Enough Answers for Today

Well, it's official. We'll be in Denver one more year.

We didn't arrive at this decision easily or without grief. When we left Kansas three years ago, we promised our families we would return when I graduated. And we do plan on returning, but not yet.

David has a great job waiting for him at Denver Health as an RN, pending his passage of the board exam. Trinity is piecing together a VERY part-time job for me. It won't be a lot, but it will hopefully be enough to keep me feeling like my Master's degree wasn't a total waste. =)

We don't know exactly what the next year will look like. Right now, we are trying to focus on David passing his exam, me graduating in June, and, of course, preparing for the newest little Baker to arrive this summer.

I still don't know about my ordination process or where I might like to serve, but we have enough answers for today.

Shocking Realization on a Monday Morning

Um, we are having a baby soon!

Crazy.

27 weeks

Insomnia

I can't sleep.

Maybe it's the pregnancy-related heartburn.

Or maybe it's the fact that I still can't breathe through both nostrils and the past week of "I'm sick but can't take anything because I'm pregnant" is messing with my sleep cycle.

Or maybe it's because I'm graduating in 8 weeks and still have no real answer when people ask what I'm going to "do" when I'm done.

OR, maybe it's because I've been reading "Ina May's Guide To Childbirth" before I go to bed. Thinking about birth and labor and the fact that this baby is coming in three months does not help me relax before bed.

Or, maybe it's because I proclaim to be a person of faith but am feeling unable to discern what "next step" David and I should take. Today I actually googled "What should I do with my life?" (Nothing satisfactory came up) I also wrote "KC" on a sticky note and "Denver" on another sticky note, wadded them up, shuffled them around, and then made David pick one. So much for prayer--I'm thinking of buying a Magic 8 ball.

Mary

All the way to Elizabeth

and in the months afterward,

she wove him, pondering,

"This is my body, my blood."

Beneath the watching eyes

of donkey, ox, and sheep

she rocked him, crooning,

"This is my body, my blood."

In the moonless desert flight

and the Egypt-days of his growing

she nourished him, singing,

"This is my body, my blood."

In the search for her young lost boy

and the foreboding day of his leaving

she let him go, knowing,

"This is my body, my blood."

Under the blood-smeared cross

she rocked his mangled bones,

remembering him, moaning,

"This is my body, my blood."

When darkness, stones, and tomb

bloomed to Easter morning,

she ran to him, shouting,

"This is my body, my blood."

And no one thought to tell her:

"Woman, it is not fitting

for you to say those words.

You don't resemble him."

--Irene Zimmerman

David's graduation

HE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's awesome

We are so thankful to everyone who reached out to us with love and concern this past week. I wasn't able to respond to everyone who emailed, texted, or called me, but I felt your love and prayers with us yesterday as we went for our second ultrasound.

We met with the genetic counselor first and she asked us a million questions and prepared us for the ultrasound. There were three people in the room looking at the ultrasound and all three agreed that there were no signs of echogenic bowel! We were both relieved and filled with joy, and I felt my body loosen and exhale, releasing all the worry and fear it's been holding on to since Monday.

We cried. We gave each other a high five. And then, as a special treat, the ultrasound technician let us see our baby in 3D...