Hannah Nicole Babinetz

Her face and body with a hand by her ear Her face, a hand and two leg bones

It's a girl! I'm not good at creating suspense like some people (Raina wins so far), so I'm just spilling it. Thanks for voting! It was a close race but those who guessed a girl were right. We kind of thought we would have a girl first. We had a girl name and not a boy name so having a girl would make it easier. Then when Hurricane Hanna came by, I thought maybe we would have a little hurricane Hannah of our own.

Hannah Nicole Babinetz made her photo debut yesterday. She was very obedient, moving enough to see her beating heart, cute little nose, cool little spine, two bony legs, an empty stomach (literally, it's a black space) and what makes her a little girl. Some things you can only see in the DVD which is so neat! I haven't felt her move yet so I was rally glad to see her wiggling around. If she's like me, she probably wanted to sleep in! But she listened to her parents and moved enough to let us know she is alive and well.

Why Hannah Nicole? In 2004, I was sitting in my dead end job in NYC, lonely and wondering if I would ever have a family. I knew 10 people who were pregnant; from my over-40 year-old boss, to my sister on her fourth child, to my high school friend who was never going to have kids. And my simple question was, “God, why not me? Why can’t you trust me with a child?” I was happy for the others but it just seemed so impossible for me. It was a selfish question but God patiently listened. He reminded me of Hannah in the Bible. Hannah was married but unable to have children. Her husband was married to another woman, Peninnah, who easily had many children. Hannah poured her heart out to God and promised that if He gave her a child, she would dedicate that child to serve Him. Eli, the man of God, saw her praying and spoke over her that she may receive that which she had asked for. She returned home and gave birth to Samuel who became a great prophet. God showed me that Samuel had to be born at a specific time in history in order to fulfill his destiny. Hannah may have wanted a child sooner but it wasn’t his time. There were others in the Bible who had to wait like Sarah, Rachel, and Elizabeth. Their children had a great purpose to fulfill in a specific time. God showed me that having children isn’t about the parent’s desire; it’s about the child’s destiny. So Hannah had to wait for God’s perfect timing for Samuel’s life. Samuel was not born by Hannah’s will; he was born by God’s will. He was born by the Spirit, not by the flesh.

So I believe He told me that someday I would have a daughter and I was to name her Hannah because she would be born of the Spirit. She would be born in God’s perfect time to fulfill her specific purpose. Her name would always be a reminder that her decisions, from ministry to career to marriage to her own children, would be born of the Spirit and not of the flesh. She would learn to hear the voice of God and do things His way, not her own. I liked the sound of the middle name Nicole with Hannah. When Nick and I were engaged, I shared the name Hannah with him but not a middle name. It wasn’t until after we were married that I bothered looking up the meaning. I discovered that Nicole is the female version of Nick! Both names mean “Victory of the people”. So God put it in my heart to name my daughter after my husband before I ever met him. Before we were engaged, Nick discovered that our names both mean, “Victory”, his being “Victory of the people” and mine being “Victorious in God”. So I believe God has spoken over us that we are to be victorious as a family no matter what struggles we face or failures we experience. His word is always true, even when it doesn’t look good. We, and all believers, will be victorious if we just remember who we are in Him.

Now here we are, almost five years later, and the child God spoke into my heart is now alive inside of me. Hannah is truly a child of promise. As the first Hannah said, “I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him.” 1 Samuel 1:27

Bye, Bye Summer

I took a few days off so I could experience a little summer vacation but I kept really busy. So finally at noon the day before I went back to work, I jumped in my car and took off to the beach. The closest one is two hours away but I just could not stand the thought of not going to the beach all summer. It’s just not right! When I walked onto the sand, I thought, “This is why people live in Florida! (If it’s God’s will J.) To me, it is just the most beautiful and peaceful place in the world. I love getting so super warm, then jumping in the cool water, taking a long walk, jumping back in the water and letting the sun dry me off as I take a nap. It’s just my favorite place to be. It was pretty quiet and there were lots of homes that had their own docks, right on the water! That would be so cool (until a hurricane comes)! That was also the moment that I realized I wasn’t really alone, it was Baby Babinetz’s first trip to the beach. I hope they will like it as much as me! Now if we can only convince Nick- he only likes it at night. I guess opposites do attract…

As much as I’m fighting it, the time has come to at least look at maternity clothes. Gina gave me some cool ones to borrow for work and dresses that will be good later which eased me into it. I thought finding my own would be painful until I discovered the coolest place in the mall- Motherhood Maternity! I, who am NOT a big shopper, spent 2 ½ hours in the dressing room, without leaving! My mom sat right outside and the ladies just kept bringing me more and more clothes. My mom and I had to actually eliminate clothes! I’m still trying to sneak into my other clothes but at least now I’m not totally dreading the day I have to cross over. Here’s one of the super cute dresses. I think this one is styled in a way I could wear it when I wasn’t pregnant. We’ll see. The other one is normal but three people told me I was showing so I guess it's official.