Saturday, December 18, 2010

I won!

A couple of weeks ago, I won a contest for emailing the show "Good Things Utah" on channel 4. The contest they've been running all month (there's a winner every day) is "The Greatest Gift You Ever Gave". I wrote in about a gift I gave my mom:

GTU,

For as long as I could remember, my mom NEVER wore her diamond engagement ring, just her plain wedding band. She always kept it in it's box in her jewelry drawer, and as I got older I became curious as to why she never wore it (it's simple but very pretty). She told me it was because the prongs had worn down and she was afraid the diamond would get lost. I felt so bad about this that when I had the money to, I snuck it out of her room, and took it to the jewelry store to have it re-pronged and cleaned. I almost didn't recognize it when I went to pick it up. I could hardly wait to give her her ring back, and when she opened the gift, she was so touched that she started to cry a little. It made me so happy to have given her so much joy and I love to see her wearing her ring again after so long (my parents have been married 40 years now)!

When they said they were going to announce the winner, I figured it probably wouldn't be me. Then they said my name and I thought....maybe it's a different Julianna Thorne (yeah right, I'm pretty sure there aren't that many of us in the world), then they read my email. I was in shock and kind of giddy! Anyway, I won this:Left to right: "Mickey's Magical Christmas", "Mickey Saves Santa: and other Mouseketales", "Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving", "The Muppet Christmas Carol", "A Muppets Christmas", "Santa Buddies", "Snow Buddies", "Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas", "Mickey's Christmas Carol", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Over $200 worth of Christmas Disney DVDs! We've only heard of a couple of them, but they'll be great for when Ella's a little older, and for our future kiddos.

THANK YOU, "GOOD THINGS UTAH"!!


Oh, and by the way, has anyone else noticed how much more the word 'Christmas' is being said on T.V? I'm loving it! For awhile there they wanted to be PC or whatever and wouldn't say Christmas, but now people are saying it again! Yay!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Hawaiian Thanksgiving

This year we went to Maui for Thanksgiving with Jer's family. It was a much needed vacation for us because it's been such a stressful year.
I almost wished we hadn't gone at the beginning of the trip because of how rough the trip to get there was. Our flight to San Francisco was delayed, then when we got there, our flight was delayed, then delayed again, then delayed again, then they had to switch out planes so it was delayed again. We were in that airport at that gate for about 8 hours I think. Because of all the delays, we missed our next flight out of Honolulu to Maui, so after the 6 + hour flight out of San Fran (Ella had a REALLY rough time, meaning we didn't really sleep on that flight-yes, ours was the crying baby on the long airplane ride-though Jer slept through most of it, lucky for him), we got to hang out in the Honolulu airport (which was basically closed since it was the middle of the night) for another few hours before we could re-check-in and fly to our final destination. I felt so bad for Ella, she was SO SO tired, and so out of her element in all these new, unknown places; on top of that she had a grouchy mom who was trying to take care of her the best she could under the circumstances.
Anyway, I hate to complain, I mean we were going to Hawaii, so we should have been happier. I kept thinking that, but it was hard when all I could think was-we wouldn't be having these problems if we were home.
We FINALLY made it to our destination, packed in the rentals and headed to the Marriott Ocean Club. After bathing the baby, ourselves, and settling in, we took a nap that made all the difference. The vacation had *officially* begun.
We spent a lot of time on the beach and the kiddie pool, though Ella wasn't a fan of the ocean. Every time the waves rolled in she'd start to whimper, poor thing. Hopefully the next time she sees the ocean, she'll love it and the beach as much as I do.
We also spent a lot of time in Lahaina enjoying THE BEST shave ice in the world....Ululani's. SO delicious! We got shave ice from there nearly every night. I wish I had a picture of the tastiness.
For Thanksgiving, we went to a Luau. It was fun, but I missed the traditional food and pies.
Every time we went anywhere, people would see Ella and smile. I swear she brought so much happiness to people. We didn't go a day without someone saying something to us about how adorable she is. A group of people who were about to leave a restaurant we were at had to stop and tell us how cute she is and that they couldn't leave without telling us what a cute, sweet baby we had. At the luau, there was a man sitting across the way from us and he kept talking to Ella. He was obviously a little tipsy, so it was kind of funny to watch him make faces at her. One of Ella's cousins, Jonah, is so protective of her that he was a little upset that this guy was talking to her. At the end of the luau, the man came over to say goodbye to her, and after he left, Jonah came over a little perturbed. He asked if it bugged us when people talked to her, I told him no and that it was nice to hear that she was cute from other people. He said, "Of course she's cute, we don't need other people to come tell us that!".
We ate a lot of good food, had a lot of good family time, and relaxed quite a bit. It was a much-needed vacation.
Our trip back was uneventful and it was very nice to be back home.
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!
Now onto Christmas, hopefully we'll be able to start some fun traditions now that we have Ella!

