quite possibly...

the best movie ever is "Dan in Real Life".

Melodramatic teenagers... a big family.... & witty humor.
I highly recommend it.

Oh gosh - warning, a lot of cuteness ahead

just a quickie

BOTH of my kids are asleep for I think... the next 45 minutes atleast. Agh. I'm pretty pumped. After they wake up, the whole family is going to reading time at the library & I'm so excited. I can't even START to say what a blessing it is to have my husband at home with us. He is getting out tonight for a man's night with the husbands of my small group - so, good for him.

I have a little mid-March resolution that I'm thinking about committing to. I'd like to TRY & take a picture of my little lovies each day for the next year. The other day Kendra & I were looking at Elias and Glory side by side and she said, "How does that (Glory) grow into that (Elias) in one year?". Good question... I'd like to document it... we'll see what happens.

I have about 42 more minutes of absolute nothing to hold, change, or feed so I'm going to go do some bible study stuff - I am loving our book/workbook and my women's group at Mars Hill. We're doing "How People Change" and I highly recommend it. Life-altering.

More later friends, hope everyone is doing well!

my bruiser.

Somewhere in the last week I feel like my little baby son almost became a man. It's kind of breaking my heart. I had thought a little about how he and Glory would interact, but hadn't honestly spent a ton of time praying or contemplating it. The first few days weren't rough - but didn't look promising... he ignored her most of the time and really ignored me anytime I had anything to do with her.

Then a few days ago, something in him just switched. Nick had been calling her "sis" around Elias and he just picked it up. Constantly pointing and looking for sis, hugging sis, and cuddling up to her. And in the past forty eight hours, he's taken an even more dramatic turn from being just a brother to a fearless protector. Elias LOVES his Nonny, but yesterday when she got in the car & blocked his vision of sis - he was not happy with her. This morning during worship, we moved her closer to him so he could cuddle with her and he awkwardly just snuggled up against her for a good three minutes. This afternoon when I was upstairs with her and he heard her crying on the monitor - Nick said that he was uncontrollably crying and worried about her. When I came down, the tears were still flowing and they only way I could calm him down was to let him sit beside me and look underneath my "hooter hider" while I nursed her... just to prove she was okay.

I've always referred to Elias as a "heart-defender" when people say he's going to be a heart-breaker and I can't believe he's already proving it. In one week - my little baby turned into a big brother and I just couldn't be more proud of him. Barely walking, still using a passy, with his little steak-like feet and permanently crusty face... he is already such a gentle warrior like his dad.

parenting & starbucks

Before I became a mom, I had so many ridiculous expectations of what it would be like. I had some ridiculous expectations of what I would be like... what my kids would be like and how it would feel. When Elias was born, I realized that I wasn't nearly as laid-back as I thought I'd be - everything stressed me out: packing diaper bags, worrying about him growing enough, and fearing I'd given him a brain tumor by dropping him his first night home from the hospital.

A few months later, I began to relax & see that mothering wasn't nearly as scary as I had imagined it. I was amazed I had all the abilities inside of me to keep a child alive & I began to give myself much more grace than before. Now - one week out of having my second (not too mention my three prego 'kids'), I'm starting to find some excitement in continually figuring out who I am as a mom.

My small group is reading "How People Change" by Tim Lane & Paul Trip and in doing the workbook this week, I was reading about how we can't find our purpose & direction without keeping eternity in mind. I know it's simplistic and an overgeneralization - but that helps me so much with motherhood. I know my kids are going to be great, I know I will grow in sanctification through being a mom, I know God will show up - if I keep my focus on His Kingdom and the end goal.

So - yesterday at Starbucks I had to smile. I've always known that my kids would appreciate the hallowed halls of coffee shops and yesterday was my first day having them both together, with Elias saying "Sis, Sis" and Glory just being passed out in her carrier. I look forward to so many more afternoons with them there and hopefully many more kids to join us.

*** On a semi-related note: My mom & sister have both recently written some of the sweetest, most encouraging blogs about our family & ministry. I'll address how wonderful they are in upcoming blogs, but for now let me just mention that these two women have helped shape who I am in Christ... He has used them to mold and shape me, and if they find ANYTHING worthy in me, it's because of Him and their obedience to teach me. ***

using the blog for something important

Hey friends and family! While I wish I had a cute Glory & Elias pic for you... instead I have a request. Both the kids are doing good and we are praising God for them but we would truly covet your prayers for some sleep. Since weve been home from the hospital, each night has been pretty rough and Nick and I are going on about six hours of sleep each for the past 72 hours. I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask for your help and then Praise God together when things normalize. Thanks so much....

seriously?

two things Nick and I noticed this morning while letting Glory cry it out to get used to her bassinet.
#1.... it is much harder to hear a helpless baby girl cry.
#2.... why in the world do they make "the wedding march" one of the lullabies that the bassinet plays? theyre asking for crying dads!

glory.

