Catch-up Time!

We have our computer back, so now I can upload a frivolous post full of pictures of my cuties!!

As I wait for them to upload, I'll just put in a plug here... we're leaving for holidays in a few very short hours!!

However, the morning has not started off so well; Joshua was up early, and is showing a great deal of disrespect for us already by banging around in his room while his brother is still trying to sleep. He sassed me when I told him it was not time for him to come out of his room yet (he knows the rule)... you know how you just *know* what the day will be like before 5 minutes has even passed?

Yesterday was an incredibly frustrating day for me as well. I had told my Baby Product Supplier (cloth diapers, etc) that I needed a soft-structured carrier with buckles (like an Ergo, but something diff't; Ergos don't work well for me) for our holiday. I told her, umm, last week. She continued to make excuses about why she couldn't get together with me... said we could meet on Tuesday, nope, now it has to be Wednesday... Wednesday came and went, and yes, I phoned her a good dozen or so times throughout the day. I am frustrated. My mei-tai is a little too big for Meaghan yet, so I basically have nothing in which to hike with her. We are going on a 'family' vacation with another family from our church - first time we've ever done a trip with someone else - and we had big plans... zoo, hiking, etc. Now...? I might have to haul out my sewing machine first thing this a.m. and put a dart in my mei-tai in hopes of making it work. The lady e-mailed me around midnight last night and sort of apologized and made all kinds of excuses... I don't know of any other suppliers of these types of carriers, and I also don't know of anyone else who owns one that I can borrow (close by). So, I'm frustrated. Grr. I guess I'll use my wrap in the 28 degree weather?

I ran some errands yesterday with the kids; I finally located some Jungle Jam CD's, so I'm looking forward to plunking those in the van for our drive to Canmore today!

OK, without further delay...

Silly face:

Funny face:

Happy siblings:

More happiness:

Little-big brotherly love:

Awww... kisses.....

Nose-grabbing:

My sister-in-law's mom was up for a visit from California, and we had them all over for a BBQ the other night. Joshua & Dustin picked flowers for Meaghan; she is trying to stuff them in her ear:

Daddy and Meggie having a deep discussion:

She complains and he sympathizes....

That's it for now - I gotta toss in another load of laundry!!

My Ride.

We did it!!

We didn't get to go out for our ride on Sunday night; the weather turned nasty and neither of us were interested in battling torrential downpours for an hour or more.

So we waited, and instead went out last night.

It had been a rough day with the boys, and I needed to get out. Graeme gave me his blessing, and so I called Kerry and we were out the door shortly after 6:30.

We didn't do our originally planned 26 miles, thank goodness. I'm not sure I could've done that...

So we chose a slightly different route.

The road out of our town heading east is full of really big hills. I mean ReaLLy BiG. The kind where you think you're going to die even if you are lucky enough to make it to the top without walking.

We conquered them.

After about 7 miles of this (following a 2-mile warmup to get to the 'start', I was ready to turn around and come home.

So we had an option - we could head two miles south and take the next road back into town; slightly uphill most of the way, but not enough to be horrible. Then trek two miles north again to get back to the original road and then the last two miles home.

Or we could tackle the hills again.

We opted for the first route.

If you've done the math, you'd know we covered 22 miles.

It was actually 22.5; add some extra residential in there for good measure. She has one of those fancy wristwatch satellite things that her husband plugs into the computer and it tells him exactly where we've been. Too cool.

I can't believe we biked 22.5 miles. 36km. I felt amazing for most of the ride, 'cept for those gruelling hills. I was worried about dragging her down, but she said she was "impressed". She's the biker-girl, so I didn't know if we'd be a good match or not. Turns out we are. She's still faster than I am overall, but with time, I'll be right where she is. She said that if I used a road bike instead of my comparatively bulkier mountain bike, I'd be a force. It'll be a while before I can afford a proper road bike.

We ripped up the course pretty quickly; with some breaks, of course. We had to do a couple of bike adjustments (her tire, my seat), stop for a good 15-minute chat/break at the 9-mile mark, when we decided to head south, and take a couple of water breaks. I was sweaty and it felt great!

