 11th! Our family got to come into town for the shower, so that was such a blessing! Karsyn got lots of good stuff and lots of clothes, which are an essential to every girls closest! The ladies that put the shower on for me and little miss have been incredible woman in my life!

Best friends! These lovely ladies were even bridesmaids in my wedding and now Karsyn's "aunt!"

Family! My grandma and mom on the left. There are 4 generations in that picture! So neat and I can't wait for Karsyn to meet my grandma and her grandma. The Stanley family in the right photo. They are WONDERFUL in-laws! 

I used to babysit the girl in the right photo, Tyler, and now she is old enough to babysit my baby! 

These 7th grade athletic Grape Creek girls threw me a mini shower! They are such a blessing and I hate to not be coaching them next year! They brought gifts, a cake, and a balloon! It made my heart full!

Here's pictures of our sweet Karsyn's room! Hurry up baby girl, mommy and daddy are anxiously awaiting to meet you! 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

James 1:17

Karsyn Stanley

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."

Jeremiah 1:5

That "you" is ME. He knew me before he formed me in the womb, just like he knows Karsyn now. Wow! And not only did he know me, he called me and set me apart. Wow again! I pray that he calls Karsyn to himself, just like he has called her mommy and daddy. I pray that in our home we would create an environment that glorifies God and that we would allow God to do the work. I am awestruck that God has called us to come along side him with what he is already doing in her precious life. 

Only 5.5 weeks left until Karsyn's due date.... Yikes! We are so ready to meet her, but feel like we have so much left to do to prepare for her arrival. I want it to go fast, but slow all at the same time. I became really uncomfortable about a week ago, especially while sleeping. Only sleeping 3 or 4 hours at a time.... I know this will continue for the next several months. And oh what a blessing no sleep is -- this means Karsyn is soon to make her appearance! 

3D sonogram at 28 weeks.

In March, I was in Dondi's wedding, a best friend from high school. I have so many good memories with Dondi and the red blazer! We popped all 4 tires on her blazer in only a few hours, riding 4-wheelers, 6 flags trip, playing cops and robbers -- life was fun and easy! I was 6 months pregnant so wearing heels and fitting into my dress was definitely a challenge. But I am so thankful that Dondi allowed me to be apart of her big day! 

On May 5th, Presley celebrated his 5th birthday! He has been my "baby" for so long! It will be a dramatic change for him once baby Karsyn arrives. 

We had maternity pictures taken by Kensie Lee Photography. I would recommend her to anyone that has big life event! Here is a preview of some pics:

Baby Stanley

Life has been busy, but good.
Some weeks I feel like all I can do is just enough to stay afloat. Therefore the things I want to do (update blog) get pushed to the side for the things that NEED to be done.

In October I updated our blog with the news that we were pregnant! It has been a journey, but an exciting one! The first trimester was rough with morning sickness, but after about 13 weeks that subsided and I regained some energy! We have hit some small bumps in the second trimester like sciatic nerve pain, migraines, and sinus infections, but each time I feel that precious girl kick or see her face on the sonogram it makes it all worth while!

At 23 weeks! We already love her so much! Only 17 more weeks until we meet her! 

So here's some pictures of the growing belly! 14 weeks, right at the end of the first trimester and baby Stanley was only the size of a lemon. 22 weeks, weighing over 1 pound now; growing and kicking so much. Its crazy that God created a woman's body to do this!

On January 25th we had a gender reveal party! We had a sonogram the Wednesday before the party, but did not find out the sex of the baby. We took an envelope that revealed the gender to a friend and she cut holes in the color of balloons that were not the gender. So that only 1 color of balloons would blow up, either blue or pink to reveal the gender! We were so excited to find out if it was a he or she, so we could stop saying "it"! Our guest wore pink if they thought it was a girl and blue for a boy. I thought boy and Matt wore pink! My brother (hoping for a nephew) came in for the party, it was great to have him in angelo for a weekend! 

Matt and Kailee were right, IT'S A GIRL! 

As I think and pray through pregnancy and our baby girls development, I think about how in a short 17 weeks we will become responsible for another life. Wow, thats a big deal! And I know that its only by God's hand that we will even be able to do this daily. I think about things I want teach her like how to walk, how to use the big potty, bible stories, how to read and write, how to play volleyball, different scriptures, about serving others, how to cook, and etc. All great things, but more than all of that I want to teach her about our Lord, not just how to be a fan, but to whole heartedly/daily surrender and follow hard after her Lord! That she would claim him as her Lord! I pray that she would learn these things, not only by my words, but by the way I lived. 

HUGE responsibility.

Prepare me now, Lord. 

One last thing.... this wonderful husband of mine turned 30 on Feb 4th! Can't wait to see him as a father to our daughter! :) When we first got married in 2010, I thought how could I  love this man any more, but I was wrong. I love him SO MUCH MORE today than I did then! Thankful that God has allowed me to share life with him!