A New Year Will Bring New Things

After waiting patiently and praying lots the Lord has graciously blessed Justin (and I) with our first church! First Baptist Church in Tyronza, AR voted yes this morning to have Justin as their pastor. We are so excited and thankful for this opportunity. Justin went and preached last week and we got to spend the day there and meet the sweet people. And they were just that...so sweet and welcoming to us! We can't wait to get to know everyone better and begin our ministry there. Justin will preach his first Sunday there as their pastor on January 1. We won't move until the end of January though. I need time to pack! But also Justin is a part time manager at Lifeway and he wants to stay there until the end of January. 

There are many reasons why I'm so thankful and excited. The obvious is this is what we have been waiting for a while now for this to happen and this is what the Lord has called Justin to do. Also, I'm pretty much moving back to my "home". Trumann is only about 25 minutes away and I miss living in Northeast Arkansas...really I do! I love small towns. When you live in Memphis for almost three years...you will miss it to! (unless you're a city person...which I"m not) I'm also looking forward to Justin being home more. This is has been a tough year with him working two jobs. There are several days where he is gone from 9 in the morning until almost 10 at night...it's been rough. He will actually be able to be home for dinner...and lunch! The parsonage is right beside the church...which is great! I'm not saying he won't be busy...but he will be able to be home a lot more than he is now! I will also be right in between my mom and sister...only 25 min. from both. Yay! I'm so glad we will be close to Jonesboro again too. I miss going there. I know that sounds silly but really..live in Memphis...you will appreciate "smaller" things...at least I do. :) Oh and I get to live in the same town that one of my best/oldest (not age wise!) friends teaches in. I can't wait to see you a lot more Megan!! But, yes in the midst of all this excitement is a little nervousness. I don't feel like I'm ready or adequate enough to be a preacher's wife. I"m sure every woman goes through that..or at least I think so anyway! I have things to learn and I know I will. Thankfully I have a Lord who will be with me every step. And a mom who I personally feel is one of the best pastor's wives I know, who can give me some great advice and help along the way. She made it look so easy...but I'm sure there were things I didn't know about! 

Here's a picture of the house will be moving into real soon. It's three bedrooms, two baths and has lots more room than our apartment! It's actually a really nice house. The second one is the house but you can see the church to the left...yes we are in walking distance. I love it. 

Well, in other news my brother is coming home Christmas Eve!! I can't wait to see him and I can't wait for him and Luke to spend some time together. I'm looking forward to spending time with all of my family. I'm sad we won't get to see our family in Oklahoma but we will be making a trip in January for a few days..and we are looking forward to that! 

Baby Jude is growing and moving around a lot! And he is making me grow a lot...hehe. But I'm okay with that. I'll just have a lot of work to do after he's born...I got to get in pre-baby shape before Julie's wedding!! I did it once I can do it again. :) 

Thanks to everyone for the Congrats and prayers for our family as we begin this exciting new stage in our lives...it is comforting to know we have such great support from our family and friends. The Lord has truly blessed us. 

It's Another Boy!

This little person is Jude William Heck...and he's a boy! I think he's just precious. Sorry for the blurriness of the picture...someone in our house chewed on the printer/scanner cord and now I am not able to plug it into the computer..oops! It was probably Justin. So I had to use my phone. Anyway, I was so excited about having an ultrasound. I didn't think I was going to on Friday. I honestly had no idea if it was going to be a girl or boy...for some reason I had this feeling it was a boy with Luke. I will say there was some slight disappointment when she said it's a boy...but it was gone real fast when I thought about having two boys who hopefully will be best friends! Maybe one day we will have a girl..and if not..I"ll be okay with that...Julie will just have to one! Plus I get to babysit a sweet little girl a few days week. My cousin's baby girl...her name is Maddie and she is so sweet and has chubby cheeks that I kiss all the time. So I get my baby girl fix. :)

Which brings me to more news...Julie (my little sister) is getting married this summer! Yay! I'm so excited. I love weddings...and I"m so glad I get to help plan one that's not mine. She's also getting a new house next year as well..so 2012 is going to be a big year for the Henderson family. I love it!

Pregnancy is going great so far...no sickness at all! I'm thrilled about this. Now I'm just hungry all the time...like really hungry...as in I just got done eating dinner and still feel like I could eat another meal..not good...but I won't! (maybe I'll have some ice cream later..hehe) Also, it's really hard to consistently workout while you're pregnant..geeze! I really want to...but all I want to do is not do that. I've got to be better at it. But I've done a lot better than last time...I don't think I walked or worked out once..and it showed! I have noticed I feel lots better when I do though.

