Back again

Well, so much for writing more consistently. It's been more than a year since I last posted, and I again feel the itch to regularly blog. We'll see how long it lasts, but I'm hoping to stick with it longer this time around.

In the past year and a half, my life has changed drastically. First I became a mommy. My sweet little girl will turn 18 months in a few days, and she is growing faster every day. I can't adequately express the joy I find in watching her learn new skills, make mental connections, and expand her vocabulary. She is a busy girl with more energy than I would know what to do with, and boy, is she smart! She's also extremely sweet...most of the time. She has a bit of a stubborn streak that appears from time to time. I love her more than I ever thought possible, and I genuinely look forward to seeing her each morning.

I also became a freelance editor. Well, I already did some freelancing before this, but in September I signed a contract with a company that creates online educational courses. It's a great setup for me. I have pretty tight deadlines, but I can work while Ashlinn naps or after I put her to bed at night. I work by the project instead of by the hour, so I don't have to worry about working quickly when I'm not able to give the work my undivided attention. I can also always decline a project if I don't have the time to accept it (which I haven't done yet). I don't get a lot of work, but it's still regular enough. The main downside is that I don't make much money doing it because I tend to spend a lot of time on each project, which drives my hourly rate down quite a bit. But it's still worth it. It gives me the chance to be something other than just mommy all day, and it keeps my brain stimulated. It also helps me feel like I've accomplished something, since so much of what I do all day has a cyclical nature to it and I rarely can stand back and feel satisfied that I finished something and did a good job with it.

In October, I turned 26. This brings me closer to 30 than 20, which is a bit daunting. Am I where I hoped to be at this age? I don't know...mostly yes, though.

On New Year's, I found out that we are expecting #2! We're extremely excited about this addition to our family. The ultrasound tech who did our big ultrasound said that she thinks it's another girl, though she didn't sound all that sure, so we'll see. We have not chosen a name yet, but we have a boy name picked out just in case. This pregnancy has been way different than my pregnancy with Ashlinn. I had morning sickness this time, was/am far more tired this time, and had a host of other pregnancy symptoms I barely felt if at all with Ashlinn. It's really not as easy the second time around when you already have a toddler. It's not really as magical either, though it's still exciting.

The biggest difference, though, began five weeks ago. I went to labor and delivery with cramping from (I thought) a urinary tract infection that was not responding to medicine. The on-call doctor and on-call midwife never found out why I was cramping, but they thoroughly examined me just in case. In the process, I found out that my cervix was a little soft. They then did an internal ultrasound to see what was going on and found that my cervix was also rather short and funneling in under the pressure of the growing uterus and baby.

So now I'm on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy--however long that might be. I'm 25 weeks along today, and we're hoping to make it to at least 34 weeks. Needless to say, it's going to be a loooooong summer. But I've already made it through 5 weeks of bed rest, and so far my cervix hasn't changed any, so the bed rest seems to be helping. That's good news! So we're praying and trying to trust God that He knows what's going on and will take care of us no matter what. Sometimes I get anxious because so much is unknown and the situation really is serious, but mostly I'm staying pretty positive about things. It helps that a lot of people have come by to visit me, help me with Ashlinn, and bring us meals. God has really blessed us through friends, family, and church family during this time. He's also taught me the importance of asking for help...something I'm not good at and hate to do. But He's really blessed me in that too, and I'm praying He blesses everyone else for their generosity too.