He's Employed!

Although we are eagerly awaiting the arrival this baby, the English family got some very unexpected news today! Jesse got a JOB! He had an interview this afternoon with the US Forest Service.  We were very excited about this position he was being interviewed for, but never expected them to OFFER HIM THE JOB today! So, after he finishes out the semester and graduates, the Englishes are moving to Washington D.C.!    

When he was laid off 3 years ago, we had no idea what our future held.  Being 5 months into marriage, the "honeymoon" ended quickly and we had to deal with a very serious reality of what would happen next for us.  After applying for jobs and interviewing only to be told no, we made the decision to come back to Starkville for Jesse to get his masters degree and "wait out" the state of the economy.  It is so incredible to see the Lord's timing through all of this.  I was able to get a great job that I LOVE (and DONT want to leave...ugh) and Jesse has been excelling through his master's program. He loves the field of landscape architecture and couldn't imagine himself doing anything else now. When we found out we were pregnant back in June, we found ourselves again in a place where we were questioning the Lord's plan for our lives and again had to deal with what would happen next for us.  The past 9 months have been a big time for us to trust the Lord.  Little did we know that the day before this baby is due that Jesse would have a job lined up that would provide for our family in amazing ways.  Praise be to God!  

He is signing the official paperwork and then they will figure out a start date, but it won't be until sometime in June most likely.  We are SO excited, but it is bittersweet.  We have LOVED our time in Starkville and I love my job and coworkers and can't imagine leaving them.  We have been so blessed through the extra 3 years we've had in Starkville.  We can only trust that the Lord will provide for all of our my fears that come with this move... big city, far from home, with a 4 month old... but if we have learned anything over the past 3 years, its that we are not in control of our lives...

...so.... Come on, Baby Turner! Tomorrow is your day! We are ready for you!!!

Then and Now

Anyone remember this picture?  (Yet again, I apologize for the background items.)  This was taken at 17 weeks when I tried on the bump in the dressing room at Motherhood Maternity...

... and here we are today at 38.5 weeks!  

People have been asking for an updated picture, so there you go!  All 7.5 lbs of baby.  

Happy Weekend!

Baby Shower

Week 38 has arrived, but baby Turner has not decided that he is ready to enter the world quite yet! I really can't believe that I am just 2 weeks away from my due date of February 22!  I am technically full term, so he could come any day now, but the doc thinks I will make it to the due date.  We go back to the doctor on Thursday and I'm excited to get an update!  I have been having some contractions here and there, my lower back hurts really bad at the end of the day, and sleeping is getting hard...but other than that I'm feeling pretty good, as good as you can in the last few weeks. If I'm sitting for any period of time, you can usually find my heating pad on my lower back to relieve the back pain.  Jesse has to help me up from time to time and help with my shoes...he has been such a trooper recently, especially when I randomly get emotional...sometimes it is for a legit reason, and others for no real reason at all. Fun, huh?  

When we were in Memphis for Jill and Alan's wedding a few weekends ago, we stayed with our good friends Casey and Laura Zumwalt.  We are always so blessed by their friendship and had the best time with them.  That weekend they were so sweet to offer to take some maternity shots for us.  It's been about...oh 3 years since we have had our picture taken by professionals, so it was really fun to go out for a shoot!  Especially when it is with good friends!  We decided to walk around Rhodes College in Memphis for the shoot.  What a beautiful place! These pictures will be so special to us for years and years to come, as they were taken exactly one month before Turner's due date.  Here's a sneak peak and we can't wait to see the rest!

The very next weekend, 6 of my sweet friends hosted a shower for baby Turner in Starkville!  It was so great to see so many friends and celebrate this baby boy!  He is certainly loved by so many who are anxiously awaiting his arrival.  We have been so blessed through our friendships and everyone's excitement for our new little family.  He is the first baby in our friend group, so we are all excited and a little freaked out that we are getting to his age.  I keep telling everyone that Turner will need friends, so I'm excited to see who all will be next!!!  Lindsay Warden is already on board.  :)

The shower was at Mrs. Debbie Cooper's house.  Mrs. Debbie will be made a grandmother in July, so she thought my shower would be the perfect excuse to get her crib ready for her little grandbaby.  :)  What a perfect place to put the presents as they arrived!  So creative!

