The news...

IT'S A BOY!!!

and yes, we already had a name picked out.

Leland Michael

Stay tuned...

Put it on your calendars.  On December the 8th we have our appointment to find out if our little one, is a boy or a girl.  So, since we have quite a few relatives that want to know, and we can't call everyone at the same time, we will post what we find out later on that evening.  Also, if you were wondering what you can do to help us, you can send us a whole bunch of cash.  Just kidding!!!  Seriously, what you can do to help is to pray for us, and send Lauren some encouraging words every now and then.  I know it's not best, but I don't mind having a big belly, but it gets to her sometimes.  Anyways, just remember to check your email, or the blog, on the evening of December the 8th.

Love you all,
Lance

Welcome to the family...

Hey, it’s Lance.

I wanted to take a minute and tell everyone about the newest addition to the Morgan family.  Her name is Lillian.

Also, I want to let you in on a secret.  I can get pretty emotional, so all of these words that have been typed have definitely stirred up tears, smiles, laughter, and love. 

About 3 months ago, Lauren and I had this conviction of blessing. (Yes I came up with that saying, and have trademarked it.)  What I mean by that is we have been blessed, so now we are to be a blessing.  Both of us grew up going to church, and we both have parents that have taught us about tithing, and how all that we “own” we really don’t.  (If that last statement didn’t make sense please email me, and I would love to talk with you, and explain it).  So, back to the conviction of blessing.  We are officially debt free, meaning there is no debt that is associated to either one of our names, residence, or social security numbers (or dog’s name).  Because God has pushed and prodded us to that point, we are able to do more with the resources that He has provided us.

Now, time for that last paragraph to make sense.

There are tithes, and then there are offerings.

Yes, they are two DIFFERENT things.

Lauren and I had our conviction of blessing, and it hit us pretty hard, because there are a lot of different things that we are both passionate about.  Shockingly they aren’t the same exact things.

That just confirms the whole “opposites attract” theory.

I had some organizations, and ministries in mind that I were gung ho, and all about what they were doing.  “To Write Love on Her Arms”, “XXX Church”, “Charity Water”, and a few others.  But Lauren only had one that she said verbally.

World Vision

Little did we know, but a few days later we would be asked to help volunteer at World Vision concert. (Actually two, but we could only make it to one of them.)  Thanks Mom.  The band was “Casting Crowns”, and the night was amazing.  It was so cool to be a part of an organization that doesn’t agree that love of Jesus should only be for those that are your neighbors, or your co-workers, or your distant relatives.  The love Jesus is, is for ALL.

“For God so loved the WORLD…”

World Vision is helping to show remote countries that the love of Jesus exists for them too.  They go to communities in countries all of over the world and ask the Elders of the town how they can help provide support for the community, but more importantly they tell them that they want to help their children prosper and be shown love by people who want to love them.

So, I don’t know when they showed up to Lillian’s community, but they did, and they took a picture, and wrote down her name and birth date.

Back to the concert…

Lauren and I, like I said, were there to volunteer, and help World Vision that night.  And we were, but little did we know, but God was watching a “Devine Intervention” unfold.

What I would give to have that view on life sometimes.

It was after the intermission, and after we had helped quite a few people register to sponsor kids that were all ages, sizes, colors, ethnicities, etc… that we were sitting, and listening to Mark Hall, lead singer for “Casting Crowns”, that Lauren leaned over and reminded me of what we had talked about 3 months ago.

Have you ever noticed those scenes in a movie, when one of the characters was reminded of a conversation by someone asking them a question.  And then the director of the movie does one of those fast rewinds, the one that goes through everything the character had done up until the moment the conversation happened.

I had one of those, and boy was it an exhilarating ride.

It was quickly followed by me realizing that this was God’s mighty hand at work.  I was able to realize in a split second that He orchestrated all of this, and that everything was already put in place for us to act accordingly to what He wanted us to do.

So, we did.

