What's up

I realize I am terribly behind in posts. I have a few in the works and hope to get to them soon. For now I thought I would give an update on things here in our life:

Eric received notice at the beginning of the month his position at work will be eliminated come October 31st. The company is doing a lot of downsizing due to sales being down at Home Depot. Eric is one of the many who is being laid off. While this has been frustrating news, we know things will work out. In the past year we have been able to really attack some of our debts, and save up some money as well. We still have much more debt to get rid of and know that even in light of this current circumstance, it will all turn out ok in the end. On the bright side of things we are in the best position of our lives financially in the way of being prepared for something like this. With a few of our debts being taking care of, that means less money going out obligated each month, and we actually have savings to help cover and deficits we may encounter in the coming months. Yes, we are bummed to have to dip into savings for this, but we are glad it is there!

So our mood is optimistic. We have never starved or even missed a meal....God has always provided for us in big ways and in small. Eric isn't sure what he will do next, right now he's just looking at available jobs to try to find something he is qualified for and that will pay enough to make it worth our while. I don't mean that in a snobby sort of way, he just can't take anything as wages have to make up for the cost of child care, gas, and then the extra needed for our other monthly expenses. Funny...it's almost cheaper for one of us not to work!

I return to work Tuesday with some mixed feelings. I am heartbroken to have to leave my kids after being at home for nearly 5 months on maternity leave, but also grateful for the provision of steady income at a job I like. I just like being a full-time mommy more! We however have an awesome nanny lined up to watch the kids while I'm away. She spent time with me and the kiddos this week to get familiar with the routine and the little idiosyncrasies of both Cadence and the baby...you know, all the things that make us unique! She's fully aware of the situation with Eric's job and is still willing to work for us this month with the hopes a decent opportunity for him will come along quickly so she can also continue.

Cadence is now in the "why?" and "mine" stage, so that makes life a little more interesting. She's a beautiful, curious and incredibly observant 2 year old. Sani is 4 months old as of this week, about 16.5 lbs. and 26". He can roll, and inches forward on his tummy just a little already. Cadence was crawling at 6 months, I think he might get there even earlier that she did! He is an extremely happy baby, smiles, laughs and "talks" to us all the time. His name means "we praise" in the African dialect, Ndebele. He truly is such a joyful child!

I think those are all of the headlines for our lives right now. The weather here is nice. Getting pretty cool at nights with sunny and comfortably warm days. Perfect! Really, we can't complain, though it has it's surprises, life is definitely good!