A candy pacifier tree!

Kaylan Duggar and Rachel Brocato

Elizabeth Blaine and Mary Renfroe

Emily Vanderpool and Abby Spann

Ashley Powell and Margaret Claire Walker

Kate Sherrard, Debbie Cooper, Leah Power, and Lindsay Warden (+Baby Everett)

Laura Tennant, yours truly, and Naron Brister

My wonderful hostesses!  Kaylan Duggar, Kelley English, Lindsay Warden, Rachel Brocato, Mary Renfroe, and Laura Tennant.  I can't thank yall enough for taking the time to put on this shower.  It was such a blessing!

Turner got some adorable outfits, homemade blankets, books, a diaper bag, and his carseat, just to name a few things!  He is set!  One of my favorite things from the shower were all the sweet messages for baby Turner.  Each guest was asked to fill out one of these cards:

Kelley is making a scrapbook with all of the sheets that were filled out.  Even my niece, Ashlyn, filled one out.  Some of hers made me laugh... "I hope you learn to do gymnastics." "I hope you laugh at funny jokes."  "I hope you never forget that you like me." "I hope you become a salesman."  

We sent some home for our dads, brothers-in-law, and nephews to fill out.  Jesse and I filled out ones of our own after the shower, and man that was pressure! It made us realize how much of a role we will be playing in making these wishes come true.  One of my favorites was Jesse's last one, which said "I hope you grow old with someone you love."  Melt my heart.  

So, 2 weeks to go!  Our emotions are all over the place, but we are so thankful to have each other and the support from all of our friends and family.  Please pray for the three of us as we get ready for Turner's arrival!  Love you all!

Never Once

We sang this song at church last night that that I had never heard before, but I loved the lyrics.   This song speaks so much to our life and we are SO thankful to serve a God who is faithful!

Happy Monday!

"Never Once"

Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we’ve come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no, we never walk alone

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Every step we are breathing in Your grace
Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful 

Big News x 2!

1.  Well, here we are at week 36 and we have decided on a name and want to share it with the world!  Originally we had planned to wait until Baby E was born to reveal his name, but we can't hold it in any longer.  Drumroll please.....

Turner Marion English

The funny thing is... all of my coworkers have been calling him Turner all along because that was their favorite of our name choices.  Little have they known that they have really been calling him by his name the whole time.

Both "Turner" and "Marion" are family names on Jesse's side.  We discovered "Turner" at a family reunion this summer in a family geneology book and really liked it.  "Marion" was Jesse's grandfather's middle name, whom he was named after.  Originally, I thought Marion was a girl name (bc I knew a girl named Marion) until Kyle Lynch corrected me by saying that Marion is actually John Wayne's real name.  Ok. Kyle wins. Marion is a guys' name.

We are so excited for Turner to get here!  I go to the doctor Thursday, my final nursing class is Thursday night, my friends are throwing a baby shower this Saturday (!), then our final childbirthing class is Monday night.  So, anytime after Monday, we are ready for Baby Turner to get here!  Or, so we think.  I'm not sure if you are ever ready for a baby, but we are definitely excited to become parents!



2.  We found out today that Jesse got Finalist for Presidential Management Fellows (PMF)!  This is a program that takes graduate students and accelerates their experience in order for them to take on leadership/management roles more quickly in the federal government...sort of like injecting young blood into the higher ranks...which we all know would be good for everybody.  There were originally 9,000 applicants, which were then cut down to 1,200, and then 600 of these were named as finalists.  These cuts were made from a test and an interview process.  I am SO PROUD of Jesse for being named Finalist!  What does that mean for us? This will open up many doors for him in applying for jobs.  He would love to go into public service (with the National Park Service, Forest Service, or another agency like that), so this opportunity (hopefully) allows him a much greater chance of getting a position with one of these agencies.

This has been a long road from the day he applied and got nominated back in early fall, but so rewarding.  We are so thankful to the Lord for providing this opportunity to us.  We have learned a lot about trusting God in a time where we want to be in control of our future.  We are excited to see what doors this opens up to our new little family!

Anniversary Trip + Babymoon

"A babymoon is a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby."


