Well… hello 2020?!? I think we’re all asking ourselves what happened and reevaluating life while bracing ourselves for the next plot twist. We started 2020 with a meeting with our builder and the intent of getting moved to South Dakota by spring 2020. And we all know what happened…
Like many, our plans got delayed. Everything got delayed. But we trusted God and made the best of it. We took that time stuck in Colorado and worked on a few more bonus projects on our home and planned our dream build. In July, we were able to list the house in Colorado. Our realtor, Mark, was absolutely amazing with helping us price it just right and giving me tips on what needed to be done to maximize selling points. We packed up half our stuff, moved it up to a storage unit in South Dakota and had it professional photographed and a walk through video done.
We listed at night on a Monday. By the next morning, we had 15 showings (in the middle of a pandemic) with 8 offers within 24 hours. Each offer was over asking and we were completely stunned with how God had provided such an amazing couple perfect for our old home. Everything we have done with Mark and this home has been led by faith… I’ll have to write a post on how God answered my prayers about two years earlier on not selling for another time. But our Lord answered our prayers, made the transaction so smooth and blessed us with amazing buyers. Within 24 hours of listing, we had an accepted offer and within three weeks, we were packed up and leaving for South Dakota.
Like I said earlier, COVID delayed our plans. We hopped between my parent’s house in Yankton and vacation cabins in the Black Hills for almost three months. We had lost count, but we think we had packed and unpacked our suitcases at least 15 times. The thought of packing a suitcase again makes me cringe. We’re now in a longer term rental until our home build gets completed, thank the Lord.
With all of that said, we’re hoping to be into our new home around April 2021. I’m officially taking portrait sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday afternoons with very limited dates. My next goal is to find a beautiful studio space for family sessions and to start making connections with local businesses. It’s been quite the year and to be honest, I’m planning on getting the Christmas decor out this weekend. We all need to celebrate Baby Jesus’ birth early after this interesting year.

Many of you know that after Beck, we miscarried our second. That angel baby will forever be in my heart. I couldn’t write Tanner’s birth story without mentioning the struggle of conceiving a second time. After the miscarriage, we once again went through tough times (it took quite sometime with Beck as well) but this time I was armed with knowledge of natural family planning. I understood my cycles better and what was happening with my body. I can’t stress tracking everything you do, notice, eat and feel (it really made all the difference in figuring out what was happening).
After the miscarriage, my cycles began to get longer every other month. I noticed a slight dull pain when I would ovulate on one side but never felt it on the other on the month that kept getting longer (those months turned into a 60 day cycle) while the other side stayed at a normal 30 day interval. I tracked and took down detailed notes. I started talking with my chiropractor about my cycles and he suggested that an adhesion between my Fallopian tube and the body of my uterus had occurred, stopping a full ovulation. Dr. Ruppel did a myofacial release by pulling the tube away from my uterus and thus allowing ovulation to happen. That month, we conceived Tanner. Our entire family sees Dr. Ruppel at Thirty3 Chiropractic and we have loved the care and attention he gives to not only my husband and I, but also the love he has for Beck and Tanner.
My pregnancy was relatively easy compared to Beck’s pregnancy (he was a misdiagnosed molar pregnancy), although it was still physically difficult. I was once again diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, put on modified bed-rest and then at the end of the pregnancy, a travel restriction. I was convinced he would arrive early but none-the-less, he arrived late.