Our newest addition is almost here!

Hello!

So, when we moved to Chicago I had great visions for this blog and keeping it up to da

te at least once a week... unfortunately we haven't b

een so great at that over the past several months. We hope to get better over the next couple of months to use it as a place to let you know how our growing family is doing, prayer requests, prayers, musing about what we are learning on the journey and a way to share life with you as we are many miles away from most of you.

We have had a busy and blessed summer! The beginning of the summer could be su

mmed up in one word: babypalooza. We are blessed and excited to be anticipating the arrival of 4 new little ones in our family within the next month (all 4 had original due dates in September). We have celebrated with friends andfamily as the anticipation grows of the little ones coming. We have been busy setting up the nursery, getting all of the essentials ready to go, dreaming, planning and enjoying this exciting time.

Matt putting together our little one's crib!

In addition to preparing for the little one's arrival we had a busy summer working. Matt worked three jobs for most of the summer: RA, in the mailroom and working for maintenance and I taught summer school for 7 weeks, then had a week long professional development this past week. The summer also held a lot of uncertainty with budget cuts in Chicago Public Schools not knowing about the future of my job for the upcoming school year until the second week of August. The good news... I have a job!!!!!!!! I am very excited to be able to stay at the same school I ta

ught at last year, as it is a great fit.

It's hard to bel

ieve that we are already at the end of the summer! Matt will start classes in just a couple of short weeks and the most exciting news is that we will be greeting our little boy in less than a week! I love the way that my put it: Our little one is starting early with surprises and has decide

d that he would like to greet us early! We would love your thoughts and prayers as he enters the world this coming Thursday, August 26th.

We would love to hear from you, to know how we can pray for you and what is new in your lives. Hope all is well! We will keep you posted and share the exciting news on Thursday!

Prayer Requests:

A safe delivery of a healthy little boy on Thursday

Transition to parenthood

Safe travel for friends and family coming to meet the little one

Rest and health for the last few days of the pregnancy

Thanks! We are blessed to have you in our lives!

Jenny, Matt and the Little One

Our Growing Family...

Hello!

Wow, I can't believe that it has already been a couple of months again since our last post. Our apologies on being hit and miss bloggers. We hope that this finds you doing well and having a great Spring. The last couple of months have been a rollercoaster of blessings.

It is hard to believe that Matt is in the finals week of his first year of seminary. Second semester has been great academically but very, very busy. Four classes, working and having a sick, pregnant wife can be quite a lot at times. But he has enjoyed his studies and is doing very well. We are very blessed to have received the RA position for the seminary. We will be moving the first week of June and we will have housing covered, as well as a stipend for compensation. We are very excited for the opportunities to help develop the community here at McCormick and to see where God is taking us on this new step in the journey.

Jenny is in her last 6 weeks of the school year and continues to love teaching at Juarez. Unfortunatly Chicago Public Schools are in a similiar financial crisis to many schools around our nation. We just learned last week that worst case scenario 13 1/2 positions at Juarez. So it is a stressful and uncertain time but we continue to trust that God will continue to provide. He is faithful and He is good.

This summer we will be adjusting to our new apartment, new roles as RA and both working. Jenny will be teaching summer school (Biology, 4 hours a day) and Matt will be working several jobs around campus.

Our little BOY continues to grow! We had a great ultrasound and enjoyed getting to watch him move. He was an active little boy today. It is truly amazing to feel him move and kick and now Matt has been able to start to feel him move as well. We anxiously await meeting him in September.

Prayer Requests:

• Health and no complications for Jenny and the baby
• Safety in travels for upcoming trips to Iowa
• God to provide the job he wants Jenny to have for the upcoming school year
• Peace and little stress in the moving and transition process.

Thanks for being who you are and your role in our life!

God Bless,

Jenny, Matt and Baby Ploeger

It's been a while and a whole lot has changed!!

Since we last updated our blog approximately 70 days have passed and we received some incredible and life changing news, we are expecting! Most of you probably already knew that, but just in case you missed the memo, it is true. Jenny or more accurately the baby inside of Jenny is a little over nine weeks along. According to our doctors appointment last week, the baby is healthy and developing at a normal rate! We are very excited to be expanding our family though we know there will be challenges as we enter into this large change in our life. Your prayers are appreciated as we figure out the logistics of having a little one to feed and care for while I'm in seminary and only working part time. Our hope is that I'll be able to get the resident assistant position here at McCormick as that would provide free housing as payment.

As you might guess Jenny is pretty sick or at least she doesn't feel very well most of the time. She is more than ready to move past this stage of being sick and tired! The first trimester will be done in less than three weeks so we're hoping the second trimester will bring some relief.

I'm taking four classes this semester so I'm very busy with a large workload. I have to read around 300 pages a week as well as do a writing assignment for all four classes. Combine that with work and the normal life activities and the days have been flying by and there hasn't been much sleep in between. However, I have been enjoying my classes and I think I will learn a great deal this semester. I forgot to mention that my classes are: Theology, Christian Ethics, Urban Ministry and History of Christianity 1450-present.

Prayer requests:

Jenny and the Baby's health

Matt's classes

Matt's RA application process

Our life changes and the decisions to be made

Thank you all for your prayers and general support!

Grace and Peace,

Matt and Jenny