We decided that we were going to go to the stack of children that were born in May, and then take the first one we saw that was born on the 15^th.  (If you can’t figure out the date of May 15^th, then please read some of our previous posts).  About three children in, there was Lillian, the one God had chosen for us.  So we asked a volunteer to help us fill out all the paperwork, even though we should have already known how to do that because we were helping other people fill out their forms.  But, we had just been instructed on how to fill out the paperwork properly, and I don’t know about Lauren, but I was wondering the whole time our leader was talking, “How does he get his beard to look so full, and fluffy?”

Anyways…

We filled out the paperwork, and helped tear down the booth, the whole time I couldn’t get out of my head, that we have a responsibility.  God has put us in charge of showing this little girl the love that He has for her.

I told Lauren, one day, one day I want to meet her.  Not that I don’t believe she exists, but because I want her to feel the love that we have for her, I want to hug her, and be able to communicate with her verbally. 

As our little one grows inside of Lauren, my anxiousness builds by the second.  I can’t wait to hold our little one in my arms and tell her/him that not only do I love him/her, but the creator of the universe loves her/him with NO strings attached.  Also, I can’t wait until he/she is old enough, to tell her/him that they have a big sister that lives in Kenya, and her name is Lillian.

Just watch, and listen.

Baby Picture #2

I know it's been about 3 weeks since this picture was taken but we still wanted to share it with everyone.  I'm sure you're not reading "What to Expect When You're Expecting" as religiously as I am so I will fill you in on the latest developments:)  The baby has arms and legs and this week is building muscles and is starting to move.  The book was very clear on the fact that you can't feel the baby moving but there are times that I am just sure of it.  I can definitely feel my uterus stretching and moving, a really weird feeling.  I also learned that this month the baby will produce testosterone if it's a boy, which many of you are so sure of:)  We have another appointment on Tuesday, October 27th, where we will get to hear the heartbeat for the first time.  We will try to record it and post it somehow on the blog so that you can hear it too.  Thanks for praying and caring for us...it's been a fun journey so far.  No sickness:)  Just extreme tireness that school just multiplies!  Only 2 more weeks until my 2nd Trimester, which I understand to be so much better:)  We love you all and will keep you updated!

Picture of Baby Morgan!

A Note from Lauren:
Here is the official first picture of Baby Morgan!  We learned a lot during this sonogram.  We learned that I am not quite as far along as we all originally thought.  Today, Tuesday, I am 6 weeks 2 days.  SO we also learned that our due will be May 16, not May 6 like originally thought.

We also had our first appointment today.  It was a long appointment with lots of paperwork, most of which Lance had to wait in the waiting room for.  They also drew blood for the first set of work-ups.  I go back next week to go over all the results from the blood work as well as having a full exam.

I haven't gotten sick or felt nauseated yet but the nurse assured me there was still time for that.  I have been tired at the end of a long day of teaching and very excited to get home for a nap and rest.  

A Note from Lance:
Let me start by telling everyone, that we thank you in advance for all of your prayers and advice.  When we went in for our special sonogram, it was an experience that I believe I will only experience if and when we are pregnant again.  The Dr. started out by saying, "Do you see the black spot?  Now do you see the white ring looking object inside the black spot?  Now do you see the white speck, inside the white right looking thing, inside the black spot?  That's it."  As soon as I saw what I was supposed to be looking at I noticed it pulsing, then 2 seconds later my brain told my brain that what I was seeing was the heart beat.  My eyes watered up and I thought to myself, this whole miracle of life thing, and the birthing process is mind blowing.

Todays visit involved money, my favorite.  We got to learn how much it is going to cost us.  Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but surprisingly it wasn't as much as I thought.  Anyways, I wish that 9 months would fly by, because I can't wait to hold our child.

We Love You All,
Lance & Lauren

We're Expecting

Yes!  It's true!  We are pregnant.  Well not we, but Lauren is 6 weeks and counting.   We have our first appointment on September 22nd.  This will be the site to find out all the new information of what is going on inside the tummy.  Stay tuned...