2020...What a Year!

Where to begin...

So I went back and re-read my last post. It's been a while haha. But at least it was this calendar year. :-)

My last post was right before my 20 week anatomy scan to check on baby and find out the gender.

I am going to do bullet points to do an update on what's been going on since then. 

-We went for our scan on January 20th and found out we were having a healthy baby BOY. 

-We did a gender reveal with our parents and grandparents. Micheal was the only one who knew the gender. He bought blue shred from the Dollar Tree and stuffed it into one black balloon and then blew up enough for each guest to have one. All were empty except the one chosen balloon. We each got a balloon and a pin and took turns popping them. On the second balloon blue shred came out and it was revealed that we were going to have a son. Sarah Jo did all the popping. She was excited to get a brother

-Then came the exciting task of picking a name. We settled on Joshua Micheal. After much deliberation and discussion. I think we finally settled on a name in March or April. 

-In March the Coronavirus Pandemic hit home and we were encouraged to social distance. Fortunately I was not effected too much regarding my prenatal appointments. My appointments had just became bi-weekly and since I was healthy and not high risk my Dr. let me skip one appointment in April. After that I went to each appointment in person. But Micheal was not allowed to come with me. I had one sonogram left and went to it alone. Micheal could have come but we couldn't have brought Sarah with us and at that time we were not even seeing grandparents so we had nobody to watch her during the appointment. Crazy times.

-In April Governor Abbot put Texas on a Stay at Home Order. At that time we stopped seeing even grandparents. It only lasted a week because Sarah Jo missed her KK too much. And so did I. I am so grateful that Micheal worked alone in his office so he was able to continue to go to work and not worry about being exposed to the virus. Being pregnant I was considered high risk, so we took the covid pandemic seriously. I also didn't want to even think about my sweet Sarah catching this virus. Mom and Dad continued to work but they took many safety precautions. Cyndy took a furlough from work and decided to stay home. She and Jimmy are considered high risk due to age and medical conditions. April was also Easter and Sarah's birthday so they were very different this year. People mailed her cards and some drove by and dropped off gifts. We told her we would have a party as soon as it was safe. We are still waiting to do that.

-On May 23rd we welcomed our precious boy. He was born at 11:10am. He was 19 1/2 inches long and weighted 8lb 1 oz. He is amazing. He has been a very chill baby and the perfect addition to our family. We all love him so much. Sarah is a wonderful sister and great at calming him down when he is fussy.

-Now, we are two months in (Joshua is 10.5 weeks as I write this). And he smiles and is getting so close to a laugh. He brings us so much joy. Having a baby during a pandemic is pretty crazy and we have een super careful. Only a handful of people have got to hold Joshua and we have not been to crowded places including church. It makes me so sad that I cannot show him off to family and friends and let them all meet and love on him. I just have to think of his health and safety. Micheal goes to work, does small youth services once a week and goes to church Sunday mornings. Other than that we only see grandparents (Poppy, KK, Nanny, Pappy, Grandma and Papa). Dr. Dalton said that outdoor playdates with few people would be ok and she also said we could start keeping Wyatt again. He has not been to the house since March. We started back last week. Unfortunately Sarah and I were exposed to the virus last weekend so  now we all have to quarantine for 14 days so we had to cancel Wyatt for the next two weeks. Its such a crazy time right now. 

-Our entertainment is grabbing food from a drive thru and going to a park to play and have a picnic. We have been to 5 or 6 parks in Lubbock and 2 in Levelland. While I miss going out and living normal life it has been such a special time for our family. It has helped me focus on what is most important. My relationship with Christ, my relationship with my hubby and raising and loving on my babies. God has given me a special grace during this season and I love him so much for it. I was so nervous about adding a child to our family and if you would have told me I would have to do it without having regular playdates and hang outs with friends I would have told you that I couldn't do it. But God knew exactly when Joshua would be born and what would be going on in the world. He is not surprised and I find peace in knowing that. I am truly learning to TRUST IN HIM AND HIM ALONE. I have had to turn off podcasts and turn off the tv and focus on the day and moment I am in. Otherwise my mind will run rampant and lead to fear. I am so thankful for my heavenly Father. Today he led me to Psalm 118 (I had been hearing "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it" in my mind all day so I looked it up and it was in Psalm 118. When I read it it felt like God was talking straight to me. 

