Turning 1

Joe and the kids are making chocolate chip cookies. Joe said he'd cook if I'd blog. They say hi!

Grant turned 1 on March 20! It was hard choosing which baby picture to put up: crying and slimy, or sleeping and peaceful. I chose sleeping because he is a happy and content little boy. He's not walking yet, and I don't think he's got any interest in walking yet; although today he did think it was fun to walk with mom and kick a soccer ball. He plays well with the other kids, but definitely knows how to scream and fight back when he wants something, especially if that something was taken away. All in all, the past year has gone incredibly fast, and I suspect that the clock will continue to tick faster each year. We love you, Grant-e!

We had a very small, very simple party for him--we returned home from Texas the midnight before. I (mom) felt a little bad that we did so much less for his birthday than for Logan's or Madison's, but luckily Grant doesn't seem to know or care.

 

(Insert joke about eating the high-chair strap when food is gone.)

Unlike Logan a nd Madison, Grant had lots of cake and even some ice cream before turning 1. 

Here's Madison and Logan on their first birthdays. Who do you think Grant looks most like?

Have You Missed Me? A random rant.

Hello! Our lives have been crazy lately. I'm sure you understand. We've been taking down wallpaper, painting, chipping paint, painting, tearing out tile, putting down new floors, packing, and cleaning. We bought a home that we wouldn't have to fix-up. Mostly we haven't had to do too much. And since we've only been here for about 18 months, we don't even need to do too much painting. But the realtor suggested a few things, including replacing the bathroom floor. OK, so we've known for a long time that we needed to do something about the bathroom floor. We've even called a few bathroom floor people to come fix it, but never followed through. Well, we finally have time to fix our bathroom floor and a few other things for someone else to live in our home. Isn't life ironic?

My parents and some WONDERFUL friends have helped us out.... babysitting, lending a steamer, lending a saw, wall-prepping, and helping us put down the new bathroom floor. So many more have offered to babysit and come over to help pack, organize, clean, etc. *I still might call you!!!

Joe is busy taking care of business... health insurance, loose ends, applications, TX bar-exam study, and (reading) books about starting your own practice and immigration law.

I get easily stressed out, but I'm surviving. I know we have a Heavenly Father who is watching out for us, and I am thankful for the friends and family who have shared their love with us.

We are almost ready to put the house up for sale. We are leaving for TX in a few days to scope out the area and decide if this is really the path we should take. We have often recognized the many options in front of us, but at no time have I so identified with Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Traveled"

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Grant turns one this month. The kids think it's fun to have dad at home. I'm glad they aren't old enough to understand the stresses on our lives; they think we are in a great adventure. And we are. They are the reason we live, our hopes for the future. And I'll leave you with a picture of Grant catching bubbles. I wish I had it on video so you could see his delight and laughter when "catching" a bubble.