The Lacys

well...Jake is out of town this week so the following things have happened --

i ate kraft mac n cheese. jake has nightmares about this stuff so i never eat it.

i rented a Dolphin Tale. and cried.

i've watched enough reality tv to last a lifetime.  yet somehow i can never get enough.

i gave the dogs peanut butter. jake says only humans are allowed to eat human food.

ive just started crying for no reason. and by no reason, i mean i think of jake and miss him bad.

then act like a fool who can't control her emotions.

made a few trips to target. it's my place when he's gone.

and, eaten cookies for breakfast.  but that's really no different than when he's here.

i'm very ready for him to be home. but so happy he has had such a great week.  

he is in guatemala serving under privileged schools and sweet little ones. 

 i wish i was there, if only to see him love on those kids.  

he's just so good at that.  

i know the Lord has used him to bring joy to them. 

so, i guess i'll let it slide that he's been gone for 5 longs days. 

he took this picture.  melts my heart.

i am almost 27 weeks along.  which means i'm almost in my 3rd trimester?! what?! 

where has the time gone?  I am definitely getting bigger.  

i know this because every time i pass a mirror i'm shocked by what i see.  

also, i tried a pre-pregnancy dress on that i was CERTAIN would fit because it was too big before.  Then i asked jake to zip it up, and what ensued was comical to say the least.  

i mean, the zipper didnt even budge.  

plus, a lady at a gas station said "when are you due"? 

jake quickly answered 108 days because sweet man has it memorized.  

And she said "oh wow.  

i don't know if you are going to make it until then...you are already so big!!!"  yep.

here are a few pictures from recent days.  

we got to go to the beach with one of my best friends and her husband.  

it was heavenly.  

and this was last week, about 26 weeks

 93 days to go until our little girl arrives.  perhaps next time i blog we'll have a name!

 20 weeks

I drove to Dallas the day after we found out our babe was a girl.

I'm not exaggerating that I cried my eyes out about 3 of the 4 hours.

I couldn't grasp why God had bless us with this miracle.

We are so undeserving...but that's just how good He is.

 we enjoyed an early home-made birthday dinner at my grandmother's.  

her cooking is better than any restaurant around, so i was in heaven.  

 my sweet friend Callie made my birthday extra special.  

She treated me to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory,

 where I was able to get to avocado eggrolls i have been craving. 

 I'd like to blame that on being pregnant, but if i'm honest, i crave those on a regular basis.  

Then we spent the afternoon by the pool.  

i went home that night and made a recipe i had been thinking about for days

 from The Pioneer Woman's blog.  

Oatmeal cream whoopie pies. They were divine by the way.  

and happen to be on of jake's favorites.  

so i got some extra points when he arrived home late that night.  he was so happy.

 And yea, i realize all i talk about is food.  

Again, I wish i could blame this on the pregnancy...

we spent the day with some of our best friends yesterday.
it was the most beautiful day.
and i was overwhelmed with gratefulness that
the Lord has blessed us with these couples.


we enjoyed the most delicious dinner at Eddie V's for a birthday date with Jake.

we had been given an awesome gift card for Christmas and saved it for a special occasion.

our waiter was a dream and probably my favorite waiter of all time.

he surprised us with two "on the house" desserts.

and y'all, the Bananas Foster Cake was the greatest thing i have ever tasted. 

ever.

i've been dreaming about it ever since.

18 weeks

we find out this Tuesday if this sweet babe is a boy or girl

what do y'all think? 

 We skyped with Jake's whole family that night.  They were all together for his brother's birthday, 

so we could resist telling them right away.

My parents watched our dogs for us that weekend while we were away.  

I wrapped the test up and gave them a "thank you gift".  

 I will never forget the reaction of our families and all of our friends.  

Thank you so much for faithfully praying for us as we prayed and waited for this gift.  

 Here we are at our first Doctor's visit.  

 Here's his or her first picture :)

And here's my bump at 16 weeks.

i have to admit, after rejoicing for days that we were having a baby, 

things felt a little bitter sweet.  We had been so excited to move forward with adoption and felt we were in the exact place we were supposed to be.  Now we would obviously have to postpone adopting and we were sad.  But one day I talked to one of my dear friends who has been such an amazing example to us with adopting and teaching us how adoption is a beautiful picture of the gospel. 

This is what she said --

God knew exactly when He would start forming this baby in you as well as the road he would lead you and Jake down to get there.  So, who knows, maybe he allowed you to experience that to put a passion in your hearts for adoption and he may lead you that way after this baby.

We are so thankful for the passion for adoption God has put in our hearts and know that if we are supposed to in adopt in the future (which we plan on doing), he will be faithful in that too.  He always is. And this process (trying to get pregnant and adopting) has been so sweet with Jesus.  He hears our cries and cares so deeply about us.  He is faithful.  Even if we never got pregnant, he is always faithful.  He is always so good to us. 

Thank you Lord for this beautiful gift of life. 

 A few people i follow on Instagram are doing this February Photo A Day challenge. 

So, i thought I would join in on the fun.

Day One - my view today.  

yep, this was my view for most of the day.  I was feeling a bit under the weather. 

and i will find any excuse to watch Downton Abbey.  

Have y'all seen this? stop whatever you are doing and go watch.

you will quickly fall in love with Mr. Bates, Anna, Sybil, and William just to name a few. 

Day Two - words

Just one of the hundreds of notes Jake wrote while we were dating.  I've saved them all. 

make sure you read in a Russian accent.

for some reason, we think this is so funny. 

Happy February!

diana is having a baby girl in march, and stephanie a baby boy in may.

We celebrated 5 years last weekend.  

It was so fun to reflect on where God has brought us since January 13, 2007.  

I am thankful and overwhelmed by the Lord's grace and refinement.  

We went to San Antonio for the weekend.  

Jake had never been, and it has been 10 years since my last visit.  

He planned every minute and we had the best time. 

that night, we had dinner at a little deli and just walked around downtown. 

 yep, here i am with a giant reuben in front of me.  

it was a restaurant favorite and y'all, now i am reuben obsessed.  

they are also known for their root beer (which is jake's favorite) so of course we had to try.  

it was so good, we got an entire pitcher for just the two of us...and drank the whole thing.

it's really kind of gross how much i love having a reason to over-indulge.

ps. perhaps this new year will be different, 

and i'll actually blog on a regular basis....