It's been a big week

Hannah crossed the "sleeping through the night" threshold. She's doing 9-10 hours! (Now I know that some consider 6 hours as sleeping through the night, but come on.... I don't think waking up and feeding at 4AM is MY morning!). It is truly amazing how different it makes me to have uninterrupted sleep.

I took both kids to the office and then to Super Walmart and made it out with my sanity. We have a brand new one in our area. I think we will be BFFs once I get used to where they stock all the things I need.

After a wonderful time of people bringing meals to us and then being on vacation, I am now back to cooking for my family. It can be done!

Both my parents celebrated birthdays this week - mom's was Tuesday and dad's is today. I'm excited because they are coming this weekend and we'll get to celebrate with them. Can't wait to see them! And, I can't wait to show them how much my little girl has grown.

And, this time next year my little fella will start kindergarten [we have year round schools here]. Oh my goodness! I only have one more year at home with him. I'm getting all mushy about it already. He is excited about it and wants to go NOW. I've been using that to my advantage for the last few months.... "Kids in kindergarten have to clean up their own messes... You can't go to kindergarten until you can write your letters...". Etc. :)

Attacked for love

Coming home from back-to-back weeks of nonstop fun, I was ready to get back into some routine! I was concerned how everyone would adjust. Would my four year old would be whiny and bored? Not the case, thankfully. He missed his toys so much and he's making up for lost time. Whew!

Hannah is back to sleeping for long periods. Amen.

The problem is our cat, Daisy. She is always very clingy when we return home from trips. I've had a little shadow the last several days - I've almost stepped on her several times. You know she's starved for attention when she begs my son to give her love! I was feeding Hannah at 5am the other day with the nursery door closed, and Daisy meowed and meowed to be let in. She did not want to be separated again! After I put Hannah back down, I opened the door and Daisy let me have it! She whopped me repeatedly on the legs with her paws as I walked by and followed me into my room still hitting me. Nothing to inflict any pain whatsoever like biting or clawing... just her way of making me know she was ticked! I had to chase her away with a burp cloth to get her to stop. Mike awoke to see the craziness and thought the whole scene was hilarious!

Although our friends came to feed her and love her lots while we were gone, it appears that 2 weeks was too much for our beloved feline.

Home Sweet Boxcar

The kiddos and I arrived at Camp Willow Run this morning to join my hubby as he speaks this week. I've blogged here and here about how this is where Mike and I met and how very special this place is to us. Jackson is enthralled with camp and has been a jabbering bouncing boy ever since we arrived. I LOVE that Mike is asked to speak here every summer... gives us an excuse to see our 2nd family here, we get to participate in an incredibly impactful ministry, and it gives us a little vacation in paradise.

This year we discovered a newly expanded Boxcar #8 (aka speaker's boxcar). They made an additional room complete with 2 sets of bunk beds and a dresser. It's so nice and what great timing for us! This boxcar is now almost as big as our first house. :)

Jackson wasted no time and immediately following lunch he and daddy hit the lake. He couldn't wait to jump off the dock again. Hannah and I went down briefly to take a few pictures. The Bjorn is going to be a lifesaver this week for us. And, if the weather keeps up I'll be sweating out the remaining baby weight.

Mike has made many facebook/twitter updates about his stay so far. It has been so funny to see the bazillon comments he is getting from fellow former staffers. They want to know what he's doing, what he's eating, etc. Basically living vicariously through him this week. So many have sweet memories of this place.

Post-flu pseudo-normalness

It was so nice to rejoin the land of the living! Grocery store, movies, library, birthday party, cookout, church ... normal felt good. Our last scheduled meals came from our most loving friends, neighbors, and church family. I cannot convey what a blessing that has been both to my stomach (yum!) and to my sanity.

This weeks starts a new and different chaos. Mike is speaking at Camp Willow Run all week. He left this afternoon. Which leaves me with the 2 young'uns until Wednesday when we will join him. I feel like this will really be a test of my motherhood... manage the 2 kiddos all by myself while packing for 2 back-to-back trips (CWR, then to the beach). Will I survive?? The planner in me is in overdrive.

I really look forward to being back at CWR and seeing the staff again. They recently put an addition to the speaker's boxcar, which will be so wonderful for our expanded family. But, the best part by far is experiencing camp from the perspective of my son. He loves camp as much as we do. It's all he's talked about for the last few days. It won't be but a few more years until we can hopefully send him there as a camper!

tv is transforming my hubby

I've been strapped down to the sofa either sick with the flu (all better now, thankfully) or nursing for many hours each day. I'm getting good at grabbing things with my toes, beckoning the four year old to bring me things, and surfing the net with my one free hand.

And, I've been watching a bit of TV lately. (Yes, I know its pathetic. I need to go to the library... just haven't made it there yet). While I usually loathe Summertime programming and Daytime TV (with the exception of my beloved Today Show), I do enjoy most things on HGTV and the Food Network. The problem is that it either makes me hungry or desirous to overhaul my home decor. Neither are good options right now.

By the way, have you seen the show 'The Next Food Network Star'? Love it. I'm soooo rooting for Melissa!

My hubby, Mike, has been subjected to this programming too, especially while being Mr. Mom and taking care of all of us. I'm happy to say it is rubbing off on him. We have all these ideas of improvements we want to make to the house. When the magical money falls from the sky, we will be ready with a plan. :) In the meantime we'll just focus on helping his mom update her home and prep to get it sold.

Mike has also been exploring some in the kitchen. He's excellent with man-food. You know, the stuff that is either grilled or deep fried. His chicken wings are legendary within our church. While my parents were here, he and my dad made grilled ribs with a homemade bbq sauce, homemade cornbread in a cast iron skillet, and grilled corn. He even consulted several different cornbread recipes and then combined a few to create the recipe he wanted. Impressive.

He has been babying his little garden. Seriously, he checks it several times everyday and comes in with reports of how many cucumbers and tomatoes we have, and how the watermelon has doubled in size in the last 12 hours. He's already harvested most the cucumbers. Ironically, he'll never know how great they are because he can't stand them. More for me! It's amazing to me how a man that doesn't like vegetables can be so enamored by gardening them.

Your prayers, please

I have the flu. It is horrible on many levels.

Please, please pray for Hannah to be spared all this. As you can imagine it would not be a good thing for her 5 week old body to endure. Jackson gave it to me, and he's past the worst of it.

Oh, and pray that Mike will be spared too. We need our Mr. Mom healthy around here.

FYI - Dr says there is a lot of flu going around right now... take cover.

....back to bed.