Wow, it has been almost TWO and a half months since I last blogged. Most likely it has been the incredible, fast-paced, holy-crap-I-can't-catch-my-breath whirlwind that we have found ourselves in. Foggy eyes, "hums" and "uh huhs", yawns and more of the like have been our mode of conversation. Articulation has been far removed. Yes, it is obvious that we are parents to a young child on the move.
Said young child has been taking a few curious steps, has refused to eat table food whenever the whim occurs, still wakes up 5,683 times a night, makes us laugh until our sides hurt and stretches us to the point so that we are more likely to gray early.
As I blog Ezra is in the crib "crying-it-out." This has been one thing as parents that we were completely opposed to. We still are, but we do want to help E and us sleep better. Parenting and sleep training in general challenges and stretches you more than you could ever know. Coffee is a divine gift from above.
Derek is loving his job and I am loving that he loves it. We are so thankful to be a part of an amazing company that cares about their employees. Derek gets off early on Mondays to have an evening at home with the family. He gets pumpkin pie for breakfast just because and he regularly gets free food, daily free gourmet coffee and lattes and free product. Pretty sweet, right?
We moved back to Camano Island. No more moves are planned in the near future. We are settling in and finally unpacking the last few boxes. We are FINALLY making a home! We are investing in relationships that will be permanent! These are words that have been foreign to us thus far. We LOVE our church and the family that we have joined through it. Derek recently joined the worship team and is leading this Sunday. It has only been a few months since we left OSLC, so it is nice to get back into the swing of seeing Derek/Daddy lead worship.
Anlee is loving MOPS this year. Such encouraging women to be around each week. So excited for Ezra to have play-dates. Derek says his favorite day of the week is Tuesday because I always come home from MOPS so encouraged and strengthened.
Ezra is turning ONE is less than a month!!!! Where did the last year go? His Nana, Granddaddy and Papa are all flying up for his Dino-mite party! He is even going to have his great-grandparents (Fekkes side) and his great-grandmother (Lori's mom) join the fun, too! This is one lucky kid. Now if we can just charter a plane to get the rest of his Georgia aunts, uncles, godmom, Midland friends and others here for the party.
Disclaimer: Because I don't want to use my blog to "bragg" about how amazing life is, I just want to say that the past 2.5 months have been the hardest of our life. But, so thankful that through this time God has drawn us closer together as a family. Learning how to struggle together as husband and wife has been a process. Learning how to love Ezra but also create structure has been trying and at times discouraging. Learning how to rely on God, to ask hard questions and to be okay with silent answers has been difficult but rewarding.
Lastly, if you guys want us to continue this blog, please let us know. If you don't we are going to stop. I'm getting weary of putting too much of our life out there on the internet. And, I'm just going to tell you, if you want us to continue, this blog is going to get "real." Yes, there will still be cute baby pictures, but also hardcore struggles.
peace, Derek and Anlee
