an announcement of sorts. . .

My hubby asked me a couple of days ago, what date it was. I told him the 16th. He informed me that at the time, it had been 11 days since I last blogged! Ahhh, yes, my blog! I do sooo enjoy blogging! I love sharing our adventures, my thoughts, memory keeping, etc. I have no plans to desert this spot! And I do appreciate how Chad loves to follow along (even though he experiences most of it daily) and gives me a little nudge here and there!
So, let me recap what in the world has kept us so busy! In no particular order. . .

#1 Little Lukey had eye surgery last week. It pretty much consumed me the few days before and the several after. The surgery, at this point, seems successful according to his dr. Praise the Lord! However, it was much harder on Luke and us, as parents, than any of us thought it would be! The anesthesia was a bear, the pain after coming out of it was rough, and now the keeping him from running and jumping for another week may do me in! It's hard to keep a 6 year old down, ya know? He's recovering quite well now, but his eyes are quite red and bloody looking. He thinks it's cool because he "looks fierce!" I'm really thankful for his perspective!!

#2 For the first time in a month and a half, we are sick. Poor little Miles is the worst. A raging ear infection and some viral something or other has him down. He can't breathe and his precious lips are dry and cracked. He has so much drainage that he is choking and throwing up. He is exhausted and just miserable. When I took this picture,

we were looking out our kitchen window at the wind chimes, which were ringing steadily, due to the wind advisories we've had over the past several days. I noticed that when it is cold and cloudy and rainy outside, the wind chimes sound melancholy to me. Yet, when it is sunny and the wind chimes are tinkling, I think they sound cheerful and they appear to look like they are happily dancing in the breeze. Ahhhh, isn't that a perspective on life? The first day Miles was sick, I remember telling Chad, "Wow. I know he's sick, but praise the Lord that no one has been sick for a month and a half!" The very next day, I was bummed out because Miles was so miserable. I wasn't feeling thankful at all. I'm re-reading, my very favorite book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, with a couple of friends. In it, she ponders how often we are thankful for only the good the Lord gives us (how easy it is), and not thankful for the bad (what a sacrifice that can be). I'm thankful to be reminded of this, because in the trenches of life (and ours isn't too deep) sometimes I forget!

#3 I think I mentioned in my last post (13 days ago), that we have decided to move. We want to be closer to church and schools. It's been in our thoughts for a while, but what put a fire under us, is actually what's in us (or who's in me, rather). . .

#4 and yes, I saved #4 to announce that our #4 is on his or her way!!! Shocker of all shockers, but we are beyond excited! He or she is obviously in the Lord's plan for our family, and why would we want anything different? So we think life is a little crazy and a LOT blessed now, but imagine what life will be like at the beginning of August?? A whole lot crazier and blessed more than we can dream!!