The Update...

Hi everyone. I've been told by a couple of people that it's time to do an update to the blog, so here I am, the compliant person that I am, to give an update as to what's been happening since I last posted.

Last time I posted, we had just found out we were pregnant again (PS--I love using the "we" when I talk about being pregnant, because it makes me seem as though I have some vital role to play in the pregnancy, when it's actually my wife doing all the hard work). Still pregnant. It's week 19 now, which means we're pretty much halfway there. Actually, we're probably more than halfway there. We've found out that our baby has a condition called "single umbilical artery" where, well, there's only one umbilical artery (as opposed to the usual two). From our research, this condition happens in less than 1% of pregnancies, and in 1/3 of the cases it's accompanied by some sort of severe issue, such as a malformed skeletal structure, malfunctioning organs, or central nervous system damage. Fortunately, our baby has none of these things; evidently all this would be apparent in the ultrasound. We're going through a few other tests to see about chromosomal abnormalities, but we're cautiously optimistic.

Unfortunately, what this condition usually means is that the umbilical cord has a hard time supporting the fetus in the late stages of the pregnancy, and so most babies with SUA are born premature and low birth weight. Given that we've already had a premature baby who had all of his umbilical arteries, we're pretty sure this one's going to be early too. So technically we're still going with a July 15 due date, but pragmatically we'll be ready before that.

But other, more positive things have happened too. The major one of these is that on January 24, we moved into a new house. We were struggling to make ends meet at the old place, what with me being on a pastor's salary and all, and so we had to find some way to relieve the burden a bit. Through a series of what could only be God-ordained circumstances, we found this house and were able to purchase it at a price below what they were asking, and pretty substantially so. We talked to our parents about it, and they agreed to co-invest with us (which might be a problem when they need the cash back, but we'll cross that bridge later), so we were able to make the numbers work a bit better. In order to get the deal we got, though, we needed to take quick possession. We were hoping that we could sell our old place in time, but didn't really think it would happen. Of course, it did--within five days of listing, we got an offer in for very quick possession. We negotiated a bit, and ended up with a price that was more than we had anticipated getting for the house, so it was a win-win situation. Now we have a detached home with a fenced backyard, and a detached garage with a rental suite on top. Our mortgage burden is a bit lighter--the main benefit though is not having to pay a monthly strata fee--and we get rental income from the suite. It's a pretty good deal. We're really blessed to have the family we have, and to have God looking out for us like He does.

Work is going well. I find myself continuing to find places where I need to adjust when working in a large church, but I'm getting there. Sometimes I long for the simplicity of a church plant again, but then I remember what it was like to have to set up everything out of a trailer before the service, and I realize that it wasn't really that fun. I'm playing a lot of music, which has continued to stretch me, and I think I've become a better player in the past few months. I'm also getting to play some of my other instruments a bit more often--electric guitar, bass, drums--so that's a lot of fun.

Wife is still enjoying being a mommy, and is occasionally doing some contract writing work on the side. We're still learning how to do ministry as a couple when we have a family--it's a different ball of wax than simply being a couple--but we're getting there.

#1 son has just turned two, and he's just as much fun as he's always been. He's also starting to assert his independence, as two-year-olds will do, and it's been an interesting journey getting to know his personality through it. He's a pretty fiercely independent kid, and it must be frustrating to not be able to express his feelings properly. He's even started to toilet train himself, which is a lot of fun. What a kid.

So that's pretty much what's happening in our lives. Next time I post, perhaps some pictures of our new place. I'm going to try to post more regularly, but you know how that goes. I'll believe it when I see it. Thanks for stopping by.