BABY, it's cold outside!!!

I am SO EXCITED to officially announce on our blog that the Wren Family becomes a FAMILY OF 3 come May 2014!!!! Dear world, please meet our sweet baby Wren:

As of today, we are 15 weeks along! The picture above that you see is from our most recent 13wk ultrasound. At first, baby was so relaxed and cozy that he/she wouldn't move at all. The ultrasound tech  pushed on my abdomen a little and that's when baby really started moving and a grooving! Here is our favorite photo from the day. The crazy thing is that only 5 weeks earlier, baby was just the size of a little bean.

When I saw baby on the screen I couldn't help but tear up! I was holding Jon's hand next to me and we just stared at the screen in awe of this baby that will be pieces of us. It was truly incredible. My heart, at that moment, walked out of my chest and into the screen with that little one and immediately I felt so much love for the life growing inside me. We won't get to know, for sure, the gender until week 20 ultrasound. But one of the shots of the day did allow the ultrasound tech to take a guess. She said it was a 90% guess. We are thrilled she at least tried to find out, and we can't wait to have it confirmed at next ultrasound. That is when we will let everyone know! Oh, and that ultrasound day will be on December 20th. So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!! ; )

This journey started out with a lot of excitement, followed by tons of nauseousness and fatigue, and then my belly started to take on a life of its own, and brings us to today where I am feeling good and continuously excited as baby grows bigger. And no matter the symptoms, I would do all of this for the joy of having a healthy, happy baby at the end of this journey. Jon has been amazing through all of this so far as well. I mean, I experience the changes but so does he in his own way!! He is wonderful and I am reminded over and over how blessed I am to live life alongside him. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for our little family and I am excited for all the fun family traditions and memories we will have and make, and journeys we will take, just the three of us. 

We will definitely keep you posted on the blog of how life is progressing around here!! Thanks for celebrating with us during this wonderful season!!

All our LOVE!

Jon, Michelle and Baby Wren 

NEED.

You probably thought we dropped off the face of the planet. Sorry about that. Since our last blog post in July we have had a WHIRLWIND of life happening around our home and in our lives. Let me update you.

We have been selling my condo and Jon's house that we each owned before we got married. Neither are places we could grow into as a family someday. So we have been working our little hind ends fixing up both and maintaining them for showings, packing up all our life into cardboard boxes and living with things scattered everywhere. And I enjoy a good, organized home where everything has it's place and it feels cozy...so that's been a struggle for me. And Jon's pretty organized too so I know it has not been thrilling for him either. However, as I type this blog, we officially have a contract on the condo and a contract on his house. The hard work and prayers are coming full circle, and it is hopeful we will be free of both properties before Thanksgiving dinner.

I was intending to take the MFT Exam in August, however I failed to realize the testing site didn't have me registered under my new married name. Which delayed registration. Which means I missed the deadline. Which means I didn't get to take it as expected. So still gotta knock that exam out. As of this week, I officially have approval from the MFT Board to move ahead and register for the exam window coming up and I will be passing that test as Michelle Wren.

A few weeks ago, we had a scare. One of my mom's tests came back with a spot. They wanted to do a biopsy to declare if her breast cancer had returned or if it was a benign spot. 7 years ago she had fought against cancer, and the thought of that ugly, horrible, disease invading again all but took the life out of me. I was pretty down for a couple weeks while in the waiting. We recently got official news that the spot was a 3/4" in diameter piece of fatty tissue. We are so grateful for this wonderful news. I can now joke with mom that now I know where she hides all her fat, since she's such a little bitty thing: under her armpit ; )

There are other things up in the air and happening in our lives and I am sure I will be giving more updates again here real soon. But in the midst of all that is going on God continues to remind me of my complete and utter dependence on Him alone. One of the things that is wonderful about being married and then going through stressful times is that Jon is able to remind me of my faith and trust in God when I don't feel it. And I am able to do the same for him. It is such a priceless gift we can give each other. But it is also difficult to realize how out of control and powerless we are to fix or change what the other person is going through. When I was so sad about mom, Jon could only do so much and come so far in meeting me where I was. And that wasn't due to him not doing everything he could to reach me. I realized there is a space for each of us, all of us, in which the only person who can completely join us in those moments whether they be filled with sadness, hopelessness, frustration, disrespect, or hurt...is God Himself. There is so much in life we cannot control. There is so much yet ahead that will be difficult times for Jon and myself. And one of the best things we can learn early in our marriage is how to take the other before the Throne of God in prayer. Taking each other to the One who is everything we need, recognizing we can never be all each other needs.

There's a song that keeps resonating with me during this season of life. Despite all the stressful times and difficulties we are experiencing, this is also such a sweet and wonderful season for Jon and myself as well. For all the times, Matt Maher's song "Lord, I Need You" keeps playing on repeat in my headphones and my heart. I hope it encourages you too!

