Wow.. I cannot believe that I have been in the United States for over 5 years. It feels a lot less, partly because two years of that were spent avoiding the outside world and the pandemic that came with it. Evie turned four earlier this month and we are 39 weeks pregnant, waiting for little seekoei to arrive. Life isn’t perfect, but my relationship with my partner has gotten both of us through a lot of hurdles and struggles since 2017.
I am one semester away from graduating from my bachelors program with the strong hopes of completing my masters degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is a highly sought after and one of the oldest psychology programs in the United States. I have two backup plans a little closer to where we are now, but UNL can open many doors for me and I believe that I am a strong contender for their program.
We have spent weeks nesting the house and preparing for the baby. Everytime it feels like we are ready, I realize that I either want to move things around, or we are missing something. I have been really restless and impatiently waiting for her arrival. She is being extremely stubborn–Amanda has been having contractions for over 2 weeks now but they haven’t progressed into anything yet. We have reverted to the same old wives tales that we used for Evie in the hopes of getting her out. I was hoping for another world cup baby (Evolet was born during the 2018 soccer world cup), but the odds of that happening are decreasing drastically as we approach the new year.
It has become increasingly difficult to manage a full-time job, full-time classes, children and the house. I think the few weeks of paternity leave will help a lot in getting the house back in shape and cleaned up. My new job as a mental health worker has definitely been an adventure. The person I work with is awesome and he has taught me a lot in the short time I have worked with him. I am excited to continue working with him for as long as I can, depending on where I go for my graduate degree.
Evolet has become extremely independent. I walked into the living room yesterday after work to find that she had opened the box of Eggo waffles, plated herself a few, and even drizzled them with syrup. While I am frustrated at the trail of syrup she left behind, I am proud of how independent she has become. It is going to make the transition of a newborn a lot easier if we don’t have to jump up everytime she needs water or milk or cereal.
Like I said–life isn’t perfect, but it has definitely improved since my last update and it will continue to do so in the coming years.
Happy new years everybody! May 2023 be exactly what everyone needs it to be!