i'm back! :)

so i'm obviously so behind. i took a quite unintentional blogging break - and though i feel a little behind (it feels like i have a million events to document) it was pretty good for my heart to give it (and the little biz) a break. the Lord kissed the past couple of weeks with His goodness. i mean, i just felt His delight.

and that's a beautiful thing.

and so, yes, the past weeks as Ricky has been free from school and even from work for a bit has been like water to a dry, dry riverbed. our family was a normal family for a bit, with family dinners, and outings, and an overwhelmingly "not exhausted"-ness. the exact opposite of last semester.

and i guess now that i have crawled out from that madness, i have realized some things about this journey of a busy (way too busy, but it's certainly the right thing) busy husband. i don't think i knew, in the midst of it, how exhausted we all were. i was trying to get Amos to sleep in his crib (success! for half the night atleast), and sleep through the night (absolute no success) - and so i was spending hours rocking amos - swaying in our small bedroom between crib and a sleeping husband in our big, white bed. swaying and staring at the city lights through the almost closed blinds.

and i would lay amos down, to have him scream and scream, to the whole process again until i would surrender him back into our bed.

and this post isn't about how to or the best process of parenting your toddler into successful sleeping patterns yadda yadda. because, as far as i'm concerned, the minute ricky was out of school for the holidays - staying up all night to lead to an exhausting day with my family was not an option. we'll rejoin that journey once ricky starts back at the end of the month.

and so, i was exhausted - which was the trying aspect, but just as I was lovingly and patiently (by His spirit) holding Amos through this season of baby to toddler, i felt the same motherly kindness come out of the nearness of the Lord. Amos' long nights lead to growth (even if not complete) and those long nights lead to my own growth. how often the comforts of yesterday leave me unsettled and fearful, rather than trusting the Lord's leadership and fathering are directing me into that which is for my good.

breathe, little Amos, and know the next phase is much more glorious than the last. if you only knew the beautiful feeling of 8 straight hours of sleep!

breathe, little Tiffany, and know the next phase of this journey - of motherhood - of the path our family is on has much, much in store. and in it, I will reveal my son through His spirit.

and so the absence of Ricky, too, has proven so fruitful. doing parenthood, relatively on my own has forced me into a new level of organization I had the luxury to avoid before. for this i'm so thankful.

and this leads to my blogging preface. i will unashamedly be posting christmas pictures. i know, i know. christmas is over and forgotten, but i just now feel back in the swing of things. my little baby is asleep before 8:30, and I have groceries and my overwhelming task list of December is almost completely annihilated.

it's a 2012 miracle.

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and so i have giveaway winners to announce. i'm closing them all on friday - so one more chance to enter: urban rain packages, fabric garland, sketched portrait art, wedding program design, and the dainty woods bundle.

i have many things to post about and a lot of vision for this space for 2012. i'm hoping to team up with a weekly feature with the beautiful britney over at mike + brit. and much, much more so don't forget to come on by!


ps listen. your heart will remember what it feels like to be in love.