Monday.

Sigh.  Monday.  And the Monday after Easter, no less!  It almost seems as bad as the day after Christmas.  Such a let-down after such great anticipation and joy.  Maybe it's accentuated by the pessimist in me; joy is suppose to stick around for a while, right?  I could blame it on the weather: gloomy & rainy as it is, forcing the heater to kick on.  At this point in spring, I loath the clicking of the gas ignition from the recesses of the basement.  But wait a minute, isn't this everything that Jesus rose from the dead to overcome?  Death and gloom and sadness?  Why yes, it is!  Ok, deep breath, a prayer for Satan's sad lies to be dispersed, and a re-focus on all God's blessings.  I can do this.  First, there are my happy children running around in their pj's, eating muffins and building Thomas train tracks criss-crossing the living room.  There's also the happy movements in my womb of baby #3.  Oh, baby #3!  Now the cobwebs are beginning to fade!  [Pause to fill up my favorite mug with coffee (and half hazelnut creamer)-the one Dad brought me when he returned from Bosnia.  It reads: "Smile! 'Cause God thinks you're special...and so do I!"]  [Another pause to approve of Aiden taking his socks off.]  There is much to do!  Easter decor to be returned to it's bin, Polish pottery pulled back out, the planting of seeds indoors to ready for the garden, not to mention preparing for the baby!  There is a trundle bed mega-deal to be found (along with mattresses), an Ashton to transition to big brother's room, shelves to be installed in closets, clothes bins to be purchased, new lovies to be ordered (Aiden picked out some adorable green and brown ones online), and the myriad of [pause to break up a train fight] projects Andy and I have planned for the house.  Anyone want gift ideas for baby #3?  I have a wish-list; I'll work on posting it.  (Insert smile here!)  And then I remember that Mom is coming for two and half months.  Woo-hoo!  I can't wait for her to see me running my house, spend endless time with my boys and enjoy some r&r in our beautiful part of the USA.  And this week alone should be fun, with a routine dr's appt, Andy's "weekend" on Tuesday and Wednesday, prek & softball on Tuesday and Thursday and no doubt playdates & a dinner out with friends sprinkled in-between!  Praise the Lord, life truly is amazing, [pause to get Ashton a cup of milk] for HE is good, and His love endures forever. 

Virtually?!?!  Does that mean that my dishes are actually NOT "rinsed right"?  

Spring?

This winter was long and cold and spring just can't come soon enough.  So I am not so sure my iris buds were appreciative of the white stuff yesterday. 

Spring truly IS beautiful around here ... whenever it finally decides to come!  But Ava brought me some beautiful flowers from her yard yesterday.  I was very grateful for a bit of spring.  Not that I know what they are called, but they are lovely!

Praise the Lord, it's Easter!

Easter is a big deal around our house - Jesus is the center focus of our family and this day has been greatly anticipated.  We have been preparing our hearts, focusing on our unworthiness & Jesus' unselfish greatness of dying on the cross and rising from the dead, triumphing over eternal condemnation for us.  Our house has been decorated for Easter for 6 weeks & the Easter story read and re-read.  I was up late last night, making blueberry muffins for breakfast, stuffing eggs with candy, and pulling out all the treasures I have hidden around the kitchen in the past few weeks - all while watching the Ten Commandments, of course.  And this morning was a fun hustle of basket reveals, egg hunts, muffins & church clothes.

Popeye and Olive Oyle contributed to the overflowing baskets (er, buckets) of gifts.

And yes, even South Paw received an Easter gift.  She was elated!

And we had the pleasure of coloring boiled eggs yesterday with our dear little friends, Ava and Loralei.  There's just something about the pureness of children's happiness that is so contagious!

Saturday

So despite the long, long to-do list for around the house, there was something much more pressing on our weekend agenda.  Andy and I have spent the past couple weeks doing our research, all day on the phone yesterday, and were finally able to head out today.  But of course by the time I packed the baby bag for Armageddon, made our traditional Saturday blueberry muffins, and Andy printed off maps, it was lunchtime.  So we made a pit stop at Red Robin.  The boys, needless-to-say, were ecstatic when we ordered them Sprites.  Of course, half an hour (and 3 trips to the bathroom with Aiden!) later, we regretted such a choice.  But they were happy children on sugar highs!

