We just passed the half way mark of 2010, and if the distance from my last post to this one isn't telling enough of what our year has been, then let me try to catch you up.
After the Christmas letter went out, Chris lost his job at WB. He was laid off the Monday before Christmas. Since I was working at WB, I had a couple weeks off for their holiday break, too - so...we were jobless. On top of that, our roommate decided to move back to MN and we were faced with an apartment that was too expensive for just us to live in on Chris' salary and now that there was no job...there was no income at all. I was 4 months pregnant and a little stressed out to say the least.
We decided to start apartment hunting to find something cheaper. We found a place we liked, so I called to claim the apartment. The manager said it was on hold for the moment because there were some family friends looking at it - ironically enough that was the same day Chris lost his job. So - what was God telling us?! Be patient and wait...I have a plan.
We got a call from Chris' brother Justin telling us that him and Jess had decided they were going to make the leap of faith and move to Cali, too. We felt God saying to us - let them come, provide for them, and all will be worked out. We got clearance from our landlord that they could move in with us. We weren't sure how we were going to provide seeing we didn't have jobs, but having them out here was too exciting to let those "little" details get in the way.
For 2 months Chris searched for work and I did temp work here and there to bring in a little income. We had some money from his layoff, and was also blessed by an anonymous donation from a couple at our church. We just started to run out of money when I got hired at a non-profit called Junior Achievement. I was so excited (6 months pregnant) - but excited.
I worked at JA for 2 weeks and thought I should let them know about my pregnancy. Apparently I wasn't showing that much and I was doing a good job of hiding it. They weren't super excited to say the least. The following week I had an ultrasound, and was told the baby was too small for his gestational age. They put me on bedrest for two weeks. I figured it wasn't fair to JA to hire a new employee that they desperately needed to then lose her for 2+ weeks, then again for maternity leave. They really needed someone to be dedicated to that position and I felt bad I couldn't be more reliable...so I resigned. Six months hunting for a job, I ended up with one I knew I'd be great at and really enjoyed, to then have to quit it 2 weeks later...God...what the...?! The same day I quit my job, I got a call from the lady I worked for at WB. She wanted to know how my new job was - "oddly enough I said...I just had to quit." She said they missed me and if I was interested in coming back to work for them after my bedrest, they would love to have me. So, after those two weeks, I returned to WB, Corporate Legal part-time.
Well, good news continued to come, along with the arrival of Justin, Jess, Liam and Nyrie. I laid around for 2 weeks, actually starting to enjoy the relaxation. Within the first week, the baby doubled and so did my stomach. It was about time I started to show, I was going on 7 months. Chris got hired at Hasbro Animation which at the time was located in Beverly Hills off of Rodeo drive. (Very swank - he hated the drive). Jess jumped head first in to her new role as stay-at-home-mom, but added another 2 year-old to the mix as I was still on bedrest, then working part-time (God bless her). Justin got hired three weeks later at Starz Media and we all started settling in as one big happy family.
Not sure what we were thinking having two 2-year-olds in a room together. It was like romper room at night. They couldn't sleep together to save their lives. Christian had an audience as Liam loved to laugh at him, and Liam was adjusting to a new environment as well as a new playmate to get into mischief with. The stress began to build as we started to lose sleep and deal with crazy toddlers. The situation resolved itself when Liam took up nap and sleep time in their bathroom upstairs and Christian stayed in the room. Poor Liam...but, they both slept, and all was somewhat well... :)
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That was pretty much our life for 2 months until tragedy struck...that deserves it's own blog, and some emotional energy I don't have right now...so I'll be back with that story soon.
Glad to be/blog back :)
