A Brief Moment

For a brief moment the house is quiet. This is the only peace I get all day and I cherish it so much. No demands being made of me, I have to involve myself in a quiet activity, and not quite time to think about dinner yet. Yesterday I spent this time writing out thank you notes and cleaning off the desk- both VIP items. Now today I decided to put off writing in Olivia's baby book, reading, or working on my cross stitch to come on here and share my ever so "interesting" thoughts.

First things first. Last night was my first night of Zumba. It was so nice to be back. I decided it's at the perfect time of night too- a 7:30 start time gives me plenty of time to eat dinner with the family and get Matt all organized for my departure. I was pretty nervous heading there- as I always am with stuff I've never done before, not knowing what to expect and all. But I loved the instructor; she was fun and vibrant and had a good variety of music and moves. One instructor I had once did the same three moves for a whole song, it bored me. It was a nice size class so it wasn't too crowded (some of the classes at the Y, during peak time, were huge and you couldn't move, not cool). I worked up a sweat and enjoyed myself. I felt energized when I got home. Too bad I couldn't say the same for Matt. Poor guy was tired to begin with (which might I add is his own fault for staying up so late Sunday night). But he fared just fine. Both girls were happy and sleepy when I got home. I told him again how grateful I am that he so graciously takes over the hardest part of the day (everyone is tired at night, and sometimes that makes for our roughest hour of the day) so I can get out a bit. I'm looking forward to going back Wednesday and looking forward to getting this booty back in shape!

I also wanted to write down some of the very awesome blessings we've received around here in this past month. I'm afraid I might forget one or two since I haven't been able to write them down but I'm going to try my hardest to remember each one!

*The first blessing is the biggest. Matt and I are still, like most people, paying off our student loans. We've been blessed by having some extreme generosity shown to us and now they will be paid off much, much faster. Because we've been diligent and put extra money towards them before kids and me staying home, they aren't too much of a financial burden to us, but having them paid off faster sure allows for our budget to have some wiggle room. It allows us to save up for extra things, like a new car or a new shed (our ever expanding family needs more storage!). This one made me cry tears of joy and thanksgiving. I can't tell you how unexpected this was and how much we appreciate it. This is not something I've been praying for, but oh God must know something we don't. I pray that Matt and I always remember the generosity that was shown to us and that we may always show the same generosity to those around us. We thank God for the gifts He has given to us through some very wonderful people, that we're very lucky to have.

*The second thing is food. I can't tell you, oh wait I can, how many people have so graciously brought us dinners since Olivia has been born. Just shy of 20 separate people have brought food for us, and this doesn't include my mom and Matt's mom who supplied us with prepared food for a week while they were here. I think I might go into shock when the food stops rolling in. The few times this past month I've had to cook, it's been a joy to do it. It has helped out with our grocery bills too. I never even thought about that, but all that extra money had gone towards diapers and creams, hahaha (read this post and you'll understand my 'funny' joke). It's also neat to see what other people make, and get ideas to spice up my dinner menu. The down side (or upside), the deserts have been rolling in too. Oh so hard to resist deserts. Hence, my extreme need for getting my butt moving with Zumba again. 

*Gifts for the girls is my third blessing. People have been extremely sweet in bringing gifts for the girls. This past month has felt like Christmas times ten. Lauren is going to be confused when people start coming over and they don't have a gift bag in their hands. We have received beautiful handmade blankets, clothes, toys, and more for the girls. And this time around I've gotten a handful of gifts for me as well. I was sad that I didn't have a shower for Olivia, sad that we didn't get to celebrate her in the same way we did Lauren and sad that she doesn't have a lot of her "own" stuff. But let me tell you I think we've gotten plenty without a shower. Olivia has gotten lots of clothes and I'm so glad she'll have stuff that is 'hers'- I know that might sound weird  but now not every picture of her will be her in one of Lauren's old outfits. I guess it's a second kid complex I have, so pardon my quirkiness. 

Just to show you how God was working in this, we went to Kohl's to return some pants I got Matt online that he didn't like (so picky) and while we were there I saw a "Little Sister" onesie. I wanted to get it since we have a "Big Sister" outfit for Lauren I thought it would be cute to have them wear them together. Well Matt said we didn't need it, and I guess I agreed it wasn't necessary. Then on Sunday one of my friends dropped off dinner and she gave me a "Little Sister" sleeper, size three months (just Olivia's size). The best part is they're both coordinating colors!! Don't worry, picture will be coming soon!

Oh, my quiet time is over. Miss Olivia is calling my name. I'll have to add a few more blessings in the next post! Until then...off to be a happy mommy!