And you think I'd be stiff & sore today... but I'm not. Surprisingly, the only part of me that is feeling any sort of after-effects would be my... ready for it? My feet. Yup. Go figure. But I am not tired at all; I feel like a 'new me'. Amazing what some good exercise can accomplish.

I suppose I could've done the 26 miles after all. Maybe next time. Next week, maybe?

I'm just so excited to have a biking partner, and that she thought I was a good enough match that she wants to go with me again!!

OK, I'm off to finish cleaning the kitchen; we have company coming for dinner (Graeme's middle brother and his wife & kids) in an hour! I just really needed to blog first.

We should have our computer back tomorrow... but then we're leaving on holidays on Thursday, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be blogging again before then. I've got some great pictures on my camera just ITCHING to be downloaded to our computer!!

Just because it's the right thing to do...

Today I was out erranding with my little dollie while the boys were at Fort Edmonton with their grandparents. I am more than happy to let G&G take the boys there; I personally do not have the attention span nor the patience for Fort Edmonton more than once every couple of years.

Anyway, so I was running some errands, and I had just fed Meaghan so I didn't want to put her back in her carseat (she tends to puke if I put her in too soon after a feed). So I took her out of the car, just me and Baby, and went to Blessings to grab a couple things. Then, the vacuum store was 2 doors down, and I remembered that we have a built-in vac here that we were not left any bags for.

So, I walked down the sidewalk, Babe in arms. I am close to crossing paths with these two 25 year old guys in cowboy hats, tight jeans (believe me, this is not a turn-on for me, by the way, so this is not why I'm mentioning it - I just want you to have a picture), big buckles on their belts, and white t-shirts with the arms ripped off.

There's me. I'm wearing a brown t-shirt and demin capris. I'm not looking my best. I look like a mom today. And Meaghan is drooling. Cute, but drooly.

"Are you going this way as well?" one of them asks, as he motions towards the vacuum store.

"Yes, I am," I replied as politely as I could. Hard to mess it up with a simple yes-or-no answer.

"Let me get that door for you, then."

I almost didn't know what to do.

I mean, I said a sincere "Thank you" and waited for him to open the door for me. He said, "You're very welcome." And then he followed me in and allowed me to be served first.

Now, I know he couldn't have been hitting on me. See self-description from a few sentences ago.

He was just plain nice.

It's good to know that good manners from strangers have not gone the way of the do-do.

He didn't get the door for me because he felt sorry for me, or because he didn't think I could manage (Meaghan still only takes up one arm), or because he felt obligated because his mama was watching (she wasn't).

He did it just because it was the right thing to do.

It's a breath of fresh air.

Big days

My regular computer is in the shop for some warranty work, so I can't post pictures. So, I'll just talk.

I'm on Graeme's laptop; he was kind enough to bring it home for the few days that our Mac will be in the shop. Just a little fan noise or something; nothing major.

We had a busy day today, although it felt strange in a lot of ways, too. Meaghan decided not to sleep through the night last night; my 3-month-old baby girl *only* slept for 7 hours before waking up. Am I complaining? Nope. She is too sweet.

Last night I went out for a little bike ride. "Little" being 12.48 miles, as calculated on www.mapmyrun.com. What a cool little site! Anyway, I was going to ride the perimeter of our town, however, I what I didn't realize is that some of the bike paths were not complete. So, I did some off-roading, some detouring, etc. It was pretty late at night, too, so I had to stick to main roads with lots of lighting. I got home at 10:18. I'm a little sore today, but not bad at all.

I made about 175 two-bite brownies today, for Meaghan's dedication tomorrow. In the morning I'll put a little dollop of frosting on them. My cookie decorator is unpacked, so I'll use that to put some little swirls or something on the cupcakes. Nice and easy. Pink icing. For my girlie.

I'm excited about Meaghan's dedication tomorrow. That little girl has brought us so much joy... tenderness from her brothers, laughter to all of us, and hearts even more full that we could ever have imagined. We are really looking forward to friends and family standing with us as we present Meaghan publically to the Lord.

