33 weeks. 5-9 weeks to go!

i suppose the last baby update here was when i found out our little one is a girl. now its over 3 months later!

I'm feeling pretty good. some aches when i wake up in the middle of the night, but most of the day i feel great. Dr. visits are every two weeks now, and my 32 weeks sonogram fell between two visits, so it feels like i'm already down to weeklys!

we've taken our childbirth class, breastfeeding class, and hospital tour. All of those fell between my 27 week appointment and my 31 week appointment. i was so nervous and full of questions from everything that i'd been reminded to think about at the childbirth class! i asked a huge list of questions at my last dr visit and somehow i feel amazingly more calm now than i did two weeks ago. i'm sure that feeling of calm will come and go a few more times between now and when i get to hold our daughter.

baby showers are both this saturday. one here with ladies from our care group at church, and another in Augusta with ladies from Lake Park Church. my mom will be the guest of honor at the Augusta event, since i wont be able to attend. After showers, i'll start baby laundry and stuff.

I'm wishing that i'd magically start cleaning the house right about now. i know the nesting thing may or may not kick in. i feel that i shouldn't just wait on it to be automatic, and set little cleaning goals for each day. part of me says i can just wait till i am done with work (april 1) and use those free afternoons to get organized, but part of me thinks that our little girl might make her appearance early, and i would like to be able to bring her home to a little bit of organization.

work is going great, though i am starting to notice the pregnancy more than before. i don't even know if i posted anything in here about having a job. mid-november i started working part time as a preschool teacher to 12-24 month olds. i had originally interviewed for a full-time position and was hired for it, but after talking with the director about childcare options at the school, i quickly confirmed that it just wouldn't be worth it for me to pay for the in-school childcare and work, or to have someone 20 miles away keeping her at home while i worked all day long. i am so very glad to have made the decision to stay home with her! i agreed to work part time till i couldn't work anymore, and completely believe that full-time with those kids would have been too much. 3rd trimester has meant taking in 9-10 hrs of sleep a night, plus not sleeping as well, so going to work after lunch is perfect for this time in my life.

mike is working part time during class season and will be allowed up to full time during the summer, so we will have the summer months of full time working daddy and stay at home mommy before we get to see how else God will provide our family income for the fall. we're hoping that provision will come in the form of a church job for mike which he could begin during the summer so he wouldn't have to adjust to a new church situation in the midst of fall classes.

i feel as though this became long rather quickly, with adding work updates and all....news from 3 months ago. maybe i'll be better at keeping this thing fresh. (though likely not!)

specific ways to pray for us:
1. praise God that we've come this far without any complications in baby and mommy health. praise for God's provision of very affordable baby classes through the on-campus clinic nurse. pray for continued health for jennifer mikaela and myself as we approach her arrival. also pray for mike and myself as we turn our anxieties into trust in God's plan and power.
2. praise God for his provision financially through work that we both enjoy and a few scholarships. pray that mike and i would continue to trust God with these financial and family unknowns.
3. praise God for the church family we've been able to be a part of since moving here. the community and encouragement through the body of Christ at Redeemer church has been awesome. pray for our hope that God will provide a church job beginning this summer, in which to minister, grow, and be provided for through.