Psycho Mamma

I was doing great: happy and upbeat ... until the dark clouds moved in, the temperature dropped, the wind picked up, my boys hit sugar highs right around nap time, we were 20 miles from home and I began to realize how stressful the upcoming excursion was going to be (for me, at least).  Heavy coat, spilled Sprite, shrieking children and pregnancy hormones just don't mix all that well.  But I was proud of myself.  I only freaked out once!  LOL

So What Exactly DID We Do Today?!?!

Here were the boys, Ashton being a complete nutcase, waiting for 3 hours in the glass-enclosed waiting room of ...

The Infiniti dealership where we purchased our Toyota Sequoia!  Yep, with #3 on the way, the 4Runner just won't cut it, so it was time to trade up.  Me, personally, being somewhat of a car guru (ok, maybe snob is a better term, but anyway!) am thrilled to have a Sequoia and equally as thrilled to have found a 7 passenger SUV, with much lower monthly payments than we had budgeted, all while still keeping the Toyota-exclusive roll-down back window.  And I'm not complaining about the heated leather seats, V-8, 4 wheel drive, Limited edition either.  As the Duggars say, "Buy used, save the difference!"  And I say, "Andy spoils me."  But Andy was actually the only one who test drove it and he came back with an indellible smile.  He's not going to complain about all the shoulder room, especially on vacation.

So with our folder of info and stats and our determination to get an awesome deal and not get even remotely ripped-off like the last two times, we marched in with confidence - and our two Crazies.  I think they aided in the manager coming down to our terms.  Glass rooms & kids, well, need I really say more?!  Except that our salesman, Bobby, was super sweet!

Here's the luxurious beast!  We pick him up on Monday once he's been detailed.  So who would like to babysit the boys Monday afternoon?!?!

Now we have room for family when they come visit.  (cough)  That means I want to hear people booking plane tickets!!!!

Big

Isn't he looking so old?!  I can't believe he's 4.  He'll always hold a super special spot in my heart.

Here he was proudly (and quietly!) building a Lego train while Little slept.  Can you tell he's right handed & legged?!

Here he was a year ago!

After a long hietus ...

I'm back among the blogging world.  In fact, I consider this the first time since December that I'm actually back among the real world in general!  Today I celebrate the 6th month mark of the pregnancy of my 3rd boy.  And all things considered, I'm feeling pretty good!  Oh sure, there are things like the utter exhaustion by 7:15pm and the severe hip pain that stops me in my tracks, but those are just things I am beginning to see are reflections of my humanity; a human state that is far from perfect and a woman who is in desperate need of a forgiving, perfect God.  And oh how I praise Him for His greatness, faithfulness and sweet reminders of how much He cares for me, even when I spend most days finding fault among most everything. 

So, yes, much has happened in our little household and family since December, but I'll have to fill in the details later.  Right now the boys are napping (I think), and a record-warm day is upon us - allowing me to have all the windows and doors open, which, let me tell you, in somewhat of an anomaly in April in our part of the Northeast.  (Apparently we live just about 45 minutes away from the official "New England" cutoff.  I would think that would be enough to shrug off and include our beautiful area, but the locals are of a different opinion.  But I digress ...).  The dryer is buzzing as I sit in a jelly-encrusted chair, and the front windowsill & trim are calling for me to make them white again; I am more than happy to oblige.  But perhaps I'll bust out the can of paint after I take few moments to cut back some old vines under the window box.  I cannot convey how happy my heart is that the weather has turned warm & the iris shoots are making their appearance.  The next few months will be filled with many to-do lists and lots of hard work - something I gladly look forward to after a long, rather sickly winter. 

And of course I look forward to regularly updating the blog!  Thanks to Lisa & Ana for the kick-in-the-pants I needed to get back online!  I am blessed with such wonderful friends!

Love & blessings to all who actually still check my silliness,

Aub