This is coming a wee bit late, but she's all sorts of wonderful regardless. 

We love this four and half business. Even in it's challenges, seeing our girl figure out the world is one of the most beautiful parts of parenthood.

Elias Grows :: TWO YEARS!

This boy.  Happy Birthday, John Elias

16 weeks :: Baby #3

It's been a bit more of a task trying to get photos of this little one.  With Elias, I took time to do so during my daughters nap. Now my girl doesn't nap any longer and by the time I get around to doing any sort of photos-the light has long since left our flat. Because of the poor lighting conditions and my distain for florescent lighting, the pictures come out rather grainy.. On one hand it can be a bit of a dissapointment, on the other, it can make for some emotionfilled photos (deep contrasts and the like.)

I noticed with my last pregnancy, I often didn't include photos of my face. Perhaps it was out of insecurity? I'm not sure. but I think I'll do it a bit differently this time around. I imagine these pregnancy related posts will come a bit more sporadically. Perhaps every month or so? We'll see.

This pregnancy has slayed me. I have cried over my incredible insufficiency to love my kids well during this season. In the past four months my Elias has gotten good at flushing the toilet for me while my head is in it and patting my back . He then is sure to say "eww, yuck."

I agree son, I agree. Eowyn has told me I don't need to worry, Jesus will take care of me. It's been a real act of hope and faith agreeing with her. When I felt my most desperate, her little voice telling me to turn to Jesus was more profound than I think she realized. But kids are good at that aren't they? Being profound in their innocence; in their easy grasp of truth.

This past week I've been catching my breath and I think we're on our way out of the nausea. I know I'm getting off easy compared to some friends of mine. I find myself praying for sick mamas all the more.

Hopefully next month we'll have sunny sunshine to help our pictures be brighter? If not, oh well. But here's to hoping!

Word of the Year

Ben and I joked two weeks ago about picking a word for this year. It's kinda the cool thing to do right now, and it's good fun for me to see how it unfolds for others. One of my dearest friends has picked a word for years and I've grown to appreciate the practice.

So as I joked about doing it for ourselves, I was scrolling online and saw a cute mug that calligraphied  "Don't Panic" on its side. I laughed a hearty laugh and passed it over to Ben.

"I think I found our word."

It was funny then and it's funny now. Mostly to us. Because everything about this season urges the planner type in us to do exactly that.

But we've been around this scene before. We've ached in the wait and we've moved in the hustle. We've had plans gone awry and we've learned how to piece together broken dreams for even better ones.

We're making sure we have some 'grit' and bare through the uncomfortable.

Because we aren't refugees without a home, pregnant without medical care.
We aren't at a loss with finances on how we'll bridge the gap from here to there.
We've been given time, and with time comes planning, and with planning comes a lessening in emergencies

We aren't in dire straits. We're just a bit uncomfortable and a whole lot of exhausted.

We don't have news yet where we'll move, yet we're still on the docket for a February launch. I have a pretty open hand with that though. I'm learning to have open hands with pretty much everything.

Dealing with the anxiety of a new move, new baby, new city, new church, new worklife, new home, no plans has caused my dreams to be all sorts of crazy. And the insomnia I've been experiencing as my mind whistles through it all late into the night has left me reaching for morning coffee. but again,

we aren't refugees without a home, pregnant without medical care.
We aren't at a loss with finances on how we'll bridge the gap from here to there. There'll be enough.
We've been given time, and with time comes planning, and with planning comes a lessening in emergencies.

And so, as we donate our things and sloowwwlly get rid of others ( and by slowly I mean SLOWLY; two kids, nausea and husband who works a ton of overtime makes moving a beastly task;) as we  begin choosing what to keep, and what to sell, who to pay to move a few boxes and all those details, we remind eachother our word of the year:

"Don't Panic."

and I think it suits us well.

Highlight Reel :: 2016

2016 is over and we're now in 2017! Hooray! What a whirlwind of a year. There's a certain sense of joy that this year is over, yet, as I reflect on the good bits, I've got to say, 2016 was full of really great things.

Let me share a few of Highlights for the Sprague Fam:

In January this handsom fella turned a big ONE!