Yes, we are still all alive and doing well. No, I didn't forget my password to log on to my blog and update it. It is just that I can't believe how fast the summer went and trying to find time to upload pictures and post posts just never seemed to happen. So here I am sitting on my couch with my computer, while Porter is napping on my sick day updating the blog. But I can't find the pictures so no pictures this time. I will ask AJ where he downloaded them to and then I will put up some of our wonderful vacation and then some of the fair and then some of the baby reveal party we had!
Yes, we are having another baby. We found out Mother's Day I was expecting and it wasn't the Mother's Day present I was necessarily hoping for but we were excited. It only took us one try this time as opposed to 3 years trying for Porter, so imagine that we were a little surprised! I started seeing my midwives and they projected my due date as being January 12th. So on August 19th at 1pm we had our 19 week ultrasound to check the health and wellness of our baby and also to find out what we were having. Only we didn't find out right then, we waited till the party that night. I don't want to spoil the future post, but let's just say it was a fun night for all and we found out we are having a girl!
AJ ended the last school year finding out he was going to have his hours cut at his full time counseling position in Amity about 2 days after we found out I was pregnant. Oh, Lord, what are you doing to us? I cried and was frustrated and just wanted our lives to be peaceful. AJ was steady and strong and gently reminded me that our God is not weak, our faith is weak. So I prayed, I cried out and I trusted God that He alone must know what He was doing because I sure didn't. The last time we found out we were pregnant with Porter AJ didn't have a job and we had no medical insurance. So imagine me thinking the worst and imagining the baby was going to come in to the world of no insurance. I am a fatalist, what can I say.
Well, AJ got right on it and started applying for jobs. We bought him a new beautiful interview outfit and he looked amazing! He had one interview at an elementary school and then we waited and waited and waited and heard nothing. All the while AJ kept checking the job site for new postings and I kept running different scenarios through my head of how we would live on 30% less of AJ current paycheck. How would we make this work?
Then AJ saw a job posting for a full time position with Salem-Keizer at their Early College High School program and it sounded like a great fit for him. He applied and then never heard, never heard and never heard. We had planned to go on a family vacation this summer as we needed some time away and valued vacation even though we did not know what the fall held for us. The Monday before vacation AJ got a call for an interview on Tuesday! Wow! He felt very good about the interview and just felt like if there was a job for him, this was it. He would be a counselor for about 200 high school kids and be working with about 15 teachers. It was just so similar to what he was doing at Amity but he would be doing it for a much bigger district and have a lot more resources available. We all prayed and prayed and prayed. That same week, his sister found out she had gotten the job she had interviewed for and we were excited for her. Now, if AJ would just get that same call!
So Thursday, AJ, Porter and I were going to go run errands and right before we left, he got the call from HR. They offered him the job and he took it. What a week and vacation was never sweeter. God is amazing and His answers to prayer come in bigger boxes and ways than we can ever expect or imagine. So after the shock of losing hours and benefits, we are now on our way to having even more benefits and being able to get our teeth cleaned again. (We didn't have dental benefits with Amity and it was just too much.)
AJ started training this week and then will be in his office on Wednesday and Thursday. He will probably see some kids before class starts as he has to work up their schedules. Next week he is in the office and getting settled in and figuring out life as a high school counselor. One really cool thing is his 45 minute commute has now changed to a 4 minute commute. Way less money for gas now! He made some good friends at Amity and will miss playing cards with the guys at lunch and between parent teacher conferences but we are all excited for a new future with Salem-Keizer school district.
Well, that's enough writing for one post. I will do pictures in my next few posts and hope you all had a wonderful summer.
:)