Its almost midnight and I better get to bed. :-) 

3 Years Old and Having Fun!

My last post was February of 2018. It is now January 2020. Let's just say time flies when you are having fun. :-)

I wish I was a regular blogger but I just don't think that is going to happen but its still fun to check in every so often and write about what life is like right now for the Simpson family.

2019 was a fun and exciting year for us. And pretty much all of the big stuff happened in like the last 2 months of the year. On September 21st we found out we were expecting baby number 2! And that same week Micheal interviewed and was offered a job with Hudson Crop Insurance. Micheal and I felt incredible peace about the job offer and so he accepted and gave his 2 weeks notice to Newton Insurance the following day. Needless to say it was a big week for us.

Micheal and I had talked in June about growing our family, but we had decided to wait until the beginning of 2020 to start trying. At the end of September I had some symptoms that got me wondering so I decided to take a pregnancy test. I was so shocked when it was positive! Ready or not, baby #2 was on its way. I am sad to say that this pregnancy has been just like my pregnancy with Sarah which means LOTS of nausea and vomiting. I am 20 weeks as I type this and I threw up this morning. So, yeah... pretty much over this BUT its for the best possible reason. I have mostly good days now but I have to take my medicine morning and night or I will regret it... just like with Sarah. My body and HCG just do not get along I guess lol. But I get beautiful babies out of it so again, totally worth it. I have had other weird symptoms with this pregnancy that I don't remember with Sarah. Taste changes, weird lasting taste in my mouth and the constant need to spit. I know that is so nasty BUT it is what it is. I feel like I have been more tired and sore with this pregnancy. Chalk it up to being pregnant in my thirties as opposed to my twenties or doing life with a three year old while pregnant. Who knows!

I am super excited at this moment because we find out the gender on Monday. I am so ready to get a peek at this little baby. Our last sonogram was at 8 weeks so it looked like a little jelly bean. I am ready to see a little profile and hands and feet. So sweet. I am praying first and foremost for a healthy baby and a good report at the anatomy scan but I am also pumped about learning the gender. When people ask me what I am hoping for I can honestly say EITHER! I would love another little girl and the idea of Sarah having a sister definitely melts my heart BUT so does the idea of having a baby boy and being able to watch Micheal with a son. So, I am glad that God gets to decide and not me because I don't think I could. God knows what our family needs and I am so ready to see if his plans involves a baby sister or a baby brother. Our plan for the day is to have my scan that morning. I am not not going to know the gender until that evening at our little gender reveal gathering. We invited our parents and grandparents to be there when we reveal the news. And Micheal is going to be the secret keeper. He wants to know before we announce it to people and I don't this time. I want to be surprised. SO, he is going to decide how to announce it in some fun way. I am so ready. It's Thursday right now and it feels like Monday is taking forever to get here.

As you can tell, I am a bit excited about this baby. :-)

But I have also been so proud of Micheal and all he has accomplished in his career. God has taken such good care of our little family and this job offer that literally came out of nowhere has been such powerful evidence of that. It has allowed Micheal to have a much more flexible schedule and has been a pay increase for our family. For the first year he is considered a contract employee but once his first year is complete he will be hired on full time with Hudson and we will begin receiving benefits, which we haven't had since I quit my job at Edward Jones when Sarah was born. It will be so nice to have insurance and retirement. Praise Jesus! It has been a major adjustment for Micheal and he is having to learn a BRAND NEW field and type of insurance. I know it is stressful and overwhelming at times but he handles it like a champ and just continues to work hard and have a great attitude about it. Typical Micheal Dean. I love him so much.

As far as little miss Sarah Jo goes, she is growing like crazy and doing great. She started going to a new Parent's Day Out program at First Baptist Church called Kingdom Kidz. She loves it (except for having to take a nap). She is learning so much and it has been so fun to see her bloom in this new environment. She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am - 2:30pm. It is on those mornings that I work at the church. I started at the church as the secretary in June of 2018, I have really enjoyed it. And once again God has provided a fun and safe environment for Sarah to be in while I am working.

I am sure there are lots more things to update but I am going to call it good for now.

Surely I will be back sometime this year with an update about our new child haha!