Update

We're still freaking out a bit right now, but this is quite typical for this time of the semester-and complicated by Sam's upcoming arrival (now due in FOUR weeks)! There have been some unexpected happenings over the past month.

The first happened the day after my last post. I went into early labor. Not fun. Justin overruled me (I didn't think I was really having contractions) and decided that Labor and Delivery was a place we needed to go. He was right. I was having pretty intense contractions two minutes apart. Thankfully, they were able to stop them and after a night of observation we were sent home, and without bed rest orders. They think that it was a combination of a bacterial infection I'd been taking antibiotics for and the really bad stomach bug I'd had, which left me really dehydrated. Thankfully, Sam has decided to stay put and I have been able to continue with my practicum.

Justin's board exams were a couple of weeks ago. He has mixed feelings as to how he did. While he is relieved that they are over, he is now feeling the weight of all the papers and projects that (out of necessity) were put off until last week. He did, however, successfully install laminate flooring in our basement with the help of my parents and some good friends. And he really enjoyed using his power tools!

Julia is continuing to be her usual self. We had to institute a "beat the timer" sticker chart for getting dressed in the mornings. There were too many battles, temper tantrums, and mornings were we didn't leave on time. So far it has been helping-a lot! She is excited-no, beyond excited-about baby Sam's upcoming arrival. I've included a picture of her at the "Super Sibling" class. She did really well. And she's excited about her "new" room, which now includes a crib, finished wall paint, and a lot fewer toys. We hope to get an airplane and maybe a few clouds on the wall so that it might appear to be a room for a girl and a boy.

I did hear back on the internship. SSD was overwhelmed with applications and, unfortunately, I did not receive one of the much-desired spots. The decision now is for me to return to being a teacher's assistant for SSD and concentrate on finishing up my coursework during the next school year. It delays graduation by one year (now set for May 2011) because I will need to do an internship during the 2009-2010 school year. But we feel this is the right decision for us. And it will give me a lot more options for internships the next year.

God also provided an option for childcare next year that I wasn't expecting. A good friend of ours will be watching Sam and Julia for us-both during the days and during my classes. And Julia will be attending preschool (YIKES!) at a church close to their house in Florissant. She is so excited. And Justin and I were pretty impressed with the program.

So that's the long and not-so short of our lives. The next post will probably be a birth announcement as I'm not sure I will have time to do much besides school and baby prep between now and them. Hope you all are doing well! Enjoy the pictures!