A Girl!!

The newest Day will be a little girl!! I am so excited that she and Aubrey will be sisters - a relationship that I find incredibly enriching personally and for most sisters I know. I do feel a little sad that, with 3, someone was going to be "odd man out"... but I cannot really see trying for a 4th. First, I would be terrified to go for another baby at my age because if there were chromosomal issues I would feel responsible. Second, there would be no guarantee that Eli would gain a brother - he may end up feeling even more left out! Still, I have prayed that God will change our minds if that is what He desires and that any decision to move forward with a fourth child would be made for all the right reasons - and not to gain a brother or sister, not to selfishly enjoy another baby, but because God called the baby to this world. If not, if we are complete as a family, then I hope God will lay this upon our hearts as well. In the meantime, I am celebrating this new little life!!! Every day I wake and tell her "hello!" We have been focusing on names so that this time our little one won't have to wait until the day we take her home to have a name. The naming process, for me, is so serious and important that I really dwell on all the potential pros and cons of each name. We make lists, "live" with the name for a few days, and then revise. The final decision, though, will come when we see her little face ... can't wait!!

A Great Week

This first full week has been so incredibly rewarding! Even the instances I lovingly refer to as "learning curve moments" have confirmed again and again our decision to take a break from teaching full time and stay at home. I realize the hardest part remains ahead, when I go from two running underfoot to three, but I can't wait. In so many ways I can see being a SAHM being more challenging that the teaching/daycare routine, but I am already exponentially happier.

Family

Spent Saturday with the extended family, celebrating Jason's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. It is amazing the number of successful marriages in his family! His parents remain close and loving. Both sets of his grandparents provide wonderful marriage models as well. Whenever we travel and see his family, it brings back a little bit of a longing to return to the county in which many of his family lives and he and I grew up. My mother kept the kids while we went to the celebratory dinner (which was also lovely) and we were able to sit and talk. I wish that we could do that more often, although there is a great deal here in Charlotte (like my own wonderful sister and niece, friends, and our church) to keep us here. Isn't it funny how when you have kids you begin to long for the very things you once pushed away?

I Love Playdates!

We all trooped over to one of my best friend's house yesterday. She has a son who is 1 year older than Aubrey, and the kids (even Eli!) played like fiends for a few hours. Aubrey and Eli adored the horses and one of the barn cats even let my two rub him (bad security risk, kitty!) When most people in an area "stayed home" with kids, did they have play dates a lot? Or was there too much to do? Growing up we had another family living nearby with kids our age and my sister remembers our mother and theirs sitting and drinking wine while we ran wild in the back yard, but they moved away when before I entered kindergarten. I still see kids in packs running around my neighborhood, but that honestly makes me a little nervous. I wish we could have play dates more often - the company, the interaction of the kids, the new experiences - all of these things made a summer day a wonderful treat!

I often worry about losing one Aubrey or Eli. For example, yesterday Eli's lips suddenly seemed to be more red than usual. I spent at least 4 minutes convinced he was about to suffer some sort of anaphylactic shock! This devotion (from one of my favorite sites) really spoke to me! Just click on the box...

A Day at Home

Yesterday was the first official day of just "the kids and mom" at home in the new stretch of working from home. I give myself a B+... we did get outside and do some "school" and I did the laundry as well as my own online work, but I let them watch 3 episodes of Bubble Guppies (2 in the morning while I did a little computer time and 1 when I started getting dinner ready). That is about, oh, 300% more TV than they are supposed to view at this age. I will have to figure out some workable alternatives... maybe I could hire a clown? (Just kidding!) Anyway, I was physically tired (I will have to build up stamina) but so happy at the end of the day.

Today I am continuing my "let's get this long overdue house-organizing done" and working to figure out a few schedules for our day. I hope it will be as great as yesterday!

Tomorrow Starts A New Journey!

Tomorrow will be my first official day as a "stay at home" mom. I will be working part-time online, but the majority of my time will be spent taking care of my family. As an educated female living in a (relatively) liberated society, I am so grateful that I have had the opportunities and the options to work outside the home, work inside the home, and combine the two. I am very excited!!! Of course, I imagine there will be a learning curve. How long? Who knows! All I know is that I do not have a second of regret in turning away from the "working world" for a while. I can guarantee I will be working just as hard as ever, but I hope that my time with my kids will ultimately be even more rewarding. And then, in December (if all goes well), our new little one will arrive! This is going to be one crazy new adventure for our family, but I know God will provide, protect, and prosper His plans for us!