Baby Bingham arrives!

July rolled around, and, as 40 weeks crept up, we anticipated the birth of our child.  Morning sickness continued, but there weren't many days left to be pregnant.  Contractions started July 1st, and we were admitted to the hospital July 2nd, the day before my birthday.  After a long day of back labor and all the joys labor gives to mothers, midnight crept around, and then shortly after arrived a beautiful little blessing, sharing a birthday with her mommy!!  Hannah Carole was born at 3:19 in the morning, at the same hospital I was.  Mom and baby we healthy, and we all were exhausted! 

The Birthday Girls!

The details of her arrival into this world are written elsewhere, for Hannah to read and cherish as her own.

Due to not finding out the gender of our child, we had 2 sets of names picked out- the boy name, and the girl names we didn't think we would need, as we were guessing we were having a boy. 

Why Hannah Carole?  Her middle name, Carole, is that of Luke's grandmother, a sweet, loving, God-fearing, precious woman.  It is our hope to get back to Oregon to have the two "Carole's" meet in person in the near future!  Hannah's first name was picked to resemble the love that God gives to His people.  The meaning of Hannah is "God has favored me."  Biblically, Hannah gave birth to the prophet Samuel, after years of being barren. She prayed to God for a child, and He blessed her with a son.  After an emotional journey through two miscarriages, it was our great prayer to be blessed with a child we could hold.  While we knew that we had two precious children in Heaven, it was the desire of our hearts to have our child with us here.  After much prayer and reliance on God, He blessed us with our own Hannah, and we are so grateful and unworthy.  It is our hope that Hannah Carole will see and grow in the love that God has for her, and that He would be glorified through her life.  We are excited to see what is in store for this precious little one!

2012 Catch-Up

2012 has lended itself to being a very quick, lively year.  Although no "traveling" by public definition was had, we did manage to travel from De Pere, WI to Green Bay, WI by way of... our own house!  We moved in in April, and owning a home has been great, although not without its own challenges.  Our furnace was broken when we moved in (fixed quickly with a new fuse), which caused the wax seal on the toilet to break, thus flooding the bathroom and leaking into the basement.  Thankfully for a really nice furnace fixer and friends that know plumbing, all was well by the end of day 1.  (a picture will be posted once I find out where I may have put the pictures on my computer...oops!)

Aside from the independence, responsibility, and fun of owning our own home, in addition to being done with apartment living, and having color on the walls, there was another great reason to move into a home:

Baby Bingham was on the way!!

We found out we were pregnant in October 2011, shortly after what would have been the due date of our first child.  Our pregnancy progressed well, aside from persistent morning sickness, but all involved were healthy.   We painted the nursery a light tan not knowing what we were having, picked out a few names, bought unisex clothing, and did all the traditional "first" pregnancy things.  And then July rolled around!!