Starting to look like we're moving...

Last Wednesday POD delivered this into our driveway in Austin. The Lord provided for the total cost of the POD rental through two different donors. He has been so faithful in the details of this move! We planned for Benjamin to drive out to California with his brother Isaac and our dog Penny in our Honda Element towing a small UHaul trailer. Benjamin was able to sell his trombone from high school to cover the cost of the UHaul. The trailer would hold the belongings we needed to access during the two week transition from our house in Austin to the little house we will be staying in in Desert Hot Springs. Although we are currently without employment, we see God’s hand of provision so clearly! We had a large surprise tax return, and gifts from a few brothers and sisters. Amazing.

Benjamin and Isaac hit the road around 9am on Friday with Penny and an audio book to listen to. They ended up driving through the night and beat the girls and I to CA by two hours!

Our airplane adventures began at 4am on Saturday morning to make our 7am flight departure time to get to Dallas. I tried to pack lightly, knowing we’d be dragging two car seats, a stroller, and two babies along with any baggage. I managed to leave with one carry-on sized suitcase and one diaper bag. All the rest went with Benjamin in the UHaul trailer the morning before.

My mom, dad and brother Bobby woke up suuuper early to be our airport shuttle and we picked up our sweet friend Lolli who had offered to help me tote the girls and be our travel buddy. I can’t help but realize how many loving friends worked together to make this move happen! Those who funded the trip, who drove out of town, who changed their travel plans, who hosted us, who fed us, who prayed us all the way there… We praise God for each of you and for your support and love!

Airport security was our very first challenge. Even Hannah’s beloved stuffed animal “Pablo” (from Backyardigans kid’s show) had to go through the x-ray machine belt. We brought him for a bit of familiarity for Hannah and let’s just say that she did not appreciate him being taken to be inspected, and she expressed her feelings as only an 18 month old can do…

How we roll...

After making it through security, juggling the girls, and getting things put back together (sort of), we found our gate and went to talk to the attendantabout our seat arrangements. Lolli’s seat had been changed from what we requested and we were hoping to sit near each other. Not only did we sit one seat right in front of the other, but we were switched to the bulk head seating (giving Hannah extra room to kick her legs), AND two extra seats for the girls to sit in their car seats!! We had not paid for the girls to have their own seats, planning on holding them, and it was SO great to have the option of putting them down. Thank you Lord.

I had expected Hannah to fall asleep at some point since she had been awake since 4am and usually doesn’t rise until 7. During the short flight to Dallasshe finally fell asleep thanks to Lolli while I nursed Hayley. I couldn’t believe how quickly it was already time to prepare for landing! Both of the girls did so much better than I was afraid they would. Hayley has been known to scream in her carseat in the car, and Lolli kept the conversation going with her so well that she only cooed and smiled on the flight. Miraculous!

Keeping airplane passengers in line

In the Dallas airport, Lolli found a vacant wheelchair to use to pile on our two small suitcases and car seats. It’s amazing the caravan you need to fly with just two babies! We arrived at the Skylink transport train with our stroller and wheelchair load. The sign said, “NO CARTS.” We could have easily chosen to use a cart to push our pile, and would have had to unload and load again when we found another cart after getting off the Skylink. What a mess! Instead, we were able to roll right on in and out without a hitch. The same issue would have happened when we went to use the elevator. No carts allowed. We had no doubt that God was arranging the details of this journey.

Hannah’s “Mimi” packed us lots of yummy snacks and her Gramma packed some small wrapped surprises. We kept happy with songs, snacks, books, toys, walks, and stickers. Hannah was amazingly cooperative for being such a busy little girl and only had one or two moments of protest. No doubt her peacefulness was a gift of mercy from The Lord.

Discovering stickers

We could see the mountains out the plane window as we came in for a landing and I was impressed with the vastness and number of them. The Palm Springs airport was beautiful! I love the outdoor walk ways with white tent covers. You can see the mountains past them in the distance. I noticed the difference in climate immediately – it was a breezy day and the air was cool and dry. I guess a valley in the desert is a windy place! I have so much to learn.

Here we are in the car with Rachael, not sure why Hannah is sniffing her toes...

Ben and Isaac arrived at Lolli’s house (where we are to stay until the POD arrives with our beds etc.) before 8am and took a snooze before we all met up. It was great to be reunited and Penny bounded around sniffing everyone happily.

Rachael and her kids had a welcoming party all set out for us with signs and gifts. A few of our brothers also came over to greet us, Brad and Sun. We enjoyed burgers and celebrated being together.

