Change.

Our last Bloomsburg Fair day.
Peter is tired of me taking pictures, despite the look on his face, it was a great time.

Let me see, how can I adequately explain all that has gone on in the past few months? Seeing as I am even farther behind on this "timeline" of a blog, and catching up just seems to be a daunting task, I am going to ask you to be patient with me. Things are changing. My life has been drastically different since the first day of school. I spend more time in the car. Going from place to place seems like the norm and my kids don't even participate in sports, yet. My house is a perpetual mess. I can't figure out what to cook for dinner most nights. I am getting bigger by the week and while my excitement to meet my little boy grows with my body, I just can't get things done like I used to. I sleep when John naps and my other two color quietly, play puzzles, or watch a movie. My boys have needed hair cuts for weeks. At first the shaggy look was cute, now it just looks like I forgot about one more thing. The calendar is filling up with church activities, school functions, Andrew's responsibilities, visitors (yeah!), and appointments. I am trying to read like 3 different books at once. Somehow in the midst of all of this craziness, we have still found the time spend as a family, with friends, and just doing nothing. This is not my style when things are chaotic around me, or my dwelling place is never picked up, but I have had to adapt. There are just some things that are more important than a dinner spread or all things updated and neatly put in their place. Life is happening, life is growing, and on days when I am just plain tired, I'd much rather read the kids a bed time book (which is even getting pushed aside most days) and relax at night while they sleep.

Last weekend I was so excited to spend a night away with a friend to attend a conference about writing, blogging, and just life in general. I learned a lot and took a bunch of notes (I even commented about my finger hurting), and really had to ask myself, What is this blog about and what is my goal in keeping it up? Well, after taking the week to think and pray on it, I still don't have a clearcut answer, but this, I do know. Facebook is for keeping caught up with pictures and events. The pressure of posting in both of these places has finally gotten to me. The Grandparents are on Facebook and my Grandpa who is not, doesn't even own a computer. People connect more to my posts about life and thoughts, and stories which I have learned from, than from seeing 10 of the same pictures they just saw on FB. Those are just a few of my realizations among the most important one : I want this blog to be a ministry. I want to connect with my family and friends over heart issues, kid issues, parenting issues, food, and crafts, most of all, bless others with my words. 

So, all that to say, I am sorry for the few of you who may not see every picture I take on our outings (Andrew thinks I take way too many anyway), or who may miss out on a quote or two from my status updates, but I am planning to take a tiny bit of a different direction here. I will still show pictures and keep updates, but I want to write. About whatever. When I laugh I want others to laugh with me, when I'm down, I want to hopefully be able to encourage someone else who is going through junk too, when God is teaching me something, I want to share. I feel this is just a small change among the many big ones our family is about to embark on. Finishing residency (Praise the Lord), moving in 8 months, having another baby, selling our first home (tear), not knowing where we are going until less than 3 months before we get there, and just overall growing as a family in all these uncertainties. 

Since I started to write this post, my kids have molded play-doh into cookies, colored and put stickers on papers, built a small land on the train table for their dinosaurs, and eaten a snack. You'd think it had been hours, nope, maybe 40 minutes. That's busy for you. The belly baby has been kicking me from the inside out as well. (I love that) I am thankful for life as it unfolds in the every day around me and I can't wait to share more of it with you. 

"Mom! I need you to cut this box so I have a bath for my skunk!!" ~Peter from the living room as I write.