20-30

This is late, but I told myself I'd finish, so here are my Thanks-giving #20-30:
20- Vacations, especially when they're REALLY needed.
21- Beautiful places on this earth that are a treat for the senses.
22- The Gospel of the church I belong to. It brings so much hope and peace to me, especially when I'm feeling the most down.
23- Decorations. They can really warm up a space; even if I'm not very good at it, our house looks a lot homier now.
24- The beautiful sky that seems to go on forever sometimes. It always amazes me when I have the chance to sit and stare at it's vastness.
25- Hot cocoa. It's a nice little chocolate fix, and it's nice to get warmed up.
26- A washer and dryer. I can't imagine having to do laundry in the winter the way they did "way back when".
27- Our dependable car. Even though I don't get to use it that often, I'm glad it's a good, safe vehicle to get us around.
28- Cupcakes and other treats that are a little pick-me-up when I'm having a bad day.
29- Learning new things. How else do we grow and know how to do stuff?
30- Ella. She's the answer to so many prayers and is so much more than I ever could have hoped for. I'm so lucky I get to be her mama.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

4-19

I'm playing catch-up again, but at least I'm doing it, right?
I'm grateful for:
4- My husband who tries to do so much for us
5- Our extended families who love and support us
6- Jer's parents, without them, I wouldn't have him
7- My parents, they love me and teach me and brought me up to know right and wrong
8- Our warm house, with warm blankets
9- My intuition
10- My sense of smell, I love the smell of my freshly washed baby
11- My sense of sight, especially when I get a new prescription and new glasses!
12- My sense of touch, I love being able to feel Ella's soft skin and hold her little hands
13- My sense of hearing, Ella's little voice is the sweetest thing I get to hear
14- My sense of taste, chocolate is still one of the best things I can put in my mouth and just enjoy
15- Our employment, even though Jer's isn't the best, at least he has a job. And even though I wish so badly I didn't have to work, at least I get to do it from home so I can be with Ella
16- My soft, cozy bed. I wish I could spend more time curled up on it
17- Friends who keep in touch and care
18- All our nieces and nephews, who are so sweet and loving with Ella (aka Ella Bella)
19- Electronics, although they can be a huge distraction, they also are a major help with SO many things!
That's all for now, I'll probably be catching up again soon.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Thanks-Giving 2&3

So I missed yesterday, so far I'm not doing so well with making sure to do this every day. Oh well, I'm making up for it now.

I'm thankful for temples and for all the awesome things we can do in them. I'm thankful to have the blessing of being able to be with my family forever, and to help those who have gone on before be blessed as well.

I'm also thankful for the trials we go through. I NEVER thought I'd say that, and, honestly, sometimes I'm really not that grateful for them. Even though they majorly suck while you're going through them, I'm grateful for the knowledge and strength we can get from them.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Thanks-Giving 1

I have other friends doing this, so I thought I'd steal the idea. I'm going to blog something I'm thankful for every day this month (or at least try to).
Today I'm thankful for prayer and the comfort it brings us. How amazing to be able to speak to our Heavenly Father whenever we need to, about whatever we need. It's one of the only times I can talk without feeling like I'm saying something stupid or being dumb, and I always feel less alone when I pray.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

6 and 7

Well, Ella's 7 months old today! It's so cliche to say, but I can't believe how the time has flown. I was planning on doing a 6 month post, but time got away from me. At her six month check up she measured small, but the Dr. says it's fine because she's proportionate and has chub in all the right places, she's just meant to be more petite.Happy waking up from her nap
She now sits and plays on her own for quite awhile. She'll tip over and roll to her tummy and scoot backwards. She spits and talks and squeals. She loves watching her daddy and playing with him, it's so cute to see them together. She's been cutting a bottom tooth for awhile now, but it keeps going into hiding. She gives big, wet, open-mouth kisses, and I love every single one I get-a wet cheek means you're loved around here. We love every little sound she makes. She loves applesauce, and just about any other mushy food we've given her. We were at Leatherby's a couple weeks ago, and though I wasn't planning on giving her ice cream, she kept opening her mouth every time I'd take a bite and I couldn't leave her sweet little face hanging so she got her first taste of ice cream and absolutely LOVED it. If I ever tried to take a bite instead of giving her some, she'd get pretty angry and let me know how she felt. Jer couldn't stop laughing. That bite's not for you, it's for me, see?