Gramma & Grampa took the boys to the Show & Shine at a church in town here. It's a BIG DEAL, this car show. Hundreds of cars and motorcycles from decades past and present; the bosy absolutely love it. But Graeme had to work today, and I knew that Meaghan wouldn't tolerate an outing that big, and I also wouldn't be able to handle both boys and Meaghan alone in a crowd of thousands of people... you get the picture.

Instead I went to get groceries with Meaghan, and then came home and made brownies.

Graeme and the boys arrived home at the same time this afternoon; the boys went for naps, Meaghan woke up, I did some work around the house, Graeme cut the lawn...

Then we went swimming.

Meaghan's first time in a real pool. We didn't bring the camera because, well, we had enough trouble getting out the door with all the towels and swimsuits we needed. As it was, we forgot Joshua's trunks. So we put Dustin's swim diaper on him (yes, although he is potty trained, we still make him wear one *just in case*)... we have these reusable ones that we use now for him. I also got one for Meaghan. Anyway, so Dustin in his swim diaper, and Joshua in Dustin's swim trunks... I was in the pool first with Meaghan; in all, we were in the water for just shy of an hour. One blissful and happy hour of water exploration. She did so well - obviously, or we wouldn't have lasted for an hour. :)

We came home, blasted through supper and bedtime, and did a lightning-clean before Pastor Mike came over to go over the dedication service.

Tomorrow:
church.
dedication.
church bbq complete with dedication brownies.
naps.
bike ride with Kerry.

Oh yes - I now will have a biking buddy!! We went to a wedding a few weeks back, and Kerry has been looking for a biking partner. I guess I'm it!! She's used to riding with guys who race, though, so I'm sure I'll hold her back a bit, although she said she doesn't care. Let's see... she who is carrying at least 30 lbs less on her frame, has a road bike, and has been biking faithfully for years... and me, who still needs to drop about another 30 lbs, trying to keep up on a mountain bike, and trying to regain my stamina and speed since being out of commission since last fall. And she doesn't think I'll hold her back? She wants to do a "short" 26 mile ride tomorrow afternoon.

I've never done a 26-mile ride.

Most I've ever done is (I think) about 15.
That was about a year and a half ago.
Yikes.

Happiness is...

...listening to two little boys belly-laugh in the back of the van over nothing but silly faces...

...singing... to God... to my kids...

...taking Meaghan into the big tub and moving her/jumping her around in the water, and to be rewarded with her first laughs and squeals of delight...

...resting my head...

...a good swim (although tonight's swim was definitely less than stellar)...

...a day off for Graeme tomorrow...

...the promise of better things to come...

...folding cloth diapers and just breathing in the joy that results in folding Meaghan's laundry...

...cleaning my kitchen counters...

...a hug from either of my boys...

...sweet snuggles from Meaghan...

...knowing who my true friends are, and being humbled by God's grace in giving them to me...

It was not a good day overall today, but there were some definite highlights. I have had a constant headache for far too long now, Joshua had another bad afternoon (though thankfully not as bad as yesterday!), I am not getting anywhere near enough sleep... but the definite best part of my day was taking Meaghan into the big tub with me tonight before her bedtime. At first we just sat in the water, but when I started bouncing her up and down, or moving her back and forth in the water, I was rewarded with the biggest smiles I've ever seen from her, and even a few squeals of delight. She is such a happy little dollie.

Dustin has been pretty good, too, although when Joshua comes home and lets loose a bit, Dustin goes with him. Because I'm tired, I'm not handling it as well as I probably could.

That being said, it's 11:43. Time for bed.

Tough days for Joshua

Joshua is in day camp this week at our church. He, along with 67 other young children ages 5-8, have been spending 5 1/2 hours a day playing games, learning Bible stories, and having big field trips (u-pick, anyone?).

Problem is, he has been deprived of his daytime nap.

"He needs to get used to not napping," I'm told.

"He's too old to nap."

"You need to teach him how to not be tired." ????

Are not all children wired differently?

If I've gotten the clean bill of health from his pediatrician (i.e. there are no underlying conditions causing his fatigue), then should I really deliberately deprive him?

