Are You Sitting Down For This?

I know. I'm lame. It's been ten months, and I'm finally getting around to posting a real update- not just a once-a-month, play-by-play description of the goings on in the life of Colton.

So, be prepared! I'm going to try to condense the last 10 months into just a few paragraphs. It'll be organized into categories, with only the highlights, I promise.

Job/Finances: Gregg's company was bought out last week by Anheuser Busch, which is now technically InBev. For five months, we sat on pins and needles waiting for the closing to happen, wondering what it would mean for my husband's job. We thought about every possible scenario: a transfer (and another move), unemployment, a pay cut. All the things I feared the most and prayed fervently would not happen. Well, it turned out that God answered all of my prayers and THEN SOME. After all the dust had settled, Gregg was promoted and given a pay raise. And that's not all. He was promised a significant sum of money while negotiations were going on, to keep confidential about everything as long as he performed his job duties through the closing of the sale. He received this money, as well as a severance package, along with all the sick days/vacation days/personal days he didn't take, and his regular quarterly bonus. The total is in the tens of thousands of dollars.

SO- we've decided to finally buy a second car, pay off one of my student loans, and put the rest in savings. I can't even fully express what a relief and blessing this is to us. Living on one salary with only one car for the last two years has been really, really difficult. I would never go back though and make the decision not to stay at home with our son. All the sacrifices have been worth it. God is SO good!!! I'm very excited to go look at cars this weekend!!

Child(ren): Colton is doing great! He turned two in August and was 25 lbs. 10 oz. & 33 3/4" at his 2-year well visit (20th percentile). He has a vocabulary of 60 words now, and is recognizing more all the time. He loves to "read" books, play with his trucks, pretend that he's cooking at his play kitchen, and just be silly. I think I fall in love with this kid more every day. I look at him and think, "I can't believe he's actually mine". We've talked about trying for Baby #2 after the new year starts.

Church: We have been attending the same church for over a year now and feel like it is exactly the place where God wants us. Gregg became a deacon in the spring, and has recently taken on more responsibility after we lost both of our elders and another deacon due to some very serious personal issues. He's been getting together regularly with the pastor to make administrative decisions the past several weeks. I've been trying to meet with our pastor's wife on a regular basis too, not just because I'm a leader's wife, but because she is an incredible godly woman. She is so transparent and authentic, and genuinely loves the people she serves. She has spoken a lot of truth into my life these past few months.

"SAHMness": There is still nothing I would rather do right now than stay at home. I truly feel that is where God has called me. It doesn't mean that there aren't days when I want to pull my hair out or long for a minute to myself just to go to the bathroom. But I always end up at the end of every day being thankful that I can be here for Colton while he's this young. I am still actively involved in my local MOMS Club, which is such a godsend. In June, I took over the task of putting together the newsletter each month and that's been really fun. I am so grateful to have found this wonderful group of mommies, who have become some good friends. They have made the last 14 months bearable. Before I joined last September, I was on the verge of a breakdown. I literally never left the house and was struggling to take care of an infant on my own while my husband was away from home for 12 hours a day. Finding them was a real turning point for me. While most of the women are unchurched, they have been an incredible blessing to me all the same. Again, God is good!

So I think that sums up everything I want to say. I can't promise I'll be updating my blog on a regular basis from now on, but I'll certainly try. I've become much more of a Facebooker, just typing a quick blurb about what's going on. I did give my blog a pretty new background, so that should be an incentive. :) I do keep up with all of your blogs on a consistent basis, but I've been terrible at leaving comments. So I guess I'm just a lurker now. Well if you've made it this far, congratulations and thank you!