life after 29

i know, i know...some of you probably thought i'd fallen off the face of the earth after june 1. but i'm here to tell you, life doesn't end at 30... the month of june, however, was much busier than we anticipated. i'd love for the rest of the summer to move into relax mode, but i don't think it will. we have a lot going on.

i went on a staff retreat for four days at the beginning of june. it was fun and i stayed up way too late playing mafia (and getting better at lying). but right before i was about to walk out the door, michael walked into our bathroom to find this:

the look on that boy's face is priceless. he was so proud of pulling off half a roll of toilet paper. the pile was much larger before he stuffed half it in the toilet, right before i snapped the photo.

while i was gone, my sister rebecca was here to help take care of luke. they spent a lot of time together while michael was working. we couldn't have done it without her. thanks becs!

we spent the rest of the month working hard and chasing luke -- and a lot of time at the pool. the maternity swimsuit i bought this spring was one of the best purchases i've made all year. we try to get the little man out of the apartment and down to the pool once a day. he loves the water and with the temperature consistenly above 100 the last two weeks, i've loved the water, too. it's going to be a hot summer, friends.

michael's brithday was last week and, with suzanne to watch luke, i wisked michael away to san antonio to see the musical wicked. unfortunately, i left my camera at home, so we didn't get a single photo. we were gone for only 36-hours; after we arrived friday night, we ate dinner and went swimming in the roof-top pool with eight of the kids staying at our hotel. the next morning, we ate breakfast along the riverwalk, poked our heads into shops and browsed the mall. the musical itself was fabulous and we both woke up sunday morning singing the score. if you have the chance to see it, you really should.

we both loved being child-less for one night (let's admit that life with just two is easy compared to chasing a toddler), but found ourselves talking and thinking often about our little guy. with a face like this, who could blame us.

michael's job hunt is going...recently, several churches have expressed interest in him, which i know is encouraging for him (and me!). he's been super diligent to send out his resume (usually about 20 a week), so it's good to get positive response! we're really hoping to move back to the midwest, but the churches he's heard from are spread across the country: california, new joisy...er, jersy, iowa, indiana, texas. even though it's not been in my timeline (i'd planned for us to have already moved), it is exciting to think about what God might have in store.

i was telling a friend yesterday that michael and i go back and forth with how we're doing with this entire process. sometimes, i'm really encouraged and michael is down; other times, he's the one excited about what God is doing and i'm struggling to "cultivate faithfulness" (my verse for this season, psalm 37:3). mostly, i'm discouraged that i'm still working, but we need the income. my heart is home with my boy and i hate that he doesn't have my full attention. when i have a bad day, which seems to happen about every two or three weeks, it's usually because i'm struggling with the balance of giving my all at a job i'm not passionate about right now. just six more weeks and then i'll be done. i'm ready to pass the torch. it's hard to walk with a foot in two worlds...

little cheerio is doing well, at just over 32 weeks. heart rate is good, measurements are good. i'm actually feeling really great, as well (i hope that's still the case in another month). i've been walking consistently, after taking off the month of may, and i think swimming has helped keep any swelling from the heat at bay. i feel this baby move a lot more than i felt luke move, which is pretty crazy to me. i have suspicions that the baby is a boy, but we still don't know (and we'll both be thrilled if it's a girl, too). only eight more weeks or so until we find out.

our current thought is that the baby will be born here, the same place luke was born, and we'll hopefully be able to move into a new season sometime in september. it'd be ideal for us financially for michael to have a job by mid-september, but depending on when the babe decides to appear, that might not be doable. here's hoping for a slightly early baby!

i'm hoping this coming week to get another chapter of how i met your father posted (for you, mrs. ellison). it's long overdue, i know. so, stay tuned!

happy fourth of july!