My Best Friend's Wedding...

that I missed.

Yep, that's right. I wasn't there. There are probably 2 people in the whole world (outside of my fam) that I would never miss their wedding - my childhood best friend Lindsey and my college best friend and roomie, Lana. (Well, I got to be in Lindsey's wedding back in June...she was gracious enough to still let me stand up for her even though I was 6 1/2 months pregnant. Thanks Lin!) However, as of yesterday, Lana Hass is now Lana Hawk and I wasn't there for it.

We realized this was going to be the case back in the spring. Josh and I had just started telling people we were expecting (since we were out of our first trimester) around the same time Lana got engaged. Long story short, she had a very small window of opportunity to get married and well, I can't exactly change my due date. Seeing as I'm about 3 weeks from having a baby and Lana's big shindig was about 10 hours away in Indiana, I guess it wasn't meant to happen. But after some awkward silence on the phone and shedding a few good tears, we accepted the situation for what it was.

Bottom line is Lana was going to walk away married to her best friend at the end of the day, whether I was there or not and here in a few weeks, I'll have a little baby in my arms and I'm sure I won't regret the reason I missed. I can still be a source of encouragement and accountability in her marriage whether I got to stand beside her or not.

So to Lana - I love you tons and sent up prayers for you and Adam all day yesterday. I can only imagine how beautiful you looked. (I can't wait to see pictures.) I miss you and I'm beyond blessed to still call you my best friend. Congratulations Mrs. Hawk. :)

Our only picture together on her wedding weekend. We got to skype for a few minutes Saturday morning so I could at least feel a small part of it.

Life Update...

Since it's been a couple weeks since my last post, I figured I would update everyone on the latest in the life of the Dough's. Bulleted lists makes things easier to read, right???

• The House - We officially closed on our home in Branson yesterday. I'd like to tell you that it's bittersweet, but that's not true. It's just sweet. After the waiting process, we are more than relieved to have that burden removed. It was a wonderful home and we'll carry some sweet memories from it, but I know we will eventually have a wonderful home here too. (Oh, and we made $600 more than we were expecting...not much to some people I'm sure, but that's A LOT to us. Thank you Lord!)
  
• Back to 2 Cars - After the crazy sale of the jeep, we went on a hunt for a more "family-friendly" car. We already knew what we were looking for, and it only took us about 2 weeks to find the right car at the right price. We now own a 2005 Nissan Murano. We were looking more at 2007's and 2008's, but they all had more miles and cost way more. Our 2005 only has 50,000 miles on it and was way cheaper. And you can't beat not having a car payment, right?!? Obviously, we've only had it for a week, but so far, it's been great and we love it. One more step closer to Baby Dough!!! :)
  
• Our Stuff - Yes, we closed on our house and if you've kept up with previous posts - no, we are not in the rental house yet. Still a few weeks before that move (fingers crossed that Baby Dough waits to make a grand entrance until we are in there...we'll see.) So, most of our stuff is in storage for a few weeks - yes that means we'll be moving it multiple times in a month. So fun. But hey, on the bright side, the sweet family that owns the house we'll be renting (and still currently lives there) moved their stuff out of one room so we could put all our BIG pieces of furniture in there and not move them twice. That makes things a little less complicated.
  
• Baby Dough - Baby Dough is doing great and getting BIG (at least in my opinion.) I start my weekly exams next week which means we are definitely on the home stretch. We now also have all of our baby stuff in one place - that's a good feeling. Definitely not organized and not set up, but at least it's in 1 place, not 3. Now if I could only find a pair of shoes that fit my fat feet. I have to squeeze them into every pair. Not cute, I can promise you that...but worth it, I'm sure. Sorry no pic, this time - I'll try to post at least one more soon.

I'm sure there's more to tell, but that covers the big stuff. Well, other than how excited we are that college football starts in less than a week. Go Hogs!

Jeep-less...

