Isabelle moments after she was born

I can’t believe in about 10–11 weeks we will have another child in our family (gender is still unknown).  Due on Lisa and I’s tenth wedding anniversary, WOW!

I’m pretty excited about the new addition but I’m completely FREAKING OUT about the impact it will have on us.  For starters we need to get a new vehicle—we’re thinking of maybe getting a Suburban but we just don’t have the funds.  Then there is all the stuff we gave away because we thought we were finished (i.e., changing table, swing, etc.).  Next there is the huge expense of diapers (lions) and wipes (tigers) and formula—if breast feeding doesn’t go well (bears), oh my!!!

Don’t forget about the lack of sleep and how that increases the stress levels in all the other areas of life.  I’m hoping work will be flexible with me for the first couple of months until we can all get in to a rhythm.

Nonetheless, I’m sure will be fine.  God has blessed us with healthy children already and believe-it-or-not we’ve also been able to survive financially (thus far and one paycheck at a time; we’re also reducing our debt instead of spending). Even so, we haven’t been able to take a vacation in ten years or spend some good quality time as a family doing fun things like camping for more then a night.

One positive outcome—we’ll be able to empty nesters at a much younger age in comparison to all of our friends.