Some sad news happened recently...our best friends moved away. :( It was a sad day. They have lived under us since we moved here and Kim has become my best friend. And of course her son Malachi and Luke were best friends too. It's pretty lonely sometimes. But thankfully they didn't move too far...only about 40-45 minutes from here. So we will still get to see each other..but of course it's not the same. I think I would be a lot more sad if I knew Justin had 3 more years of school and we were going to be living here a lot longer. But hopefully we will get to move soon..(maybe close to them..who knows!) Justin is ready to pastor..and we are ready to begin our ministry wherever the Lord puts us...we are just patiently waiting for that door to open. And we know it will eventually. So, if you think about it pray for us during this "waiting period". It can be a little frustrating sometimes...I've had to pray for a lot of patience!

It's like a brick in your pocket....

I'll start by saying this post is going to be a little sentimental and some senseless ramblings...so you can't say I didn't warn you. And I'm pregnant so my hormones and emotions are a little crazy right now...(I love getting to use pregnancy as an excuse for my emotions...but seriously it's true!) Anyway, a few weeks ago I was watching an interview with a widow of one of the victims of 9/11. She was asked how she feels now 10 years later after her husbands death. I loved her explanation and it has stuck with me since. She said it's like having a brick in you pocket. When her husband first died, that brick was so heavy...she felt it everyday...it was hard to do normal everyday things. But after a while she got used to it, she could go on with her daily routines/events...but there would be times when that brick would become heavy again and the weight would be overwhelming...(like on the anniversary for instance). She said the brick will always remain, the weight may not be as heavy as it use to be, but it will always be there. And you could see that in all the faces of the people that were interviewed...and as the people looked at the names of their loved ones on the memorial in New York...yes, it's been 10 years, but the pain and emotions of losing someone will always remain....you will never forget.

 I can relate to what this lady described as death being like a brick in your pocket. Monday will be 8 years since I lost my dad to cancer. 8 years...I can't even believe that. Anyway...within the first days/weeks/years of his death that brick was heavy...very heavy. The weight of the emotions and sadness from his death was so strong it was overwhelming at times. As the years go by I got use to that brick...the pain wasn't as strong. But there are times that brick does become heavy again...for example..graduation from high school, college, my wedding, having Luke, every time I go visit Maple Grove (his last church he pastored)...and now being pregnant with this second baby. It goes to show that , yes time does heal the intensity of the pain...but the pain is still there. As long as I'm living on this earth, there will always be reminders that he's not here. I'm sure anyone that has lost someone so dear to them can relate to this. 

Well in other news..pregnancy news..I'm feeling much better. The sickness is starting to subside...not sure if it's the drugs my wonderful doctor gave me or just the end of the sickness time...who knows...I'm not going to stop taking this medicine to find out though. I like being able to eat without wanting to die later. Also, Justin doesn't have to work on Friday nights anymore and he only works one job on Saturdays...so the weekends are much more enjoyable than they use to be. And tomorrow is...Friday! So I'm excited...it has become movie night and Taco Bell night...yeah I know it's lame...but my cravings for Taco Bell have started again and to avoid eating it every day (like I did last time...and why I gained a gazillion pounds) I get to treat myself to Taco Bell on Friday nights now...so needless to say I'm really looking forward to tomorrow...it's the little things in life. 

Before I end this really long post....I have to share a cute thing Luke does for those who care...I think it's adorable. Every morning he wakes up and says "befast" (that means breakfast..duh.) and then he says "juice" and gets really excited. So when he wakes up from his nap he starts saying "befast" "juice"...I think he maybe a little confused. I try to explain we only have breakfast in the morning...he doesn't get it though. 

Scarves, Boots, and Football

I wasn't sure what to title this blog...because it's going to be pretty random. So I just titled it the three things I love about fall..so there ya go! (and I really do love football) I may not know everyone's name that is playing or understand it all..but I really do love having it on our TV and hopefully we will be able to go to a Saints, OU, or Arkansas game this year.

Anyway, I got to have my first doctor's appointment yesterday. It went great...I liked my doctor and I got to have a surprise ultrasound and look at this cute little lovey:

That's a pretty cute baby right there. He (I don't really think or know if it's a he but I just want to call it something...so we will go with he) was moving a lot...waving his cute little nubby arms and legs. It was adorable...my eyes got a little watery when he was doing all that. I just love having an ultrasound...it really is an amazing thing to watch. Also, it makes the pregnancy so much more "real" and it gives you that "boost" you need to keep going! And I needed one...since I've been having some sickness. It's a lot better than it was a few weeks ago..I'm actually able to eat better and not rush to the bathroom 3-4 times a day! But all the things I was eating before (healthy things) make me feel icky to even think about eating them...as in wheat bread, grilled chicken...some fruits...which is really frustrating because I want to keep eating those things. Of course the only things that sound good are carbs and fattening stuff...but it's been fun eating some of them at least! :) My doctor gave me some drugs to help with the sickness, so I'll be back to healthy eating...but occasionally eating some fun things!

