Randomness

We had Corinne weighed the other day. She went from 7 lbs 3 oz to 11 lbs 6 oz in just a few weeks!! I thought that my arms were hurting me. It amazes me how fast babies change and grow. She is smiling all the time now and she makes so many adorable noises. I love her so much I just want to eat her up!!! (Why do people say that, by the way?)

Things are finally starting to settle down around here. We have most of the house put together- we just have a little more cleaning and organizing to do. The teens start school this week, so Jason will officially start his Young Life duties. He also got a job working a few hours at the local coffee shop- but you knew that he would!

We just celebrated our 3 year anniversary in Washington DC. We had a good time, but it wasn't exactly what we expected. But what is, right? It is just so crazy that we have been married for 3 years already- and have a kid! But God is so good and He knows exactly what we can handle and I feel so content right now with my life.

Not that I don't desire change and challenge. In fact, I have really been struggling spiritually. I just feel that I am at a dry and stagnant place right now. We haven't found a church yet, so I don't have that to rely on. I have always struggled with my prayer life, I hardly ever take the time to talk to God. It's not that I don't want to, it's just, well I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything. I also feel like I haven't really hit the Scriptures hard since college. I was growing like a weed in college with all of the Bible classes. Ever since then, I have been relying on my knowledge to continue my growth, but I've hit a wall. I would appreciate prayer and any advice on books I should read or Bible studies I should do.

This has been random, but life is random! Thanks for listening.

Home

Well, we moved here to the farm house on August 2nd. We have been so busy with cleaning and organizing and settling ever since. We've already had lots of visitors, which is amazing, especially when they are eager to work (thanks Jym & Carrie)! We always thank them with some good BBQ for dinner (wink, wink)!

This place is amazing... God is amazing! It already feels like home here, except not as organized as "home" should be for me. But it will get there eventually. There have been so many blessings given to us since we got here, like a brand new mattress and box spring (with a loveseat thrown in) for less than $300. Things like that have happened over and over again in the week that we have been here. It just confirms for us that we are in the center of God's will. What a blessing!

We don't have any pictures of the house yet (did you really think I would show pics before everything was done?), but here is a beautiful rainbow that Jason saw on one of our first days here. Enjoy!!

AMAZING

God is so good! We had a home inspection in Maryland on the 21st and it did not go well. We were so excited to be taking the next step toward owning our own home and moving. After the contractor spent 2 hours looking the 850 square foot house over, his report had 26 items in the priority one category. That means that there were 26 things that we would have to do/fix before the house would really be livable. How crazy is that?! We immediately decided that we were not going to move forward with the house, because we are not in the position to purchase a "money pit". Needless to say, we were discouraged.

But earlier, our realtor had told us that there was someone from a local church who had a farm house that they wanted to rent to us because we were joining Young Life and we are a young couple in need. So we made an appointment to see it that afternoon. Feeling a little defeated, we pull up to the farm and see several buildings of different sizes. When we get out of the car, the whole place smells like poo- due to the 300+ cows, fertilizer, and the organic nature of the farm. Funny enough, the smell was kind of pleasant! The owner of the property met us and walked us into the largest farmhouse on the property. As we walked around the house, we were met by two living rooms, four fire places, two staircases, at least 4 bedrooms (we lost count) and a beautiful back yard. Then she dropped the bomb on us and said they wanted to charge us $300 a month for rent!! No, that is not a typo, that is all God! We feel so incredibly blessed and we are looking forward to moving there on August 1st. Maryland... here we come!!!

WOW

So much has been going on in the past month, where to even begin?

Of course, we had our baby girl on June 28th, which has already been mentioned. But life has been a whirlwind since she has arrived. They say that the mother should take it easy for a few weeks- get some rest, recover, and get to know your baby. I can't really say that I've taken it easy, in fact, I've done anything but.