After the last 3 days, I am certainly convinced anew that naptime for Joshua is still indeed very necessary. Day one wasn't too bad, but day two was a little more testy than normal, and day three was a complete disaster.

"Disaster" defined by kicking little brother in the head, punching Mommy, breaking things in his room, and sassing me to the nth degree. This is certainly not 'normal' behavior for him; he gets into these types of fits usually only when he is overtired. Putting him to bed early? Nope. He knows the time on a clock and will fight us vehemently (i.e. not stay in his room, etc) to avoid bedtime. My polite and sweet little boy becomes aggressive, angry, and dark.

Today is day 4, and they are supposed to go to Fort Edmonton Park for some of the day.

I am really not sure what to do. He became repentant last night after it was all said and done, which was certainly welcome. He slept well. He is even-keeled this morning. Do I give him the benefit of the doubt and let him go again?

Theses are the moments that I could do without. The moments where sin overtakes the nature he is capable of and joyful in. Sin is just ugly.

Oh Lord, grant my little boy the discernment of his actions... the will to persevere through the fatigue... self-control... peace once again...

Holidays

I can't help but feel like I'm still on holidays. Even though life is still going on - I'm washing diapers, doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, unpacking, etc - I feel such peace around me in so many ways.

This past weekend was a good example again. We had family over for Graeme's birthday cake on Friday night (I'd made an ice cream cake). On Saturday, we went to some friends' house for a backyard pool party, that just happened to fall on Graeme's actual birthday. The kids all had a blast sliding down the giant inflatable waterslide a gazillion times, and we all ate very very well. I love this particular group of friends; although there are no Christians in the group aside from Graeme and I, we can all hang out together, have meaningful conversation, and have a rip-roaring good time... all without the presence of alcohol or other mind-altering substances.

Then, last night, we had the G-squared birthday bash. Graeme & Carissa came over (we found out a few months ago that Graeme & Graeme have the exact same birthday) for a bbq and ice-cream cake. We also found out last night that both Graemes are left-handed, and both of them love ice-cream cake as a first choice for birthday cakes. We're considering doing a DNA test to see if they're related in some weird way. We also played Jungle Speed - a not-well-known game, but SO much fun! It's a card game requiring keen eyes and fast hands. Graeme W. had to go take a phone call halfway through one of our games, so the rest of us took the opportunity to put the expansion pack (even crazier cards) into the mix. When we resumed play, Graeme W. had no clue... Carissa and I were giggling like idiots, and Graeme L. was making all sorts of puns... finally Graeme W. clued in and we had a good laugh over it. Another couple - mutual friends of all of us - came over for dessert and fellowship but had to leave before we started playing games. I just felt like I was in my groove. Hosting, laughing, cooking, discussing... it was good.

Worship yesterday was unbelievable. I had the privilege of leading worship again with Lynette and 3 other guys. Although she is technically the "leader", she doesn't like singing lead most of the time and therefore sings alto. I sing lead. And yesterday - through no credit of my own - I was blown out of the water and the worship was amazing. I could actually hear people singing. Hungering for God. I stopped singing at one point because it was just so powerful. This is a straight-laced Baptist church, but the people opened their hearts yesterday to God's goodness. It was incredible. I love watching people respond to the Spirit of God.

Today Joshua is at day camps again. This will be his first week without naps ALL week long. He is over 5 years old but still requires naps most days. We'll see how he handles himself this week. It could get ugly. :) I hope it doesn't, though. Dustin is off having an adventure at Gramma & Grampa's house, leaving me alone with Meggie. She is such a dollie.

Anyway.... enough rambling. Must get some phone calls, unpacking, and erranding done!

sweet day

two angel food cakes made,

one gargantuan bowl of frosting dumped on the floor (whoops),

a vacuumed house,

a backyard party with friends,

two boys down the waterslide a bazillion times,

a sweet baby dolly snuggled in her crib,

three handsome men sleeping out in the tent,

a hubby with a birthday,

a kitchen yet to clean,

a comfy bed to fall into.

What a great day.

I am blessed.

