Here I am...

Someone told me tonight that I should get back to blogging. I've been planning to but its so intimidating to pick up where you left off when you've been absent for more than two months. But you have to start somewhere, so thanks, Christin, for inspiring me to stop putting it off :)

To make a long story short, we packed up and left after several weeks of prolonged mourning. We spent lots of quality time with my family and made wonderful memories, and schemed about how to get people down here as often as possible.

We all crowded into the girls' little tent for this shot

We love our new (rented) house in FL, love the area, love the weather (except this past week in which the nighttime lows went down to 27 several times), love the church we are attending, and HATE that we can't share it with all our loved ones in MI. But, overall, we feel very blessed of the Lord, very peaceful, and very grateful for His provision.

Theia is adapting to her new surroundings with her usual cheerfulness, and the humidity especially suits her hair. She has entered her 4,892 question per day stage. I can't answer her questions fast enough, and when I do answer, she re-phrases my answer to turn it into another question. For example: "Momma, did Eliza go to sleep?" "Yes, Eliza is sleeping in her bed." "She's asleep in her bed, Momma?" "Yes." "Yeah, because she's tired, right Momma?" I came to get Theia out of bed the other morning and I was wearing a scarf headband. Theia gasped, "Oh, Mama! You put a princess on your head! That's beautiful!" I look good with a princess on my head. Theia is now potty-trained too. A feat that was accomplished in a mere two days. I was shocked. My memories of my own potty-training scared me. Obviously, since I can remember my own potty-training, you can surmise that it was not completed by the age of 2 and a half. Eliza is adapting to her surroundings with her usual cheerfulness, sometimes punctuated by loud screams. She thinks any problem, no matter the size or nature, should be addressed with a piercing shriek, which should be maintained until the problem is resolved. But she is still the most snuggly and affectionate of my children and I just love her to pieces. Yesterday morning Jessie and I woke up to find Eliza standing at our bedside, holding out to us a dripping wet digital camera. Upon further inspection we deduced that the puddle of water around the toilet in the hall bathroom was probably connected to the incident. We left their bedroom door open that night since it was so cold and we wanted the heat to circulate. I can just imagine her waking up and taking stock of the situation, then calculating what was her best bet for achieving maximum damage in the amount of time she was likely to have. It was a very brilliant combination. Forbidden Object (camera) + Forbidden Activity (playing in the toilet) = Immense Satisfaction (of the sort that requires 1 year old sophistication, apparently). Ingrid is 5 months old now and she is so sweet. She is the smiling-est baby I've ever had, I think. She charms people of all ages wherever we go. She loves watching her sisters play, and she loves having Theia "read" books to her. She loves to push herself up to the top corner of her crib and sleep with her head against the padding. She loves to scoot herself backwards all over the floor in her walker. And she loves to "chase" her sisters with help from Mommy or Daddy.