Change is in the Air

You know how change can be a good thing? Well I think it is right now. It's scary too, but I think it can lead to growth and progression as a person and as a family.

What's changing? Well the biggest change that is in the works right now is Tyler's job. He's been working at Arco Packaging in Murray as a delivery driver since the end of Oct. or beginning of Nov. 2009. He's enjoyed the job more than any other he's had and at one point he looked seriously into getting his CDL and driving dump trucks for his friend's dad's trucking company (locally for the most part). That fell through and the company went under. I'm grateful Tyler listened to his gut and didn't jump in with both feet like I thought he should.

After that fell through we weren't sure what to think about Tyler still working for Arco. He had looked for other jobs but he has never been able to find a job unless it has been through someone he knows. That's just how things come together for him, so we've been hoping and praying for him to find a job closer to our home. The 45 min. commute both ways with gas prices on the rise has really taken a huge chunk out of his pay check.

So a few weeks ago Tyler's brother Tim (who has been working as an electrician apprentice for about a year and a half now) called and asked if he was still interested in becoming an electrician. Tyler has been going back and forth between 4 career interests and being an electrician was one of them. Tyler told Tim he was still interested and Tim proceeded to tell Tyler that the small company he works for has too much work and needs to bring another person on and thought he'd put in a word to suggest Tyler for the job. Things worked out and Tyler went to work with them on Friday to see if he liked the work. At the end of the day the boss offered Tyler a position as an apprentice. Tyler put in his 2 weeks notice on Tuesday and we're basically counting down the days left at Arco.

It is scary. It is going to be different and the hours will be up and down and I won't know when to make dinner. There are obviously health risks to being an electrician, but what occupation doesn't have health risks? He has been driving delivery for a year and a half and there have been many times when the weather made his path extremely dangerous. I'm so grateful he has been watched over!

He'll being making a little less to start than he is making currently, but we should be saving more on gas than he'll lose in pay so I think we'll actually save more money than we currently do. There will be weeks when he works 20 hrs and that is scary, but there will also be weeks when he works 80 hrs. We'll just have to be really careful with our money and see how is averages out.

Overall I'm just really excited about the opportunity it is for Tyler to try a career path and see where it take us. It's hard to know you want to do something for a career unless you've tried it out.

Being an electrician apprentice means he'll be going to school too so I know there will be stress because Tyler will have to manage his time so he can be an apprentice, student, husband, and father. We have a new baby due Sept. 10th so that makes the change more scary and the thought of school more stressful, but I still think it is forward motion and it will lead us in a direction, whether it be down the road of Tyler being an electrician, or him marking it off the list as one he definitely doesn't want to do. I know that if we're doing what we think will be best for our family we'll be able to make it through and find a way to make things work. I just have to keep that in mind when I don't see my husband very much because of an 80 hr work week + school, while I'm dealing with a super energetic 1 1/2 yr old and a new born. I'll have to write some notes to myself for that time. :)

Aside from Tyler's change in work there have just been some new things that have been fun to watch in Luke. I can't believe how fast he's growing and he is such a hoot! He is an armful and that's not a joke, but he is so loving and sweet and funny.

Luke is starting to try to mimmic our words more than he has ever cared to before. Lately he seems to understand when I tell him what something is that the word and the thing are associated with each other rather than just giving me a blank stare then pointing and signing please. He has recently started asking for juice, cheese, crackers, and water. He seems to know what I mean when I say breakfast, lunch and dinner rather than me having to tack on the word "food" or "eat". He is a lot more receptive to new signs for words too, but he mostly sticks with "please", "thank you", "food/eat", and "more". He can say shoes and socks and I'm pretty sure I've heard him try to say "shirt" and "shorts". He also says "Bo" all the time. Every time Bo moves Luke points and says "Bo Bo!". He tries to say "Max" but it isn't very clear. Max is my brother's dog who has been with us for a week while they went to California. I could keep going because I know there are more things that he can say and things that he has tried to say but the point is, he's just learning so fast and it amazes me how he suddenly picks up on something and takes off with it.

As far as changes go with me, I change because my belly keeps growing! I have a check up this afternoon, but so far everything has been normal and the baby is healthy and growing right on schedule. My midwife does an ultrasound at every appointment and measures the baby's head and belly and who knows what else and then the computer spits out if he's measuring average for how far along we are. At our appointment 2 weeks ago the computer estimated that the baby would be born on Sept. 3rd. They didn't change my due date from the 10th but... I'm not going to lie, it makes me hope that he'll come on the 3rd if he's ready. Although, I still think it would be fun for his birth date to by 9/10/11...

I've been telling Luke that his baby brother is in my belly and he will pat my belly and say "ba ba?" and then sometimes he looks for my belly button... so I don't know how much he understands but it's cute anyway.

This baby is very active. I know Luke was active in the womb but I don't remember him moving around quite as often as this baby. If that means he's going to be even more energetic than Luke when he gets out then I'm in for a really exciting time because Luke never stops. (p.s. Luke just locked himself in Max's cage... is it ok to laugh??? haha I think so because he got himself out too)

The baby doesn't have a set name yet. When I was pregnant with Luke we didn't want to tell anyone what names we were leaning toward because we wanted to see him before we decided on his name. We were pretty sure we'd name him Lucas Andrew though. This baby it isn't really that we're keeping anything a secret, but we still want to see him before we decide, and his name has changed a few times. There was a while that we thought it would be one name because it was the only one we both liked. Then we kind of changed our minds to a different name and I just feel silly posting about them when they might not be his name. We are most likely going to give him "Tyler" as his middle name though.

Well that pretty much sums up our changes right now. I know I'm a long winded blogger, but I just get on a roll and keep typing. I hope you enjoy it anyway.