a little family update-long and random

my brother and his sweet little family was here for two weeks. it was truly providential timing as adam was sooooo busy on his cardiology rotation. i loved having the company...my sis-in-law and i had so many good conversations about parenting, marriage, life in general. it was truly an edifying couple of weeks...love you guys!



pax has been settling into the family. he is so sweet and a little bit annoying at times. marit goes from laughing hysterically at him to crying because he is carrying away her toy in his mouth. golden retrievers want to carry around everything in their mouths. going from a cat family to a dog family has been a big change and this pretty much sums up the differences. pax and i made a good team today as we disposed of what i hope is the last mouse (we have steadily been catching a little family). thank goodness it was dead when he found it, but i quivered and squirmed...i'm learning to be a little more self-reliant about these things.



marit has been singing the alphabet song non-stop and when she does stop it is so she can ask me to sing psalm 23 or the "shepuhd song." two-year oldness is in its prime as she swings from sheer delight to absolute hoodlum. we pray every day for wisdom and grace to teach (and to demonstrate) kindness, unselfishness, grace, patience. oh my! the sin nature is strong...in the both of us, but we are thankful for the glimmers of hope we see on occasion. she is also absolutely hilarious lately. did i mention that she threw her pacifier in the trash can so she can be a "big gurl"? she sleeps with several animals instead. i went to get her out of the crib in the morning the other day and she said "puppy's eating" while she held her puppy close to her. "nursing" she said...she would not let me get her out until she was "all done." pretend play is in full swing...too cute!



graham has been recovering from some mysterious virus and has been a little off-kilter lately...not eating well in the day and waking up at night again...another phase of sleeplessness for mom and dad:). he is still inch-worming everywhere and he is fast. he has also started pulling up, which is absolutely crazy...to think i will have two munchkins walking around soon. he eats everything he sees...the other day he spit up an entire leaf...this stage really scares me. i'm so thankful that God loves my children more than i ever could and that He watches over them. his huge chocolate brown eyes melt my heart pretty much all the time.

adam has been really excelling in his rotations lately...it is encouraging for him to feel like he is in the right field. don't get me wrong, his days are filled with a lot of humiliation as well, so the good moments mean all the more. he ran his first code this weekend and it went well and the patient survived! i struggle to be gracious with the unpredictability of his schedule. i know in my head that i need to keep my expectations realistic, but it is no easy task. last night he was supposed to get off at 7, but he got something like 9 admissions between 5 and 7 and so did not get home until midnight. what time did he leave this morning? 4:30am. grace, grace, grace is what we need in this season. it has been there too...we are not disconnected and we still actually (somehow) get to talk to each other and see one another. i am really not complaining...just explaining. it is a true blessing to be in a sweet community of people who have (or are currently) dealt with a spouse in residency. it encourages me just to think of all the families that have successfully made it through stronger and more loving than ever!