Family Update January 12

My blogging times are getting shorter and shorter, and my computer has been giving me fits.  So I've not had much time to do blogging or pictures. 

LaRue appears to be progressing normally.  She laughs and coos, knows who is her family and prefers one person over another at times, depending on her mood.  She drools a lot.  She is awake more and for longer periods of time and shows intrest in toys, and noise, and fans.  Loves fans and shadows.  It is somewhat shocking to me that she is approaching 3 months old - only 2 more days.  Where did the time go?  I'll make a wild guess that she's in the 13 lb range and about 25 or so inches.  I've not gotten the scale down to weigh her lately.  She works hard to sit up when she is awake.

Joel is pretty much ready for us to get back into a school routine.  We've moved ourselves back home and I'm trying to wade through boxes and boxes of baby, toddler, and 5 - 10 size clothing.  Karen has been sorting through all the clothes at her house and has been bringing me clothes Bethie has outgrown to have for Marriana, clothes for LaRue, and clothes she doesn't want or that were mine to begin with of all sizes.  In return, I'm giving her boy clothes and baby stuff she has loaned me that LaRue has already outgrown.  So my livingroom and kitchen are a bit ... no, a LOT chaotic.  We've also fogged twice for roaches, so I'm hauling stuff out of cabinets and having the girls wash them and put them back.  Slow process.  Trying to eleminate some of our stuff along the way.  And I'm trying to help Daddy do the same thing at his house.

Christmas was pretty good.  We didn't buy presents for anybody - not even the kids.  But I helped my Dad go through drawers and find things suitable to hand out to grandkids and he bought each of us a small box of food treats - I think ours is gone already.  Tim's parents and brothers (wives more likely) rounded out the gifts that we all received and everything was well liked.  Oh, Karen got us a few things, and some of the church families gave the kids things too.  My favorite things were my Kitchen Aide Mixer (from the best in-laws in the world) and a set of Corelle dishes from Karen and Steve, and a few matching serving pieces from various people.    OH, and a BIG set of sharpie markers - all kinds of colors.  (I have a thing for pens and pencils - Tim brings me pens or chocolate instead of flowers - and I like it that way.   Tim got some imaginary airplanes for his computer game and a really great flashlight.  I know he got more, but I don't remember what.   LaRue got some clothes, diapers and money for diapers, and a squalky duck and a wooden rattle.   She also got a half dozen or so hand me down toys from Joel, her favorite is the cloth teething star.   Marriana got a doll and rubber boots and a car seat for her doll.   Joel's favorites are the car magnets, a pillow and blanket for the car, and a train whistle from Papa, some ABC learning games from Leapfrog and VTech .. so many of them that we had to tell him to just pick 2 so we could take the rest back.  He also got PJ's for next winter.  And a football.  Vannan's favorite things included a locket with Grammy and Papa's pictures, a Tinkerbell movie, and a new pair of slippers and the 3rd Pirates of the Carrabean movie and a pair of muck boots.  Kendra's favorites were a Narnia DVD (Prince Caspian), a big box of Elsie Dinsmore books, crochet hooks, a giraffe scarf, and a small journal and gel pens from Papa to write family stories inside.  I think we all got plenty - and I think the girls are enjoying my mixer as much as I am ... maybe more!   WE also let the girls put up a tree next door and Papa did the Adornaments with the kids before we opened gifts.  I think they enjoyed it.

The extreme cold has our area reeling.  Busted pipes and soaring electric bills are the results.  On the plus side, the freezing cold should have killed off a lot of our bugs that plague us in the summers.  Our family has the high bills (we're all electric) but we are glad that the pipe problems seem to be minor.

Tim's reffing season is beginning to wind to a close.  Tim is frantically trying to make appointments and sales with his new insurance job.  He works hard - but many people are either too sick to qualify or too poor to pay or already have enough.  And this company prides itself in "give them the facts, no hard sales, and make sure they can afford it and need it before you sell it."  It's a good policy, but patience for creating a client base is hard when you have hungry mouths at home and bills to pay that you are responsible for ... pressure on all sides.  His plate is rather full when you add in reffing, running us to appointments, and dealing with details froom the accident.  It hasn't been easy for any of us.

Plans for the future include - raising bunnies, putting in a garden, fixing the pipes, school, selling Joel's bed and finding a second dresser for the kids clothes, and getting the house and extra clothing sorted out.  Keep us in your prayers - we are all really missing Mom these days.