God's Plans

The last two weeks, we've included some fun riddles in our blog - to recap they were:

1.  What bakes in an oven but does not get eaten?

2.  What gets a shower but does not get wet? 

We thought that this would be a unique way of revealing God's latest plan for our lives.  It is God's plan, and thus extra special, because this was not on our plan radar.  However, we're learning to trust that God's way is best!  So, with no further ado - the answer to the riddles - and the answer to what is happening in our lives, is revealed in the picture below.

This news has come with a lot of mental adjustments of course - but we've now had 14 weeks to wrap our minds around this new development!  Our newest Z-family member will arrive August 7th - assuming that God answers our prayers and keep this little bun in the oven instead of an early arrival that Kaleb graced us with! :)

While surprising to us, the news has also been surprising to others around us.  One especially funny response came from our Canadian family - who dressed up like they were part of the Mario Brothers and donned the appropriate SHOCKED faces (see below for proof! :)

On the other end of the spectrum, one especially sweet and touching response was Evan B's desire to give the ultimate gift to the new baby - the gift of his beloved pacifiers which he has staunchly REFUSED to give up until now.  We had a little "ceremony" in which they were all gathered into a lovely tin and presented to Amy for preparation of the baby's arrival.  AHHH! - How precious is that!?

We shared the news with our Orlando family and friends by taking the picture above and making a puzzle out of it - so when they put the puzzle together they discovered the news.  The awesome part of that is that when we announced it to our friends, at the end of that evening the Cochrans also announced that they too were expecting - with a due date 3 weeks before ours!  Perfectly timed best friends about to be born! :)

Zachary is desperately wanting a baby sister, although Kaleb is being obstinate and going against his brother to pray for a baby "brudder."  Zachary has informed Amy that if she'd only start praying NOW, that he's sure that the baby would be a girl.  He has also taken to whispering his prayer for a girl at the end of his prayers so that Kaleb can't hear and subsequently pray for a "brudder" - thereby vetoing out Zachary's prayer.

Everyone is getting excited about this new change, and with the completion of the first trimester, Amy is starting to feel a little better.  Thankfully the nausea was pretty mild, but the sleeplessness and exhaustion was pretty bad.  Little by little the energy is coming back though for which she's grateful.