Anneliese battled her way through the first of (I'm sure) many 24 hour stomach flu's and emerged a little older. Our girl is 4 months, weighs 15.8 pounds, and is cruising in the middle of the stat pack. She recently slept straight through the night, and although that might have been because she was getting sick, I'll still take it.

This spring can be summed up with one word that I don't particularly like. Tease. Just say it. Doesn't sound nice. The word pictures aren't nice either- like when you tease your hair, purposefully knotting the crap out of it for a little bit of volume. Or when you tease your sibling just to get that nasty reaction you find amusing, or when you whip up a pot to go with that scone. You get it. I shouldn't be asking on April 21 if it is winter or spring. The upside is the hyacinths and daffodils are put on hold in the cold snaps, and linger on when they should be flopping to their deaths.  Die already!  Heat instead of hyacinths, please! 

To usher in the heat, I dolled up Anneliese today with one over the top ruffly outfit. Ruffled skirt, shirt, and bonnet. I mean, I really went to town. It's a wonder that I get such a kick out of dressing her up when I typically dread dressing myself. My closet needs a spring pick me up to say the least. I need some ruffle in my life.

I am enjoying the routine that I have settled into in the little town of Jordan. James is currently doing his final placement at Heritage under my old nemesis Huizinga, and I have come to the realization that I have married my 'nemesis'. Jack and James are two peas in a pod, and this somewhat startling realization has enabled me to reassess my old science teacher with a level of maturity that can set aside my hatred of chemistry, and thus my irrational distaste for the man in charge of teaching it to me so long ago. He did not succeed then, James will not succeed now, but at least I can separate subject matter from personality, and THAT'S what matters. Kapeeeesh.

I attend two Bible studies, and though I have heard rumor that people think this is because I can offload my kids in a free babysit, that is not the real reason. I actually like to learn, believe it or not, and I am doing just that at both Immanuel (reading the Lies Women Believe) and at Trinity (in a series called the Truth Project). These hours discussing the Word stimulate and revitalize me. Some girls started meeting up at Port Dalhousie with their babes, and I spent a chunk of my morning walking the Pier, showing Jesse the ducks, and watching the bomb of babies play together in the sand and at the playground. I particularly like that Rach attends, because not only is she my sis-in law, but our boys are tight, and they each visibly light up when they get a chance to hang out, and I find that pretty neat.

I like Jordan Station too. I like walking with my kids down the street. It's an interesting street with a lot of things that catch the eye, and I'm ready for what spring/summer have to offer in terms of its aesthetics. It also holds a lot of my childhood memories because my pal Kris grew up in a house on this very street, and I spent a lot of hours exploring with her.

The biggest blot on the weekly routine is how we spend Sundays. There is no rhyme or reason to our Sunday church attendance, because we have 3 churches to choose from based on convenience, and that's NOT how I foresee our families future Sunday routine. This needs serious ironing out, and soon. As I mentioned before, Jesse is a creature of habit, with a very impressionable little brain, and I'd like him to sense Sunday as a day set apart, and not because it's always a crazy day of flying around. Working on it...
Anyways, overall, the days fly by, and the days are fun. I love our family. I love to read about how to be a good homemaker. I don't always like to implement what I learn because I think I'm kind of lazy, but I aspire to keep trying because I see my role as a mom to be a pretty huge one. A God given one.  A job given specifically to me as a precious gift, and like the recurring statement of all my posts-since-time moves so swiftly, I had better use it well. 

Jesse's 2!

I'm so grateful that God has given us this kid to raise, and love, and teach. It's unbelievable how quickly two years have gone, and I'm running out of 'breathing room' to make those mistakes that I write off as "it doesn't matter yet, because he'll never remember". SOON, he will remember, but in parenting we have learned more than words will allow in this post, or at this hour. For one, I've learned that 11 pm, although not ideal, is the time allotted to me to take up this recreational activity of blogging. The house is quiet, the house is dark. Both are essential. Quiet to think, dark to dismiss the mess I can no longer see, which means I no longer believe it is there :) Anyways, Jesse is a champ. He woke up happy, loved his new red barn handcrafted by loving parents that did not always display that specific attribute while creating it-(it was a stretch) but certainly knew they loved eachother, and thus remained dedicated to their task and their marriage. Building exercises. And he loved it. We had a good day, made a cool cake, and threw a party for him the day after, and now I think he's getting sick. At the moment, despite the hour, he's coughing and crying. I guess I should know by now that those moments I think are 'mine' just aren't. This job continues to be the 24 hour 7 kind of job, so, I'm out. Hope the little guy kicks his cough soon.. I'm about 3 days behind in proper sleep. And still....I type. I'll let pictures do the talking later.   Happy Birthday Jesse. You are so fun, and I love you to bits. And then some :)