This past Sunday at dinner at Jer's parents, we set all the babies down to take some pics, I stole this one off of my sister-in-law's blog.Kai (3 weeks older than Ella), Ella and Oliver (7 months older than Ella)
It's going to be fun watching them all grow up together!

As for us 'grown-ups', we're plugging along. Nothing new going on with us, just work and playing with the babe. We were called as primary teachers in our new ward, so that's been interesting. We teach the 8-9 year olds, they can be sweet, but also very difficult.
I bought a bunch of tulle to make tutus, so if you want one, let me know.

Some day I'll get pictures on the walls, and some day we'll have some kind of yard besides dirt and rocks, but for now we're just trying to get through the day to day; we're both pretty exhausted from work by the end of the day. We're feeling like those boring old adults we used to make fun of. I tell Jer, "we're not old and boring, we're just responsible adults".

Thursday, August 26, 2010

5 months

Ella's 5 months old today, I can't believe it. She's growing so fast!
She sticks her feet in her mouth, 'shares' my food with me (so far she likes Peach & Blueberry yogurt, rice cereal, and Orange Julius). She smiles so big that she scrunches her little nose and forehead up, she giggles and squeals and wiggles all over the place. She's rolled from back to tummy and tummy to back (but hasn't in a little while). She loves all the attention she can get, though she has a hard time being completely surrounded (by all her adoring cousins). Every body loves her. She's such a beautiful baby!

In other news, Jer's just finishing up training in his new job, and will probably be getting a promotion in a few weeks. I don't understand all the details, but he'd be one of the people who the workers go to for answers/help. I'm pretty proud of him. He also started back to school at UVU in hopes of finishing his Bachelor's degree, it will be a busy next few years around here.

We also moved into our beautiful house this past weekend. I'm still in disbelief that we're in our house with a GARAGE and a BASEMENT and a yard! We're mostly unpacked (thanks to my awesomely helpful mom), but I haven't decorated yet. Give me some time, it hasn't even been a week yet! The adjustment has been pretty smooth for Ella, too. I was worried she'd have a hard time, but she's been perfectly fine!
This has been the craziest/busiest year/summer of my life, I swear! But it's been great!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Picture update

Here are a few shots from Ella's blessing. She's wearing the dress I was blessed in so it's pretty old (as far as clothes go) but she looked SO adorable in it.
Our cute little family

With both sets of grandparents

With her step-great-grandma Thorne

In home news, it's moving right along pretty fast, it's freaking me out. Mostly I'm nervous about the yard and how to get things planned out so we can get it started as soon as we move in so it won't be a muddy mess when spring rolls around. I know we need to at least get grass in, but where do I want shrubs and trees and flowers and a little food garden, not to mention a play area? I've never had to do anything like this before and I'm freaked!
I'll post pics of the house once we get them loaded into the computer, until then I can give you an idea of how it's looking. It's all framed, exterior walls are up, the roof is on, the windows are in, the ac and furnace are installed, and garage floor is poured. I'm excited to see how much they get done this coming week!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Hobby Blog

Since other people have started blogs about their hobbies, I decided to start one about mine...looking for great bakeries and trying out the goodies.
The Bakery Hopper's Blog
If anyone wants to join me, let me know!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

What's been happening...

Ella's blessing was beautiful, Jer did an awesome job and made me cry, along with an old roommate who came, and possibly some other people. My younger cousin gave a hilarious testimony, which luckily I was in the mother's room for so that everyone in the congregation couldn't stare at me while they were laughing. We are so lucky to have had so much support and so many family and friends come for Ella's special day.
Jer made this video for the luncheon after the blessing, it makes me cry when I watch it and relive all the feelings of how we came to this point. You'll probably want to pause the music player at the bottom of the page to hear the music and sound of the video. Enjoy!
Some of the pictures from Ella's photoshoots are in the video, and I have to credit the great photographers: Chase Lester Photography and Erin Wood Photography, click on their names to check out their blogs and work.

