Playing with Friends

There is a growing suspicion in my mind that Raccoon is an extrovert. I am waaaaay on the far side of the introvert spectrum, which would explain, well, a lot. We have lived in the same neighborhood (on and off) for six years now, so we know all of the children. They only rarely come out to play. School, homework, and extracurricular activities keep them inside or gone. But tonight was one of those sunny afternoons when everything aligned just right and we had an impromptu game of cops-and-robbers. And now that Raccoon's gotten a little of the social bug out of his system, I get a few minutes of quiet. Definitely a win-win.

Are You Ready to Parent?

This made me laugh so hard the tears rolled down my face. It was also late at night and I got very little sleep, but still, I thought it was worth sharing. I found it on a random site, but whole-heatedly believe it is relevant for all parents. Are You Ready to Parent?

Baby Haze

I've been looking back at the notes I made when Raccoon was a baby. It is fun to remember, but honestly so much of it is hazy. I hardly wrote anything until he was 3 months old. He was a sweet and happy baby (happy does not mean easy!) but even at 3 months I called him intense. But I did take lots of pictures, which I recommend. Now just to make sure I keep it up if he ever has a sibling!

Quotes

As I've mentioned before, I love quotes. Here are some recent discoveries.

Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often far more accurate than you are willing to believe.        
-- Claudia Black

Children's needs are best met by grown-ups whose needs are met.         
-- Jean Clarke

We are all prisoners of our childhood, whether we know it, suspect it, deny it, or have never even heard about the possibility.         
-- Alice Miller

Waiting

Ugh, even the sound of that word makes me sigh. Right now, I am waiting for news of several different kinds. Some have a definite time limit, like item #1. 8 days for that one. Other things I am waiting for will probably take years to find out, like will I ever hear from our two foster daughters?

One year till we make a major move... a few months till I maybe put Raccoon in a 3 day a week preschool. Lots of extended family stuff happening in the next few months... or maybe not, one never knows with them.

Waiting on the Lord, peacefully, hopefully.... um, I have not perfected the art yet, and boy does the Lord keep giving me things to help me practice!!!

Houses and Homes

I've lived in many places, more than I care to count. When I "grew up," I decided to buy a house (with dear hubby). It hasn't really stopped us from moving around so much, but at least we now have a consistent place to move back to each time (which I've actually lamented more times than not, just ask my mom!). But even though we've owned this house for six years, it has never really felt like home in a comfortable way. This time around, we expect to live in it for about a year, and we're really moving in - buying furniture we like, getting rid of stuff we don't, and putting up decorations. Raccoon told me today, "I like living here." Finally, I could actually say, "Me too."