We chose to celebrate July 4th, because it is Jason's birthday and our favorite holiday of the year. I fell asleep on the Heberlig's couch at one point, but I don't think that counts as rest!! On July 10th, we took Corinne to the John Mayer concert that Jason got me tickets to for my birthday. She was so good and we had a great time... but it is hard to breastfeed and rock out at the same time!! On July 13th-14th, we went to Maryland for our home inspection, (which was terrible, but more about that in the next blog) and it was Corinne's first night away from home. On July 14th-16th, we went family camping with the Embergers at Locust Lake State Park. It was actually quite enjoyable, but we did have to run into the car a lot to keep her cries from disturbing the other campers during quiet hours. And she went to her first amusement park, Knoebels, although she didn't get to ride any rides. On July 21st, Corinne had her first doctor's appointment and her first shot. She handled it pretty well and only screamed for a second! Then we visited my old work and Daddy's work at Starbucks. It was quite a day! Finally, we are going back to Maryland from July 26th-July 31st and Jason is going to be working at a camp and we are going to be staying with friends. It will be her first time apart from her Daddy, and I am a little worried that she isn't going to take it well. She is already a Daddy's girl and his presence really seems to soothe her. Please pray for us in that and just that I would eventually get some rest!!

Overwhelmed

Ohmygoodness!! Where has the time gone? Corinne is already 10 days old!! That is so scary to think about. Jason was talking yesterday about when she is 16 years old and what she is going to be like and I just started to cry because that seems so far from now and yet, I know it will be here before we know it. Having children changes your life! Everyone tells you that, but you can't possibly understand until you have one. All I want to do is love and protect her and teach and mold her, but I don't want to shelter her or spoil her or ruin her. There is so much pressure- just from myself- not to mess this kid up for life!!! AHHHH! But God is so good and I know that He gave me this child because I am the perfect mother for her and He knows that I can handle that responsibility. But wow, what a responsibility it is! Did I mention that God gave me the most amazing husband ever? He is my rock and I wouldn't be able to handle all of this without his love and support!

Corinne Mattea Emberger

Well, she is finally here! Corinne Mattea Emberger was born on Saturday, June 28th @ 3:02 in the afternoon. She weighed exactly 7 pounds and is 20 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful and we are so in love with her!!

I started having contractions at about 3:30 in the morning, and boy was in for a painful surprise. Contractions were nothing like I expected they would be!! When we got to the hospital around 6AM, the nurses had a hard time giving me an IV. They had to poke me 3 times before they got a weak IV and then the anesthesiologist had to poke (aka STAB) me a 4th time to get me an IV good enough to allow me to have an epidural. I did have some medicine in my IV that made me very loopy (I don't recommend it) and a very wonderful epidural that I am so thankful for!! I pushed for about two hours and just as I was about to push out the baby's head, another women who was sharing my doctor was pushing out her baby. So I had to hold my position for what seemed like hours (really only a few painful minutes (hey, epidurals aren't miracle-workers)) before I finally got to see my beautiful girl!!

Things have been wonderful and trying all at the same time. I absolutely adore this little girl and she is beautiful and alert and charming. But breast-feeding has been tough and sleeping even tougher and recovery ain't no joke! Please pray for us as Jason goes back to work tomorrow and I attempt to make it through my first 8 hours without his AMAZING help!!

Emotions

I had a little breakdown today. Who knew that waiting for a baby to come could be such an emotional experience. I'm not sad or angry at God or even bitter. I'm just so happy at the thought that today could be the day, that at the end of the day I feel a huge letdown. (Well actually, I feel letdown when I wake up in the morning from a glorious sleep that wasn't interrupted by a trip to the hospital!) It's a constantly roller coaster of "this could be it" and "I guess that wasn't it". I've never felt so unstable in my life! HAHA Before you start worrying about me and casting out demons, let me just say that I am fine. You try waiting for the single most amazing moment of your life day after day without knowing when it's supposed to happen. Then you'll understand. ;o) But until then, pray for us, that we would be patient and trust God's timing and plan!