Picture Embargo

So I have a confession to make. For some inexplicable reason I feel like I cannot post on my blog unless I include EVERY picture that I've taken since the last post and include every major detail of our lives. So inevitably I feel totally overwhelmed thinking about downloading and sorting dozens of pictures, uploading them AND writing copious amounts of details chronicling our lives and doing it all in a witty, charming voice. I know it's illogical and I can't explain it but there ya go. So I'm making a goal to post more frequently even if it's just a note to say: I'm crazy busy and I don't have time to dazzle you all with my mad writing skills but yes we are alive. (You can roll your eyes here if you feel the urge.)

So here it is: a totally picture free post. Don't worry it includes lots of detail but it's on very specific topics. Brace yourselves.

Right now big things are happening for our family. And those big things have been a long time coming.

Big Thing #1: Jared FINALLY heard back from the American Fork Fire Department. It was nearly seven months ago that he first took in his resume for the paid volunteer position. Then it took weeks for them to schedule the physical test which Jared passed with flying colors. In fact, he came close to breaking one of the captains records. Weeks and weeks later he got a letter giving us the date and time of his interview. So, then he finally interviewed with four of the captains. He felt like it went really well so we were surprised when we still weren't hearing anything. Every time Jared called the department the receptionist would tell him they would let him know. Just after Christmas we got a letter telling us they would be postponing the hiring until after the new year. *sigh* So again we waited.
It was more than three weeks into January when we finally got the letter telling us that Jared has been hired!!! He just has to pass a background check (which I'm assuming will go well unless Jared has some indiscretions he has been hiding from me) and then he'll start training on March 1st. Yes, for those of you who can count, that is just  three days after my due date. Life is about to get crazy! We don't really know exactly what his schedule will be just yet but he'll most likely be on call as soon as he gets home from Aircom around 6 pm (no, he is not quitting his current job) until the wee hours of the morning. He will also continue his online classes. I have no idea when, if ever, he is planning on sleeping or eating but I guess we'll just take it a day at a time and see how it goes. He has about a year left to finish his degree in Emergency Services Management. This is what he tells me anyway but I don't think he's really mapped it out so it could be more. It could be less. I guess he'll let me know when it's time for him to graduate.

And on to Big Thing #2: I have been growing a human for about 37ish weeks which means the end is very near. (This is a pathetic confession but I just had to double check that I am actually 37 weeks on Baby Center. It's after ten, what can I say?)
The following may be TMI for some so avert your eyes if you don't like pregnancy talk. At my last appointment I was dilated to just over 1 cm and about 60% effaced so nothing too exciting is going on. She's head down. *HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF* At every other appointment she was facing anywhere but down hence the sigh of relief at her current location. And I am definitely feeling like a whale. At least when I try to roll over in bed. But I'd say overall I've been much more comfortable this time around than I was with Jack. She feels a lot lower than he did which has been great for me. I used to feel like Jack was slowly suffocating me and I could never catch my breath properly. Ah the wonders of pregnancy.
Yes, I am ready to meet our sweet little girl but no, I am not ready for her to come yet. The apartment is a mess, my freezer is not stocked, I am still enjoying a full night of sleep almost every night and I have a to-do list that seems to expand itself on a daily basis. I swear it does that without any help from me too. Let's all pray that she doesn't come a week early.

On a totally unrelated note I'm seriously considering turning this into a private blog so let me know if you want an invite now or forever hold your peace.