So, like I promised...here's the update on the vehicle situation. As stated in the previous post, we've had a lot happen in the past couple weeks. All great things, just A LOT to take in. Including what happened on Tuesday.

We've known for months now that we would need to reconsider our current vehicle situation. Josh has driven a '99 Jeep Wrangler for the past 3 years, and it's worked great b/c he didn't drive it very much. Just to work (which used to be a 4-minute drive) when we weren't driving together and around town on a really nice day. The Jeep seriously only used a tank and a half of gas every month - max. So no biggie!

Well, with the new job and baby on the way, we knew it was time to sell the Jeep. Josh drives around (town, not long-distance...don't be confused) like crazy for his new job, and the Jeep was KILLING our gas budget. Let's just say it got about 12 miles to the gallon. Yep, I know. We'll blame it on the huge tires. So anyways, we started fixing up a few of the things that needed fixing (not the big things, just the affordable ones) and cleaned it really well on Saturday.

I, being (slightly Type A) added "Put the Jeep on Craigslist" to my to-do list, and Tuesday afternoon I was really wanting to cross another thing off, so I told Josh that we should go ahead and list. So we did.  I assumed it would take a while to sell. I was wrong.

Josh jokingly told me as soon as we posted the ad, "Okay, start the timer. Let's see how long it takes to get our first call." Well....

18 minutes later...we got a call and an offer at our goal price. The guy showed up at our place within another 10 minutes, and they were off to the bank 20 minutes after that. So literally, in less than an hour, the Jeep was gone and we had cash in hand. 

This is a good thing, I know. But it happened SO FAST that I didn't feel like I had time to process. I called my dad b/c I still don't feel like I'm old enough to make these big decisions on my own even though I'm 28 and have been married for 5 1/2 years. Do you ever feel old enough to feel confident making huge decisions like that? I don't know.

So, we're currently down to one car (which we can make work for a while) and on the hunt for a crossover vehicle that will serve as more of a family car. I'm excited.

I realize this sounds silly, but I feel kind of bad for Josh. If you know him at all, you know he is OBSESSED with Jeep Wranglers. I mean, wrangler owners seriously have their own club. They wave at every other wrangler (and ONLY wranglers) they pass on the road...and get offended when they don't wave back. It's like improper etiquette or something. But he told me it was worth it - he gets a baby out of the deal! Anyways, I hope that someday we can afford to get him another wrangler - even just as an extra vehicle.

In the meantime though, thanks for sacrificing babe! The Jeep will be missed. :(

Life Update...

Well, this post is (as most) overdue. I should have shared all this news as it was going on, but more keeps happening so maybe it's good I waited. I'll try to keep this short and to the point, but God has been so faithful with the little details, I'm not sure if I can. So, here goes...


The House-
I finally posted about our journey and battle with waiting on July 24th (specifically about our house), and we got an offer on our house 2 days later. CRAZY! We didn't even know someone looked at our house. Our realtor text Josh on Tuesday saying "the showing last night went really well, think you're gonna get an offer today." This was the first time they hadn't told us about a showing - somehow just slipped through the cracks, I guess. I'm not complaining though. Maybe not knowing was best. Apparently. Well, by Thursday we were under contract - for a great price that we were very happy with. Praise the Lord! Our closing date is set for August 26th and everything looks good to go through at this point. :) 


Where to Next?
So, once that was under way, we needed to find somewhere to live. Reminder that we are still currently staying with our friends in their guest house. They have been SO gracious and hospitable to us, but we can't stay once Baby Dough arrives. We decided we don't want to buy anything immediately (unless we found the perfect house for the perfect price.) Unfortunately, the market isn't looking to get any better any time soon so we don't want to rush. Especially since we would be closing on a house around the same time I would be having a baby. CRAZY! 


So our decision was to try and find something temporary and affordable to rent so we could transition through this crazy phase, save a little money, and be looking for a house in the meantime. Of course we preferred to rent a house or a town home, but it was looking like the only "affordable" option that would allow us to save money was going to be a small apartment. We didn't move forward with this, as we were still putting feelers out with people, and God, once again, came through BIG time!


