And....I'm Back!

I feel like I pretty much dropped off the face of the earth over the last few weeks.  And if by "off the face of the earth" we actually mean "into a deep, dark nightmare," then it would be slightly more accurate.  But we, and especially Seth and Sonya, have been shown some amazing support, and things are starting to look up. So tonight I'm back to my good ol' list of happenings around here:

1.  Brooklyn is nine months old and finally crawling!  She's been mobile for awhile now but just perfected the hands and knees thing recently.  And* she has the sweetest temperament!  She's laid-back, social, happy, and has the most squeeze-ably delightful rolls.   And.......(drum roll).......she's been sleeping through the night the past three nights, around 11 hours each night!  You have no idea how happy I am.  Unless you've also been up in the night with a baby for the past several months.  Then you do know how happy I am.

2.  We're dog-sitting my in-laws' basset hound this week.  She's a good-natured dog and easy to take care of, although I think she might be in a bit of distress over her temporary home.  Two crawling babies and a toddler boy are not exactly the peaceful environment she's used to.

3.  On a similar note...it's been going really well having Morgan here every day.  It was a bit of an adjustment figuring out how to coordinate everyone's routines, but I think we're managing pretty well.  She sleeps in a pack n play in our room for naps and goes down really easily.  She and Brooklyn are quite a pair, as they're virtually the same age.  And it's funny how easy everything feels now when I just have two kids to take care.  Ahhh...perspective.

4.  2.5 year-olds are awesome creatures.  I love the things that come out of that kid's mouth.  And his imagination.  There always seems to be a monster following him or eating the food he's giving it under the table.  He knows that Nana and Papa Rob work at a hospital, Papa Tom works with Uncle Seth and they "build shelves", and Grandma works at a school.  He has a list of people that he'd like to marry (I'm on that list, in case you're wondering), and he thinks that Jesus is our president.  He also likes to sleep with the light on because "Ellaroo was sad 'cause it was dark in my room."

Ellaroo is a hand-me-down stuffed animal from when Jeremy was younger

5.  We went apple picking at the Berry Patch this weekend with a legitimate candidate from Jack's marriage list, Nora, and her parents, Mark and Anna.  I got so excited about all the apples that we ended up bringing home 14 lbs.  Looks like we'll be having a lot of apple crisp!

6.  Jeremy and I are going through the study, "Economy of Love," by Shane Claiborne and Isaac Anderson.  We fell in love with Shane's writing last year when we read his book, Irresistible Revolution.  We are continually convicted that if we believe that Jesus meant what He said (and we do), then our lives should be a reflection of that.  Economy of Love (what I've gathered so far anyway) is basically just a creative suggestion as to how we can take care of those around us and be the "hands and feet of Jesus."  I'm looking forward to the rest of it!

*By the way, I've noticed lately that I love starting sentences with conjunctions, like "and, but, so..."  If it bothers you, please discontinue reading my blog.  I don't think I'll be breaking that habit any time soon.