Life Lately

Life has been busy, busy, busy since Ella returned home on Friday, and it makes me even more grateful for the quietness of last week, even though at times it was too quiet.  It has been good to have my girl home; she has been so sweet.  Navigating the roads of parenting seems difficult at times because it's always new.  You're always forging ahead into unknown territory.  Ella's sweetness and the way our family of four enjoys one another encourages my heart in the midst of all the unknown things.

She surprises me by wanting to dress like me, and Sunday she happened to have a dress really similar to mine, so we pulled it off.  She tells me frequently that she wants to be just like me.  It's a sweet and weighty thing.

James has been taking pictures constantly whenever he gets hold of someone's phone, or in this case my iPod.  I delete a lot of the pictures, but some of them are just as profound as anybody's Instagram feed.

He cracks me up daily.  I love his voice, the way he speaks, and what he says.  Here's a few quotables from the past couple of days:

"How 'bout a picnic outside?  It's lovely having a picnic."

"Mommy, hug me.  Snuggle me a little bit."

"I know who's the most!  God!!"

"I love Mommy and Daddy and Ella, all the people in the world...and outer space."

"You know what I like to do with girls, mommy?  I like to hug girls.  I like girls and boys."

"I like this chocolate bar."

He likes a lot of things, and if he really likes it?  He likes it "all of the time."

Soaking up all the grace I can and praying prune juice takes its awful effect on James.  Please pray with me. 

P.S.  Here's a link to the adventures Ella had in South Carolina last week. 
And here's one to Ella's blog. :)