One Chapter Closes, Another Begins

Change...it is beautiful, stressful, fresh, and just plain different.  There a lot of changes and blessings in our household these days.  First, Brian started his job in early December.  It was a huge blessing since the economy had us wondering if he was going to be a stay-at-home dad for a while.  It was also a bit of a stress as we were back to the crazy routine of dropping Benjamin off and picking him up and juggling his appointments and life in general.  So when it was time to make a decision about my future, the decision was not as hard.  In mid January I turned in my resignation.  The week after I gave my notice, we found out that Benjamin was going to be a big brother!  This is my first week off and in many ways I am so glad.  I am only 8 weeks along, but for the past 2 weeks I have been so tired and a bit nauseous.  With Benjamin I started to feel better around 11-12 weeks, so I am praying that it will be the same and I will start feeling better in 3-4 weeks.

What now?  I have worked full time for nearly 10 years now and was the sole bread-winner for most of our marriage.  I thought to myself, "now I get to just relax for a while and take it easy."  And then I remembered that I am a mom of a busy toddler and a 1/2 inch peanut.  It was a nice thought though.  I am excited about spending time with Benjamin and actually getting to rock and read books and not feel like I have a million other things to do.  I am also excited about having time to make meals that take more than 20 minutes to cook and having a home that doesn't look the aftermath of an earthquake.  Brian and I agree that we will probably not ever live in a really nice home or drive new cars or take nice vacations, but the trade off is worth it to us.  I am only 2 days into this, but I think it will be really healthy for my family.

As for Benjamin, he is almost 2!  He is still not walking, but mainly because he is too proficient at crawling.  His physical therapist has challenged me with motivating him to walk.  He has taken up to 6-7 steps on his own, but since his is extremely proficient at crawling I think he wonders why he should walk.  He says a couple words and is doing more repeating.  He is hugely fascinated with light.  No matter where he goes he always points out the light fixtures and if they are off, he says "ahh" for "on".  My dad say he works for the electric company, since he will ask and ask and ask again for the lights to be turned on even in broad daylight.  He loves to be read to and to splash in the bathtub...basically a typical boy.

Here is a picture we used to help announce the news of the new baby on the way and is also showing Benjamin's love for laundry.