A teensy, weensy, way late update...

Oh my.

We've been home for 3 months and this is the first time I have even attempted a blog post.

And this particular effort is not because I have anything particularly helpful or insightful to say. It is mostly so that folks who don't live near us and use this blog as a source of updates will know we are still alive.

Ta-da!! Here we are!!!

Obviously, we did make it home from the Dominican Republic.
We do miss the DR and are looking forward to heading back this Spring.
And while we miss our close friends, tropical rain showers, the best beans and rice you can imagine and fresh mango juice,

I've never been happier to sleep in my bed. The bed that I adore.
My Dominican bed stinks. Hard like sleeping on a stinkin' stone tablet.

I've never more enjoyed a dishwasher, consistent power, and a glade plug-in to make things smell all home like.
Let's be honest, American life has many luxuries.
But one that may surpass them all... No really...listen up here...
is the ability to wipe with toilet paper, then drop your toilet paper into a...toilet!!!
Note, I did not say trash can. I said toilet.
And then, miracle of miracles, you just flush it on down!  No, seriously.
You never have to see it again! It's like it never even happened! So liberating.
You just have no idea.

In fact, while still in the Miami airport, one of my kids literally paused mid-way through the process. He looked right at me, toilet paper still in hand, with a look of awe and said, "Mom! Wait a minute! Can I just throw this in the toilet?!" To which I replied with great pleasure, "Yep."
He then proceeded to slam dunk the toilet paper into the toilet like a younger, whiter version of Michael Jordan, then flush the handle and exclaim, "That was fun!!"

It doesn't take much, people.

Some people turn to Chuck E. Cheese to entertain their children.

I merely choose to deprive them of basic comforts and then graciously offer them back at such time when fun is in short supply.

You're welcome.

Once we recovered from our newfound toilet freedoms, we spent the first few weeks transitioning, unpacking, and getting rid of a lot of things. We got home and I looked at the room where we'd been storing things while friends stayed in our house and thought, "It sure would be easier to just get rid of this stuff instead of trying to organize it." Noah is always trying to get me to get rid of things but I find a lot of comfort in the "stuff" I've acquired, especially with all of the moving we do. It's like my own little 401k. I'm not a minimalist by nature and I find a little stuff in a home to give it that comfy, "life goes on here" look.

With that said, there was way too much life going on in our 1100 square feet. And after living with only about 5% of our things for the past 6 months, it wasn't a terribly hard sale. I didn't miss most of it the entire time we were gone.

Also since transitioning back into life in the states, we have started our new school year and we have begun a new year with our favorite Elon Co-op. We have also reconnected with friends and family and church, done some traveling to meet with both current and potential partnerships for HaitiLove, and enjoyed the holidays back here with friends and family. In about 2 weeks (I've had to adjust that number twice, seeing as it's taken me a month to write this quick update), we hope to meet the newest addition to our family. Boy or girl? We do not know, but it won't be long now!

After the baby is born, we hope to spend a couple of months adjusting before heading back to the DR.

I won't write much more, in hopes that I will reserve my blogging motivation and be more efficient in my attempts to update after the baby comes.

But to be honest, this precious life God has given, this present lot that is so divinely mine, fills my days to bursting with life being lived. And I'm not one of those people who thrives on busyness, so the ability to manage tasks and projects outside of the realm of my home and savor the life right in front of me seems to often escape me. 

I love writing. I love connecting in this way with so many other people who I would otherwise be disconnected with.
But I cannot figure out how so many women manage to blog on a daily or weekly basis and manage other realms of their life and home well.
Just one of life's mysteries,
along with stuff like Bigfoot and the Bermuda Triangle and wether or not Nessie really does live in a giant lake somewhere.

So while I ponder these mysteries, I will also be resting and waiting and preparing and enjoying these last days with my 4 children.
For very soon, we will be a family of 7.
And oh how I love this very full, very small village of people my best friend and I have been given the chance to know.
They keep me oh so busy and oh so tired and oh so happy and oh so grateful...all in the matter of a few moments.
Life is full.
Life is good.
And life is full of good.
Until next time...