Random Going Ons

Baby Girl #4 has slept all night in her own bed for the last two nights.  I'm not getting my hopes up, but maybe it'll become permanent.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Notice I didn't say how restful it has been not having her in the bed with us.  That is because last night I had Baby Girl #3 in bed with me instead.  She came in around 4 burning up with a fever.  Not sure what is going on with her, just that she does this sometimes.  Usually when I haven't made her lay down and take a nap for too many days in a row.  Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be the flu!

For her or Hubby who has also been laying in bed all day with an upset stomach.  He apparently was up for several hours early this morning as well.  I didn't notice.  I've made up for it today by getting him anything he wanted and keeping the girls out of the room.  A feat unto itself.  Anytime Daddy is home they want to be with him.

Baby Girl #2's birthday is less than a week away.  I'm sure if I asked her she could tell me exactly how many hours it is. The child can not make a decision to save her life.  We gave her the option two weeks ago of either going bowling, to Mr. Gatti's Pizza (think Chucke Cheese) or going to the movies.  She has changed her mind no less than 20 times.  She knows that if she hasn't decided before Thursday that we're making the decisions for her.  She'll probably change her mind 10 more times between now and then.

When we lived in Houston I was signed up for with a market research company that I did several focus groups with.  You go in, give your opinion about something, and they pay you for it.  Nothing like that where we are now, but I am still signed up with several companies that do everything online.  I've been involved in a study about bottled water this last week.  I've never drank so much water every day in my entire life!

We're going to California this summer.  Hubby is holding a meeting for a church out there and we're all tagging along.  The 30 hour drive will be no fun, but we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends out there, as well as going and doing something fun.  Like a vacation, maybe?  I have to keep reminding myself it is still 6 months away.  I want to start making lists already.

My sister is getting married in 2 1/2 weeks.  We've been getting packages almost every day with dresses and shoes for the girls and I.  I've been pinning boards on Pinterest to get ideas for hair for all of us.  I'm going to have to be very aware of the time it takes to get all of us ready.  We're all looking forward to it.

There is an ice cream drumstick in the freezer seriously shouting my name now that the girls are all in bed.  I've been good all day.  I think I will answer the call!

Perspective

We've been having some problems with our Suburban lately.  Hubby has tried a couple of different tricks to try and fix it himself.  We thought we had it taken care of, but yesterday a light popped on again and we realized that we were going to have to take it in and have it repaired. 

Praise God we have the money to get it fixed!  The down side is that that leaves us with zero dollars in savings.  Which isn't all that different than it has been for the last several years.  Any time we finally are able to put money into savings something big comes up that we end up having to pay for.  We are thankful that we've been able to pay cash for so many things that have come up the last few years.  But we also struggle with the frustration of not having money put aside. 

But with the shooting today in Connecticut, everything seems to have come into sharper focus.  Today I have my two youngest with me safe and sound.  My 5 year old was not at a school today that had a mad man come in and kill innocent babies.  I know that my older two are also safe.  Hubby and I are healthy and our children are healthy. 

So what if we have to pay for the water pump to be fixed?  So what if we have to be careful with our finances because we have no savings?  I'm not sitting at home tonight, staring at presents that my child will never open.  I will not have to navigate the next hours and days and months and years with a void in my heart that my child once filled.  I do not have an adult family member who will be missing at the family dinner this year.  So tonight I praise God that my children and my spouse are safe and whole.  I pray for those who did lose their children and their loved ones.  I cry for the pain they must be feeling. 

But through it all, I feel an overwhelming thankfulness that even in times when we can't understand why something happens, we have the knowledge that one day God himself will wipe away our tears.