The Month of April A.K.A The Month of Transition

I don't ordinarily blog about a specific month in the lives of myself, my husband and my children, but April has been quite an interesting and extraordinary month, on top of which, I haven't really blogged about what has been going on in our lives lately....so here it goes (in a nutshell).

The beginning of the month brought on lots of newspaper, boxes, Sharpie pens, and packing tape since I had put myself in charge of finishing up getting the house ready for escrow to close on the 10th.  I also had to pack in order for Declan, Inara and I to head down to CA to stay with my mom and visit family and friends for a week. Sean stayed back and focused on finishing up any last minute packing, so that on the 12th he would be ready to move the majority of our belongings to storage, and then move the rest to his mom's house (where we are staying for about 8 weeks). The day before I was set to head home from CA Sean called to tell me that our dog Elphie broke her leg, so that has been an unexpected hurdle and stressor to have to face amongst everything else going on. And of course there is the adjustment period that has left me emotional and sad, and on the verge of depression if I am being perfectly honest.

But, despite this being a month of transition for us, I am so proud that we continue to express the peace, love, joy, and happiness that is vital to the success and healthiness of my little family. God is, and continues to be, so very good to us. We are thankful to Him and His provision and guidance. And now we just wait because on May 28th escrow will close on the house we have purchased.

Here are some pictures to highlight the fun we have been having lately:

Savoring The Moment

There are several things about my daily routine with my kids that I love. I love seeing their sweet, happy faces in the morning, I love their laughter, I love playing with them, I love teaching them, I love watching them explore and discover the world around them. But there is one thing in particular that I have been loving lately, savoring really, and it's those few groggy moments after they wake up from their naps.

My kids both sleep until about 7/7:15 in the morning, and then they play and "talk" (Declan talks, Inara babbles) to each other in their room for a while after that while I have my quite time and get myself ready for the day. Sean goes in to say goodbye to them before he heads to work (about 7:40am) and then I go in shortly after that to get them up, nursed, diapered, pottied and dressed. All this to say, I don't get to interact with them when they first wake up in the morning. My first interaction with them is quite a while after they have woken up, so, that is why I have come to love the after nap moments.

I usually have to wake them up from their naps (they sleep from about 1:30-3:30) because we don't want them sleeping past 4:00 since that means that they won't want to go to sleep at bedtime. So I go into their room and just watch their beautiful, precious faces in perfect contentment. Then I go and give Declan kisses on his cheeks and nuzzle his soft, warm skin. After that I will go to Inara and gently rub her back or her head and savor the velvety-ness of her hair. I can almost always simply turn off the fan in their room and they will begin to stir and will eventually look at me with sleepy eyes and I just want to eat their rosy cheeks. I then lay my head down next to Declan's, giving his cheeks more kisses and proceed with even more nuzzling; which elicits cuddles and hugs from him, which in turn melts my heart. As he continues to wake up I will go get Inara (who has by now stood up in her crib and is more than likely waving and saying "Hi" to me) and I scoop her into my arms and she lays her head on my shoulder and we cuddle, and I make sure to give her chubby cheeks plenty of kisses as well. And it's wonderful. I love it. It is the moment I am cherishing and savoring now, so that I can remember it in the years to come.

Emotional Roller Coaster

I am certain that every one reading this has experienced a time (or times) in your life where your emotions feel out of control. You feel happy & sad, excited & disappointed, elated & depressed...all at the same time. And all those emotions can change at the drop of a hat, with out any warning. It is all very exhausting. And it is what I have been going through for the last few weeks.

As most of you know, we sold our house at the end of February, and we sold it for twice as much as we bought it for two years ago (super exciting) but that means that we have to pack up and leave all the memories that we made here behind (super sad).

We have been looking at houses almost every weekend for the month of March (super exciting) and have even put offers on a couple places (even more exciting) but none of the offers have been accepted, and then one was accepted but then rejected the next day (super disappointing).

When I am in a really good place I start to think about the possible blessings God has in store for us as we take this journey and it makes me feel elated. Then the next moment I can start focusing on how stressful it's been to pack some of our house for storage and some for my mother-in-laws (where we will live until we find another house) and how we don't have any guarantee on when we will find another house, and I start to feel depressed.

And to top it all off, our Pastors at church (Ryan and Garris) have been teaching on the goodness of God for the past several weeks and I am just struggling big time with that. I know God is good, but do I truly KNOW and BELIEVE and TRUST that He is good? As these messages are being given I am just in tears because I am simultaneously facing some circumstances that would say "God isn't good. If He were good, you would have _________ (fill in the blank)". So I have been challenged to look at the difficulties surrounding me and proclaim that God is in fact good, even if it doesn't FEEL that way. And I will continue to ride this emotional roller coaster with Him by my side and looking to Him for guidance and direction, comfort and strength, peace and understanding.

