over due

Hello!

This update is long overdue! I passed my deadline of attempting to write an entry every 4 weeks, long ago. So Sorry!

To catch everyone up:

We did find an apartment and will be moving in on Monday. It's itty bitty, but with the cost of living so high- we will just have to make IKEA our new best friend and learn to be SUPER organized. The apartment is actually in the same complex as the temp. apartment we are in now. Go figure we end up where we started off. Oh well. Between the cost of gas and attempting to have only one car, staying put allows Joel to be only 7 miles from work as well as get rides 2 and from the job site with several of his co-workers who live in the same complex when needed. I am so excited to get my STUFF back! It's going to be Christmas in June opening all the boxes.

I am doing well and the baby is growing. After a surge in weight gain that put me in panic mode of becoming a 2 ton whale- oreos have been replaced with apples and potato chips with cottage cheese. The doctor consoled me to say that my body was simply preparing itself for the baby's next growth spurt. Since then the scale has slowed way down to the healthy average. Thankfully it seems that ever lb. gained seems to settle front and center- so each week the belly just keeps popping out. Here's proof of the explosion! I know I don't look huge, but thanks to Liz Lange and Target, I've been able to find maternity clothes that don't look or feel the part. P.S. For those who haven't heard, Joel and I have decided on a name! Whitaker Lee Samples. I can't wait to start the monogramming!

The summer heat has already started to take it's toll. I think Joel is worried that by the end of the summer I will have a buzz cut. Thankfully the Lord provided a new best friend at a local hair cuttery to help elevate my insentient need to keep cutting my hair. My wardrobe now simply consists of cotton dresses and my bathing suit. The pool opened on Memorial day and you better believe it, I was the first there to grab a lounge chair! I'm looking forward to bopping in the pool to cure everything from heat stroke to back aches.

Ilse, Kwilai and I just got back from a lengthy road trip to South Carolina's low country for a wedding. Ilse and Kwilai were both in the wedding, stealing the show- of course! The trip reminded me just how much I needed to brush up on my little people skills, mainly patience. Ilse is great with Kwilai and by the end of the week groans turned into laughter over the many times Kwilai pulled apart, teared apart, or some how disassembled the hotel room. Kwilai's growing like a weed, getting taller and taller every day! She is 'talking' more and loving to mimic any simple words you say.

Joel's job is going well. We are thankful for everyday that he even has one. A couple weeks after moving up to Baltimore there was large lay off at his old office due to the lack of work in the Atlanta area. We also heard of some buddies of Joel who are in the Site Development/Heavy Construction industry get laid off from their jobs as well. With each discouraging phone call, the Lord has given us a new perspective on many of our moans and groans of the area we are living in and our current circumstances. Being thankful for the small stuff is an understatement to the Lord's way of giving us a dose of hard reality mixed with grace.

Well that's about it! There are some other things brewing that are keeping both Joel and I very busy, but I'll save that for the next entry.

Love from Maryland,
Joel, Jacqueline and Baby Whitaker