The girls and I took naps, and Hannah immediately fell in love with Rachael’s “big kids:” Noah (8), Naomi (7), Elijah (5), and Esther (4). She was just turning one when they left and is now so much more independent and talkative. She sat right down at their little picnic table to eat a dinner of Mac and Cheese with a fork. I can already tell that their company will be so good for her development and such a blessing to me. (Because she will eat)

Sooo we’re here! I had some tummy issues this morning, maybe due to dehydration, and am already on the mend. Promise to keep the blog posts coming…

First day in Cali

Eating Mac and Cheese with the big kids

Whoever was in town on Easter Sunday from both sides of our family gathered for brunch to celebrate The Resurrection, and to send off Benjamin and all his girls.  Here are some snapshots of our sweet time at Mali’s house:

We will surely be missing all of our loved ones in Texas. Ben leaves for California in the car with a UHaul trailer, his brother Isaac as a driving buddy, and our dog Penny tomorrow morning! The girls and I will fly out with a sweet friend early Saturday. Looking forward to seeing what The Lord has in store…

A brother recently reminded me of a quote from Oswald Chambers. He says that “faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God, whose ways you may not understand at the time.”

This rings so true for us right now! The Lord has asked Benjamin and I to move our lives to sunny southern California at the end of this month to join some of those He has made dearest to us in The Spirit.

Moving to California has never been a part of our “Five Year Plan.” In the last year, we’ve held up our plans to The Father and been asked to throw them all away. Proverbs  16:9 says, “In his heart, a man plans his course, but The Lord determines his steps.” We no longer have plans for ourselves, according to our own ambition or ideas. We only plan to listen to the voice of God and obey without hesitation. This is the life we are called to! This is the joy and peace of walking in the ways of The Kingdom of God.

At the moment we do not know where we will live when we get to California. We do not know how our income will be provided. We don’t know what God has in store for us, in The Spirit, or in the natural life. We don’t even know how long He will have us in California! All we know is what He has revealed thus far – that we are to be living in community with our brothers and sisters there, and that we are to move on April 30th.

To the natural mind, this may seem to be a foolish choice. We are caring for a newborn and a very busy toddler (AKA “not sleeping much”…), moving without employment waiting, and moving away from our family and familiarity. To the spiritual man, one with The Father, this move is the only choice. To hear from The Lord and NOT obey is folly in the very clearest form!

We have so much peace, knowing the character of our God- resting in His heart towards us! “For I know the plans I have for you!” He declares. “Plans to prosper and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) This is enough. Enough to move our family without all the logical pieces already in place. Enough to obey in spite of the opinions of others. Enough to obey without fear. “For perfect love casts out fear.” (I John 4:18)

And so we praise The Father for His heart of perfect love towards us, and look forward with excitement to see all that He has planned for our little family in the coming days in California!

Last week we spent a few days down on South Padre Island with Ben’s side of the family. It was so much fun to be all together! Lauren got some beautiful pictures of the beach, the waves at night, our general silliness, and Hannahgirl. Here are my faves:

Hannah’s first Christmas came and went! We had a full day to spend with each set of grandparents : )

Here’s a pic of her Christmas Eve nap:

Hannah played the critical role of Baby Jesus in Mission: Possible’s His-Story Presentation last week! “A daring role for such a young actress,” a friend in the business told me. : )

At 9 weeks, Hannah:

~ Smiles and coos when her diaper is clean again
~ Loves to have someone help her stand and bobbles her head
~ Outgrew her Moses Basket and sleeps in the Pack n Play (at the raised, infant height)
~ Responds conversationally to eye contact and verbal interaction when shes in the mood
~ Uses one eye brow during facial expressions in conversational interaction
~ Kicks a Baby Einstein baby gym toy to make lights and music start
~ Exhales a sigh of relief when you pick her up or do something else she’s been trying to ask you for
~ Has the chubbiest cheeks!!

Hannah at 8 weeks old tells a story to Mommy.

Hannah tells a story from Ben Lowe on Vimeo.

Here are a few shots from Hannah’s one month old photo shoot with our sweet friend Jill McKay from a few weeks ago:

At 6 weeks old, Hannah:

~ Looks at mobiles
~ Loves listening to music, and recognizes the ABC song from others
~ Smiles and coos
~ Has discovered her ears and loves to feel them
~ Has rolled from her belly to her back
~ Keeps Mommy busy enough that’s it’s hard to keep up with her baby book blogging : )

Wow… we can’t stop taking pictures! Here are some snapshots of the last 3 weeks: (Thanks Jenn for the blog pic slide show format idea) Please comment to let me know which format was easier to view, the Flickr format from our Belly Pic montage a few posts ago, or this one!! Thanks!

We’ve already had lots of “first’s,” sweet visitors, and things to remember:
~ Hannah’s umb stump was gone at 8 days old
~ We’ve already survived 2 diaper rashes
~ Hannah has the funniest little sneeze!
~ We switched to using cloth diapers with service from Austin BABY! (Thanks Diane!!)

Mommy and Daddy are so in love with you Hannahgirl! <3

She was born with her hand up on her face! 8 lbs, 3oz. 20 inches long on October 26th, 2009.

Check out those sweet long toes!

She was Daddy's girl right from the start

Mommy and her little one

Our little family : )

Mommy and Hannah in our matching jammies

Ready to bring her home!

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