Some January catch up!

To catch you up on my life right now (because I figure you should get to know the good stuff as well as the bad stuff):

Husband has a new job! He started it last week, after just over one month of being unemployed. A friend of ours has dubbed him "the job-hunting ninja." All I know is that we are incredibly grateful that he has been able to secure something so quickly. I have to keep telling myself that God's mercy knows no bounds, because sometimes I worry that we've used up all of our miracles.

We learned at the ultrasound a couple of weeks ago that Baby is a girl! I had spent most of this pregnancy thinking "boy," but Husband was sure all along that Baby would be a girl, and now we know it is so! Seeing her picture so clearly was incredible; the sonographer could probably tell how excited we were, because she printed out close to 30 pictures for us. I've given all of one away to my mom to put in a special frame that a friend gave her, but the rest, I don't know how to part with. I hold them up and give them kisses every day.

A number of people had told me that the pregnancy would get more real at the sonogram. I thought they were crazy; how do you get more real than first trimester ickiness and second trimester weight gain? And yet, the very next day, I became obsessed in a way I hadn't been before. Suddenly, I needed to make a registry and stress out about nursery colors and theme. I still don't think that the pregnancy became any more real, but I certainly became a little crazier.

I'm working at the bookstore a couple of days a week. There may be changes coming to the store that I'm not allowed to talk about yet, but I could be needed on a full-time basis as soon as a month from now!

The final update is that my uncle and godfather, Jack, had an operation to replace some disks in his back last Monday, but his spinal cord was bruised during the procedure. He woke up paralyzed throughout most of his body. He's now in an intensive rehabilitation hospital, and we're already seeing good things happen. Basically, there's no way to know the extent of the damage done to his nervous system until the swelling in his spinal column goes down, which could take quite some time to do. He has started physical and occupational therapy, and he's an incredibly tough man. I know there's so much to pray about these days, but if you could include a prayer for both my uncle and aunt, I would appreciate it so very much. Saint Gemma is known as a patron of those with spinal and back problems, if you're interested. Thank you so much!

-January