Random, BUT IMPORTANT, ramblings...

Wow, life is so busy in our house, even when we're doing NOTHING! Time flies so quickly while we go about our days learning, cooking, playing, and just living...so here I am to give a bit of an update.

Emma is still not walking but is cruising on furniture and loving 'getting into' everything. She's such a blessing and a joy, and I'm so glad she's in our lives. I believe she is cutting her tenth tooth, though it hasn't actually popped through the gum yet. She's developing more of a personality....voicing her displeasure and pleasure at things. She tries to imitate and laughs out loud quite often if she hears one of us laughing. She enjoys throwing things on the floor, be it books, snacks, her dinner....so we have to watch her with that. "No" is not a favorite word of hers (at least to hear) so she cries when we don't let her do those things....however, she is almost just as quick to hand us something she knows she shouldn't have, whether it's bits of paper, a leaf, a Lego piece, or Daddy's mouse...a sweet baby and we all love her so much.

The older kids have been learning more about playing basketball. We've been trying to walk up to the basketball court a couple of times a week, and they all play with Karl. Emma tries to get in on the action, but I keep her off the court as much as possible. Both of the older two came downstairs this morning saying various body parts are sore, so I know they got a good workout yesterday. ;)

Our caterpillars all emerged last week and over the weekend, so we now have 10 Painted Lady butterflies flying around in Hailey's butterfly pavilion. I think we'll release them tomorrow or Wednesday. The weather is forecast to be in the 70's all week so it should be a nice time to do it. I still have to get some plants that they like though, so we'll have a chance of them sticking around.

We had an alligator sighting in our community (not us, but someone here), and we're supposed to call the office if we see it. So, no more catching minnows (at least not without Daddy right there) in the lake for the kids until it's been caught. (Maybe not even then) We've been staying inside the fence to be safe, though we haven't seen anything but our regular visitors: the sand hill cranes Stuffing and Rye; the duck, Waddles; and various other water fowl that are always out on the lake.

My mom is home....came home on Thursday or Friday, and is feeling good. I think she's still on antibiotics and I'm sure she'll have a follow-up appointment sometime soon, but she's on the mend. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers, it meant so much.

I was reading back over some old posts, marveling at the turn of events in our lives over the past several years, especially in the last 2.5. We've had job changes, moves, added a new baby....I'm constantly amazed at what God is doing and has done for us. It's taken a lot of faith and trust, striving for a good attitude. I've had some challenges with some of those things, but overall I know He knows what's best for me. I can always trust Him, no matter the circumstance. We're going to have yet another opportunity to do that as we walk through this year, as we've recently discovered that we are expecting baby number five. I'm just amazed at His goodness and the many blessings He continues to bestow on our family! Karl and I both have some concerns, since this pregnancy follows so soon after Emma's birth, but we continue to look to Him for our needs. Prayers are coveted as always, and we hope you'll join us in celebrating yet another life.