We're Home!!

We've done it finally!  We are moved in! Hallelujah!

After extensive renovations on our previous house and our now current home, we are finally settling in!  There is still plenty of unpacking to do but it's starting to feel homey again.

I had all but forgotten my laptop, using only my phone to do Facebook updates and such during all of this hustle and bustle.  To be honest my hands are feeling a little unfamiliar with the keyboard still.

In the time I've been away from my blog we have:
Renovated our old home and found renters.

Renovated our new home and moved all of our belongings into it.

Went on vacation less than a week after we moved in. (Crazy right?  I must admit, it was nice to be able to leave our mess behind and block out all of the work that lay ahead. )  We needed the break to spend every moment just being a family.

Isabelle wants to take a class for everything. "Ballet class" "Singing class"... gymnastics has started a snowball effect for recreational learning.

Fiona has a tooth!!  7 months old and has her first tooth. *sniffle* I feel like it's an end of an era.  Tooth number 2 is just under the surface. *sniffle*

Corey and I are soon to celebrate 5 years married!  So far we've had a large lobster boil to celebrate and when the actual day arrives maybe we can steal away for a date... who knows?

None of what we accomplished would be possible without family.  We are truly blessed with so many loved ones caring for us and giving us their time and energy.

Big Changes

Well big news for our little family:

We're moving!  

We have a lot of work ahead of us moving to our new home and preparing our current home to be rented out.
I'll try to stop by here when I have a chance but in the meantime, please pray for us during the chaos of renovating, packing, and finding a responsible renter.

God bless y'all.

Peace In the Labor

"Purpose is found in those quiet moments when no one but God sees the work of your hands" - Darlene Schacht

Recently a Facebook friend posted an article discussing how when raising a family, life is not always about a "fair" work load among the parents.  Now when I had originally read this article I felt indignant.  I understood it to mean: Life is not fair. It's your job, so deal with it and quit whining.  What!?  How dare some random blogger tell me that my feelings/stress/workload are insignificant.  My job is 24/7, no sick days, or vacations.  Although I love my children I strongly dislike laundry, budget making, dishes, cooking and cleaning as a chore. And truth be told, a girl deserves a shower! Hmph.
But then....
I came across this article: Embracing Your Own Cross.  And the title quote struck me:

“If we all threw our crosses in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.”

Part of me thinks that it was fated for me to stumble upon both of these on the same day.  I started to rethink my knee jerk reaction to the first article.  Is this my cross? Truly, where is my burden?  Where within myself do I feel the need to fairly balance the daily requirements of my homemaking?  Why do I feel this way?

I assure you my burden is not in my labor, it's in my perspective.

If I have honestly chosen the care and raising of my family as my vocation, my perspective needs tweaking.  No where in the definition of dedication or faithfulness does it mention fairness.  As much as a I had to surrender my body to laboring in childbirth, so I must surrender my spirit to the joyful purpose of my vocation.  In this life and the next the rewards are unparalleled.

"Similarly, older women should behave as befits religious people, with no scandal-mongering and no addiction to wine -- they must be the teachers of right behavior and show younger women how they should love their husbands and love their children, how they must be sensible and chaste, and how to work in their homes, and be gentle, and obey their husbands, so that the message of God is not disgraced." - Titus 2:3-5 

Instagram - Our life at a glance...

Isabelle's first hair cut by yours truly.

Just rocking and eating some grapes

My idea of heaven.

Sleeping in the swing.

Sumo baby

Mimi (my Mom) and her girls

Couch time cuddles

Daddy is always in high demand.

Just a stroll with my babies on a beautiful day.

The angels that I get to wake up to every morning.

Mimi and Fiona

Proof that Fiona has a neck ;-)

A treasure trove of flowers that Isabelle picked for me.

A walk on a cool sunny day with Daddy.

"Look Mommy, I'm Fiona"

My bright eyed girl.

Some quality afternoon reading.