Ella's 3 months old today and getting bigger and bigger, I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. She's a little wiggler, sometimes when I go in to feed her or check on her, she's turned herself 45 degrees in her crib, this morning she had turned and scooted so that her legs were sticking out of the slats in the side (we don't have a bumper because I've heard they can be hazardous). She grabs her toys on her floor gym and chatters away. Lately she's been discovering her tongue and playing with it. It's so fun to watch her learn new things. She's been sleeping pretty well for the last month too, averaging about 6 hrs at night, sometimes even 9 hrs if I'm lucky.
Working is still hard, but luckily I can work in the morning now when she does most of her sleeping, although I am pretty exhausted in the afternoon, so I don't know how much fun poor Ella has with me.

In home news, the hole has been dug and the foundation has been started, it's pretty exciting to watch it go up. We met the neighbors across the street and they seem super nice, so that makes me less nervous about moving.
So far we're having a great summer and we hope you all are having a great one too!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Busy busy busy

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time, but then I have been pretty busy enjoying our little angel.
I started back working when she was 6 weeks old, boy was that harder than I thought it would be. Because of issues with beyond my control, I ended up having to work at night (4-10), right in the window when she's most awake and interactive, along with bedtime. It was SO hard and made me so sad every night, not to mention the extra stress it caused. Luckily I've been able to work my regular shift again this week, and it has made life for all of us better, and we're all much happier too!We are lucky enough to have a couple of photographer friends who took some adorable pics of Ella, sadly I don't know where they are all on the computer, I'll have to find them later and post more. Ella is 2 months old today! I can't believe it, she's growing so fast! She smiles and coos at us, as well as bats at her floor gym toys. She even talks in her sleep just like her daddy. She's a pro at pouting, but she's had that down since birth. She's perfect in every way and we couldn't feel more blessed. I still cry sometimes when I look at her because I feel so lucky to have her in my life. We'll be blessing her June 6th (our last Sunday in our current ward :( ) Which leads me to my next bit of news, if you haven't heard yet, we're moving. We sold the condo and have had it appraised and inspected, now all we have to do is close (next week!!!). We've been trying to go through our stuff and get some of it packed up, we're hoping to get a lot done Memorial Day too. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed though, I look around and just wonder how it's going to get done along with everything else (taking care of the baby, working, laundry, etc). We'll be moving in with Jer's parents until our house it built (which should be started as soon as we close on the condo!). Just about everything is off the walls-it's kinda creepy in here now and doesn't feel like home anymore, it's weird.
Well, I think that's about it for now, I probably won't be updating for awhile again with everything coming up.
YAY for summer!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

She's here!

Ella was born Friday, March 26, 2010 at 2:31 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. She has hair, it's a little shaggy in the back even, though it's lighter than we expected-more light brown, but at times it almost looks auburnish. We can't be happier that she's finally here, although this last week has been extremely surreal.
I'm guessing people will want to hear the story, so here it is:

