How 'bout that ever elusive kudo

So we're near the end of Caleb's first week off. In accordance with the prophecy, he's well on his way to completing many of the tasks on his list and I have barely started mine. And by that I mean that I've barely started making my list. This is the difference between a first-born son and a baby princess/middle daughter. He is patient with me though and I am grateful. When you're single, you imagine what married life will be like. Sometimes you're right but most of the time it ends up being totally different that what you expected.... And interestingly enough, this is a GOOD thing. Sending my husband out to Home Depot for much needed supplies to complete a project and insisting that he take the baby so that I can take a shower and then finding out that the backyard needs to be mowed and raked first, all the while trying to get packed for a weekend at the beachhouse that may or may not happen depending on how much gets done around the house... These are the scenarios that did NOT occur to me in daydreaming about wedded bliss, but they remind me that we are a team. We don't get props for coordinating our day so that every item on the to-do list gets a 'check', but we get the joy of knowing that putting someone else's needs before our own creates harmony. I'm working on this virtue, and still have a LONG way to go.

No champagne flute for her lips...

...because she's too young. Tonight we went to a surprise birthday party and Erin ruined the surprise by talking right when the birthday boy walked in. Good thing she doesn't know enough to be embarrassed. This is her with Auntie Cindy - the family resemblence is amazing.

Something in the wind has learned my name....

When she was bad, she was horrid... so we stuck her in the laundry for reflection and repentance.

The minor fall and the major lift.

Since I'm too chicken to post a top 25 like Miss Jones, I'll just post bits of stuff I like in the title and y'all can guess the song. This is E playing in her port-a-crib. She's humoring me here - normally being relegated to the crib is an insult and she makse sure to let me know.

Grave robber.

Tomorrow my husband wraps up almost 8 years in the IT field and at HSLDA/Patrick Henry College altogether, and both of us are feeling slightly melancholy about it. We are finding that even though we are confident in our decision (and more importantly, in step with the Spirit), its hard not to be sad leaving a place that holds so many good memories for us and still employs some of our best friends. We are thankful that the Lord gave us an opportunity to be integral parts of those ministries, and we are excited about what He has for us in the future.

We found out this week that my dad's dad is suffering from prostate cancer. We don't know yet how advanced it is or what the treatment options are, but my Pawpop is a strong man - one of the strongest I've ever known - and he knows Who holds his future. What a testimony.

Being a mom brings fresh perspective and new worries... What if she's allergic to peas? What if she never remembers my grandparents? What if she wants to join the Peace Corps? What if she doesn't like being tall? I've always been a worrier and motherhood just magnifies that in me. I just don't want to smother my children and keep them from the Lord's work (here or over oceans)... Its a good thing that the same God who laid Moses in his grave is lifting us out of ours.

...and this is er, sitting again.

In an attempt to woo a certain young man (whose name will not be divulged here but MIGHT be progeny of one S. Kyle), Erin has chosen a variation on a Veggie Tales quote as title to her latest pictures (which may or may not be part of a portfolio that may or may not exist in a continuing effort to win the affection of the aforementioned young man). Erin's hobbies include sitting, rolling over, drooling, eating organic sweet potatoes, pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain. Write to her and escape.

This is sitting...

Stealing creativity

Ok Shane has been showing us all up with his cool pictures (see "Il Bussola") and so I tried my hand at doctoring some of ours. Of course its nowhere near as nifty, but you get the idea. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yada yada yada.

Hmmm... looks like fake snow on one of those cheesy Christmas postcards.

How do you like them apples?

Here's some advice from an experienced 5.5 month old: if the pediatrician tells your momma that you might be a little late at sitting up because you are - hmm, how to put this - slightly *large* for your age, make him eat his words. At my last well-baby check up, I weighed in at a healthy 17 lbs 4 ozs and measured 28.5 inches long... And while I was early at rolling from back to front AND front to back (both completed by 3 months old), Dr. H was telling mom not to hold her breath for the next milestone because of my size. Well today, I sat up for 2 (two) minutes straight and wasn't even propping myself up with my hands!! If there's anything "top-heavy" about me now, its only my swollen ego. Too bad I don't have any friends to impress, I guess this blog will have to slate my prideful thirst for now....