Did a whirlwind just blow through here??

   Sorry for the lack of posts as of late.  It seems as though there has hardly been a minute to stop and breathe around here over the last week.  Even as I am sitting here typing while listening to Josiah sing and play with his little piano, I can hardly wait until his nap time (which is over three hours away).  I am that tired.  But it was worth it all and I know I will catch up on my sleep over the next couple of days. Then it will all start over again!! :o)

    I will start with last Wednesday, the 16th.  I went with Heather to Concord Mills to do some shopping for the kids for next summer.  I came away from the Children's Place with 37 pieces of clothing for $120.  That averages out to be about $3.25 an item.  You can't beat that for new stuff!! (I actully bought $155 worth of stuff. I had accidently picked up 5 items that weren't on clearance, so I took that $35 worth of stuff back to the mall here and exchanged it for 11 things that were on clearance!)

    Steve's mom flew in that same day for a visit.  She had decided to come for Zoe's baby dedication that would be on Sunday.  On Thursday, Steve went to do the radio show, but then he came home to spend the rest of the day with us and his mom.  The fence guys were here working so that kind of put a damper on our plans to go swimming, so we ended up just hanging out here around the house.  My parents came over in the afternoon and we played some scrabble and had dinner together.

    On Friday, Steve's brother and sister-in-law took his mom out to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. My parents agreed to watch Zoe, so I took this opportunity to go to the mall with Josiah for some mommy-Josiah time and also to find some last minute things, including shoes for Zoe for Sunday's dedication.  Josiah and I ate pizza at the food court. Or should I say Josiah ate most of the pizza at the food court. He ate all of his piece and almost half of mine.  It was thin crust, but still!! We ran around. I exchanged those clothes at the Children's Place. We looked for an outdoor umbrella. I tried on numerous outfits. Bought a baby gift. Then we headed home.  Once we arrived back at my parent's house, I realized that I never looked for shoes for Zoe. "You should have put it on a list", you say?? Well, I did. I just never looked at the list!

    Friday night the three nephews came over and we all went swimming in the pool.  Zoe sported her new bathing suit that I bought at Concord Mills.  Josiah had a blast.  His fun came not from swimming, but from being the "ball boy".  They convinced him to get the balls every time they landed up on the deck.  He loved it!! Steve's sister and her husband came that night to spend the night with us. They had to go pick up his nephew from camp on Saturday.

    We had lunch visitors on Saturday. 

 We swam for a little bit in the afternoon. Then I had to spend the evening preparing for Sunday lunch. We were having quite a few family and friends over for Zoe's baby dedication.  I made lasagna, and thanks to Pam and her recipe, a carrot cake trifle.  A couple of other people provided the salad, bread, and an eclair cake.

   Zoe was dedicated along with four other babies on Sunday morning at church.  It was a very special time. We are so thankful that God has given her to us and we want to commit her to Him and to raise her in the way that he would want us to. We are so thankful to have a church that is supportive of us and friends that encourage us along the way.

   Sunday afternoon/evening was a time of swimming, eating leftovers and other miscellaneous items we had in our fridge (Steve loves "getting rid of stuff" when we have people over) and watching "No Reservations."

    Steve's mom left on Monday. I did a ton of laundry and started trying to put the house back in order.  Josiah went to spend the night with Nana and Pawpaw. Steve and I went to play cards at his dad's house.   

   Tuesday I went with my mom to visit a couple from our old church. She had been my Primary Sunday School teacher and the librarian at my school when I was in 3rd grade. I haven't seen them in a quite a while.  We picked up Kernel Kustard and went to their house.  We had such a nice visit. Josiah was in rare form, showing off all of his skills including the newest - counting to five in Spanish. We stopped at Costco on the way home for a few things.  That evening I made a Walmart run for the things I needed for a dinner on Wednesday night.

   Wednesday I cleaned a lot of the house and made dinner for a group of our friends who are doing a book study with us this summer. We are reading "The Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas and discussing it.  

   And that brings us to today.....

    I am going to relax and take a nap. I am going to slow down and take time to really enjoy my children.  And that is all....

On another note: Josiah loves Zoe more and more all the time. He now demonstrates rolling over for her and tried to help feed her when she is taking a bottle.  Zoe is now sleeping through the night and for the first time last night slept in her pack and play. She has been sleeping in her swing up until now because she was spitting up so badly.  I am so happy to see her moving up!