Home Sweet Home

It's so good to just be home.  In fact, I think we've almost enjoyed being home a little too much!  Is that possible?  We've enjoyed being home and just enjoying our little family, especially now that there are four of us.  Now, that doesn't mean we've just come home and sat around.  It's been back to "normal" for us - Andy's usual work schedule, church services, meetings, shopping and errands, playdates, rehearsals, and visitors to accommodate.  And we're doing all of this while still adjusting to our little Madelynn.  So, I guess we're back to the new "normal".  

Madelynn is 2 months old now.  She recently had her 2 month check-up and is doing great!  She's growing well and impressed her doctor with how strong she is.  She holds her head up entirely on her own and can even fully support her body with her legs.  Her doctor was so surprised by this that he said to Madelynn, "Well, I guess the next thing I should be asking you is if you want to go for a walk!"  Having already had one baby, I am clinging to the days that she is not yet mobile.  Baby steps...

Madelynn has so far been a wonderful, easygoing baby.  She's fairly easy to please and is very happy.  She's so close to belly laughing.  When she smiles big she often squeals and makes a little cough noise like she really wants to laugh out loud!  She continues to pretty much sleep through the night - usually to bed between 10 and 11 and not rising until anywhere between 4 and 7 the next morning.  Hey, I'll take at least a 6 hour stretch every night!  

This week we will be moving Madelynn from the bassinet in our room to the crib in her room.  She has pretty much outgrown the bassinet, and she's sleeping so well that there's really no reason to keep her in with us.  We're also working on getting out of the newborn "sleep when I want to" phase and into a routine that works for her.  In the process we have discovered that she is quite a little princess... that is, princess of the 45-minute nap!  She has an internal alarm clock that unreal!  I'll take 45 minutes for now, but hopefully she'll begin to stretch some of these short naps into longer periods of time.  

Jadon is a great big brother.  He's always been Daddy's boy, but he seems to cling to him and want to do what Dad does even more than before.  He's rough and tumble, always covered in dirt, and always on a mission for this or that, but he rarely passes up on the chance to snuggle or play with his baby sister.

Life is good right now.  There are lots of ups and downs... good days and bad days... and days when I wonder how it is that I haven't pulled out all my hair.  So yeah, life is good.  But God is greater than the worst or best days.  I'm so thankful that for a God who knows me, even when I wonder who I am and how I got here; a God who cares for me, even when I haven't been the most caring wife and mother I can be; a God who is patient with me, even when I'm impatient (which seems like all the time).  When I think of all the ways that I - this novice mother of two, pastor's wife, and sinful child of God - fail Him, it makes me grateful that I serve a God who doesn't sigh or roll His eyes when I mess up.  Praise God that he fails me not.  Some further change is on the horizon for our family (minor adjustments in the course of our everyday life).  How great it is to have our Savior lead us by the hand.  

~ Carrie ~