Family decisions.

This upcoming week will be my last week of work. It feels exciting and also extremely terrifying to say that.  I've always wanted to be at home full-time with Leeland, and now that there's another on the way, it's even more important to me. Daniel recently took on a new job.  Going into it, I think we both thought that with his new job we'd made it big. We'd be rich!  Not exactly.... At this point it looks like we'll be making about the same with his one job as we were making collectively.  We're not losing any, but it will still be tight, and we're adding another child to the mix. 
The big deciding factor was child care. With Daniel's previous job, we could flip-flop our schedules and take care of Leeland. Now, he has a set full-time schedule and so we needed help watching Leeland while I was at work. We have friends and family who are close by who have been willing to help us out, but they have their own jobs and lives-- they can't watch him everyday forever. Not to mention, when #2 comes along, who wants to be responsible for 2 children. Daycare is super expensive, and even paying someone to come to our house and stay with him would be more than what I make. I mean, I work in the ministry.... If we were only bringing home $100 or so dollars after childcare with me working, then was it worth it?  After all, the best, most capable person of taking care of a child is the child's mother.
We've made the decision, but know that it will come with sacrifices.  It's more important now then ever to really count our pennies and pinch where we can. I will continue my couponing, and we have gotten really good about defining our needs versus our wants. We've kept a lot of stuff from when Leeland was little so there won't be many things we'll need for the baby-- a crib, and maybe about 10 more cloth diapers.
I am sad about leaving my job because I have really enjoyed it-- I have told them though that I would LOVE to volunteer some. 

The Lord has always been good to us, and has always taken care of us. Now is a time when we're stepping out in faith, in full trust in Him as we embark on this new adventure as a family.  Yes, it does require good stewardship and sacrifice on our part, but we are so excited about the many blessings as well. We truly feel that this is where He has led us and have had several confirmations along the way.