Stepping off the merry go round for a moment.

Wow. Things have been CA-RAZY, as opposed to just plain crazy. Yes, there is a difference and I am here to report about it. I am going to do so with my new God given attitude of gratitude sans complaining. And good thing I did not come on the blog before God brought me to my knees to change my complaining ungrateful heart, because it would have just been a whine fest! Something that sparked this "awakening" was this article. I have found some great blogs lately that focus on two things that I myself am trying to focus on, well, maybe three. God, whole food eating, and being on a budget. This one has great recipes, of which I have made two this week and this one has great inspiration and recipes as well.

So. Onto the latest happenings.

Zane is crawling and crawling fast. Just this morning, Conner turned to me excitedly and said "Zane is REALLY crawling now". Meaning that his legs are moving before you place him down so when he does make contact with the floor he launches forward on his mission. He has really been focused on crawling over to things so he can stand. This has kept him out of getting into "trouble", i.e. pulling things down, going for breakables, the stairs, etc. That said, there has been one (or several) instance where I thought one of the kids was in the living room with him and I heard that all to familiar scary, gut wrenching noise that alerts every Mom that something terrible has happened. The terrible sound of silence. When I heard the silence I immediately went to the living room to find Zane tangling himself in the media cords he had pulled out from under the bookshelf. : ) You can "hear" silence, right?

When downstairs, Zane is pulling up on his play table, the ottoman, the dining room chairs, the bottom of the highchair, and even the dishwasher. He LOVES to stand and just this morning I noticed that he has discovered how to comfortably squat down while still holding on so he can "get down" from where he is standing. And he thinks he is big stuff too. Oh how I wish I would have the camera out more these days, but with the blessed chaos that has been ensuing, it just hasn't happened. These are literally the only pictures I have over the past few weeks.

Not sure I did an Eight Month post (pretty sure I did not come to think of it) so here is his eight month run down. Eating three meals a day, all table food, but not feeding himself yet. This week I have had fed him what we eat at every dinner which is nice not having to fix an extra meal. He is babbling quite a bit, lots of ba-ba-ba repeated over and over and over (and over). He continues to be really happy when he is rested and full and will play alone or with the kids. He really is as good as it gets. : ) The boy does love his crib for naps and naps GREAT there, however, being the third, it has been lots of cat naps in the car or carrier which is not good for baby nor Mama, but what can you do?

On other fronts...for the sake of time, it's bullet time!

• House was supposed to go on the market March 1st, but we had a huge and horribly inconvenient an expensive small mishap with the dining room double window which has delayed it.
• Been busy getting all things looking right in the house from landscaping, mulching, sanding, painting, new carpet installed, house cleaned, etc. Please Lord, let us sell this house quick!
• Alaina is busy still learning to read and required nightly one on one reading time. She continues to keep us all on our toes, making us laugh and challenging us continuously throughout the day. She has a "daddy date" tonight and she is SO EXCITED. She was prancing around the living room singing "Daddy date, daddy date" all morning. : ) Keith is such a good Dad.
• Conner is reading four books at a time, maybe five. Literally. Love that he loves reading! His homework keeps him busy and the project his week in his class of creating a "store" in their current "economy" has made him very exctied!
• Conner recently lost media for a week, we are on day 5, and last night he said "Ya know Mom, I really like not doing media" and I responded, "I like when you don't do it too, I feel like you are around more and it is more fun".  He looked at me and smiled and I feel like we had a moment there. He meant it from his heart and I love that he can at least begin to recognize the value of taming the temptation to be "hooked up" all the time. Don't we all need that lesson?
• Keith has been working hard at work, doing overtime and keeping up with house projects and being an awesome one on one Dad. I seriously have not heard of a Dad that takes his personal relationship with his children so seriously. Lucky me. Correction, blessed me.
• Me? I was busy walking around saying "woe is me" as I tried to keep up with school/work emails, laundry, dishes, decluttering for the sell, house projects, appointments, bills, errands, meal planning, carpooling, etc. Luckily, as I reference above, God reigned me in and I am now adjusting my glasses to see each and every moment as a blessing. One day at a time, right?

I really feel like this whole thing with selling the house is going to challenge us in every way but, this too shall pass. I just don't want to miss all the moments God is giving me in the busyness. SO! I resolve to pull out the camera more, take on things in smaller chunks, and do as my great Mother says , "Call it wonderful!