MISTER Banana Bird!

Well, it's a bit late - but it's time for the formal announcement!
To the immediate left and a tiny bit below "boy" is the little manhood! Our baby is officially known to be a beautiful, strong and healthy boy! I have been SURE that he was a boy the whole time, but it was still sooo exciting to find out for sure! Andy was definitely secretly yearning for a first-born son, so I know he is ecstatic! Here are some more pictures!!

Isn't he handsome????








10 fingers!! And in the second picture, he stopped squirming and hiding long enough to give a quick wave!!



























This is where I get to brag about him being just like mama! In the left picture, he is most definitely giving the peace sign - "peace. love. save the baby whales!" And in the picture on the right, he has his 2 little feet crossed (1o toes), which is exactly what I do when I'm laying down!!!




















We'll end baby pictures with a grand ol' from the bottom of his adorable bum, thighs and little manhood! He was squirming and kicking ALL over the place during the ultrasound, and made things a bit difficult for the dear nurse - she was a trooper though and got all the shots she needed. She said he is right on track and kept my due date exactly as it was before: Jan 23rd! He is in the 50th percentile in terms of size, so apparently he's not the big fat baby I was expecting (since he eats all of my food and leaves me starving all day long)! :) It was so incredible to see him and to find out for sure that he's a HE!

I think everyone on Andy's side of the family was expecting that first-born Bird son, but everyone in MY family was completely shocked (based on the shocking amount of girls born to my sister, and the fact that girls always seem to come first with the whole family)! I, for one, would have been shocked and delighted either way (because it's shocking and delightful enough just knowing there's a HUMAN growing inside of me)! I am sooo excited to meet our son - and I'm officially half-way through my pregnancy, so it won't be long now!

Other things have happened lately that I could write about... but, honestly, who cares??? :)

(Nathanael, I promise to put up the Weiss Family pics/videos soon!)

HURRAY for Baby!

The Spider Saga.

Ahhh yes, life in a poisonous-spider-infested house. What a joy it has been.

I'll spare you all the horrific and miserable details, but will inform you that we are all trying to be moved out of this miserable excuse for a "home" in the next 3-4 weeks. The search for new residences has intensified over the last week or 2 and I spend hours every day searching desperately for something that will work for Andy and I (price, location, space for workshop, etc.)

Living here has been the most challenging living situation I have ever experienced... bar none. I've always taken for granted that general feeling of safety and well-being that has accompanied me throughout the numerous homes I've lived in... but now I know the true value of such feelings. Living in a house where you feel unsafe, uncared for by your landlords, and incapable of bettering the situation in any way... it's not a good feeling, let me tell you. This has certainly been a test of patience and faith for all of us, and I'm praying that God is going to swiftly take us away from this place and bless our endurance through the last 6 months.

The search for new homes has been frustrating but is NOTHING compared to living here. Even though moving again so soon is not something any of us relish doing, it is WORTH IT just to get out of here! The Mossesses are looking into buying a home in East Nashville - a fixer-upper of a home with great potential for a good living situation and a great investment for future profit. Pray for God's favor for them to get the finances needed to purchase and renovate the house into a comfortable home for all of them. Andy and I have looked into several different rental properties but have yet to find the house that meets all of our needs (or even most of them). We thought we had found a place but are running into many potential difficulties for his workshop, so I don't think it's going to work out after all. It is discouraging, because the house and workshop were the perfect size, location and price... but there are challenges with the shop that we can't come up with good solutions to, and this is one of the most important features that we need to work out. I'll continue the daily searching - but please be praying that God opens up one door very clearly for us and very soon... I would love to have something decided by the end of this week, so we can have time to pack and get everything in order for the move and be out of here by the 1st or 2nd week of September.

PLEASE be praying.

Besides all of that excitement, things are going pretty well. The business has started to pick back up (after a painfully slow July) and we continue to trust God's provision for all of our needs. I'm feeling pretty good these days (getting some of my energy back - although still TIRED), and still enjoying pregnancy overall. I'll put belly pictures up again soon - it is finally starting to make an appearance that has people asking if I'm pregnant! Yay! We have about 3 weeks before we find out if we're having a boy or a girl and I can't wait! I'm getting more and more nervous about being a parent, but also more excited!

That's it for now... please be praying about our housing situation...