A New Year- A New Start

We ended 2018 with a visit from Matt's brother and wife, and began 2019 with a visit from my family.

Both visits were relaxing and rejuvenating. We are so grateful for good friends, love, and peace.

Sarah and Joseph began the New Year with a huge change: Mom let them leave the house! 

They started Youth Group at Immaculate Conception in Lapeer, and LOVE IT. They have made a lot of friends and really enjoy playing the parish priest, Father Hurley, in foosball.

#22

The children have been a little sassy when it comes to their school papers. It's been a long year. We had a pep talk and feel like we can push through the second half of the school year, but in the meantime, I'll continue to laugh in secret at their tests and compositions.

There are many, many things I love about living in Michigan; the SUNSHINE is probably my favorite thing. The house is so bright and I cannot get enough of the sunrises and sunsets right outside my window. Sometimes the children and I linger at the breakfast table, just to sit in awe of God.

 

 The children have not ceased making huge messes, but I am encouraging them to clean up after themselves...and pushing the independence that they've been asking for, for so long.

 We met a wonderful family close by that tolerates us just enough to spend free time and do all sorts of activities together! The Edwards are a blessing to all of us. 

Now, if I could tell our girls apart...

TWO!

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT CHARLES IS TWO!

He is so sweet. He makes us all laugh and we wait around to see what he will do or say next!

Charlie loves tractors, balls and his daddy. He "plays" video games (with an rc remote from a broken car) with his siblings. He jumps up and down and cheers with them. He loves Signing Time dvds. He watches the birds in our yard with great interest and has even started naming them. 

All he wanted for his birthday was pizza and donuts.

He still chants "PIZZA! DONUT! PIZZA! DONUT!" from his birthday. He sings happy birthday to himself whenever there is a lull in the circus here at home. 

When Charlie wakes up in the morning, he asks for applesauce and water. It has become such a thing, that he crawls out of bed, still half asleep, stumbles into the kitchen with his eyes half closed, opens the pantry himself and grabs the applesauce. 

Like an adult, totally dysfunctional before morning coffee.

Like...ummm...Me!

Ordinary (is anything but ordinary) Time

We've been living in the beautiful state of Michigan for two months now. It seems almost impossible that this is home. As we were driving back from Mass on Sunday, I told Matt that it felt almost like we had taken a trip and we were all waiting for our return to Syracuse. 

These Michigan gifts from the Edwards and Sterners, our new friends at church, were such a lovely welcome.

The children are back into the swing of school...after MUCH prodding. Everyone appears to be taking the return to normalcy in positive ways. 

Except Esther. But she's usually pretty oppositional, even in good times. 

The children have been loving every single second they get with their dad. Matt is getting back into the swing of things and especially dreading loving helping out at bedtime.

We spend a lot of time making messes and playing together. It has been a delicious reprieve after months of cleaning, staging and time apart.

Charlie is definitely making up for lost time by cruising along as quickly as possible, leaving a trail of toddler mess behind him. He can often be found with a stool in his hand, so that he can reach about 6 inches higher than the average two-year-old. His range thus extended, Matt and I have a great deal of elevated babyproofing to do around here.

Charlie found my drawer of bath bombs and quickly detonated as many as possible. The bathroom still smells lovely.

I have now reached the "Aircraft Carrier" stage of pregnancy. It takes me a full room to turn around, an entire bed to roll over, and a fridge stocked with seltzer water to keep me hydrated. It's perfect and wonderful and we cannot wait for the new babe!

Lois and Dale came over on New Year's to help us celebrate! We had a great time playing cards and laughing. We are so grateful for each friend we have here in Michigan.

Christmas 2018