Random...

I don't have a whole lot to say at the moment. Shocking, I know. I'm sure as I go along thoughts I don't even know I have will suddenly come to the surface of my brain and make their way through my fingers. Anyway...

Judah's fighting a little cold right now, but is, naturally, just as jolly as ever. Nothing gets him down...except of course his stander. Thankfully we still haven't had to use it again. He got measured for his braces last week (the orthotist said they were some of the smallest EVER), and now we wait for insurance to weigh in, and then for everything to be sent to the manufacturer. About a month total. Lydia picked out the design of the braces. She went with the jungle theme, because it has lions on it:) The braces are going to be so small they'll probably only have one little animal on there! As long as it's a lion...

It's been weird lately, but I keep thinking about the fact that Judah is a really old baby. Maybe now that I said it "out loud" I can move on to thinking about something else. It's just odd, really. You have this baby, this infant, that you love and adore and are so thoroughly thrilled with. Baby grows so fast, gets bigger, learns new things, and is suddenly moving towards independently walking and trying things without you. I've missed out on, no just haven't yet experienced, much of that process. And the rest of the process just looks totally different for Judah. 16 months later I'm still caring for an infant. He's learning and (hopefully) growing, but at a much different pace. It's just...kinda weird. That's all I really have to say about that.

My other 3 monkeys are doing well and keeping me busy. I'm tired pretty much all the time, but it's the good kind of tired. The kind that you get from having fun, using your brain to it's organizational and creativity max, and working hard towards an excellent & incredibly rewarding end. I have great kids. Amazing, really, and I love them beyond reason! They do, however, make me crazy!

Jared's schedule has been hard to deal with these last 4 weeks. Crazy busy that leaves him distracted. He's been doing a good job of comp-ing time and finding creative ways to make up for his extra time away from home, but it's hard when he's gone extra evenings or weekends. The kids really miss him; especially Eli & Ezra who are at school all day when Jared might be home for awhile. We're going camping this weekend - FINALLY! We've been trying for months, but the weather never cooperated, and I don't take chances like that with Judah. Cold and wet are not a good combination for him. Anyway, I'm super excited! 70s & sun through the weekend, so Mahoney, here we come! Family time, relaxing, playing, saying "Yes!", good food, campfires...I'm so ready for this! The boys have off on Friday, too, so that makes it even better:)

My parents are coming at the end of the month. Since Judah was born we've seen them almost every month, I think. That little boy pretty much guarantees lots of extra visits from Grandma & Gramps! This time we had a little bit of a longer stretch: almost 3 months. Well, that time has gotten a little shorter since Grandma & Grandpa decided that they could come a couple days earlier...and, well, may as well just come over the weekend then...and, well, the boys are off Thurs. & Fri. so why not come a couple more days early? They landed on the 29th, and every morning Lydia starts the day with, "Now how many more days?" 17. I've missed my parents a little more lately. When Jared works more, or there's hard stuff with Judah, or I see my friends with their moms...I miss mine more. I'm so thankful for these years that we've lived apart, because we have become our own family - the Stewarts - and have learned to depend more fully on God and each other. But, I look forward to the day that Mom & Dad plan to move out here, too. Reeeaaally, really look forward to that:)

Speaking of their visit... Jared informed me that when they come, we're leaving the very next day for a weekend away in Kansas City! At first, I wasn't very excited. I was thinking "How can we leave Mom & Dad like that?" and "What about the kids" and "Are Mom & Dad OK with that?" etc. However, I got over that pretty quick. The more I think about it the more excited I get. In 9 years (since I got pregnant with Eli) we've had 3 in-town overnights. We haven't "gone away" together, and certainly not for more than 1 night! We'll have Judah with us, but I just almost can't imagine what it's going to be like to have 36+ hours to ourselves! I'm having a lot of fun trying, though:) I've been uptight about the money this adventure will require. Today Jared told me that if I mention that one more time, he might just go without me. I decided to just let it go then.

Tomorrow we see Judah's ophthalmologist. Hopefully the alignment of his weak eye still looks good and his vision has stayed the same or improved. If these things look good, then we avoid another Botox injection and glasses. Glasses. Can you imagine?! Well, he'd be the cutest little 4 eyes ever! Still, let's not go down that road. Hear me, Lord? Enough is enough for right now.

Maybe I should listen to myself and call it quits here. See? I knew my brain & fingers would take over and I'd suddenly have a chapter written! So, in the words of my best friend, "Nitey nite".