Yup, it's that time of the semester again! And poor Justin is feeling it far worse than I am at the moment. His first round of board exams are in two weeks (March 17th and 18th). He has been studying for months but still feels overwhelmed by the amount of matieral he still needs to review. And he has all of his regular classes with tests and projects. Needless to say, we will both be very thankful when the calendar says March 19th.
We're both a bit freaked out about finances. I'm having to end my job sooner than I originally wanted to. The list of things I'm able to do at the Cakery has become very short. And it takes a while to recover from a five-hour shift. We know God has always been faithful to provide-it's just hard to keep that in focus at times. I'm also freaking out about the amount of things we don't have for Samuel. Thankfully, we have all the big stuff-except the high chair, but we have time before we need that one. It's the clothes and diapers I'm most worried about. I looked at Julia's infant stuff and it's all pink, purple, and very wintery. Not so good for a son born in May! I have to keep returning to God's promise that He will take care of us-afterall, I've never seen a flock of naked birds.
I'm trying to stay on top of all of my assignments as they will come due before the end of the semester (as in whenever Sam decides to arrive). Thankfully, my professors have been very understanding and have promised to work with me. So far, I think I will be OK. We'll see what happens. I'm also waiting to hear about my thesis. I've e-mailed the head of the Clinical Psychology program at Missouri State and have not heard back on whether or not completing my masters is still possible. I had hoped to have my thesis finished by now, but that is in a holding pattern. Another thing on hold is an internship for next year. I applied for a position (thankfully paid with benefits because Justin's internships are unpaid) and had an interview Feb. 2nd. And still have heard nothing. Because of two kids and child care needs, my options for internships are extremely limited (as in just the one I applied for). Again, I keep trying to focus on resting in God's promise to provide, but it is so hard! I know God is teaching me through all these things, but it is so hard to be patient and learn instead of attempting to pray away the obstacles!
Thankfully, Julia has been pretty good lately. We're working on what it means to be a good listener (which means Mommy has to be sure that she is paying attention and understands when she is asked to do something). She is so excited about becoming a big sister! She will be going to the "Super Sibs" class on Saturday at the hospital. They'll take a tour and learn how they can help with the new baby. I'll try and post pictures-if I remember to take my camera.
Life is certainly not without blessings. We have had some friends and my mom help with babysitting on nights where Justin had meetings or clinic and I had class. The girls in my Bible study group also created a sign-up sheet for Friday night babysitting. Justin and I went out last Friday evening and it was so nice! We'll have free babysitting every Friday evening through the end of March! Julia is thrilled-she loves having babysitters. And we have a couple of baby showers in early April-one with Justin's optometry class and one with my Bible study. It will be a lot of fun to celebrate baby Sam!
Just a couple of pictures for you. Julia loves her "Where's Waldo?" book. And she loves wearing her fancy dress and practicing her letters.
Hope everyone is doing well! Time for me to start dinner.