The past few days have been an absolute blur and there is so much on my heart but I want to try and get some of it out before my heart forgets - which it won't. First of all, I'm in awe of God and His grace and His sweetness to give the world another jewel as sweet as Gloriana Eloise. I'm flabbergasted at the ability to go from being two single, selfish people to being married... eventually being a family of three and then in a matter of minutes - becoming a family unit of four and that feeling natural. I can't get over that we have a son and a daughter. This is made obvious by the fact that I continually am calling 'Glory' 'Elias' and her a "him". All of these things freak me out & are awesome all at once.

I also can't believe our support system... I don't know what to say to begin to explain that. My sister flew out here on a whim, my mom is coming tomorrow, our few friends here in the Puget Sound Area made plenty of time to visit with Glory & Elias. Even new friends that we already love so much. Faythe, Jimmy, & Lauren were amazing - running the house far more efficiently than we do on a normal basis and just picking up right where we left off with Elias. We felt and do feel - so loved.

Some thoughts on Glory though... I'm overcome with love. I can't believe how little she is. It's actually a joke. We were expecting something over 9 lbs. because of ultrasounds and out pops out this 7 and a half pound little lamb. I can't believe how much I missed Elias and how natural it seems to have two kids and to love them both so much. I can't even start to describe how crazy it is that my love for my husband has doubled with the size of our children. He was already the best dad I knew and now he's the best dad to two children that I know. His love for Glory & Elias is precious and inspiring to me.

Some facts about our little one: She is a ferocious eater - her feeding sessions are literally one hour long on average. But that is a massive answer to prayer - literally, so I'm not complaining. Of her seven pounds, they're almost all in her face & lips... her arms and legs are like skin & bones. I'm a little jealous of her figure. She responds to her Daddy's voice in a really sweet way. She's a great grower - she's eating, sleeping, pooping, & peeing great. Did I mention she's hilariously small?

PLEASE go look at Nick's blog to see the sweetest Daddy/daughter pictures ever. I'll post some more as soon as I get a sec. Right now I've got to go feed my little barracuda.

and she's here!

Gloriana Eloise Connolly was born at 11:47 this morning - weighing 7.5lbs and 20 inches long. Here are a few first pics for you to enjoy! She's doing great and is resting in her dad's arms as we speak! Feel free to call our cell phones, email, or the hospital - we're at St. Joes Hospital in Tacoma, WA and just for the record.... Elias is absolutely in love!

Jessi, Nick, Elias & Glory

last pregnancy pics

Here's a few shots to tide everyone over until she's here!
... Katie & my I love Ruby shirt.
... Faythe, Katie, me, & Kalle.
... Elias checking out the belly for the last time.
... Some sweet last day with my "baby" moments.

We're on our way to the hospital!

last minute thoughts

Somehow Somehow Somehow.... we got it all done. We unpacked this week, set up all the bedrooms in our house & now we're so thankful because we have some official family visitors! We found out late last night that my sister got a buddy pass and so she'll be here in about an hour! Words cannot express my gratitude to the Lord & her for making this happen.

We spent a good last couple of hours with Elias... I can tell he is going to be thrilled to wake up to his Ruby Dear tomorrow - and I know he's going to be immensely blessed to meet his sister later in the day. And then... if that wasn't enough - my mom comes on Monday! We have an amazing few family days planned coming up!

Nick and I are collectively thrilled to meet our sweet girl tomorrow. I'm not going to try & use words because I feel like I'll hurt my cause to try & say something pretty. I'm having a daughter tomorrow, our family becomes four... we get to see His glory revealed in my favorite way.

I'll update as soon possible and we'll upload pics soon too! I definitely need to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all our wonderful friends & family. We feel loved by those here and not here and we can't wait to give you all another sweet Connolly babe to enjoy.

Day One of Psycho Week

Of the 43 items on my to-do list, I have crossed off 14.

I had four phone dates planned with girlfriends, I completed one call.

I had amazing time with Elias & yucky time with Elias. I loved them both.

