Our Cup Runneth Over

A Quiverful


Ricker and Miss Googly Grin

Whew! What a week! We're so thankful to finally be feeling more normal and getting adjusted back to our own time zone. It is great to look out our windows in the morning and greet Catalina and the sparkling Pacific Ocean. Home has never felt so good!

Like many other families we've heard from, we came home to chaos. Isn't that the way it goes? Right before Jackie was born we moved into a new home and installed hardwood floors throughout and then had a huge flood which destroyed those brand-new floors and a great deal of our belongings. And then Jackie decided to make his debut a month early, so we left everything in complete disarray, flew to meet our new son, and came home a couple of weeks later to live in a hotel until our floors were restored. Talk about cuckoo!

This time wasn't quite that extreme of an ordeal, but it has been a challenge getting back into the right time zone with two infants not knowing what on earth time it is. Then both of the babies got sick with intestinal yuckies. In one particularly memorable moment I was changing both babies' diapers and had Elianna Ray on the changing table and turned to see naked Evangeline walking away from me holding a poopy diaper. She definitely knew what she was doing was naughty since she was saying, "No No! Here! Icky icky!"

Thankfully, it IS getting a little easier every day. Elianna Ray slept a blessed 11 hours last night, which is a huge improvement from our first couple of days home when she was ready to party all night long. And, I'm slowly learning how to manage caring for two babies. I now have a brand new respect for mothers of multiples. Just feeding two babies at the same time makes me feel like I need supplemental arms. Bathing two requires a healthy sense of humor and a willingness to get sweaty and soaked. Pretty much every activity is hysterical. At least I don't have any problems falling asleep at night!

7 Months Old!

Elianna is adjusting very well. The babies are still learning how to play together. I've caught Evangeline taking Elianna's hand off a toy and saying, "No no, don't tuh!" (No, no, don't touch) a few times now. Too funny. Elianna is developing before our eyes. Playing with toys was at first very overwhelming, but she's quickly learning to enjoy them. She's rolling all over the place, sitting up more, doing better in her car seat, and loooooves the bath. She started solid food, which she is not at all opposed to. Papa is definitely her favorite person in the world.

Marg, Ricker & Jackie are incredibly helpful and want to care for her as much as possible. We had heard war stories about how tough it can be for the older kids to adjust, but they have made this week much, much easier for me, so for that I'm very grateful.

Also, we officially started our homeschool year this last week. Marg is now in 9th grade, Ricker in 7th, Jackie finishing up 2nd in a few weeks and starting 3rd! How did my babies get so grown up so fast?!? God bless Miss Briana who is such a huge help to me.

Jackie

Marg

Ricker

Miss Briana

Another shot from today's water party

We're so blessed.