It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Friday already, and yet the week seemed like it would never end. Poor Sam -- I know it's hard on him not being with me all day, but I think it's harder on me. Even still, as soon as I walk through the door at the end of the day, he grabs my leg and doesn't let me out of his sight the rest of the night. Even just going to the restroom throws him into a fit. It breaks my heart -- I know he's just trying to re-connect with me. We have two weeks left to settle our contract negotiations at work. God forbid we go on strike again, but if we do, at least that will be some time to spend with Sam.

It's starting to look like we might be selling our house. There is a couple who are very interested, and we hope to have an offer from them next week. We're anxious to sell our house and try to find a duplex to live in. Since we've had Sam, we feel differently about our finances. I hate the risk of living from paycheck to paycheck and making plenty of money but always being broke. I want to save a sizable amount of money, just to have it there. The first step is getting out of this house. If we buy a duplex and live in one half of it, the income from the other half will go a long way to paying our mortgage. It's an ideal opportunity to get out of debt, and we wouldn't even have to do it very long. We're really praying for God's will, and trusting that He knows best.

Sam has given up one of his feedings. Really, I should say that we eliminated it for him. Since I went back to work when Sam was 2 months old, Kenny would always bring him to me in the afternoon on my break and I would nurse him (this is in addition to me going home for lunch and nursing him then, too). For about two weeks now, Kenny hasn't been bringing him to me, but giving him a snack of solid foods instead.

Sam is still very small, but appears to be very healthy. I think we are going to skip his 18-month well-baby check-up. He has all of his shots, and to tell you the truth, I'm tired of having doctors unnecessarily antagonize us over Sam's small stature. He's petite -- not malnourished. Anyway, back to his nursing schedule. I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to say that he has given up a feeding, because he seems to make up for it when I get home, and actually nurses so much that he ruins his appetite for solids in the evenings. It's probably as broad as it is long. I keep waiting for him to start dropping off on his nursing schedule, but so far that hasn't happened. He'll be 2 years old in January, and I never expected to nurse him this long. It seems like forever ago when my goal was to at lease nurse him the first 3 months of his life. I feel very fortunate to still be nursing him at all, and even more so that he still nurses this MUCH.