Welcome! Let's catch you up.

With roughly 9 weeks to go before our little man's arrival, Ben and I felt it was necessary to start a blog about our lives, so we could chronicle our journey as parents. My how things have been turned upside down over the last six months! Let me catch you up.

July rolled around and Ben and I were struck with the best news of our lives. We found out that we were pregnant, and at our mid pregnancy ultrasound in November, found out we are having a boy! He is perfect in every way and we cannot wait to meet him. The only thing we need to do now is figure out a name!

Not too long after we found out we were pregnant and life was starting to settle, Ben was offered a transfer to Austin, TX with Design Workshop. Due to the drop in the economy, many in his company had been laid off in July and we were expecting something to happen in the near future. So, in a month’s time we packed up the house, put it on the market, and went on down to Texas. While there, our priorities shifted and we realized that we wanted to be even closer to our families with a baby on the way, so Ben left Design Workshop and took a job with another landscape architecture firm in Alexandria, LA, only 90 miles north from Lafayette.

It was so hard to leave Asheville and we miss it terribly. We had such a great life there and made many wonderful friends that we still consider family. I also miss my job at Asheville Catholic School immensely.

The hardest part about this whole situation is that our home still has not sold and with this economy, it doesn't look like it's any closer to selling. It is quite a stressful situation right now as we are trying to pay a full mortgage on top of rent here in Alexandria, along with my Cobra insurance payments, since I am pregnant and no other insurance would take me on. So, needless to say, finances are a little tight. However, we are keeping the faith and know that it will eventually sell.

It's at times like these that it is easy to feel defeated and get a case of the oh poor me's, and of course, I have gone down that road many times. However, I also know that things like this happen for a reason and that there is some major lesson to be learned from all of it. The big guy upstairs is a mystery and our faith seems to have only been strengthened from this whole experience.

Ben has found a perfect fit for himself at Moore Planning Group and absolutely loves it. As for me, I found a full time gig as a teacher's aide in a pre K/K class at a Montessori school (I didn't want the stress of being a lead teacher while pregnant) and I also tutor in the afternoons at a local private school. I feel very lucky to have found a position considering I will be leaving in April.

Lulu will be 2 this month, and we still love every minute of being parents to a spoiled mutt. Right now, she is living with her grandparents in Lafayette until we can move into a place that allows dogs. Even though it breaks our hearts to be away from her (I cry every time I leave her) we both know that dogs are treated better than people in both Ben’s and my family, so she is well taken care of.

Well, that's it for now. I am having my first baby shower in Lafayette this weekend and am super excited! I can't wait to start getting everything ready for the baby!!!!!

Until next time, here's a picture of my baby bump at 27 weeks.