Feeling bloggy

My fingers are itching to blog, and my heart is nearly pounding out of my chest. Nobody has any new blog posts for me to read this morning, and so therefore I am going through withdrawal and am compelled to write something of my own.

Problem is, I don't really have anything positive or impacting to write about.

I've had a growing headache for a couple of weeks now, usually worst in the mornings, but today it's hanging on and is crushing both sides of my head. Must persevere through it...we're having a groupie thing this afternoon, and it's Graeme's birthday. Physical stress, lack of sleep, and mental stress (business stuff) taking its toll. Wee girlie slept well last night, though, so I'm blessed. The boys even slept in till 7:56 this morning - exactly 56 minutes longer than every other day for the last few months. It was glorious!

We had family over last night for Graeme's birthday ice-cream cake. Yummmm.... almost as fun to eat as it was to make. I also made some cupcakes; those were easy also. Joshua, smarty-pants that he is, read the entire book of "Hop on Pop" to the entire family. He pretended he was a teacher, and Dustin was his assistant; between the two of them they had fun reading and keeping the class in line, saying, "Attention, everybody!" whenever we started talking. They even threatened us with time-outs. It was pretty cute.

I am on worship team tomorrow - what a blessing this is turning out to be. Hey Tama, guess who's drumming for us??... Jim!! As in your bro-in-law Jim! He's hilarious. I usually don't mesh much with drummers - they're a different breed, ha ha! - but he really mixed well with the whole team. Such fun! It can always be interesting working with new (to us) musicians - relational dynamics, etc - but it was a fun night at rehearsal the other night.

So we decided the other night that I would leave Meaghan at home for rehearsal and Graeme would give her a bottle in my absence for bedtime. I had a full bottle of milky goodness waiting for her (she'd slept over 12 hours the night before, so I HAD to pump!)... but she absolutely flat-out refused to take the bottle from Daddy. She kept whimpering and giving him this look of "Daddy, how COULD you?" I can picture it. So I'd fed her right before I left the house, and 1 1/2 hours later he called me to ask what he should do with her. "Pinkie her and put her to bed." As in, she doesn't take a soother, but she does like a pinky finger when she needs a little extra non-nutritive sucking. She fell asleep immediately. We figured she'd be up quite early since she'd gone to bed without milkies... but she slept till 4:00. Pretty normal.

OK, I think the blog-bug is out now. I'll stop boring you, and go vacuum the messy floors from last night's party. There were sprinkles on the cupcakes, and, well, you get the picture.

Role Reversal

The thing about being in a *better place* is that I can see more clearly now.

I can see how blessed I am, and *believe* it; and not just say it 'cuz it's the right thing to say.

I can see the silver lining on the clouds, and I can see the rainbow after the rain.

I can look at a scenario that's out of my control and say, "Good thing there's One bigger than me Who is in control." And I can rest in that, and be at peace, and release the weight of it, letting my Burden-Bearer take care of it for me. I can also act rationally and properly, reacting appropriately in situations that are beyond my wisdom, and acting in God's direction to bring about His outcome.

(It's not that I was a *complete* basket-case before...)

But then a test comes.

And I can remove myself from the personal side of it. If I'm not in control - if the influences are coming from outside of my four walls - then I can't internalize it. I mustn't receive what I can't control.

But it's hard to watch someone nearly self-destruct over these same things.

I don't fear for the situation - I am quite at peace about it - but I fear for the one who can't separate himself from the process. I hurt for the one who bears the burdens herself, when it's not her fault or her doing. I am afraid for the ones who have seen me at my lowest, and have watched God amazingly pull me out... only to then themselves sink into the same pit I just came out of.

This is the hard part.

Oh God, impart your grace and peace where chaos currently reigns... replace doubt and self-reliance with trust and dependence on You...

My God is able...

...to do more than I could ever have asked or imagined... according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus...

I still cannot believe how fearful I was of having a third child.

I always wanted a third. Never a doubt. I never felt complete, even after Dustin and the physical struggles I had after he was born.

But I was so afraid.

Afraid that I would lose her. Distancing myself from her even at the earliest stages, in so many ways, so that I wouldn't be as hurt if something terrible did happen.

