Sweet Moments...

There have been a lot of sweet moments at our house over the past several days. You know...the kind that you want to capture and remember forever. There have been some not so tender moments as well, like sleepless nights, screaming baby and an awake 2 year old who doesn't quite understand why there's so much noise in his house at 3 am. Can't say as I blame him. But I choose to focus on the sweet moments and share them with you.

My favorite happened yesterday afternoon at lunch time. Joshua was having a "picnic" on the living room floor with his hot dog while watching football. I had gone into the kitchen to clean something or fill something or throw something away...honestly, I can't remember. But when I looked up, Joshua had disappeared. He showed up again a moment later holding one of his library books from his room. His beloved book, "Poinsettia and the Firefighters" (which sadly needs to be returned to the library this week), was in his hands. He sweetly sat down next to Lauren's bouncy chair and proceeded to read the entire thing to her from memory. Jason and I were both pretty impressed that he remembered the whole thing, but moreso that he thought to share his favorite story with his baby sister. He's really been pretty indifferent to the baby, but this was one of the first times that we saw him do something nice for her on his own free will. It warmed my heart for sure. See?

We've also been blessed by visitors over the past few days. Emily brought us some wonderful supper on Thursday evening that we were so very thankful for. What a blessing it is not to have to think about what to eat for dinner, or to time cooking it. (I've screwed that up 2 times already since being home. Dinner was thawing on the stove, but I forgot to put it in the oven in time.)

Today, my sister and Brooke accompanied Zig who was coming to play in a golf tournament with Jason. We spent the morning together enjoying all three children. It was a bit chaotic, but wonderful. At lunch time, my parents came and spent a couple of hours with us as well. What fun we all had together. It was noisy, crowded and awesome to be together. I snapped these pictures today, so enjoy them.

Look! Her eyes are open!!

Joshua and Pap running around in the yard. What a gift that my dad took him outside to blow off some steam. They were both worn out and tired from giggling when they came back inside. I'm betting my dad sleeps well tonight.

And just a few minutes ago, snoozing away. It's a tough life she has, honestly.

And finally, our thoughts are with Cory and Shannon today as they are laboring (finally) to meet their little baby. We had hoped for twin cousins, as Shannon's due date was September 29th. Obviously no twin cousins, but we're still anxious to learn of the baby's safe arrival and Shannon's good health. And of course, whether it's going to be PINK or BLUE for baby Casner!

This will be our first week with Jason back to work. Perhaps prayers for me would be in order. I'm a little nervous, but I know we'll manage. Lauren is getting to be more and more predictable and Joshua is adjusting pretty well to being patient and independent when he needs to be. I'm sure there will be temper tantrums (likely from all three of us), but we'll get along just fine. But oh how I'll miss Jason. This has been a true parenthood partnership....50/50....awesome teamwork....over the past week and a half. I appreciate him and his devotion to our family more than I can say.

I'll keep you posted on who's still standing at the end of the day tomorrow!