Long (long) story short - a couple from our church has bought a house and is moving to Prairie Grove. They've been trying to sell their current house in Springdale for over a year and decided to take it off the market for a while. They said we could rent it (for SUPER affordable-basically what we would be paying for a 1-bedroom apartment) under no contract or commitment. We can stay for a month or 6 months - whatever we need! They are the SWEETEST couple. So anyways, we'll be able to save money and keep looking for a house. We're so excited!


Oh, the only catch - they don't close on their house until Sept. 19th. Yep, you guessed it. That means we can't move in there until 10 days before my due date. We'll pray Baby Dough is closer to the 29th so we don't have to move in with someone else for a few days until we can move into this house. Believe it or not, I'm actually not worried about it! The Lord has worked out every detail so far. He'll work out this one too. :)


So...............
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers and support through this process. It still seems a little surreal that these prayers are finally answered after months and months of waiting. We feel incredibly blessed. 


"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" Eph. 3:20-21


Oh, and we have a crazy vehicle update to give you too, but this post was getting too long. So, more on that tomorrow. :)

32 Weeks...

Well, technically over 32 weeks. Per request, here's the most updated belly pic, taken at about 32 1/2 weeks. Pretty big difference from the last time, huh? Or so I think. It's hard to believe I have less than 8 weeks left until Baby Dough is actually here. The time has flown. It's definitely becoming more real, and we get more excited everyday. 

For those who are interested, here are a few other updates about the pregnancy. I still feel really good. People are sweet to ask me all the time how I'm feeling, but they always ask in a tone that makes me think they expect to hear the worse. I mean, I really feel pretty normal. Obviously bigger, but not too bad. The only other major changes are swollen feet by 8pm every night (of course, it's 108 degrees outside), starting to lose sleep at night (I'm assuming that's one way the Lord is prepping me for lack of sleep for the first 2 months), and a belly button that sticks straight out. I HIGHLY considered photoshopping that out of the picture, but it wouldn't be true to what I really look like. I mean, the top of my belly button sticks out so far - at least in my eyes it does. Josh is sweet to tell me it's cute and expected, I just think it's a little gross. And definitely not cute in fitted shirts and dresses. Oh well, it will be worth it when I finally get to hold this little one. :) 


Other than that, I am in the healthy range for weight gain, I'm still exercising, and I really don't have any cravings. Not saying I don't believe women have cravings when they're pregnant, I just haven't. Certain foods will sound good at certain times, but that's no different than when I wasn't pregnant. Stuff sounds good, but I don't CRAVE it. However, I do use my extra 200/300 calories per day that I'm supposed to have as a great excuse to have another bowl of cereal. Cereal continues to prove itself as my favorite food. I get almost as excited about picking out my cereal on grocery runs as I do about going to Hallmark. Just a couple random facts about me. :)


So there's the update. I'll do my best to post one more pic, closer to the end. (Depending on how big I am.) ;) Thanks for all the prayers for Baby Dough. 


Oh and life update coming soon. Lots of changes since the last post. (GREAT ones, too!)

Waiting...

Reason for the 2 week absence: well, the length of this post. Been meaning to post about this for a while, but didn't really know how to put it into words. The result - a LONG post, sorry. Hope you'll stick with me through this one.

Okay, brief update for those of you who aren't caught up to speed with the latest in our life (I thought about doing a post solely about this since there have been so many changes lately - I'll keep that in mind.) Back in mid-May, we moved from Branson, Missouri to Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville, in the meantime). We knew some sort of move was going to take place  - though really didn't know any specifics yet - back in February, so we put our house up for sale at that point. 

To be really honest, I was (apparently) overconfident about this process. Our house was not even 2 years old, it is in a great location, great neighborhood, has a huge unfinished walk-out basement and it's just a great house. (No, I'm not trying to sell it right now, I promise.) Our realtor was convinced we would have no problem selling it, and though usually I'm the "realist" (and sometimes pessimist) of the family, I was convinced too. 

