twenty-six weeks

I've been making more recipes these last two weeks instead of just winging dinners, and there's a certain joy in a recipe that turns out as it should. I keep thinking our garden is almost finished giving for the year, and then it surprises me with not only tomatoes but more peppers as well. It feels fancy to cut up home-grown ingredients. We're basically a real-life farm (kidding).

This week I'm getting my hair dyed for a wedding I get to walk in a couple of weeks from now. I'm excited to add a little blonde and get back to feeling fresh. The last time I had it dyed in salon was two years ago, when I dyed it bright red right before my Salutatorian Speech. It wasn't the smartest move I ever made, but a little (even crazy) change every now and then is good for me.

I got the results back from my gestational diabetes test, and I am diabetes free! I wasn't really worried about the idea of having it (if I had it, I had it), but it is nice to avoid the finger pricking and such. Charlotte is over twenty-six weeks now, a point her brother never made it to. She's moving all the time, some bigger movement and often able to be seen from the outside. She loves a lot of the same things her brother did: matt's singing, church services, exciting movies, car rides, riveting office work, and snuggles before bed. Ok, so mostly she just likes when I'm sitting still.

Since we lost Christian, many women have reached out to me to reach out to another mother who has recently lost a baby. All I can give them is the Bible verses that God gave us, and the truth that their baby is living a pain-free, perfect life. I wish more women were open about the grief of child loss. It's a life-changing pain that shouldn't be stifled. I'm certainly not thankful that we had to lose Christian, but I am thankful for the ministry it gives us with women who need love.

Thanks for following along on our life-journey: through our loss, the hope of our new pregnancy, and the ever-present joy of being married to my best friend.