October Review

Team Worth has had a crazy few weeks! In early October we went out east to visit my family in NJ. It was a wonderful time, and we thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Eden's very 1st Birthday! We cannot believe it's been over a year now that this precious little girl has been a part of our lives. She is a huge blessing, and we do not thank God enough for how much laughter, energy, joy, and happiness she has brought to our family.

This is a picture from her birthday shoot :)

Then we made a quick stop up in North Eastern PA to visit some friends. We both strangely felt like it was home :). It It is the area we met, fell in love, had our 1st apartment, and started our family. There will always be a special place in our heart for that area. It is safe to say we miss it! Seeing our friends was awesome, our only regret was how little time we got to spend there. My hope is that as our family grows, Mark and I will have the privilege of revisiting that area to remember the "roots" of our relationship. Right now there is great incentive, but I am hoping that in 30 + years we'll still find an excuse to visit!

Mixed in with all our crazy traveling, our precious Eden has been under the weather. She experienced her 1st ear infection the week before her birthday. Needless to say all 3 of us went a little crazy! I have never dealt with more tears and more moodiness from her before. She had more than an ear infection in her defense. We noticed on our loooooong trip that she was popping through her first molar! We have since noticed she is actually working of 4 of them! Goodness gracious girl! I guess I'd rather a few weeks of insanity then a few straight months. You can being praying for her and us though. She has not been sleeping well, which means neither have I. Mark is working nights, so the pleasure is all mine :). ( Not to say Mark doesn't help other times! He really does...but most nights I am alone.) Eden is still nursing and so I am in the process of weaning, trying to get her to eat more solids at each meal, and hoping to get her on a better sleep schedule. She has been waking up quite frequently the last few weeks.(Most likely due to teething) It is very frustrating! I am tired! In the middle of the night I have a hard time experimenting with  other techniques (CIO, not nursing..etc) because I want her to go right back to sleep so I can too! Lol. However, time is tickin' away. She never dropped the middle of the night feeding on her own, so it's time for an intervention. My goal is to be pretty much done with nursing by Christmas. I desperately want a break before #2 arrives in March. So if you think of us, pray that we'll make wise decisions especially when it comes to middle of the night wakeful periods :). I think it's almost time to just let her cry. But after weeks of not getting good sleep already, I am less than enthusiastic about this. I just wish she could talk and tell me if she is hungry. Due to her lack of enthusiasm about solid food, and her increased activity level, it very well still could be a hunger issue : / . Parenting is not for the faint at heart, that's for sure!

For those wondering, Mark's new job is going very well! He is enjoying it, and just wrapped up his final orientation shift last night! So after a month or more of  working with someone else, he has been approved to work solo. He is nervous and excited about this. Some nights are a bit crazy at the hospital, so it can be hard to stay on top of the work load. In some ways it is sad that orienting is over because Mark is no longer guaranteed 5 shifts a week. During the training period they allowed him to work full-time, that helped him finish training in a more timely manner. However, his position is technically only part time (3 shifts a week). He had heard mixed reviews on how easy/hard it was to pick up extra shifts. We happy to report that he was already able to pick up a few for next week! The Lord is good! Plus he still has his foot in at the other job, and works there about 4 times a month. So although the lack of a permanent schedule gets to me, we are thankful God is providing!

 So as October comes to a close, it is time to embrace the holiday season. How is it that this time of year always comes so quickly? The months just seem to pass by. For Team Worth though, we are also counting weeks. Today is 19 weeks. Nineteen weeks into this pregnancy. So November brings with it the start of the 2nd half of this journey. Many of you may want to ask,  "Are you ready to do it all over again!?" Well, the truth is right now, not really lol. It still seems a bit scary, but you must know we are also excited! We know God will give us the strength in the days ahead to balance our family of 4. We still have about 5 months of preparation, and for that we are thankful! :).

So this is our October : We traveled over 30 hrs by car with Eden, we celebrated a birthday, we visited friends in PA, we've all been sick, we've all lost entirely too much sleep, Mark finished orienting, and we are wrapping up the first 1/2 of this pregnancy!

So whether your October was crazy and fun-filled , or a tough month through and through, remember the Lord is your strength! He is there for you! For each new month brings a new perspective and a fresh beginning. Our hope is that by the end of November we find ourselves even more in love with our great God!

TEAM WORTH