They say good things come in threes...

Have you ever reached a point in your life where things seem to be going so wonderfully that you're honestly scared to breathe wrong (let alone write about it) in fear that it might all be snatched away? This is exactly how I've felt since 2013 began. After a rough end to last year, things have finally started to feel on the up and up. In January Zach and I got the "ok" to start trying for a baby again, and low and behold, we succeeded. Hence Good Thing #1. We were obviously very cautious the entire first trimester, but kept praying hard and hoping for the best. After multiple doctor's appointments and ultrasounds early on, our fears were finally comforted with news that this baby was healthy and doing wonderfully. Here's one of the first glimpses we received of our little nugget at 8 weeks.

After an excruciating wait for the big gender reveal, we finally received another joyous round of news at 18 weeks. Grace was going to have a little sister :)

Our little family of three had dinner at Morton's Steakhouse with the request of a favorite waitress of ours to help in the big surprise. Tina brought out a delicious dessert with a pink candle following our meal to share the news!
We celebrated at home with pink balloons for Grace to play with, and eventually say goodbye to, in the backyard.
An evening I'll never forget. 

Proud big sister-to-be!

Thoroughly enjoying our celebration..

Why wouldn't one somersault with happiness?

Starting to get exhausted...

"Bye bye balloons" is now what we hear EVERY TIME we step into our backyard :)

Our latest photo of baby girl #2! 

At nearly 23 weeks and an October 17th due date, I couldn't feel better. I've been feeling her flutter around, and now throw out small soccer kicks, since 17 weeks which has been undeniably comforting. 

In the midst of trying to get through our first trimester, we stumbled upon our dream home. And I literally mean stumbled upon. We had contacted a realtor only weeks earlier with plans to just get the ball rolling in case the perfect house presented itself. Thanks to my realtor.com obsession since moving to Michigan, this exact hypothetical situation happened immediately! We saw the house the first day of showings, were one of four immediate offers and somehow beat the odds. Hence Good Thing #2. On May 10th we moved out of our adorable leased bungalow into the house of our dreams (only a mile away) and have been on cloud nine ever since. What a whirlwind!

Our Hazel Street home after officially purchasing (before closing) in May!
More before / after photos to come pending a major tech savvy update to this blog. 

This is the home we plan to raise our family in during our time in Michigan, however long that may be. The home we plan to bring our next baby girl back to. The home Grace will leave for Kindergarten from. The home that will hopefully be filled with lots and lots of visitors in months to come. It is above and beyond anything I couldn't imagined for Zach and I, and I'm still pinching myself before falling asleep each night that it's actually ours. 

And now back to the title, "they say good things come in threes". I've also decided that really good things can come in two's. Good things, just like bad things, happen to the best of us. We don't experience the bad as punishment, but as part of our story and as part of God's larger ultimate plan. Some days, months and years are just better than others I suppose. Right now all I can do is just feel thanks and give thanks for the good... 

...and anxiously wait to meet Good Thing #3 come October.