Growing Ghoens: Week 31 Bump Date

31 WEEKS

We're giving God praise as always for all He's done & continues to do in our lives, but we're offering up some EXTRA gratitude & glory to Him this week for some wonderful news we received from a specialist we've been seeing for our sweet girl.

Here is a post I shared on Facebook April 11th, the day after our last visit with a local perinatal specialist.

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"This pregnancy has been amazing.. anddd also very hard all at the same time.

I'm sure m a n y of you know the anxieties & fears of the possible results that come with the amazing tests available to expectant parents. Modern medicine & technology is wonderful.. but can also be scary, ya know?

That, combined with the fear I've had to battle post miscarriage, has made these past almost 8 months an ongoing opportunity to trust in the Lord & draw near to Him. He's taught + reminded me so much of His character.. and has reminded me of my call to faithfulness & obedience no matter the circumstances.

I'll share more later on, probably on my blog, about the ongoing visits & tests we've been having done since week 20 with a local perinatal specialist... Not to blast our business over the internet, but to hopefully COMFORT other expectant parents going brought something similar.

Today though.. I'm giving God the glory & HUGE huge praise for an appointment we've been waiting 11 weeks, 2 labs & 3 ultrasounds for.

And the fact that we FINALLY got to see this sweet baby girl's face.

I don't know what I ever did to deserve to be your momma, sweet girl. But I'm so grateful God has chosen to entrust your daddy & I with one of His little lambs.. YOU

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Thank you, Jesus for these answered prayers!"

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After about 11+ weeks of fighting fear, tests, ultrasounds & lots of waiting, we were able to lay to rest 3 fairly large concerns about our little one this week.

When we first embarked into this season of seeing a perinatal specialist a few months ago, I got some wonderful advice from a friend that ended up ultimately pointing me to a scripture that I've held onto closely ever since.

She encouraged me to remember that these doctors are trying to make predictions & draw conclusions on a MASTERPIECE that (1) isn't complete yet (2) they didn't create.

This seemed like common sense, but I NEEDED the reminder!!

No one knows this sweet girl better than her heavenly Father who CREATED this work of art. Who knitted her together in the womb. Who already knows the number of hairs on her head. Who has completely written her story + sees her fully formed, when we can only see the here & now.

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Before you were born, I set you apart.

Jim Elliott (an incredible man of God) once said, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know WHO holds the future." While we still won't know anything for certain until this little one makes her official appearance, we're so grateful that God is slowly revealing things about her to us in HIS time. We're just trusting Him, continually surrendering her life to Jesus & walking in obedience as we wait.

So squeal with me for a moment over this precious girl's FIRST allllmost full face shot! Without a doubt, she favors her daddy already. Ah, I'm dying over that nose and her mouth.. which was sucking on her hand at the time.

Sweet pea, we are so in love with you!!

Although there is absolutely NO way to top that wonderful news, here is a peek into the rest of week 31 :)

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As always, I've been keeping up with my workout routine, making sure I provide this baby the most healthy environment to grow in & strengthen myself to deliver + care for her the best I can.

Monday marked the start of another 30 day block called the push phase in this same program I've been doing called "Chalene Extreme." The focus of these next 30 days is to decrease repetitions of each movement, while increasing the amount of weight I use.

I absolutely LOVE it!! The challenge, the routines, the trainer, the convenience, the change of pace.. all of it!!

It's been a fun challenge seeing what I can do on a daily basis to continue growing stronger as my body continues to change & force me sometimes to get creative. I enjoy this program so much that I even kept up with my first week of these workouts while we travelled to TN!

* PS: speaking of beachbody. This was an exciting week for my #GracefullyBalanced team! We welcomed one of my younger sisters to the girl-boss family, congratulated one coach on her first rank advancements as she begins to mentor new coaches & recognized another NEW coach on some huge milestones she reached in her first month of business. To read more, click HERE to visit my Facebook page. FYI: Gracefully Balanced is always looking for new gals to link arms with for mentorship. If you'd like more information, simply email me at lindseykollar@yahoo.com !*

Speaking of travel.

On Thursday, we made the trek to a small part of Eastern Tennessee, an hour outside of Knoxville, to spend a few days with our long-time friends. Nate & I soaked up EVERY moment together, realizing that this was more than likely our last trip as a twosome! (SURREAL moment #4312!)

We spent SO much time outside enjoying the beautiful weather - doing our devotionals on the back porch, sitting on the front porch to look at wildlife + play with our friend's baby, eating outside, laying on the hammock, hiking at Ijams in Knoxville & taking our pups on walks down to the lake.

It was absolutely beautiful!