Hello fellow readers! Please join me in welcoming myself back from the depths of nothingness, with no posts to speak of for months at a time. Hopefully though that will all be changing because I am currently typing this from my bed! Yes you read that right my bed, the Cliftons have internet in their house after two years. Can I get a whoop, whoop? So now hopefully posts will be coming much more often.
So everything has been changing around here, and it has been happening for a while. That is actually part of the reason I didn't write as frequently as well because I couldn't share what was going on, since most of it had been up in the air the past year. However we now know what it all should look like for the most part, so here goes a long post kind of breaking that all down.
The first thing needed to know is that Mark has stepped down from his youth ministry job at the church. This was so bittersweet because we knew what God was telling us to do but it was so hard to leave a group we have watched literally grow up and mature right before our eyes the past three and a half years. We saw this group of kids go from the faithful 10 that were left still meeting when we came, to a group that has anywhere for 70-90 students on a Wednesday during the school year. We left with a church behind us, loving us and sending us out. It was a sweet time, one we will not forget.
The reason Mark left though was to go back to school for a year to earn his Physical Therapy Assistant degree (PTA for short). This has been something a year in the making with taking prerequisites and applying to get into the program. 140 people apply, 50 interviews are conducted, and 20 get in. Mark happened to happily be one of the 20! What a wonderful accomplishment just to get in, I was so proud of him! So he started school with a summer session at the beginning of July and just finished it yesterday. He knows he will have an "A" in one class and thinks he might in the other, which came only from hard work and studying every night. The school is located in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, which is about an hour and fifteen minute drive from our house. He goes everyday 8-4:30, and will stay with friends a couple of days throughout the week to cut down on gas costs. We are excited he will be done 1 year from now (instead of the usual 2) and are ready for him to start doing this new found joy. He is essentially doing this so he can help lead worship for a church plant/church that can't pay their ministers, and take care of our family.
All of this is good and well except for the fact we had no income. This was a disheartening situation for a little while, not knowing what was going to happen. It was looking like we would be living with my parents for a year and just not spending ANYTHING and try to make it off of what we have saved. However, the Lord had other plans and last week I was accepted for a job to teach 1st grade at a school in Marshall for this upcoming school year. The Lord is good and knows what we need. This was a hard decision for me though, simply because I absolutely love staying home with my little guy, it is where I know God has called me to be. However, this opportunity arose and we felt like this is what we should be doing. It will be so hard to have to leave Reid everyday, but I know it is for the long run and betterment of our family, so it is becoming more and more ok.
Getting a job may not be as easy as you were thinking it would be, for one very specific reason (and not that I was out of the profession for 2 years). This is the reason right here :)
Yes, that is a picture of my uterus with the newest little addition to the Clifton family! We are so excited and beyond thrilled to be expecting this little one! We went to the doctor at 10 weeks and everything looked great! It was so funny to watch this little one being so active. Reid was never very active in my belly, so much so I would worry until he got the hiccups (which he did a lot) and let me know he was still ok. I don't think it will be the same with this one if what we say on this first ultrasound was any indication! Granted we never saw Reid at 10 weeks only at 6, 16, and 24, but this baby was moving around like crazy!! Kicking legs and flailing arms, and trying to do back bends to move its big head. We have dubbed him/her "new baby" until we know for sure what it is.
This pregnancy has been different so far, which I find funny. I have felt much much more queasy this go round than I ever did with Reid. I haven't thrown up, but I have wanted to, which I was never an occurrence the first time around. I usually start feeling nauseous around 5:30 in the evening (or at least more intense nausea that is) and that lasts until I go to bed and happen to fall asleep. "New Baby" also has an aversion to sweets, which if any of you know me at all, know that this is strange indeed. I love all things chocolate, gooey, and yummy, so to have those not make me feel good is sad. And the strangest thing is I am having to reroute my brain because it still says a double stuffed oreo is the best thing known to man, but if I eat one I am reminded New Baby does not think so.
If you ask Reid if he wants a baby brother, baby sister, or Mama to have a baby he will reply to each with a quick "No m'am" or "Nope". I think he has another thing coming poor guy. He will get better. He will point to my belly if you ask where Mama's baby is (and his own if you ask where his is). He is doing so good, getting so smart, and so independent. He knows all his colors, can kind of count to 10 (with help), loves to swim, loves shoes, balls, and is just a great little guy. Here are a few pictures of him.
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| Swimming with Daddy and Ty |
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| He loves to wear these baskets on his head |
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| Came out of his room with his bag and football and told me "Me go-go!" |
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| First night in his big boy bed! He is so grown up! |
Oh I almost forgot, in the middle of all this, we have moved to a rent house my grandparents own. The house we were living in was part of the salary package with the church so we had to move out. Our new place is bigger which is nice, a room for everyone! I will post pictures was a I get them. Here is Reid's room with his big boy bed!
Sorry for the poor quality of pictures, they are from my iphone.