On Friday morning at about 3:10, I woke up with a majorly painful stomach cramp that went away after maybe 10 seconds. I'd had contractions the day before, but nothing too strong or worth watching the clock for, but about 7 minutes later I got another contraction, and then 7 min. after that I got another one and they were lasting longer. I couldn’t sleep through them, so I decided to get up and work. I figured that if these were real labor pains, and since it’s my first baby, that I wouldn’t need to worry about going to the hospital for another 7 or more hours. Boy was I wrong. In the space of working 40 minutes, my contractions quickly got closer and closer together, when they were fluctuating around 4 and 5 min. apart. I woke Jer up and told him we needed to go to the hospital. He didn’t really believe me and didn’t really want to get up, I can’t blame him though, I wasn’t really sure if we should go or not either since we didn’t know if they’d just say it was false labor and send us home, although the contractions felt pretty dang real to me.
We got to the hospital around 5:45 (my contractions were fluctuating between 2 and 4 min apart at that point) where they put me in a room for observation. I wouldn’t be admitted as a patient until it was confirmed that I was in active labor, but luckily my water sort of broke while I was laying there contracting, so they had to keep me after that. They started my I.V. and Jer and I tried to rest while we could. It was the strangest feeling knowing we'd have a baby by late afternoon, especially since we actually had plans for that weekend since we were just expecting to have her on the 30th-oh well, having our baby topped anything else we could have done.They started me on pitocin to help labor progress more steadily, and I stuck it out without the epidural until about 10:45, by that time I was dying every time the contractions would come and didn't think it was worth it to endure the pain just to be 'tough'. (I don't understand how the breathing technique you learn is supposed to help, it did nothing to calm me down when the contractions came-I guess it's just supposed to put your mind on something else?)
The Dr. came in and checked me every so often, along with the nurses. I was slowly progressing, and the Dr. said we'd probably have the baby around 4 or 5. Another time he checked me he said that I'd probably be pushing for 1 or 2 hrs, so I was extra relieved to have the epidural to try to get at least a little rest before the hard work started. At almost 2 p.m. I started feeling like something was changing, so I told the nurse, and right before she was going to check me, the Dr. came in to see my progress. To our surprise he said that I was fully dilated and ready to push. Jer and I looked at each other thinking the same thing...."already?". The Dr. left to get changed, and the nurses got things set up so I could start pushing. I was surprised they had me pushing when the Dr. wasn't there, but my nurse reassured me that he'd be back in time to 'catch her'. Jer even helped the nurse while I was pushing. The Dr. came back and helped Ella come into the world after only about 25 minutes of me pushing. I couldn't believe she was finally here, but I also was having a hard time believing she was ours, she had such a round head! She was much bigger than any of us thought she'd be (by nearly a lb.) the Dr. even asked where I had been hiding her. She also had a bigger head than my body could handle, so I had to get 3rd degree stitches (the scale goes to 4), but she's perfect and amazing and healthy, and that's all that matters (as long as I can still take care of her in my condition too). I love her so much that I cry when I think about it and how grateful I am to finally have her. She really is our little miracle baby, our little angel. Jer has been amazing, he's such a good daddy and does so much to help me out with her. He'll hate that I'm typing this, but he's so cute with her, we're so lucky to have him.
She sleeps like crazy, but not so much at night, which has made it a little hard to deal with life, but we're adjusting. I know I should sleep when she sleeps, but it's hard to not just pass the time staring at her, she's such a marvel. She nurses pretty well for the most part, it's just hard to keep her awake and keep her mouth open wide enough when she does (if anyone has any suggestions they'd like to share, I'm open to new things to try; I feel like I've tried just about everything I've read).Thanks to everyone for the support and love, we've been well taken care of, and Ella is definitely adored and spoiled.


On another note, Jer's still looking for a job, so if anyone has any leads, they'd be much appreciated (he's looking for something to do with customer service/support, possibly marketing or something like that).

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

So much

Well, I was waiting for more pictures from my other showers to post more, but I haven't gotten any (which is my fault) so this will have to be a picture-less post, hopefully it won't be too long and boring.

The Sat. after my Dr. Seuss shower, I had a friends/old co-workers shower. There were 5 of us there and my long-time friend Joanna threw it for me at Mimi's Cafe. It was very laid back and nice to see everyone, especially since I work from home now, I never see co-workers or ex-co-workers anymore. I got some really great gifts and Joanna made me a super cute diaper cake. I regret I didn't take any pictures of it before I started taking it apart when I got it home (hint hint Joanna, I need pictures!). It had a bunch of baby odds and ends on it, along with lots of cute little hair clips, which for some reason I was extra excited about!

The following Sat. a bunch of ladies from my ward threw me a great shower. Sadly a few people couldn't make it, but they were sweet enough to drop gifts off at our door. Back to the shower, there was great food (Tori knows me and my salad taste too well, Denice makes awesome cookies and Elisa and April seem to know that I've been on a major fruits and veggies kick lately). April had us play a couple of fun matching games (which worked out for all of us, we all got prizes) and everyone was so sweet and gave us some really great, useful, and cute stuff!

The Sat. after that (this past Sat.) was my family shower that one of my sisters-in-law, Lorie, threw for me. She's the sweetest, we're so lucky to have such awesome family. There was good food and some fun guessing and matching games. I got lots of wonderful things and a few beautiful quilts (I didn't seem to get the crafting gene, but luckily it runs elsewhere in the family). I love being able to get together with my aunts and cousins, my mom's side has always been really close and I LOVE it (which isn't to say I don't love my dad's side, I just don't get to see them as often).
Phew, 4 showers in a row, I think I'm all showered out, but I'm so grateful for everyone's generosity and love! We're so lucky, and can I just say this baby is so spoiled and she's not even here yet?