I was wrong. Our house has officially been on the market for 5 months, and we are quickly approaching the arrival of Baby Dough - less than 10 weeks now. 

You are probably wondering what we have been doing since we moved. Well, we have some incredible friends that have a great guest house attached to their garage that they have been so graciously letting us live in for the past 2 months. But if I'm allowed to state the obvious here, bringing a baby into the mix changes everything and potentially, our current living situation. 

Please know I'm not posting this looking for pity. And it's not to sound bitter or negative. The Lord has just been prompting my heart to share about this journey that He currently has us on, in hopes that it offers some encouragement to someone.

Let's just say Josh and I have had a lot of "come to Jesus" moments, especially over the last month. It's one thing for us to say we trust the Lord and His timing, but it's a whole separate issue when you have to put your faith where your mouth is. Do I really believe that? I'll be honest and say my thought life lately hasn't exactly backed this up. There are days I feel the fear and anxiety of what's next almost choking me. I fail at suppressing it. Even worse, I fail at giving it to the Lord.

Yet as always, He's gracious to remind me of His promises. We feel like this whole year has been about trusting and waiting for the Lord. And I'll be really honest, it's been one of the hardest years I've ever experienced. But I'm thankful. And I really mean that. I'm thankful that He loves me enough not to leave me where He found me. Even when the process hurts. 

He's also faithful to give me perspective in the midst of waiting. He reminds me that we could be waiting (like several of our friends) for over 2 years to even get pregnant. He reminds me that we could be waiting (like other close friends of ours) to see our 2 1/2 year old walk for the first time because of a long list of medical problems. What's a house, right?

So even though Baby Dough doesn't have a cute and prepared nursery waiting for him/her, even though we don't know where we are going to be living or even financially what this is going to look like month to month, there's still peace. Peace in knowing the Lord does know. And that's why there's peace in the waiting. 

So, in the meantime Lord, continue to remind us of what we sang this morning...

"You are peace, you are peace, when my fear is crippling."

Happy Birthday Sarah Grace!

Today is one of my old small group girls' (from Searcy) birthday. She is wrapping up her first summer working at Kanakuk, and she came to Fayetteville to visit us for her last 2-4 and her birthday. We celebrated by taking her to Marketplace last night for a birthday dinner, then I got to cook a birthday breakfast for her and Lexie this morning before she headed back. It was so fun getting to celebrate with her since I don't get to see her as much as I used to. 


I have known Sarah Grace since she was finishing her 8th grade year - she is now going to be a sophomore at Auburn in the fall. Time serious flies. She was in my small group for 2 years when we worked for Fellowship in Searcy, and we have been able to remain really close. Actually, I've been able to stay in touch with all of the girls, and they bless me just as much now as they did then. I still call them "my girls" and probably will for a long time. It has been incredibly rewarding to watch them grow and mature so much. Can you tell I'm really proud of them? 


Sarah Grace - Happy Birthday sweet girl! I treasured our short time together today. And because Sarah makes me think of all you girls, to the rest of you...I miss you and think of you tons! 


In honor of Sarah's birthday, I thought I'd post a few pics (one from last night and then a few blasts from the past...she's gonna love me for these.) It's been a privilege to be a part of your life for the past 5 1/2 years. Enjoy!

Us with Sarah Grace, Lexie, and Levi after the birthday dinner last night at Marketplace (free peanut butter mess-yes, please!)

And for the oldies...

At Camp Barnabas on our first spring break service trip in '07

At SWO, summer camp '08 - they always appreciated how seriously I took our pictures

Our last small group trip together before I moved to Branson - sweet, sweet memories

Failed attempt at a pyramid on top of the tube - I blame Sarah, just look at her face

Trip to visit me in Branson this last Christmas 

*I have so many more pictures, but I thought I'd spare all of us the embarrassment. I miss you girls!