The daily routine

involves swimming and cooking (among other things). I love that Nora is interested in helping with chores even if it takes me longer...may her excitement never cease. A few years down the road maybe her help will actually be saving me time. For now, I just try to remind myself to have fun with it. She is so funny in how seriously she takes her work. Check out the butter knife she's using to "cut" the peppers. She eventually gave up and just started ripping pieces off. Haha!

The hat club...I can't believe that it's almost October and still in the 90s. It's weird to be seeing fall gourds and pumpkins at the grocery and realize that it is technically fall on the calendar, but still seems like summer to me. Maybe I'll make a pumpkin or apple pie in...January.

Come on back now, ya hear?

FYI: Next week (when I have a bit more time), I'll be making the blog private. We want you to keep visiting and posting comments, so please don't be deterred by the extra step of requesting access! We love our blog friends (besides I'll also have the pleasure of finding out those of you who visit but never comment...which is what I do 99% of the time with others, so that's not a criticism :0)

Milestones

A big day for these bath times buddies. "Joefish" (Nora's rendition) turned eight weeks and Nora...
...bought big girl panties because she went all day -the first day of potty training -with only 1 accident! I can't believe how little I did. She seems to have just decided that she's ready. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Now for the random pictures.

I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but when he's mad, Joseph scoots -far. I can't put him on our bed without making sure pillows are snug around him. In the picture above, he protested tummy time for about 15 minutes before stopping -seemingly exhausted -several feet from where I put him. I wonder if that is any indication he might be an early crawler?

And last, but not least, the adorable pouty face. If he's trying to make me feel sorry for him, it doesn't work. I just crack up every time. Poor guy.

Tuesdays are my Mondays

...for this semester anyhow. Stephen has class ALL day. His carpool departure is 7AM; his evening class ends at 9:45PM. Thankfully, he's able to come home for an hour at supper time. Still, a long day for both of us. So, as I wait for him to come home, too tired to do anything else, I added links to my blog. I've been wanting to do that for a while. It wasn't the priority on my to-do list. Far from it, but I didn't have the energy for my to-do list tonight. Maybe tomorrow. We'll see.

In other news, Joseph had a doctor's appointment today and he weighs 11 pounds. He's outgrowing his newbie baby clothes, so I had confidence he was gaining weight just fine.

Nora LOVES swimming in the pool. Each group of apartment buildings in the complex (we live in the French style buildings) has a shared pool and laundry facilities (yes, I cart my dirty laundry, my quarters, my detergents and softener and two kiddos to do laundry -I'm beginning to think maybe I'll do alright without a gym membership, sanity aside). The pool is almost always empty, so it's like having our own pool. Yesterday, the pool man kicked us out so he could clean it, but we weren't bothered. We just went and had a picnic on the lawn...in 90 degree heat. Okay, so maybe we were miffed. But it didn't take too long and we were back again cooling off. Thankfully, the pool area is surrounded by trees, so there is lots of shade for the kiddos. On a side note, it's more green here than I had expected. We have a number of old, lovely trees around our building. Well, Stephen is home now. So, that's all there is for now.

In my khaki pants...

And today

Momma with her 6 week old boy

Our little girl -painted and pigtailed

Brother and sister

The second-born's fate

Two weeks old with my brother, Nathan

Three weeks old being fed by sister

Five weeks old with a smile that melts our hearts

Five weeks old just one of the bears

It's true. I wanted to believe it wouldn't happen, but it has. Joseph will have less pictures in his baby album than his sister. Here are a few from the slim pickins of the past weeks. There is no proof of week four (moving week) whatsoever. A tragedy. No doubt he will be scarred for life.

Searching for normalcy

It has not yet found. As I look back over our summer, I wonder that so much has happened. Life is so changed, and it keeps on changing. Nothing, as yet, is normal. I haven't gotten into that mother-of-two rhythm yet. Stephen is trying to find a routine as a full-time grad student who must also balance the needs of his family.

Nora has seen so much transition in her young life. She's lived in four different places and spent weeks of her life traveling -to see extended family and then in Europe. She's resilient, always has been. Still, as she's reached an age where she can remember family and friends made, it's hard to have her asking about them, to wonder what's unchanging, who she can count on.

We had no more than (mostly) unpacked in Dallas, had a celebratory meal with friends to mark the occasion and the next day I was in the hospital with Joseph. We were there for over 48 hours, had a number of tests run, and were sent home with a minor diagnosis. Nursing from my perspective has been much better, but Joseph had ingested blood from me that caused abnormal spit-up and diapers. We're home from the hospital now, but I'm still puzzling and searching for answers for why my baby boy is so fussy at feeding time. Maybe he, too, is sensing and responding to all the change.

I realize this post sounds pessimistic, but I'm not. We are growing to love our Dallas home. We have amazing friends who have been a solid support since we arrived. We have visited a couple excellent churches we would love to become active in. There is much promise here. Not the tangibles in and of themselves, but in the knowledge that our Lord has always been faithful. I have seen and felt more acutely my own sin and finiteness and been amazed at God's grace and power. I'm excited to see what He has for us in Dallas.

My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace
-Caedmon's Call