He's Perfect

God has been doing a lot in my life lately. And even though it hasn't been easy I am thankful for His provision. 
I have been doing a bible study on growing patience and this morning it was about waiting on the Lord. It gave me such peace. 
*The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it.* Psalm 145:15
When things are going right in my life I tend to forget where those blessings come from sometimes. It gave me such a new peace to be reminded that everything comes in the Lord's timing. He gives us what we need exactly when we need it. This weekend he provided us with a second car. For free. What an awesome God Matthew and I serve. We are beyond blessed as we have been praying about this for quite some time. And its perfect timing since baby Elli will be here any day now! 
As I approach my due date I am a bit anxious. I don't know what is going to happen. Whether I will have the vaginal delivery that I so desire to have or if I will have to have another cesearean section. But what I do know is that God is in control and whatever does happen it will be okay. His timing is never wrong. 
Matthew and I have gotten A LOT of grief from many people about having another baby so soon. We even had some tell us that this is the "wrong" time. But if there's one thing I know for sure its that God's timing is never wrong. Elianna is not a mistake nor is she coming at the wrong time. It gives me such peace to know that God knew her before there was time. He had her life already planned out.

*You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.* Psalm 139:13 

This verse holds a whole new meaning to me as I am approaching the birth of this child. She is special and she is blessed. And God created her for a reason. For most of my pregnancy I've been stuck in this mind set that Matthew and I should have been more careful in spacing our children out. But not anymore. His timing is perfect no matter what anyone else says or thinks. 

Exhausted

Here I am at 35 weeks pregnant and I'm exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I feel so drained. I feel like I'm suffocating. Malachi and I were sick with the flu a few weeks ago and now we are both sick again with a nasty cough and fever and such. That means that little man is not sleeping very well which means I'm not either.

It seems as though this season of trial is never ending. I know God promises He will bring good out of every situation for those who love Him and I know that He is there. But knowing something and truly believing something in your heart is two different things. It could also be hormones making me feel this way but whatever it is, I hate it. And I'm praying that I can just choose joy because we do have a choice. Whenever I begin to feel frustrated or sad I just try to remember all of the things that we do have that God has given us and I try to remain thankful to the Lord for His provision. It's awesome because the other day I was praying and I prayed that God would provide us with some dog food since we really don't have much right now to spend on dog food for our dog. And He did. He used dog food to encourage me and show me that He cares, even about little things like that. 

I have 5 more weeks left before my due date and 6 more before Elianna is here for sure. We have finally decided on her full name and it will be Elianna Claire Reilly. Elianna means "God has answered me". And Claire is Matthew's mother's middle name. We are so excited to meet the little miracle growing inside of me. She is already so loved. 

A Season of Trial

Where do I begin? Right now Matthew and I are definitely hitting a season of trial. It all started a few weeks ago. First it was one of our cars. We had been having issues with the shifter and then one day it just completely broke while I was out with Malachi. Thankfully, Matthew got off work a bit earlier and came to the rescue. We took it up to the shop and it costed us $180 to fix it. 
The next week on the day before Thanksgiving Matthew was on his way to work and got into an accident. He was fine but the truck was not and it wasn't even our truck. We were borrowing it. So we then had to put out about $400 to pay to junk it and the other fees. That only left us with one car.
The next day on Thanksgiving Matthew went up to the store to get a movie to watch. The shifter broke again and he was stuck. Thankfully his dad came to help him and had it taken to the closest Ford dealership. We were then with out a car. But God did provide through Matthew's step mom. 
The next day the car was fixed for a whopping $1,000. Matthew's dad talked them down to $850 and then paid it as an early Christmas gift. We were so thankful. 
The next morning I found a guy in my brother's fiance's bedroom. She had been living with has for quite some time. She snuck a guy into our house and he was here in her room alone with me and Malachi. I was livid and she was gone at work. As you can imagine things were a bit awkward. We finally sat down to talk with her and everything seemed fine. Then the next day she went to her moms house. By the evening on Tuesday she was moving her stuff out claiming that we had kicked her out. She was cussing at us and her mother called the police. I was so emotional and upset because we had no idea how we were going to make the rent without her part and without any notice. We had just put put about $500 extra to pay for the car problems. We were not prepared. She left and is now somewhere with her mom. Then yesterday we got a notice in the mail saying that Matthew's license has been suspended due to failure to pay off court fines. So he had to take yet another day off of work today to get that taken care of. Thankfully Matthew's step mom paid off the fine for us and he was able to have his license reinstated today. But unfortunately we are short rent, and the other two checks we had to write today. And to be honest we have never been here. And my parents won't help and Matthew's parents have put out well over $2,000 to help us with all of these unexpected expenses. So now we are just praying. Praying that God would somehow provide enough for us to make the rent and the other bills for the license problem. And really praying that this trial season would end soon because I honestly just feel like crawling into bed and never coming out. But I can't because I'm stronger than that and I have a family and a job to think about. I know God is there. And I know He will see us through this. Now we just have to wait.

1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

And also through all of this to remain thankful that we are all healthy. That we both have jobs. Also, that our growing baby girl is healthy. And that God is bigger than all of this.

Recent pictures

Malachi sure does love Grandpa! 

Such a big boy! He loves walking. 

How he is most of the time:) happy! 

Grandpa love! 

Next to his cakeat his birthday party! 

My mom, aunt, and their grandsons! 

I got to meet and hold my second cousin on Sunday:)

Tyler, Matthew's 3 year old son. He is so handsome! 

So grown up!

New Job

Well, as Matthew and I enter into this new season of having another child I also had to get a job. Things were not working out with just Matthew working. Thankfully, they are so understanding there and have accommodated my wish for a schedule. During the week my hours are 6-11pm for 2 days and then weekends I work two 8 hour shifts. I got hired at the Sheetz Gas Station. I wasn't really thrilled at first to be working at a gas station. But I won't complain because it is a job and they have been so understanding of the need to balance family and work time. They are an awesome company to work for. Everyone loves it there, so it seems. So even though I have been exhausted with Malachi waking up lately halfway through the night and having crazy nap times it is all working out. And Matthew is doing a wonderful job of taking care of him while I am gone. I am so blessed to have a husband who works 40+ hours per week and then comes home and takes care of our lil guy, cleans the house for me, and still manages to make me feel special. I don't always give him the credit he deserves because most of the time I'm tired, hormonal, and grumpy. But I know that this is just a season and it will end someday. For now, I will enjoy God's blessing of a new and wonderful job with wonderful managers and I will continue to thank Him for His provision.

Pictures of Malachi between his birth last year to now

Not too long after he was born:)

6 days old here!

2 months old

Enjoying his bumbo seat!

Sleepy baby:)

His first Easter and my 21st birthday

First tooth!!!!

11 months old!

First time eating chocolate chip pancakes:)

Anatomy Ultrasound and Scan

I had my 20 week ultrasound a few days ago. Thankfully everything looks great! All of Elianna's organs and brain look awesome and she is right where she should be. Praise the Lord for a healthy baby! I am feeling a lot better! No more morning sickness. Just a little extra tired. I am so thankful for that. 
It is so unreal that I am already twenty weeks along. I am halfway through my pregnancy. We couldn't be more excited for our baby girl!