Catching Up

(Game Day at the Durham House...yes, that is ESPN Game Day on the TV.)

(My new favorite picture of Weston=) Look at this big boy hold up his head! 2 month appointment: 13lbs. 3oz.--and no that's not a booger, it's his stork bite birth mark.)

So, life is slowly but surely beginning to return what is probably a new sense of normal. We have all been passing around the flu for the past three weeks, so now Weston is on the tale end of kicking it, then we should be fine until the next round of germ or virus decides to attack=) Such is winter-time with small kids.

(Ok, the cakes aren't gorgeous, but they tasted good. The big one is a vanilla pumpkin cake with caramel rum glaze...very yummy...and yes, my two-year old had rum on her birthday cake. Hahaha!)(Her birthday present from Mommy and Daddy. I wish video clips didn't take so long to upload...she is hilarious in this thing!)(The adorable outfit Aunt Lah gave her. She was running around the house in just the shoes and a diaper the day after she got them=)

Savannah's two-year old birthday didn't go as planned given she was sick as a dog, coughing her lungs out the night before her party day. But we celebrated with some in-town family anyway, and she enjoyed being the center of attention as always, even though she was the only one in the room under 29=) Hahaha! Well, I've had to give up the notion that her life would ever be anything like mine growing up, always surrounded by other kids at family events. That's not the path God has planned for her, and I'm the one having to learn to adjust...go figure. But I can say, she thoroughly enjoyed every minute of her birthday, and that's all that really matters, right?

(See...he's coming alive...and that's almost a smile=)

Weston is also slowly starting to come alive from the inanimate baby stage. He is observing the world around him with keen eyes, following people around the room, playing with facial expressions and partial smiles, --my favorite--he's even starting to coo and grunt, trying to join in on the conversation every now and then. He hasn't been crying near as much. Could be he doesn't really have reflux or at least anymore, could be he's starting to figure out his daily schedule and sleeping 8-9 hours through the night, could be he's sick and doesn't have the energy to use those lungs...in any case, it's nice to not have his shrieking grating on my nerves and conscience for the time being=)

(First trip to Burt's Pumpkin Farm.)

As far as catching up goes, well, I'm getting there. My list of errands to run dwindles. I'm starting to have more time to exercise and work on projects and spend in God's Word. Sleep is still a much needed commodity, but my body is adjusting to the lack of it for the time being. It's the whole being a mom of two thing that still takes so much work. My biggest hurdle these days: You cannot give 100% to everyone in your own household all the time. Someone is always getting the short end of the stick. It seems like every time I turn around, I can't hold Savannah when she needs me because I have to feed Weston, or I can't pick up Weston when he's crying because I'm in the middle of putting Savannah to bed, and well Joey...HA!...Joey's always getting the leftovers at the end of long days, Lord knows he gets the shortest stick of all, and well, myself..HAHAHA!...I don't even get a stick=)

But it struck me the other day, that this is just how's it's going to be. I'm not God. I can't be everywhere all at once and fulfill every need at the same time. Only He can do that. So I find myself praying more in between breaths and every activity, praying that God will be sufficient for not just me, but the rest of my family. That He will fill in the holes I can't fill, and mostly that He will fill my life as needed because in the midst of taking care of everyone else around me, I'm horrible at taking care of myself. So as far as catching up goes, I don't think I can catch up at this point. The only thing I, in my fleshly self, can hope to attain is a balance...a fine balance of who gets cheated out of what when. Makes me understand the title of Andy Stanley's book Choosing to Cheat more and more every day. So, I officially give up trying to "catch up". My new motto now is "balancing act." Let's see how God and I can work this act together=)

Enjoy the pics=) Latest Savannahism: I was getting lunch ready the other day. Savannah was waiting patiently in her booster seat, talking to herself about who knows what. She's over there fiddling with her baby doll, paying me no mind, when she hears Samson and Lila barking at something outside in the backyard. All of a sudden, her gibberish becomes very understandable: "Hush! Hush, tupid dogs, hush! Tupid dogs, hush!"

She still never acknowledged that I heard her. I blushed from embarrassment realizing that she was retaining so much more than I ever understood. When she hushed the "tupid dogs" again while we were eating, I had to apologize to her for saying "stupid" and tell her we don't need to talk like that. "Do you understand, Savannah?" "Uh, huh, mommy." And she hasn't said it since. Oh, be careful big mouths what you say 'cause the little ears are listening. (Weston leaves you with his "What What" picture=)