Afraid that if #3 was a tough baby, that I wouldn't be able to cope.

Afraid that I wouldn't reach my goals of a natural childbirth, knowing that natural childbirth can speed recovery and help reduce the risk of PPD, which I struggled with after Dustin, also.

Afraid that I wouldn't be healthy enough to take care of her and myself post-partum.

Afraid of failing my husband and boys.

Afraid that my already fragile state would be further broken. That my faith in God would waver. That He would not pull through for me and give me grace and strength to handle my new family.

But Meaghan is a special gift. Even if she would've been a tough baby, I would like to think I would still feel this way about her.

I often joke about having paid my dues with Dustin, so I *deserved* a good baby this time around.

I don't feel like I deserve this mercy God has given me. I don't feel like I deserve Meaghan. She is happier than I could ever imagine a baby to be. She is patient when I can't feed her right away. She is tougher than nails for what her brothers put her though. She is content and only really all-out cries when she's hurt (see previous sentence) or when I've put off her feed for far too long. She falls asleep at the drop of a hat, any time, anywhere. She nurses very well. She gazes at me. She smiles at me just because I'm her mama.

I feel as though every time Meaghan graces me with her gorgeous smile, that God is saying, "See? See how beautiful she is? I made her just for you. Because I know you needed her in this season."

Several times a day, when I'm nursing Meaghan, her little hand forms this perfect shape... my boys couldn't form it until they were 2 years old, but Meaghan regularly has her hand in the American Sign Language sign for "I love you." She places her hand by her face or on my breast and just makes the sign so perfectly. "I love you."

I love you, too, Baby Dollie. More than you will never know. More than I could have ever dreamed. You are just as much a gift to me as your brothers are. And I love you, Meaghan.

Miss Meaghan's First Bubble Bath

So this house has a jacuzzi/jet-tub thingy in the ensuite bathroom. Kinda cool. I used it the first night we lived here. Ah - may - zing. Loved it. I just might take a bath once in a while now (snicker).

The boys were quite excited about 'our' tub, too. We promised them a "baffy baf" (the boys' words when talking about Meaghan's bath) in our special tub one night when we had some extra time.

So, here we are... and I even decided to toss Meaghan in, too! :) She wasn't too sure about it; obviously I have some work to do with her to get her liking bubble baths! Perhaps it was not feeling the tub on her bum (I suspended her in the water), or perhaps the noise of the jets and the movement of the water swirling around her made her uneasy. She didn't cry, though, but she certainly didn't look like she was enjoying herself. The boys loved it, though!!

Here are some pictures to document the fun and the story line:

Contentedness

I grew up with...not much. I'll spare you the details.

We are so blessed. We live in a big new house in a fabulous neighborhood. My kids have 3 parks to choose from. I am part of a wonderful church and an amazing community of faith and practicality.

I get irked when people complain about every. single. thing.

Never finding the positive... always being burdened under the negatives.

When 10 minutes to do a job "takes too long"...and I didn't have the same tools growing up and the same job took me an hour.

When the grass isn't green enough or plush enough...and my lawn while I was growing up consisted entirely of weeds, and on the farm I used a push mower to do the entire yard.

When we expect life to be perfect, products to be perfect, people to be perfect. Never an inconvenience or struggle.

What do we expect?

I guess if you never know any different - if the people raising you spend their entire days pointing out faults and shortcomings - then I guess you'll expect nothing but perfection in every single aspect of your life, and then I guess you'll breathe discontentedness in everything you do.

I think it must take a lot of energy to be constantly miserable. To *choose* misery and negativity. To believe that life owes you everything on a silver platter.

Yes, reality means that sometimes we need to get upset about things not being the way they should...but isn't there a line where it just gets ridiculous and petty?

How do you sow an attitude of "being content" in others? And what do you do when you are constantly challenged with in-your-face negativity?

Serious Cuteness

Seriously. Could she be ANY cuter?

