I'm Still Here!

Hello, my faithful friends who still check on my blog, even though I haven't written in months! This is one of the many things I would like to get better at! This has been a crazy few months of transition, and we are still in it! We have moved to a new town, Abilene. We have bought our first house:

I love it! I have loved re-decorating, and changing the rooms to be more "us." I'll have to post some pics of that sometime soon.

Steve is the pastor at a new church so there are tons of new people to get to know, and old friends to grieve. There are new joys and new challenges.

The kids have started a new school and made some new friends (Praise God!) I realized when we went to Meet the Teacher that this is the 4th school in 4 years they have been to. Next year will be the first time in 4 years that they will get their class list and might actually know some people in their class. Lily-Grace started Kindergarten this year. Joey just turned 4. For the first time, I don't feel like a "young parent." I feel "seasoned." I hope it is nicely seasoned and not overdone.

Our house is right across from a park with an awesome walking track. The other day I saw two young moms pushing double strollers around with an infant and a 2 year old, and I was instantly transported back to my time in Crowell - walking the roads in town with my friend Crystal and our boys about the same ages. I felt a lump in my throat, and I had to suppress a strong desire to run out and grab the moms, and tell them to savor it - savor the time because it is gone so fast! At the time, I don't remember savoring it. It wasn't nostalgic at all - it was a 2 year old trying to climb out of the stroller and a baby crying, and trying to soothe him with his pacifier, and Oh my gosh! Did my milk just let down and will it leak through my shirt? All the while trying to carry on a conversation with Crystal in a desperate attempt to have a conversation with another adult. It didn't feel special or like something to savor. But now I realize it was.

So, last night as it was bedtime, and I was tired, and sooo ready for them to go to bed, and Lily and Joey started singing a made-up song that went on forever and was really just a stall tactic to put off bedtime a few more minutes, I just sat back and listened...and savored. In just a few years there will be no more sweet-smelling heads to kiss at bedtime and read a story to and sing a song with. So, I savored.

Time is moving quickly and there is much transition right now - I am going back to work full-time at our church's preschool. Teaching 2 year olds. Pray for me. I am trying to be more organized and exercise and get up early and go to bed before midnight. This is a struggle for me. But I constantly have stories in my head that need to be written, and so I will try to find the time for that as well. It helps me to savor.