Elijah's On His Way!

Hello All! I am now 36 weeks pregnant. In some ways this pregnancy has flown by, and in other ways it seems like I have been pregnant forever. But, regardless of how big my belly gets or how many millions of times a day I feel this little miracle move it still does not seem real that in a few short weeks a whole new person will be here living with us. He has such a personality already, and I am beyond excited to see his face and hold him close. I know that everything is going to change so much when he gets here, and I'm really excited for that too. We are pretty much ready for him to get here. We still have a few loose ends to tie up, but overall we have all we really need for him. I have even finished buying and wrapping over half of all our Christmas gifts. But, even though we are ready for him I am in no hurry for him to arrive. The midwife yesterday let me know that I am already 2 centimeters dilated. That's crazy! When I was pregnant with Paige I was at 1 until I was 41 weeks along. This is pretty early, but it could stay this way for weeks and weeks or progress much faster. We'll see what God has planned for this little guy's arrival. We'll keep you posted. Please pray that we have a safe and easy delivery.

As for our little 13 month old beauty - she is everywhere! She is walking and trying to run all over the place. Paige loves to dance, and is even now twirling around. She is starting to say lots of fun words, and does quite a bit of baby sign. We bought her a potty chair to start learning on, and she's still figuring that out. She spends most of her day chasing our dog Lola around the house and taking things in and out of her toy box. She's ridiculously smart and gets sweeter each day. We are truly blessed indeed that we have one happy and healthy little girl, and a very active and healthy little boy on his way.

As for Patrick and I - Patrick started a new job a few weeks ago. What a blessing! After 5 years of crazy hours, no weekends off, constant phone calls and drama, Patrick has started a new job that encourages spending more time with your family and in your church. We are so excited to see what God is going to do through this new job, and this new company that we really believe in. By the way, the company is called Northwestern Mutual and Patrick is working in financial planning - things like life insurance, disability insurance, and stuff like that. So great! And such an answer to prayer. This past year has been hard, and it's still a struggle, but I know that God has been refining us through all of this loss and trial, and showing us who he really is. I'm excited for what's to come. :)