Surprises!!

So...a couple of days after I wrote the last entry, I woke up with an upset stomach. Two hours later, after Marcus left for work, I took a test and was shocked to see that despite our careful efforts at birth control, we had become pregnant. Based on the nurse's visit a couple of days ago, I am 7 weeks pregnant and will deliver sometime around April 4, 2008. Even though this news was a complete surprise, we are excited that we conceived so easily this time (we took Clomid for Caleb) and that we will be welcoming a second child into our family. The timing doesn't seem optimal to us, (we will be moving two months after the baby arrives, and attempting to sell our house at the time of his/her arrival) but we realize that our view of the future and our concept of "good" timing is limited. We are very grateful that we have good health insurance through Marcus's job and that I will be able to use the same OB as I did with my previous pregnancy. The aspect of this news that is making it difficult for me is that I am experiencing morning sickness every day throughout most of the day, and some days even through the night as well. Marcus is being wonderfully supportive and helping with Caleb all that he can, but there are still many hours that he is working where Caleb and I are on our own, and I feel very overwhelmed with caring for him while feeling so sick to my stomach all the time. The good news is that morning sickness has a time frame and at some point it will subside and then disappear. Until then, I'm sorry to those of you who are very dear friends and who I have not called personally with this news, but I hate to call when I'm feeling so sick and I believe that you will understand.

Baking at Sea World

Yesterday we had a family birthday party for Marcus's older sister Wendi at Sea World in Orlando. Eight adults and two toddlers planned to meet at the park at 9 am, though we didn't all get there until and into the park until around 11 am. I had never been to a theme park with eight adults and two toddlers, and did not realize how slowly everything can move when there are that many people involved in every decision. It was not like anyone was insisting on their way at any point in time...in fact the exact opposite: everyone was being so flexible that it was hard to take a direction. Yesterday also happened to be one of the hottest, most humid days in Florida this summer. In spite of the slow progress and the oppressive heat, we did manage to see four shows, four animal encounter exhibits, ride a roller coaster, eat a meal, and even hang out in the kiddie area for a little while. We also managed to bring a small birthday cake into the park along with 31 candles for a covert little birthday celebration. We tried lighting the candles in a sitting area, but the wind kept blowing them out, so we all huddled into a little concrete alcove beside a building, lit the candles quickly, sang the song and laughed as Wendi blew them out (Traci had accidently included some trick candles in the mix...) Largely because of the heat, we were all totally exhausted by 7 pm. All in all, it was a fun day to be together and celebrate Wendi's special day, though next time we all agreed to go later in the year!

My Job

I've been a realtor now for 5 months, and overall it is going very well. I've enjoyed learning about property, real estate law, the mortgage market and our economy as a whole through this job. I'm able to work out of my home, so I rarely have to leave Caleb with a sitter. Usually I take him with me or Marcus keeps him, and I do most of my computer work while he's napping or after he goes to bed. I've been blessed with quite a bit of business so far, so we've been able to pay off one student loan and are very close to being able to pay off our car loan as well. Although I enjoy the job overall, I am very glad I only have to do it for the rest of this year, because I don’t like being distracted from the needs of my home and family. I feel terrible on days that I get a phone call and have to work on something immediately for a couple of hours, which leaves Caleb playing on his own during that time, and often not terribly happy about it. I hate feeling like I'm neglecting him, but I'm grateful that this job was provided as a temporary fix for some financial struggles.

Caleb Update

Caleb is 16-months-old now and is babbling all of the time. He likes to look at me very seriously, cock his head to the side, and say something like "Blah-zoo-ma-tu-tu-zong" with every intention of making perfect sense. He does have quite a few understandable words as well, but I'm currently pretty in love with the babbling. He's also pointing out all of his body parts, learning more sign language, identifying objects in books, making all kinds of animal sounds, and kicking a soccer ball around anytime he can. He is so much fun!!!!

--Rachel