Squishy baby smooches!

2 month old Fiona

best days of my life.

Sneaky sleeping smiles

Fiona and I couldn't take the suspense of the JMU tournament game

smiling girl!

Add caption

I love my job.

Sister snuggles

Bath time!  Big sister is on the scene to help

Smiling at her big sister

Isabelle's painted toddler toes

Photography by Isabelle

Some naked baby time.

I'm back!

I've been absent but can you blame me?  Who wants to miss a minute of their kids growing up?  So I type this as all of my babies (yes, even the hubs) sleep peacefully.

Our sweet doll baby Fiona

Fiona is almost 3 months old:

*swoon*

• I almost can't believe how quickly this is flying by.  She's well over 15 pounds and may be more now since it's been a while since we've weighed her.  
• She is still a champion nurser, feeding every two hours during the day and going longer stretches at night (almost 4 hours).  She has occasional cluster feedings but they are completely manageable   
• She has such an easy going disposition, the only time she gets irritated is when she isn't able to sleep peacefully. (Usually because her older sister is the most incredible human noise maker I've ever encountered).  
• Still exclusively breastfed and co-sleeping with us. I have tried swaddling her in the co-sleeper next to me but can't seem to settle into a peaceful sleep so we're sticking with what works. (And I don't mind a single bit!)  
• Her eyes are still very light, very blue with a lighter circle around her pupil. It's still too early to tell what color they may end up being though.

Isabelle turns 3 years old next month:

A big girl in her big girl bed!

• I was in disbelief ordering all of her birthday party supplies, how can she be 3 already?  But my oh my, the personality on her.  
• She keeps me giggling all day long.  Even when she does something that warrants my correction, I sometimes have to hide a smile because, well, she just can't help how darn cute she is!  
• Her crib has been converted to a "big girl bed" per her request.  She enjoys waking up and playing with her toys in her room, such independence!
• Potty training is hit and miss, pun intended.  She has days where she doesn't have a single accident and other days where she gets frustrated and needs a break.  I'm comfortable with the pace she sets for herself.  When she's ready she'll master it.  
• She can count wonderfully and we're working on addition by using groupings of toys or any other found objects.  
• She sings her ABC's in a looping fashion, instead of "next time won't you sing with me", she just starts the song over again.  
• We have been having regular Sunday school here at home and I'm pretty proud that my 2 year old can tell you the story of Jesus.  
• We've been dabbling in pairing words that rhyme and I plan on focusing on individual letters of the alphabet soon.  She enjoys structure and soaks up information as long as it's presented in a way that she responds to.  
• For an almost 3 year old, I think she's wicked smart.

Religious education. Aka: my poorly drawn bible stories

Easter Sunday

Trimming trees... yikes!

Corey and I are well, we have become quite the parenting duo.  We both got our first sunburns of the season last week while helping my parents tackle some VERY large trees.  We have managed to stay very busy with different events filling up our family calendar.  Corey is almost finished with his classes for this semester, he'll have a nice Summer break, and then back to it in the Fall.  I'll be happy when he's mine all mine for the whole week once he's home from work.

Daddy had a birthday.... I won't tell which one ;-)

That's the basics as far as catching up is concerned.  I'm hoping to allow a little more time for myself in the evenings to start to journal thoughts and happenings again!

Instagram Uploads - Our life at a glance...

Aunt Katie flew home to meet her new niece Fiona but still had studying to do.

Newborn Fiona in 0-3 months clothing but with feet too large for the size.

Baby wearing at it's finest.

Isabelle in her rag curlers

Making silly faces.

Pucker up Buttercup!

Sweet sleepy babe.

Watching late night sports with Daddy

Snowy Eskimo kisses.

Early morning sister story time.

Snow day!

Just rocking with Mama

Dressed and ready for story time at the library.

Life is happening so fast around here, I'm going to try and log these moments here in my free time but most of it is spent cradling a babe.  And I'm not sorry. ;-)