Survival

That's the mode we're in these days people...full out survival. Why, you may ask? Several reasons. First, we're right in the midst of finals for Kev. There are definite perks about him being back in school...he gets a month off for Christmas and summers off, he has a pretty flexible schedule and so far has been able to watch Miss E one day a week when I work, among others. Finals week is NOT one of those perks. I have found myself reminiscing about "the good ol' days" when he just had a normal job and was free in the evenings and weekends. He has not been super stressed and has handled all his papers/tests very well, but I still find myself counting down the days to Christmas break.

Finals probably wouldn't be as bad, but they're combined with another factor...I'm 37 weeks pregnant and chasing after a very active, very opinionated, almost 16 month old. Needless to say, it is slightly exhausting. I do pretty well most of the time, but then I hit a wall of absolute fatigue and survive is all I can do. Sometimes I feel like a whiney mess which drives me crazy, so I'm sure it must be driving Kev crazy as well. I'm sure we'll all be thankful when this first round of finals is over.

In the midst of this survival mode, we have had really sweet moments. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some sweet friends here that weren't able to travel home either. I did a terrible job taking pictures, but you can see some here on Billy and Kate's blog. I realized tonight that Thanksgiving (and Christmas) will be the first 2 holidays that I have EVER not spent with my family (and I think the same applies to Kev). Kind of crazy. It was a really fun time and the food was delicious!

I have also felt so overwhelmed at the love and support we have felt from our friends here, especially with all the business of life. Several of my friends hosted a church shower today for Baby Boy and there were people who came that I hardly even knew. So amazing! I feel like our friends have also been more than willing to help out with Elliott both now and when Baby Boy gets here. I think in Norman I would have expected the support because we knew people well after living there for 11 years, but I feel like we are still getting to know people here and yet they are going above and beyond what I would ever expect. We feel so thankful to have found "family" away from home.