Silver Lining...

One of the things I inherited from my father (aside from my height) was my optimism. Mom's dominant realist gene flares up now and again, and attempts to stamp out the recessive optimistic gene, and only marginally succeeds. Optimism is like a dandelion gone to seed...you blow it away, more will just pop up all over the place.

This election season has been a series of ups and downs, stress and exhaustion, diplomacy and back-stabbing, and that's just on Facebook. I had to actually use my unfriend button at one point because I couldn't stand the nastiness going on. And Jeremy is such an egg-on-er that I had to save me from him, and myself by stopping what I was contributing (and what Jeremy was vicariously contributing) to the whole mess.

Anyway, so I was all sorts of optimistic about my guy winning. He had a fighting chance! He would have made a swell president...and then he lost, and I could mentally see the U.S.A. going up in a series of mushroom clouds. 

I wasn't the only one lamenting the impending doom on our country. Facebook was rife with grief. I'm sure it was annoying to those rooting for Obama, but, hey, they won! That's the price you pay for being friends with disappointed Republicans. 

I will conclude my feelings on the whole thing by saying that all things are in God's hands, and I'm not going to apologize for saying it. It's true. So, criticize away at my beliefs. It doesn't change anything. It just makes you cranky. 

It gives me unmeasured comfort to know that God is in charge, and I have peace, even when disappointed. 

And God gave me an imagination, so I created this: 

Barucka: Good egg, bad egg, goose egg, deviled egg? You decide...

Ah...makes it all better! 

Makes me want chocolate. I think I need to make some cookies. 

Anyway, on a happier, less silly note, some awesome thing have gone on which have been completely undocumented because I have a crazy prego brain and forgot to take pictures. 

Like Josh's birthday...and his baptism. And Lily's birthday lunch yesterday...

But I DID get Halloween! Josh was a vampire (last minute decision, since he wanted to be a ghost and a cowboy, too), Eva was Tinkerbell (and told everybody that at the top of her lungs as we walked around the neighborhood), Lily was a pirate (and wouldn't keep her hat on for more than about 4 seconds at a time) and Eden was a tiger (and everyone thought she was a boy), and Jeremy and I went as horrible parents for not buckling Eden into her stroller seat and her subsequent face-plant and skid on the side walk that left her a bloody, screaming mess. What did we do about it? We shoved some candy in her mouth and kept going. We're AWESOME. And no, I didn't eat all the kids' candy. Just the stuff I liked.  

Taking precautionary measures with her teeth...

Josh's baptism was really special and exhausting. You'd have to experience it to understand, I think...It's weird to think he can  leave on a mission in ten years! He'll be awesome...I can tell. And I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom. 

And Lily turns three tomorrow. It's amazing how fast she is developing. She has gone from saying four words to just about everything in a matter of weeks. Guess she was just processing. Like she had a perpetual Windows hourglass above her head, and the page finally finished loading. Until the next update, with (no doubt) a few system crashes in between.

Eden follows Lily around and repeats everything she says (Inside Joke Alert: "E.T. Mommy!"). I knew there was a reason they were born so close together.... inseparable tormentors of each other and hopefully the best of friends someday.

Eva has spiced things up by inciting a "why?" question evolution. It's not a simple why-because scenario anymore. For example:

 "Mommy, why is the sun in the sky?" 

"Because the earth moved and now we can see it."

 "What happens if it doesn't?"

"It always will." 

"But, what happens if it doesn't??" 

"Eva, don't ask me questions like that..."

I suppose it's my punishment for asking incessant "why" questions of my brother-in-law when I was younger. I do feel guilty for answering her like I do, however. I'm sure the world is a confusing place because Eva's questions hurt Mommy's brain. 

Baby X is wiggly. And we find out for sure and certain what Baby X is on Tuesday. The first ultrasound didn't count, according to Jeremy. He was sure "something" would, erm...develop...in a four week time span. We shall see. But, if it's a girl like they think it's a girl (did I not tell you? Oh, it's a girl!), I have a name all picked out, and will divulge it when we have the truth of the matter! 

These five littles are my silver lining, my rays of sunshine on a cloudy, stormy day, making rainbows and making me smile, and driving me crazy, keeping my thoughts on what is truly important. And this, too,...just one more time because it's funny...