Christmas 2008

(The photos are of Malachi putting up his first Christmas ornaments...the helmet is for reshaping the flat spot on his head...nothing serious!)

It has been a different experience this year preparing for Christmas. You have the usual questions...what do we get our parents, where are we going when, should I bake Christmas cookies, etc? But now there is a new wrinkle in the event planning and preparation. Now we also add to our questions, should we put the ornaments on the bottom of the tree? Do we even put up the advent calendar this year so it doesn't get ripped down? Do we try to go to the 8pm Christmas Eve service? The addition of Malachi has added so many new, exciting variables. To answer the questions we asked, yes we put ornaments on the bottom of the tree (though training him not to touch has been interesting so far!), we did put the advent calendar up though he loves yanking on it and sometimes it ends up being folded up for the day, and we are going to the 8pm service because I'm on the worship team, but Grandma & Grandpa Wellman will stay home with Malachi to put him to bed. We are realizing how having a child puts Christmas in perspective. It isn't about the presents, the cookies, the perfect decorating,etc. It is about celebrating the birth of our Lord, who once had Mary & Joseph asking similar questions as we do now! We are working on creating our own family traditions while incorporating some of our childhood favorites. We are trying to instill the importance of Christ's birth in Malachi already. We are truly enjoying our Christmas experience so far. We are excited to watch him open his first present with wonder and joy and realize how we should all open the gift of Christ's love and our salvation with the same wonder and joy, never taking it for granted. Malachi has taught us so much already and we just pray we continue to learn and grow together as a family as we take in the real wonder of Christmas. We wish all of you a season filled with family, friends & most of all, a sincere awe of Christ's birth.

An update...

Hi, everyone! It has been awhile, sorry! We have been a bit busy this month so this is a random synopsis of what has been happening. We have moved into our new home and praise the Lord, we are loving it. We just went back to the townhome for the first time together yesterday to pick up some odds and ends and discovered that we are REALLY happy we moved! It is so good to know the decisions we've made are being confirmed. The house is great...though we are still living a chaos in most rooms. At least the kitchen and living room are together. The rest are either being painted, have boxes all over or still need the finishing touches added. It has been a good experience for me to learn that things can't be done immediately, it is going to take time. Possibly a long time! But, we are feeling more at home everyday so that is a blessing. Malachi has taken to his new space. He is exploring every possible thing. He is 9 months old now and is into everything. He is crawling extremely fast, he walks all around furniture, he crawls up the stairs (though he hasn't quite figured out how to get down them yet!)...he has 6 teeth and is just a delight. He does seem to have a few issues though with his tummy. We can't figure out what is going on and we are hoping the Lord will provide answers as we seek Him on it. He is throwing up from the dead of sleep and he has been waking up two or three times a night some times. He seems to constantly be sick with something, so if you can pray for his little body that would be great...along with his sleep to become normal again for his sake and the sake of his Daddy & Mommy! :) Well, I will try to become more consistent in posting things, now that life is becoming "normal"--though it is a new normal!

The End is Drawing Near...

It is so strange, we are moving away from our townhome. It is just really starting to sink in now, I guess with all of the chaos of getting a whole house packed you forget to really contemplate what is about to happen. I'm getting sentimental and sappy, thinking of all of the memories. As I look around the house, I see empty walls, empty cupboards and a lot of piles of boxes waiting to be moved. It feels like I'm leaving an old friend in a way. I feel like we are deserting it, it's funny. We have over 5 years of great memories, including bringing home our first child and now it sits almost empty, waiting for our final departure. This week has been a lot of "lasts"...our last drive home from church on Sunday, our last garbage day, you get the idea. We've known nothing else for the last 5 years so we are grieving the loss of our normalness and getting ready to embrace a new norm! We are sad to say goodbye to our townhome, it has treated us well. I may shed some tears on Friday night or Saturday morning as we pull away for the last time, but we believe we are pulling away to an even more exciting place. We are looking forward to the future but we will always remember the great times we've had here!

We're Moving...but we don't know where!

So, we found out we have a renter for our townhouse. Yea, God! That is huge because it gives us one clear answer...keep packing, we are moving. There is one huge variable left--where are we moving? At this point we know there are two options. We are either moving into our new home or in with my parents. We are praying that the Lord's will is for the new house, but if it isn't we are ok with living with Dad & Mom for awhile. If that happens we know God has another house for us, in time. We are feeling a huge relief and are excited to have some direction. The lack of understanding on the house thing is difficult but we are holding fast to the Lord & we know he is in control. We know we are a family, no matter where we live! Well, that is it for now until we know more! Thanks for your prayers & we appreciate continued prayer in the next couple of weeks.

Sitting in Uncertainty

If you haven't heard, Justin & I bought a house, yea! Unfortunately we have hit some pretty big bumps in the road with mortgage rules. Five days ago, in reaction to the market, the mortgage regulations changed and have now left us caught in the middle. We are supposed to have 6 months of reserve in our bank account to cover both our townhome and new home's payments. This has to be on account for at least two months and is in addition to the money we need to have in our bank account for the down payment. Needless to say, they expect us to have a HUGE amount of money in our account--which we don't have. We also looked into an FHA and at this point we are seeing our monthly payments would be higher than the conventional mortgage, making it almost impossible for us to do. So, we are stuck. We are sorting out our options and looking into alternatives for mortgages and seeing if there is anything that can be done. We know our God is bigger than this situation and He can work it out. He can also choose to let us loose this house and prepare us for something else. Either way, we will trust Him. It is hard, being uncertain of your future. We are sitting in a half packed up house not knowing which way to go...forward or backward. We are learning that we have to put our full trust in God and believe that His purpose is for our good. Who knows what lies ahead...we may end up living with my parents, living in our new house or living in our townhome awhile longer. Yes, we are exhausted and confused, but we are holding fast to the scripture that says when I am weak, then He is strong!Proverbs 31:17 ~ Praise the Lord that He is holding us in this time of unknown. He is the best place to find peace & we know we will soon enough know the direction we go! Please pray with us that we will be at peace with whatever the result is, but pray, Lord willing, that we can have our house and we believe that He wants us there. We will keep you updated!!

A Home...

Today we took a big step of faith and have put an offer on a house that we really like. It was a big step of faith because we currently still own our townhome and have no idea what we will do with it but we believe that God is going to work it out if we get the house. There have been many things that have led us to this house and believing God was calling us to take that step. I won't get into those but let's just say God is awesome in how He manuvers people to follow the Will He has placed on their life. We don't know if we will get the house. This could simply be God testing our willingness to step out and trust fully on him. It is a journey that, one way or another, will teach us. Please pray that the Lord's will is done in this & that we are faithful to his calling regardless of where we live. We'll keep you posted on the house! (Here is a little photo)

Mr. Malachi

Malachi is now 7.5 months old. He has flipped our world up-side down and we are loving it! He has SO much energy. Here are his latest achievements:
1. He crawls--fast!
2. He is pulling himself up with anything he can...doors, furniture, his swing, anything.
3. He is starting to walk around furniture
4. He eats peas (without throwing up!), green beans, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes and cereal.
5. He LOVES patty-cake with Daddy & rough housing with Daddy
6. He knows his kitties and says "kitty" when he sees them...so much for saying Mommy or Daddy first!

That is just a quick look at his life. He is such a blessing. We truly understand now that children are a gift and we have such a HUGE responsibility in raising him. We are scared and excited about the journey. So far so good.