We finally were able to go out to the zoo today. It was such a beautiful day and the boys (Luke, Malachi and Isaac) seemed to have a good time. I'll put some pictures up soon. I'm sure we will be making many more trips.

That's all the updating I've got for now...and yes I know it wasn't much. I've got to go make myself look pretty for my husband...we have a hot date tonight. :)

Remembering

The start of school and fall always brings up memories and makes me remember my time at Williams. I know everyone says college was one of the best 4 (or more) years of their lives...but really for me it was. I'm so thankful for my time there and the friends (and my husband) that I met. It really felt like home...everyone became family. I miss it there. I remember feeling so nervous and sick the day we were to leave and move in. I cried with my mom. I am such a homebody? (is that how you spell that)....so it was hard for me to move away...especially having to leave my mom! But I was easily able to meet new friends and adapt very well. My favorite part was , of course, Singers. I miss Dr. Magee and singing and practicing every week. I remember I would have a bad or stressful day with school/studying and I would go into Singer's practice and I could just forget all of that for an hour! Ahhh...I miss those days! But don't worry..I wouldn't trade my life now for that. I hope we can go visit sometime soon...or hopefully make it to Homecoming. I need some Pizza Den as well!! Love that place...a fried chicken poboy sounds marvelous right about now. :) Someone in Walnut Ridge bring me one...please. 

Well....sorry for getting all sentimental. Now back to real life...the morning/afternoon/night sickness has arrived. It actually started last week!...blah! This week has actually been a little better than last week. But man...it's not fun. I have to eat as soon as I feel hungry or it will be too late and then I feel too sick to eat anything. Hopefully I only have a few more weeks of this yuckiness. 

Now that school and fall time is starting I would really like to start doing more activities/fun things with Luke. I've been looking on Pinterest (which by the way is very addiciting...but I love it) for ideas. I've found some cute ones. We are going to try finger painting...with edible finger paint...some coloring, learning some numbers and letters...I know he's young..but we can start somewhere. He loves learning about animals and can name several of them. I think he's pretty smart. We hope to make several trips to the zoo (he loves it) once it gets a little cooler and maybe to the Children's Museum. I want to do as much as we can before baby #2 gets here and things get crazy around here! 

New Things

I am really bad at this blogging thing. I wish I was better at it and my blog looked cool, but I have no idea how to fix that. If you know please tell me. Thanks!

It's been a loooooong time since my last post (9 months to be exact)...I could have had a baby by now! (I haven't by the way) So, I'll summarize the high points of the last 9 months.

1. I started weight watchers and working out everyday in January...I lost 30 lbs in 4 months! It was the best feeling ever. I am the healthiest I have ever been. I'm not the skinniest, but I'm in the best shape I have ever been as well. It feels great! I really enjoy working out/exercising...I feel gross if I don't.

2. Justin graduated with his Master's in May! Woo hoo! So proud of him...he's smarter than me. But I'm really glad he is. He maybe getting his Doctorate...but we aren't sure yet..(more on that later)

3. We found out in July we are having baby #2! Yay! We are both excited. We've been trying so no, it wasn't a surprise. It felt so different finding out with this baby than with Luke. I was scared to death and wanted to throw up when we found out we were pregnant with Luke. (I eventually got happier but it was scary) But I was thrilled with this one! Now that I know what to somewhat expect it makes it easier. And yes, I am fine with the fact I will be gaining some weight after losing a bunch...(I've had people ask me that!) I WILL NOT gain like I did last time. I am eating healthy and still exercising everyday. I plan to gain what I'm suppose to. And then lose it all fast..hopefully!

Those are some high points of the past 9 months. Justin is still working two jobs...yes we are thankful for those, but geeze I miss my husband...really. It's not fun...some days he misses lunch and dinner...actually most days! We praying that the Lord will be placing him in a church soon, as a pastor. He has sent his resume to different churches....some look promising. :) He is ready to be a pastor and do what the Lord has called him to do...and so am I. He has been able to do a lot of pulpit supply in the last few months...so that has been good...I know he enjoys that. My cousin, Marie Millikin, had her sweet baby girl this week, and whenever she starts back to work I will be babysitting sweet little Maddie. I'm excited about having a little girl around here, but it will be nice to make some extra money. Well those are some updates....hopefully it won't be another 9 months before the next one!