The last few days we've been trying to get the last minute things so that we're not completely scrambling when she does come. We're slowly getting closer to being as ready as we can be. At least we know she'll be dressed, warm, fed, clean, and of course LOVED!

Here's my progression so far if you're interested, if not then just don't read this part:
Week 36: Total weight gain 21 lbs, 70% effaced, 1/2 cm dilated, she's so low the Dr. can touch her head. Lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions.
Week 37: Same as week 36
Week 38: Total weight gain 22 lbs, 80% effaced, 1 cm dilated, baby just seems to get lumpier and lower. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss being able to feel her move around after she's born, I love that she's been so active. The Braxton-Hicks seem to have backed off a bit, but the back pain and pelvic separation are enough for me to try to handle right now.
Week 39 (yesterday's appointment): Same as last week. Baby's really low. Dr. said he'll induce me on my due date if she hasn't come by then! Ella will be here by March 30 no matter what!

After the appointment last week, we stopped at Jer's parents and got to meet our newest nephew (he's SO cute) as well as get our car-seat and stroller (having those definitely is making things seem that much more real).

Well, with the way I've been posting lately, it's very possible I won't post again until after the baby's born, but I'm sure there will be LOTS and LOTS of pictures and video for that one! Stay tuned!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Baby Shower

I realize we haven't posted anything in awhile...mostly because nothing really has changed. Jer is still looking for a job/waiting to hear back from jobs and luckily I'm still working.

We finally got our crib, and just last night picked up a mattress for it, things are starting to look more like a baby's actually coming (besides my growing belly).

I had my first baby shower last week with Jer's family. It was so fun and they went to so much trouble to make it super cute w/the food and decorations. If you couldn't tell, the theme was Dr. Seuss and the baby got some Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals, as well as "Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go: A Book to be read in Utero" to go along with the theme. I tried reading it to her/my stomach the other day (because that's what you're supposed to do with it) and could barely get through it I was crying so much. It's amazing to think we'll finally have our little angel in less than 5 weeks. I'm still so scared that she's going to die though, I'm not sure if this is a normal fear or if it's because of everything that's happened in the last 3 years? I try not to stress too much about it though, I'm trying to have faith that everything will be fine.
Well, back to the shower. I got a ton of wonderful gifts from everyone that came, and I had some friends come that I haven't seen in a long time.
Belly shot of Kim and her miracle baby with me (above)
Kim, Joanna & Makenna, me, Riley and Heidi


As for games, the main one was where everyone estimated a length of yarn to what they thought would go around me. My sis-in-law, Janeen, was right on in her measurement, and then there were a couple others that were pretty dang close. It was fun to see how big around some people thought I might be.

My next Dr. appointment is Tues. for my 36 week check up. I'll be going in every week from then til our little girl comes to join us! It's crazy!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Feeling Blessed, but Seriously Stressed

Most of you know (thanks to Facebook) that Jer lost his job nearly 2 weeks ago. It was SO unexpected and out of nowhere that we were feeling pretty shocked. It has been a hard past 2 weeks. I've had to learn to not worry too much because I can tell the baby doesn't like it. The day he was let go I had some contractions and they freaked me out a little (even though I know they're normal-but when they're induced by stress, that can't be a good thing). Jer has felt this is something he's needing to go through and learn from. He's gone to workshops and seminars, and has learned a lot and has been sprucing up his resume and a blog he put together to show what he can do with graphic stuff (Click to see his Portfolio and Marketing blogs. Pass them along to anyone you think can help.)
In the midst of this situation we've felt pretty lucky though. Lucky that the car accident happened in Nov, he wasn't hurt and we got a decent amount of money from it. That money was going towards our house fund, but we think now that it'll come in handy with helping us get by until Jer gets a job. We're also lucky that we have the internet, and within minutes of posting on our status' that Jer was out of a job, we both had tons of responses in our inboxes and in comments. Our neighbors have given him leads and offered help, even passed his resume along. We're lucky I still have a job, and that I can do it from home (though it won't cover our expenses, it's still something).
So in the midst of this trial, we know things could be much much worse and we're counting our blessings.
Now I just need to learn to stop stressing that we still have everything left to get for the baby except clothes.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and help with the job hunt, we are so blessed to know you.