Prayer Request for Evie

Hi Family and Friends...

If you have followed our blog you know we have some very good friends who have a daughter, Evie who was born in September. Evie has an incredible story and her parents are some of my spiritual hero's:)! Evie has some health issues, which I will let you read about on their blog if you are interested...

www.eviejayne.blogspot.com

BUT, just yesterday Lindsey had to revive Evie and she is now back in the hospital. Please pray for them friends. They have been on such a journey the last year and their hearts only grow bigger. We are thinking and praying for them every day! All our love guys!

Our family & 2010

As with all new starts, 2010 is going to bring some BIG changes to our family!

The first one is Griffin's new tattoo.....

...that is going to take some getting used to...haha! Just kidding Griffin's Grandma's, it's just a stick on...but it's message just happens to give a clue to the real change we are embarking on....

I am going to be a mom again:)!

That's right, in July we will become a family of 4!

We have known for a few months but after losing a baby last Spring and going through a lot to get pregnant each time, we decided to wait and just see where God was taking us on this journey! It took me a long time to believe that it was really true....

BUT four positives later we decided to call the doc!

And a few weeks later we both got to see this....

Soooooo.....we informed Griffin he was going to be this.....

Since then we have got to hear the heart beat and I saw sweet baby E's profile, teeny tiny fingers and adorable toes in an impromptu quick ultra sound last week, in just 4 weeks it went from little blob to little babe....amazing!!! All looks good so far! I have been feeling really sick, which has been a great sign (although I am ready for that to end)! My blood sugars have been doing well with all the changes so far and they think that they will schedule a C-section mid July, even though I am not due until the 28th. The doc asked me how BIG my first was and when I told her 10 pounds 14 ounces she said that this baby may be coming sooner than that...haha!

We are feeling overjoyed at the thought of adding another blessing to our family, as we have been dreaming and praying about it for quite some time now. We have been on a long journey this time, where as with Griffin it was total surprise! Such different emotions! We both really feel that all that we have gone through to get here has made us just so humbled and grateful for the blessing of Griffin & this new baby and we really have grown so much in our relationships with God. It has been a lot of blind trust, but we've made it out to the other side knowing more now than ever that God is holding us in the palm of his hand. It's just easier being a parent and adding another one to our family being confident of who is in control of our lives! We would love your prayers as we continue to trust the life of this baby into God's hands!

ALSO....we have more exciting news! Ryan's sister Kelly got engaged to her boyfriend David Bebee in December! They graciously moved the wedding plans back so that Ryan, Griffin, BABY & I can all come and be a part of it! We are so looking forward to spending time celebrating this new life and family being created in August with them!

David & Kelly the night they got engaged

So, that's our news for now! You are all caught up on the Eccleston family so far! We get to travel to Florida next week so I am sure I will have some more pics soon!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! For Ryan and I it seems a little scary every time that year bumps up another time being that we graduated from high school in 2000...it's a reminder of just how many years have passed...that's right 10! AH! But what a 10 years it has been, we have know each other for 8.5 of those years, are married and have a family...we've been busy! Our New Years was low key and fun, just the way we like it! We got a sitter and had dinner with some friends, ate yummy fondue together at home and spent the first day of the New Year with our favorite little guy making brunch! We had a (don't worry) sparking cinder toast and yes, Griffin's is in a martini glass...it was the tiniest cup I had around and he wanted a "special" one, haha! So, Happy New Year! We can't wait to see what God has up his sleeve next!

Christmas '09

So another Christmas has already come and gone, and to be honest...it seems almost forever ago now! It was for sure a Christmas to remember for us, as the snow was crazy and made Christmas a little different this year! It forced us to get on the road for our annual trip to Nebraska a little early, forced both of my families Christmas's to be canceled and it actually ended up being a little more slow and relaxing! We did get time in with Ryan's family, see my mom's side of the family and just get in some quality time there, although there is NEVER enough time when we get there! We have lots of friends we are dying to see....hopefully this spring:)! At Ryan's grandparents on Christmas Eve we had a Swedish feast and the great grandkids did a nativity which was so cute. We played cards and just relaxed at my grandparents and the hang out time was just really fun!

It seemed like the start of the really magical time in our parenting as far as Griffin getting the idea of the whole thing and sweetly referring to Santa as, "ho ho"! I love it, it was so cute! Even now, he talks about HO HO frequently and always acknowledges him when he sees his Geo tracks train set! We went downtown Naperville to see Santa and he did great! Santa had already been to our house at this point, because we celebrated early so Griffin did manage to get out, "el come (thank you) ho ho, chooo chooo!" It was so fun, he was mystified by him! We really felt blessed to be able to celebrate with all the families this year and have some special time on our own too! I will just put the pics into a slide show, there are too many:)! It was a really wonderful time with Griff, with family and time to just reflect on the great gifts that God has let flood our lives...we are so thankful and humbled every time we stop and think about it!