Goodbye Crib! And other things

A sunrise last week. I've seen many sunrises lately, due to one certain early bird who is 4 years old and thinks it a good idea to be up at 6..or 5...or 4:30...But each new day is grace.

Last week, Patrick graduated to a toddler bed. I'd been looking at thrift stores for a while, but hadn't found one. Then I spotted a friend selling one on good ol' Facebook and jumped on it. I saw the ad at 4:30 in the afternoon, picked it up at 6:00, and by 7:30, my baby was a-sleeping on it. He loves it and transitioned perfectly.

It was a little bittersweet, the taking the down the crib. But I must admit, I feel a bit giddy about it. The last few years of babies and now toddlers and preschoolers- they've been hard. Way hard. They've stretched me and grown me and aged me. I love having little ones, and yet I'm so thrilled about new autonomy, like Preschool and toddler beds and wiping their own bottoms (well, Graham at least). That's not to say I'll never use the crib again; I hope I get to one day. But for now, I'm happy to pass it on to my pregnant sister :)


I turned 31 the other day and felt a bit down that I "didn't get much done" during 30. Behn and I took a foster care licensing class, but then God made it clear that now isn't the right time. It's fine- we still want to someday, but I couldn't help but feel a bit defeated since we desire to open our home to others, but logistically we cannot at this time. And then a hard season with one of the kids. And then the unfinished fence. And the vacation we didn't take (though Behn and I did get to enjoy some travel last year, individually, and we are grateful for that!). I guess what I'm saying is, I don't have much to "show" for last year. I think the year was a blur of being tired and kind of lonely. But God spoke to my heart regarding these two boys and my family and home. Look how they've grown! I pray for my heart to love this season and remember  not to "lose heart...Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Speaking of Behn, since he doesn't make it onto the blog too often, we got to have a date a couple of weeks ago! We went up to Delaware to visit family and enjoyed a meal at Jessop's Tavern. It was so fun and much-needed. What a happy luxury to enjoy dinner, uninterrupted!

I think that is all for now. The kids will be up from their nap soon, and there's much to be done.

Sunset, the same day as the photo of the sunrise. All is grace.