Lots going on in the month of May

I am now 23 weeks pregnant and still feeling pretty good! I have lost 6 lbs but feel like I am going to catch up the next few visits because I am hungry ALL THE TIME! This past weekend we went to Lebanon for my sister's 18th birthday and go back in a few weeks to watch her graduate. We also have an official contract on a house here in Atlanta! We started the process in March but since it is a short sell it took until now to get everything in place. We had the inspection done on Friday and will close on the house the 27th of this month. The house is going to be perfect for our growing family. It has 4 bedrooms and a loft upstairs that we will use a playroom. We are in the process of buying new bedroom and living room furniture so I have had a lot of fun shopping lately! In all the excitement God's goodness over my little family has not been lost on me for a second. This past year the verse "abundantly more then I can ask or imagine" I have seen played out in my life. When I am still long enough to reflect on what the Lord has walked us thru I am blown away but His goodness and faithfulness to me.

We are having a......

BOY!!!!! We had the big doctor's appointment on Friday and found out this sweet little baby that God is currently knitting together in my womb is a BOY! We are so excited to add a little boy to our family and a bit overwhelmed about all the new things we need to get since everything we had for Emma Kate is very much girl! Emma has warmed up to the idea of having a brother and has even told me a few times that she really did not care what the baby was and is just ready to be a big sister. I think she is ok with the idea of a boy because while we were still in the doctor's office she told me " It is ok mommy you can always give me a girl with the next baby!" The doctor said everything looks great with the baby and he is measuring 10oz. I have lost a total of 6 pounds and some days look really pregnant and some days you can not tell at all. It is the strangest thing! I am officially 20 weeks and 2 days and the due date has held steady at Sept. 3rd. I love being pregnant and am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to carry this little boy of mine. I am praying that even now God plants a love for Him so deep in his heart and even from a very young age he will be mighty warrior for the kingdom.

Creation Story told my Emma Kate

Emma telling us about the Tower of Babel

Crazy little thing called love

Over the last few weeks I have been reflecting on God's goodness not only to me personally but the goodness He has displayed in my marriage. The small audience that reads my blog for the most part are my personal friends.They know my story because they walked beside me/us a little over 2 years ago when infidelity rocked my marriage. They then helped me pack up my house and say goodbye to a life I loved and friends that I still miss. They stood next me as I made new friends in MS and started to build a life there. We lived there for almost a year and I can honestly say I am so thankful for the friendships that we made there. We had rebuilt our life and were about to buy a house when I found out that trust had breached again, this time just in the form of conversations but still breached. My friends stood beside me again and offered me a place to stay and safe haven to explore my feeling and thoughts. I moved to Atlanta without my husband and started the process of figuring out what life would look like as a 30 year old single mom.



In April of 2010 if you would have asked me if there was any way my life would look like it does now and that I would have the peace that I do I would have laughed in your face. I not only know that my God can do BIG THINGS I have seen Him do BIG things but even still to heal my heart seemed out of the question. However, that is exactly what He has done. I will even go as far to say that not only has God moved mountains in my marriage He has healed my marriage.

The funny thing about healing is I can't tell you the exact time that God started the process of healing in fact it was just over the last few weeks that I have realized what a great place our marriage is in. I have even had the privilege of walking beside a close personal friend as infidelity rocked her marriage and tonight get to go sit beside a friend of friend and share life with her as she has just started the journey of sorting thru her life when everything that made sense before is on longer sensible. God has used those 2 instances to show me how far Jeff and I have come. Never in a million years would I have felt like I would be ready to share wisdom with another woman who now is walking in my shoes down a path she never thought she would explore. I have prayed that God guards my heart from the old yucky feelings that can surface if I allow them. So far HE has been faithful and not only has protected me but more then anything in those conversations instilled in me a peace that continues to tell me " You see Lori, I do and I have made all things new in your marriage."

Choosing marriage is not an easy choice when trust has been broken. I read the Bible many times over trying to find my way out. Even though I knew staying in my marriage was the right thing to do and that God would honor the obedience it was HARD. However, I am so thankful that I chose marriage. I can not imagine my life without Jeff. Even though the past 2.5 years has been filled with many many many hard things.......even though we still grieve the things that were lost, we grieve them together. When we walked down the aisle 8 years ago we never imagined we would be where we are today but knowing what I know now.....I still say "I do".

I do choose to walk this life with my husband even when it is messy.
I do choose to remain faithful to my commitment to my covenant marriage.
I do choose to remember that love keeps no record of wrongs.
I do choose my husband. I choose our life. I choose to trust in the covenant maker.

"They are no longer two but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Matt. 19:6

11 weeks

Even though I am still feeling pretty yucky we have had a fun week at the McKenzie house. On Thursday we got to see Baby McKenzie for the first time. There is nothing like seeing your baby for the first time and seeing that heart beat! Our technician was FABULOUS and was so good with Emma. Emma was more excited then anyone to see " my baby butther or sister". The technician gave Emma the first picture and wrote "hi Emma" on top and told her the baby was talking to her. Emma proudly took it to school and showed all of her friends. She has held pretty tightly to that picture over the last 24 hours. We could see the baby kicking around in my belly and Emma was very concerned that it was hurting mommy!

Some of my favorite Emma sayings over the last weeks have been:

"Mommy how is God making that baby in your tummy since He lives in your heart? That is a long way for his arms to reach?"

Something I was watching on TV made me cry and Emma came up to me and said " Mommy repeat after me....this is the day the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it."

As I was rocking her to sleep one night she said, " Mommy I wish you would not have married daddy.You know why mommy....because I want to marry him when I grow up."

Jeff and I both had today off and had such a fun date day. He took me out for our Valentine Day lunch date, we watched a movie, took a nap, and just enjoyed spending the day together. We have a fun double date planned tomorrow night with some friends and will be attending Married Life Live at NorthPoint. Everything NorthPoint does is always so good and fun so I am very excited about another date with my husband tomorrow!

Feeling Yucky

I am now around 7 weeks pregnant and am experiencing the pains of the first trimester. Overall I am just really really really tired. I feel nausea most of the day and just overall feel BLAH. I feel really sorry for my husband because my hormones are raging and I am really sweet one second and not so much the next!

Emma Kate continues to love the idea of being a big sister and is pretty sure that we are having a girl. She still thinks we are naming the baby Sara Lindsey Sara McKenzie and rubs my belly constantly. She often pretends that she has a baby in her belly and ask me ALL THE TIME when we will we go to the hospital. We get to go to our first doctor's appointment on Tuesday and we all 3 are very excited about getting to hear the baby's heartbeat and see the baby for the first time.

I am counting down the weeks until this first trimester is over but at the same time trying to remain thankful for all the aches and pains. I know what a high privilege it is to carry a child in my womb. It is one of the reasons I love being a woman.