A Jack Sparrow Kind of Day

 
We recently re-watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and I was reminded how much I love the line at the end in which Jack Sparrow says to Will Turner, “If you were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it.”

Our family has been waiting for an opportune moment for a while now...praying about it diligently for months...and yesterday it came.

Josh’s degree is in film and video production, but with the economic downturn coinciding with his college graduation, he hasn’t had the opportunity to work full time in that field. Instead, he has been working days in executive protection at Focus, and doing video work on the side. But he has always hoped return to the film and video world as his primary work.

Over the years, it has become clear that the people who are making a living in film and video in Colorado Springs are—for the most part—independent contractors. Making the leap from a steady paycheck every two weeks to self-employment was kind of daunting, but we were watching and praying for the opportunity to do so. At times, it seemed like it would never happen. But so many things have fallen into place over the past few weeks: small but important changes in my job that made it feel like I could continue to do it after baby #2 arrives, significant new freelance opportunities for Josh, and the chance for him to pick up some (unrelated) part time work this summer to help ease us through the transition.

The last of these puzzle pieces just fell into place on Thursday. We knew we had about a week to make the decision, but as it turns out, it didn't take that long. By Sunday night, we knew that Josh would be submitting his resignation to Focus on Monday morning. It was good for him to be able to leave under favorable circumstances: no hard feelings, no broken relationships, just the assurance that it’s time to begin a new season.

And so... a new season begins. If you need a good video editor, I happen to know one.

Announcement Time

So, we made this announcement to our families back around Valentine's Day, and ever since, we've been telling people in person as we seen them. But I have not yet posted it publicly. I decided after the pictures in the last post that it was becoming obvious, so I better make it official:

In September, Lorien is going to be a...

Big sister!

Due date is September 22nd, so we have lots of good days to aim for: my brother Doug's birthday is 9/23; my Aunt Mary's birthday is 9/30, and Mom Keffer is 10/2. (As thrilled as she would be to have a grandchild born on her birthday, I really am not all that keen on beating my record of six days overdue with Lorien.)

No ultrasound pics yet, but we will post them when we get them. Seems that protocols have changed since Lorien was born, and by refusing the early Down Syndrome test (nuchal fold scan), I was also refusing an early ultrasound. So, we won't have one until 20 weeks. I don't regret refusing that test...just can't wait to get a look at this baby!

Fun with Friends

 I love the fact that my college friends Shelley and Jason are big Colorado fans. Jason, especially, can't lose the sneaking suspicion that he is meant to live here at some point in his life. So that means every year or two, they make their way to Colorado and we get to visit with them.

This time, they were in Buena Vista, Co., for a Young Life leadership retreat at Trail West Lodge. They brought along Josiah, who is seven months old, while their older two kiddos got to hang out at Grandma's for the week. After their retreat was over, they came down to stay with us for a few nights. We had a great time catching up...all except for the time when Xander got tangled up in their laptop cord, got scared, and tried to run away backwards, knocking the computer off of the coffee table and breaking the power cord.

I had fun taking pictures of Josiah.

And Shelley took the rest of the photos...

We spent Friday afternoon at the park...very windy, but fun!

In front of our house. This picture cracks. me. up.

A little more serious this time. Also,  look how big Josiah is at
SEVEN months old (Lorien is 20 mos.)

Lorien's Lexicon

 
Wone = Phone. Sometimes. And sometimes she says it correctly.

Nankababy = Naked baby

Ham burger, Pine apple = she likes to enunciate these compound words into two separate words.

Didder = Xander, our dog.

Wowdy = Rowdy, which Xander often is.

Osos = Upstairs and/or downstairs

Wo-weesh = goldfish crackers

Woier-deuce = Water Juice. We mix them in her cup, so to her, they're one beverage.

Assauce = Apple sauce. Hard not to laugh when this comes up at the dinner table.

Coop = scoot. As in "Coop down the stairs."

Lazy Saturday Morning

Saturday morning was glorious. I slept until 7 (about as late as I can make my body sleep these days).  Lorien slept until 8. And Josh slept until 9! 

Since we like to do "big breakfast" on Saturdays whenever we can, Lorien and I got busy making breakfast when she woke up. Josh was still sleeping when it was done, so we carted it upstairs (on our largest cutting board, since we don't own a breakfast tray), and we all had a picnic on mommy and daddy's bed. 

Reading "Ham and Eggs" while eating ham and eggs. :) 

She likes the donuts best!

The Gark

I had tried to introduce Lorien to Green Eggs and Ham months ago, but she was not interested. However, when Dad read it to her during their visit, she decided that she now likes it. She calls it "Ham and Eggs."

One page—this page—is by far her favorite. 

The other day she was asking, "I see...gark?" It took me a while to figure out what she wanted, but then I realized she wanted to see the "in the dark" page from Green Eggs and Ham. We have to read that page at least three or four times every time we open the book these days. 

Birthday Week

Josh's 32nd and my 34th birthdays happened mostly uneventfully this week. There were lots of other things going on, and neither of us could decide what we wanted for birthday presents, so there wasn't really any unwrapping to do. We did manage to have two nice family dinners: I made rosemary apricot pork roast for Josh on Sunday (his actual birthday), while my parents were still here, and Mom Keffer contributed his favorite red velvet cake. Then, two days after my birthday, we had dinner at Mom and Dad Keffers—sukiyaki and flourless chocolate cake...yummy!

Monday night we'll finish up the birthday celebration with our traditional trip to Red Robin for birthday burgers. For those who have Red Robin in your area: they do free birthday burgers during the month of your birthday if you register your rewards card online. Unbeatable!