There's a story to the last picture and the RICE practice (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) - basically, Dustin was jumping off some playground equipment this morning when we were out. Another lady came running – she’s a nurse, and was able to diagnose a sprain as opposed to a break/greenstick fracture, so I knew we’d be OK. She was a really nice lady and I hope I get to run into her again!! But, we’d used the kids’ scooters to get to the park (it happens to be the Summerwood Park farthest from our house, took about 20 minutes to ‘scoot’ there), and Dustin of course couldn’t scoot himself home. So Joshua scooted himself home, but I was pushing Meaghan in the stroller and pulling Dustin on his scooter (he could stand but not push with his foot). Poor guy. He can walk now, but it’s very tender and he’s preferring to crawl. He’ll live. He’s going to have to learn life the hard way on a lot of things...

Perfection

What makes a perfect day?

The worship and message in church this morning?

A surprise invitation for lunch with 4 friends and their kids from church?

Three napping children, a napping Daddy, and an erranding Mama who needs to find a birthday present for this afternoon's party?

Aforementioned birthday party with 10 other friends from church and around 10 other kids? Starting with a jaunt through the sprinkler, some pool time, and ending with good food and conversation?

Getting home putting 3 children to bed... three tired but happy children?

Capping it all off with a fantastic 1:15 bike ride, and then coming home to blog about my day?

Yes, those things contribute.

But it's the love of my Heavenly Father who makes it *perfect*.

I feel like I'm on holidays today. No, the day wasn't also without its challenges, but being close to my Father makes it perfect anyway.

I am blessed.

Some happenings in our new place

...and a couple from our old place, too! :)

The boys have been having fun with Meaghan, teaching her how to hold toys. They just think she's the most fun sweet thing ever. I can't argue with them!

Then, of course, she's so smiley and sweet for them...

She was resting on our unmade bed the morning we were moving out of our old house.

And had tuckered herself out the day of our move-in. She usually squawks for a few minutes when she's ready for her nap; sometimes I'm in the middle of something and can't get to her in time. Sometimes she escalates her squawking, and other times she just plugs in the thumb and falls asleep.

A couple days after we moved in, Joshua was holding Meaghan. She's only half-folded here. It got worse. She could've poked her eyes out with her big toe!

Meaghan promptly decided that it was time to *really* work on rolling over. So she spent a few days working super-hard...

...and on Tuesday, she did it! Now I can't stop her... she went first from tummy to back, then a few minutes later went back to tummy. This is a full two weeks ahead of the boys' first roll-overs - she's one week shy of her 3-month birthday here. Yikes!!

(I love the drool-drop on the chin...)

Rotund little belly... so squishy and poke-able!

She doesn't seem to mind her vulnerability here...

The boys - we got them scooters with birthday money as move-in presents. Dustin is ALL about the scooter, but so is Joshua... if you can get him off his bike!! We live at the back of a cul-de-sac; lots of young boys to play with! Oh - and see that trailer in the background? Dustin decided to pretend he was a dog chasing parked cars... he stopped watching where he was going and plowed RIGHT into the thing while riding his bike. It was sure something! Both boy and trailer are fine.

Little posers!!!

Yesterday morning it was a little chilly, so we got the fireplace going (Graeme is insanely happy to have a gas fireplace!) and the boys cozied up and watched the flickering flames. Meggie was there, too, but I didn't get her in this picture.

One of the things I wanted to have in my bonus room was a reading corner. I didn't really even 'introduce' the stations of this room, but the boys knew immediately what to do with it when they saw their books and a chair and some pillows!! How sweet.... a rare moment of brotherly love!

we're in!

Just a quick update...

We've moved.

We're in.

We're over half-way unpacked.

Most of it got done in the first 24 hours. Productivity has severely diminished since the boys have been home. They actually ended up staying over one extra night at G&G's because there was a tornado warning (or watch?) for our area and G&G didn't want to drive. Can't blame them; it was nasty out there. But we got a lot done.

We love our new place.

My favorite part of the bonus room is the Reading Corner. The boys LOVE it, too! Who'da thunk?

Must get back to some more boxes; Graeme has today off and is taking care of the boys so I can blog - oops, I mean UNPACK! :)

Will chat more later - I miss you all! :)