Hiking Roxy Ann

This past Sunday, our kids woke up with the sniffles, so we decided not to take them to church which would expose everyone to our germs. We had been thinking about hiking Roxy Ann again since we enjoyed it so much the last time. It turned out to be a beautiful day so we decided to pack a lunch and head up the mountain, figuring the sun would do us all good. We had a wonderful time, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do as a family!

The Sweetest Baby Girl

I have the sweetest baby girl ever. Seriously. She is the best. Not only is she the sweetest, she is also so funny and smart and strong. She is at that age (10 months) where she is really starting to explore the world around her and discover new and exciting things.

Today, I was sitting on the couch and she was playing on the floor. I got distracted and then realized that I couldn't see or hear her any more. I said her name and looked around the couch toward the front door thinking she was investigating the shoes and chewing on one of them. Then something caught my eye just to the left of the door, and it was her. In Elphie's dog bed. She was just sitting there. All cute and quiet and adorable. She even laid down in it at one point.

Like I said...the sweetest.

Feeling Overwhelmed

I am feeling so overwhelmed this morning, and have been for several days now, and here are the reasons why. 

First of all, as I mentioned in a recent post, we were getting ready to put our house on the market. Well, as of Tuesday evening, it was "live" which means that it went up on all the real estate and property listing web sites. Yesterday (Wednesday) morning at 8am I got a call from a realtor saying he had clients interested in seeing the house, so we arranged for them to come by at 4pm. This morning (Thursday), Sean called me saying that our relator called him to say that there would be an offer coming in on our house tonight! Now, this of course doesn't mean that our house is sold, but it is amazing how fast everything has happened in the past few days. I just feel like it is a whirlwind all around me and I can't even catch my breath in order to let everything sink in. And this situation is especially overwhelming because we have no prospects on a place for us to move to. We've been looking, but have yet to find anything that works for our needs, wants, and budget. 

On top of all of what I just mentioned, I have decided to get a cyst on my ankle removed. It appeared out of nowhere last Fall, I had it aspirated, but it came back, so the next step is to surgically remove it. Until yesterday, I was under the impression that it was a fairly minor operation where I would go into the Orthopedic doctor's office, he would numb the area, quickly remove it, and I would walk out of there within a matter of minutes. Well, I found out yesterday that the surgery will be about a half a day ordeal where I will have to be put under general anesthesia. Then I will have to wear a boot on the foot and not be able to do anything for about a week afterward. I also wouldn't be able to nurse Inara because of the pain meds I would most likely be taking. Sean and I talked a lot about it and have decided to push the surgery out to the Fall. We have asked my mom to come up for a week to help out, and also, Inara will be much older (about 16 months) at that time and possibly already weaned from nursing.

So, all of this is just weighing heavily on me and I could really use some prayer as I walk through these decisions and situations. 

Thank you friends and family! I appreciate you all!

Life with Declan and Inara

Life with a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old is fun. Well, not every day is fun. And on good days it is typically not fun all day long. I am definitely not going to pretend that it is all sunshine and roses, because let's face it...some days just SUCK. There are some days when I cry. There are some days when I call my husband, frustrated and upset. And then there are the days when the moment Sean gets home I say, "Dinner is ready, help yourself. I am going to take a shower,"  because I just need a few moments of peace and quiet. But all in all it is a really fun life, and I am SO very blessed by the children that I have been given.

There are a few things in particular that Declan and Inara have been doing together lately that make life with them especially fun. Such as, playing well side by side. They are too young for interactive play (especially Inara) but they both seem to thoroughly enjoy each other's company as they play by themselves. They also LOVE taking baths together. We do a bath every night as part of our bedtime routine and I think it is their favorite part of the day. The splash and laugh and almost become different children while in the water. It's adorable.

On individual levels, Declan continues to advance in his speech, especially sentence structure. He loves running and playing outside, collecting rocks he finds along the way. He is also exploring imaginative play, mimicking things he sees us do, which is really neat to observe. He enjoys washing dishes, helping Dada make pancakes on Saturday mornings, doing arts & crafts, and is a silly, sweet & loving boy. He adores his sister and gives her lots of hugs and kisses throughout the day.
Inara's personality is really starting to develop and come out, it is awesome to watch. She is a very silly girl who will laugh when we laugh, stick her bottom lip way out when she is upset, and clap all the time, especially when she hears clapping. She says, Dada, Mama, Thank you, Up, Uh-Oh, Elph, Hi, and she is trying to say Declan. She just learned how to give kisses. OMG. SO precious. And lately she has been putting things (mostly blankets and clothes) on or behind her head. She thinks it is really fun and will squeal in delight each time she does it. I even saw her trying to crawl with a towel over her head. She is also standing for periods of time all by herself and we are holding her hands so that she can practice walking.

So, like I said, fun. LOTS of fun, which helps balance out the times that are not so fun.