For the first time in history, I think my sister called me like three times in a row & I failed to pick up... which made me feel miserable and sad because I really wanted to talk to her and then I only had 2 minutes to talk and I find peace in knowing she understands.

I only cried once. I only took one nap, and only for about four minutes after putting Elias to bed & before eating dinner.

We had about 24 hours notice that a DTS team was coming in to help us around the house and while they helped a ton, they unintentionally left a gigantic mess. I was sad, but they're coming back tomorrow to clean up their mess - so now I'm happy.

I got even more excited and I can't wait.

I'm taking the night off... dying my hair & playing tetris on the computer while my brain rots and Mickaela helps me finish washing all of Glory's clothes.

Wrapping it all up

So we're less than one week out from the arrival of our baby girl! This past week has been a whirlwind... Lauren our assistant arrived on Tuesday and we spent the better part of last week trying to get her acclimated before the madness begins! For the next few days, the Connolly family is going to be VERY focused on getting things ready for baby Glory & all the impending guests we hope to be having. Thankfully, we finally got one thing accomplished through Lauren yesterday that made me feel much more at peace! We got a USB cord to get the pictures off of our camera (since we lost ours) and now I was finally able to upload pictures of the last month to our website & I know there will be room on the camera for Glory's birth. Feel free to peruse the website for some different albums!

*** This particular picture is for my mom because we both have a stockpiling fetish! Having household items in bulk puts us at ease, so I thought she'd find this picture from our bathroom closet enjoyable:). ***

thoughts on seasons

On our trip to Langley Island Nick and I came across a massive bookstore with new and old books, complete with an entire upstairs section just for kids. Elias is just getting into reading & every afternoon and every night, we climb into our favorite comfy brown chair and read something. Our family and friends have bought him massive amounts of books, but we were missing him on our little babymoon, so we perused the children's section until we found one to bless him with. We settled on one with beautiful pictures - Ecclesiastes 3 (to everything there is a time...) set to the illustrations of a South African rural family. I thought it would be a sweet way for E to hear scripture while physically seeing what "a time to plant" and "a time to embrace" looks like.

We haven't even read our new book to Elias yet, because at the moment - he's stuck on 'Good Night Moon' & his children's Bible. Nevertheless, that book and that passage from Ecclesiastes have been on my mind for the past few weeks.

I've always read that passage instructionally... My mind picture looks something like this: I'm an elementary school student running through the halls, slipping as I round the corners, rushing not to art or computer lab - but the next season in life. I'm hurrying to the next babe, or city, or job... frantically searching for the next friend or level of life. Jesus, my ever-present hall monitor is standing just in front of me, arm & hand outstretched - signally me to stop, repeating this refrain... reminding me "there is a time for everything... slow down."

It's just in the past few weeks that I've begun to recognize this is what's happening in my head and how wrong it is. My women's small group has been talking about praising God and this week we've been bouncing back and forth emails of things we're thankful for. I've felt overwhelmingly compelled daily to thank God for Ecclesiastes & and specifically - that it is so true.

Not only did He create us, give us a way back home when we fled and promise to lead us until we get there - but He provided seasons for us to make it through this sin-stained earth. Can you imagine if the first half of Ecclesiastes 3:2 was missing? What if there wasn't a time to be born, only a time for death? What if there wasn't a time to be silent and only a time to speak? My thoughts are so wicked and my tongues is so loose - if that were true, I'd have no friends and certainly no husband. And while we can be sure we live in a fallen world - what if there was no promise of a time for peace?

I think the gift of seasons is truly why we can ENJOY life in Christ. I can always praise God regardless of my circumstances if I'm in a period of death or strife because I know He's good - I know He's faithful. However, I can enjoy and find joy during those periods because I know they will end. And for the good seasons - I can enjoy them all the more because I know they're temporary and they won't last forever. I'm able to push through the annoyance of late pregnancy and ignore the fear of post-surgery pain and middle of the night feedings because I know this beautiful time of birth is a massive fleeting gift and it has an expiration date on it. Eventually, possibly sooner than later, my body won't be physically capable of carrying or birthing babies. Rather than live in fear for that date, I'll live in joy of my present season.

Likewise, I daily mourn the distance between my loved ones back east and I. That sad feeling of loss is real and painful, and still I can find joy in my Savior because I know the time to dance is coming. So today, I'm thanking God that Jesus is truly not a frustrated hall monitor... He's a giving friend and Lord who didn't stop at saving my soul, He blesses it as well.