thankfullness

Let me just begin with saying, the Lord has been so so good to Josh and I. My heart is SO full of adoration in his goodness...Im actually crying as I write this and its not just pregnancy hormones!! :) We have been blessed in so many ways in the last month! I will share a few.....
#1 Josh has a job again and he is doing the very thing he loves to do and even more! we have been praying for a long time now and we just recently started praying specifically and the Lord just threw this on our laps out of no where! I cried when he called me - I was like what?? this is so wonderful! I Immediately felt the Lord say "there's even more goodness to come, this is just the beginning. I told you I'd take care of you"
#2 We have been given a white gliding rocking chair (which is exactly what I have been searching for) and it has been passed down from two wonderful loving women who have used it...I know the holy spirit is going to be with me as I am rocking Ellie in it.
#3 Speaking of Ellie - we found out we are having a beautiful healthy little girl! UGH my heart is so full of love for her already I am bursting at the seams! Her name will be Elloise Baldwin. Ill tell the small story about what her middle name will be later :)
#4 Long story but since Josh and I are self employed we definitely owed in taxes. We knew we would get a tax break with getting married and buying a house but we still owed a big chunk of money. Anyways, with taking money from other areas that were saved for other things we had almost enough but we were still short a good amount and we weren't sure we would get money in time to meet the deadline. We of course prayed for money and opportunities to come in and not even a week later we received a check for the exact amount we needed....again...I cried and my heart was so full of thankfulness!!!
#5 I had bought a petunia pickle bottom diaper bag when they had their sale for Relief in Japan and when I got it in the mail I didn't like it...it was shiny and just not what I thought it was so I put it online with all the 100's of other PPB diaper bags that were being sold for less than I was willing to sell mine for and in 2 days someone bought it! I was like what??! I thought for sure it wouldn't sell! Another long story short two sweet friends found out which one I wanted (which costs more because its not on sale) and said they would buy it for me as a gift! AGAIN I thought - what?! It touched my heart so much!
#6 One of my clients brought me two gifts for my nursery, one is a vintage baby scale from the 1920's with a basket on top (it is soooo cute) and an old window that is weathered and painted white (which I also had been wanting for the nursery). She gave me these things out of no where? I was so surprised and felt so blessed!
#7 Another friend of ours let me use her moses basket that she had for her baby. We had been needing something to keep Ellie in when we have her in our room for the first 6-8 weeks but didn't want to buy anything because we knew she'd grow out of it so fast. She again just offered it to us on the spot! It has handles on it too so we can just take her around the house in it! Its perfect!
#8 My parents bought us our crib! I had been looking since I found out I was pregnant and I wanted a grey one but they are all like $800 or more. I kept waiting and finally found one in my price range and it was exactly what I wanted and mom and dad bought it for us! My parents bless us in so many ways I could write a list for days. I am so thankful for them everyday and am so touched by who they are. They make me want to be amazing parents and because of their example I know I will be with the help of them, the lord, and all of our amazing friends.
#9 I cant forget to mention, my cousin gave me a bunch of her maternity clothes and they fit perfect! She gave me a whole tub full of them, and my other friend has given me some pants and skirts that fit too!
I feel so overwhelmed with love from friends and love from the Lord. There are so many more ways we have been blessed but I said I would list a few and it got to 9....
I have always loved giving gifts and have always tried to be a big gift giver, I end up going a little above what I plan on spending because I love giving gifts! Josh is the same way, we both love to give. Whether its having people over to cook for them, having a listening ear, having them spend the night if they are out of town, offering to drive, buying lunch for people, or offering a helping hand, we always try to give big within reason/budget. Soon I will be a Millionaire and be able to give in even bigger ways than I have dreamed of. It will happen, I believe it. I will always dream big.
All that to say, when people give to me it makes me feel so loved because thats how I like to love. I always feel so surprised every time someone gives to me without expecting in return. It is one of the biggest ways I feel love and I think thats why the Lord loves to give to me and Josh. He loves to give to all of us. It's the most amazing thing to me. He cares about the little things, I know for a fact he does because he gives us those little things that we specifically want. He cares about the diaper bag I want or the rocking chair I want. He cares about all of it because he loves every part of who I am and he made me the way I am. Does he want me to blow money on the $650 stroller I want? probably not :) If I had the budget for it would it be wrong to do so? In my opinion, no. The "lack" mentality is something I will always stay far away from. I don't think the Lord wants us to have that mentality. There is so much in him and so much he is waiting to give us or is already giving us!

*a special thank you to all who have given to us at any point in our lives. I love you all and you have blessed my life so much.

*oh my gosh, I just finished writing this blog and Josh said someone literally just handed him a check because they wanted to bless us?! I am gonna have TEARS for days! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This completed the list with number 10!