Sounds nice, huh?  This past fall, Jesse and I really wanted to take a babymoon but due to the busyness of the semester, we weren't able to find the time to go on a vacation.  Time was quickly ticking by and this upcoming weekend is the last one that my doctor will let me travel since we are one month away from Baby English!  We also wanted to go somewhere to celebrate 3 years of our marriage. Our first anniversary was spent in Memphis and our second we were snowed in with no power in Starkville!  We wanted to combine an anniversary trip and a babymoon this year and started thinking about nearby cities that we could visit, but we also don't have a lot of money to spend on a vacation...  


We ended up receiving a HUGE blessing from the McDonnells, a very dear family from home.  I have been close with this family since 9th grade and babysat their girls throughout high school.  They are such a special family to me and I have so much to thank them for. They have a BEAUTIFUL cabin in Madison where they let us stay for our anniversary + babymoon trip.  This is also the same place that we stayed on our wedding night, so it was so special to be able to go back for our trip.  


Going back home doesn't really seem like the most fun for a trip like this, but we treated it as a getaway... and it really was!  One of my favorite things about this cabin is when you are there, it doesn't feel like you are in Madison... although it is only about 10 minutes from the I-55 Madison exit.  You would NEVER know it. It is tucked away on a private drive which turns into a dirt road through the woods.  It is situated far back in the woods by a small lake/pond... beautifully surrounded by nature.  Over the weekend we saw so many birds, deer, ducks, and even turkeys! 


We were able to sleep in, relax, read, watch movies and Breaking Bad (the TV show that we are HOOKED on right now), and again RELAX.  We did go into town for dinners and a little shopping, but most of the weekend was spent at the cabin. We really enjoyed having this time together, just the two of us, before life changes more than we know.  I was sad when Monday came and it was time to leave, but I am so thankful that we were able to spend the long weekend here. We are so blessed to have been able to go here for free and get away for the weekend.


Now for the tour!

Thank you again, McDonnells, for sharing your beautiful cabin with us!  For my last weekend of travel we are so excited to go to Memphis and celebrate with Alan Sweet and Jill Horton as they get hitched!  Only 3 days away!

Baby Room

Here we are at week 34 as well as mine and Jesse's 3rd wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it.  For those of you who aren't up on the weeks of pregnancy, 40 weeks is full term, but they say any time from 36 or 37 weeks on, it is ok to have the baby. Let's be honest, unless you have been pregnant or are currently pregnant, the weekly count can be annoying. I remember having to do the math in my head to figure out how many months that means.  My doctor says that I am still right on track for my due date of February 22, so most likely we have 6 more weeks to go! So for those of you who prefer counting in months, I am 2 weeks away from being 8 months preggers. I need to take some pictures so everyone can see the baby bump, which is more like a basketball these days.

It's crazy while being pregnant, how easy it can be to give in to all of the marketing of baby products.  It's like they make you think that if you don't buy ALL of these things for your baby, then you aren't being a good parent or you aren't providing for your child.  We have had to take a step back and think about our wants and our needs.  Do we really need all of these things?  The question we try to ask ourselves is, "Did our grandmothers need this?"  If the answer is no, then we usually feel that we don't either.  Granted, there are definitely a few things, thanks to technology that we definitely want and will probably purchase, but overall we are trying to keep it simple.  I have a feeling that this is something we will have to remind ourselves about for the rest of our children's lives... and our own for that matter! 

We are getting very excited and anxious about the arrival of this baby bundle!  "The Lodge" (which is what we sometimes call our guest room at the "English Bed and Breakfast") has now been turned from guest room/Jesse's office to baby room/guest room!  My parents came in town last weekend to bring the goodies!  Our main goal with the nursery was to reuse things that we already had. The only thing that was bought was the glider and the bedding (thanks Mom and Dad!).  The crib was mine as a baby, the chest of drawers were at my parents house and the changing table is my grandfather's desk.  The window above the crib was picked up 2 years ago for free and the curtains and lamps were already in the room. There are a few more things to go on the walls, but the room is mostly done!  (And yes, the guest bed is still in here in case anyone wants to come visit!)

Here is a little sneak peak of his room! Maggie wanted to be in some of the pictures.. really, I couldn't get her to move.  :)  She has been extra clingy to me recently... we think she knows.  She will be a great big sister. These two will grow up together! 

Hope you enjoy the pictures!