I'm back...

Original Post: Saturday, June 28, 2008

Sitting down to write this post, I'm realizing that it is the first time in 2 weeks that I've breathed a cathartic sigh and released the tension in my shoulders. By the way, that's actually one of my favorite parts about writing...the relaxation and mental emptying that I force on myself before my fingers ever touch the keyboard. Writing with stress is, for me, like trying to paint a VanGogh replica with finger paints. It just doesn't happen.

Anyway, enough of that. I just thought I'd share a bit about the last two weeks in the Lynds' household. I'm actually a little overwhelmed at this task because quite a bit has happened. And, while I've written many witty and detailed posts in my head while laying in bed the last several nights, they are currently all managing to elude me. Ah well. I'll give you some highlights.

On Saturday, June 14 we officially moved in to our new house. You'd think I'd be all O Happy Day, Calloo Callay, I'm out of my parents' house. But that wasn't quite the way of things. I've long been aware of the fact that I struggle with change, even if the change being made is a great and necessary one. So for me, this move was a little bittersweet. I had gotten to live with my two best friends (Adam and my mom) for over a year and now I was leaving one. No more running upstairs to steal a shirt from her closet, no more crossword puzzles at the snackbar, no more having her around to giggle uncontrollably with at a moment's notice. This fragility was coupled with the fact that my children did not have the easiest transition either. Adam and I decided to give them their own rooms and Asher did not take to being left alone in a room to sleep. His solution: learning to leap out of his crib. So, for a couple days, I was a little sad. I'm over it now, like I knew I would be, but those few days were hard.

Monday brought a new week and a whole new set of problems. Being my first full day alone with the kids I decided to venture out into our yard, which is big and wonderful, but slightly treacherous for toddlers who have yet to become consistently sure-footed. Within ten minutes, Asher had fallen on our brick patio and cracked his head open. If you've ever seen your child gush blood from his or her head you know how scary it is. The whole thing is really a blur. I remember ripping his shirt off to stem the flow while trying to figure out where the blood was coming from because it was everywhere and screaming at Addison to Get back here! as she scampered away across the yard. Lots of tears, a trip to urgent care, 4 stitches and a bit of counseling that I am, in fact, not an unfit mother later we were all patched up. However, we have not been back outside yet without additional adult supervision.

Thankfully, that is where the trauma ended and the fun started to creep back in. We opened boxes with things long forgotten and got lost in the nostalgia of it. We rediscovered decorations and kitchen supplies like they were Christmas presents. We bought a comically large couch and a toddler bed (for my monkey son). I pulled out my books and alphabetized them (yes, I am a very nerdy bookworm). We had people over. We went over to other people's houses and got to come home to our very own.

And God has continued to bless us in ridiculous ways. We decided to get a new heater and put in central air and God dropped both units in our lap for next to nothing. We wanted a couch for the downstairs playroom and someone called us specifically to give us the exact kind of couch we wanted. Throughout this whole process I have been floored over and over again by the graciousness and goodness and generosity of God. Through all of it I've learned that when God keeps knocking you down with his amazing faithfulness, the best thing to do is just stay on the ground. So that's where I've been lately. Facedown on the ground thanking God for the blessings He's been pouring out on us, being humbled by them.

So, that's been my last few weeks. I hope all of yours have been blessed and full of the goodness of God as well.

~erika

Original Post: Thursday, June 19, 2008

just moved and am still without the internet. more later. the kids are melting.