Put your Reading Glasses on... it's LONG!

Oh my! Two whole weeks have passed since I last posted. I'm sure you faithful readers out there can understand why I haven't been able to post. There have been quite a few happenings going on around here. Here is a highlighted list of our life over the past two weeks (in semi-reverse order):

1. Today is my husband's 32nd birthday. He is enjoying a rare day of playing golf with some friends at his favorite course, Farmlinks. I am so thankful for him and his life. He loves the Lord, is an extremely hard worker and faithful employee, a wonderful husband and friend and an incredible father. I could not ask for a better partner in life and in parenting. Here's to 32+ more years! (*Steven and his sister have the same birthday, four years apart. Happy Day to you too Rhonda!)

2. I am recovering from a brief bout with mastitis. For those who have experienced this, you know it is miserable. I felt like I had the flu accompanied by an extremely sore, swollen, painful boob. Thankfully, I got an antibiotic fairly quickly and the fever broke after about a day. Now I just have a slightly painful boob without any flu symptoms.

3. Elle has been with my mom and sister since last Sunday. This is the longest she has ever been away from us and the first time staying somewhere else without us. She has done wonderfully, much better than me. They have done tons of fun things and she is being thoroughly spoiled. She comes home tomorrow and I cannot wait to see that beautiful face and squeeze that little neck.

4. Since Elle's been away, Grady has officially moved in to "their" room. He has slept in the big bed every night and for naps each day. He has done awesome solo. It will be interesting to see how it goes when big sister returns. If his sleeping positions are any indication, there might be some problems as Elle joins him.

5. Since Grady has moved out, I've been able to get Reese's room ready for him to move in. I just need to get some things up on the walls and it will be done. I am already enjoying putting most of his "stuff" in his room and not in our bedroom. If you remember, we just turned our room in to our beach oasis. However, our new roommate has turned it in to a bit of a tsunami.

6. Speaking of Reese, his umbilical stump finally fell off today. It looks like he might be our only child with an "innie" belly button. I have no doubt that Steven will take full credit for this, since Reese's cord is the only one he cut.

7. I turned 31 this past Monday (6th). Birthdays just don't seem quite as fun as they used to. I did get lots of nice presents, well wishes on Facebook and a fat Dairy Queen ice cream cake from Steven. I also got a new cell phone that I can text on (whew-hew!), a stunning necklace with my children's initials from Lisa Leonard (and my mom really!), and some good ole cash for much needed clothes. I always thought I would be done having kids by the time I reached 30. I barely made it in under that goal.

8. Over the past month, I kept seeing this creature in our backyard. I couldn't quite figure out what it was and it kept running away before any one else could see it. I'm certain my family and neighbors thought I had some severe form of post partum depression with hallucinations. Finally, last Sunday that all changed when Steven spotted it, and I was able to get him on camera. Would you care to guess what our backyard pet is?

9. My MIL found out she has breast cancer. They found it early and it is a relatively small tumor. She has surgery on the 21st to remove it. She'll meet with an oncologist after that to determine what, if any, further treatments are required. We're hopeful the surgery will remove all the cancer from her body and little other treatment will be necessary. We'd love your prayers for her surgery and complete healing.

I'm looking forward to next week. Elle will be home. Mom will be here for a little over a week while my sister is at camp. And there are a few fun things on the agenda. I hope to be back before another two weeks. Happy Weekend!