We look forward to sharing more SOON!

Love you all.

Jon and Michelle

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

For full disclosure, I must mention that as I type this blog I am sitting in our office at home, sipping on some deliciously warm Ethiopian coffee my hubs graciously made for us this morning, and listening to James Taylor's Christmas CD. It's perfect. On top of that, I was organizing some photos from the past year and came across this one: Jon and I in front of our "Palm Christmas Tree" this past Christmas. Our very first Christmas together. I love this picture. I love Christmas.

And most of you probably think I am crazy because it is far from Christmas time around here: we are in one of the hottest months of the year and far from any chill in the air, nevertheless, snow. But I am ALWAYS in the Christmas spirit. I LOVE that time of year. But not because of all the gift giving, although that is fun, it is far from my love language. I am a quality time/encouraging words kind of girl. And that is why I love Christmas. People stay in and hang out by the fireplace together a little longer, have chats about life and love and everything in between, play board games more, listen to great music, eat good food, sip on extra cups of coffee, cider or hot chocolate. It's the best. People soak in the moments together a little better during the Christmas season, I believe. And I absolutely love it. Which gets me thinking about our family of two. And what I desire for us to be as a family. I want our home to be filled yearly, like it tends to be at Christmas time: filled with a warm welcome; a good smelling candle always burning; always space at our dinner table for a guest; less technology turned on and more time in conversation with one another or company; the closet always full of board games; a slower paced environment that encourages us to not miss the simple things; and a desire to reach out in service to those in need around us.

God has a purpose in why He brought Jon and I together. We have already seen so many reasons of why He put us in each others lives. But I am finding if we are not intentional, we will slide into cruise control of what "married" life is and "family" life is according to the world, and miss out on what God's intentions and plans are for us. We desire more than this world. We want to be a family focused on what God has for us. To build His kingdom, not our own. His ways are good and pure and true. We want that. And on this hot July morning if some Christmas music and hot coffee can help remind me of what we want to be about...then... "Let It Snow!" ; )

All our love!
The Wrens

Summertime, Summertime!

It is hard to believe June is almost over and July is on its way. Yeesh. Time flies. Jon continues to stay busy with church stuff and I am studying for my Marriage and Family Licensure exam and obtaining the rest of my clinical hours before OFFICIALLY being licensed. This journey has been so long, but the finish line is close and we are looking forward to having Fall 2013 as a huge celebration of being DONE and LICENSED!!

I have some pictures of what has been going on the past 6 months for us, and will share them on the blog here once I can download them from Jon's phone. One of the sweetest photos is from when Jon and I went to go visit a couple at the hospital who just had a baby. In the midst of me handing the baby to Jon to hold, I caught him smell the little baby's head. It was SO SWEET!! His response: "What...babies smell good." It was adorable.

Let's see. Other news around here. I have been doing a Crossfit workout at the Y the past few months and absolutely love it. I can now do more push-ups than ever in my life and feel stronger each time. Jon continues to run his miles and lift weights. We love the fact that our YMCA is part of the neighborhood we live. Also, I got on a kick of watching documentaries and watched "Forks Over Knives" and "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Due to this fact, I now am trying to eat more of a plant-based diet and am trying to find good deals anywhere but Wal-Mart. Jon lovingly supports me. ; )

And to end this post, here is what we are reading these days:

I am currently reading "Counterfeit Gods" by Timothy Keller and Jon is reading "Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love To Attend" by Andy Stanley. We'll keep you posted on our reviews of each.

Hope this finds each of you happy, healthy and loved. Let us know how we can be praying for you!

The Wrens

We've Made It 6 Months!!!!!

I should start this blog by apologizing for such a delay in getting this process of blogging up and running! My lack of technology skills has majorly affected this delay. But now it looks like we at least have a start! We hope to keep consistent updates on our life on this page and we hope you will follow along.

So, on June 8th 2013, Jon and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary. We excitedly high fived each other on this accomplishment and had an awesome day together. It is hard to believe that it's been 6 months already! Since the wedding, it has been non-stop go around here. We had an amazing honeymoon in Cancun at an all-inclusive resort followed by returning home to a TON of boxes to unpack in regards to merging all our stuff into one house, renting the other house, travelling for the holidays, more sorting and unpacking and donating items along with both of us working full time. Life has more recently slowed down a bit more for the both of us and we are soaking up the slower paced life. Married life has been such a blessing to us both and it is really nice to spend everyday with your best friend. We have so many dreams and hopes for our little family of 2, and we cannot wait to see what God has planned for us. We are so grateful to be surrounded by so many friends and families who love us, encourage us, pray for us and care for us.

There is so much ahead that we are excited for and we hope you will stay tuned for more updates on life with the Wrens!!

Love to you all.

The Wrens