I purged, I'm tired, now I must blog

Well, it's official, I am cleaning out the stuff. By stuff, I mean...everything. Well it feels like everything when I am going through baby clothes, my clothes that are two sizes too small, toys - you get the picture. You could call it spring cleaning, but that isn't really what it is, it is more necessity cleaning. Bottom line, the space my stuff ( I refuse to call it junk because I would like to think that junk wouldn't still be here taking upthis valuable real estate...) is worth more to me than the stuff itself. And neither my worth, nor the worth of my girls is tied to the outfits they wore the first week of their lives. So, I can part with them. I am giving myself a bin for each girl to place my absolute favorites in then I will be able to hang on to some of the most special ones. I have added some pictures of the girls in some of the outfits I intend to put in the bin, after all - let's face it, this blog is kind of boring, so I figured pictures of my beautiful children will make up for that. Did I mention I purged the crib set? You know the cute little pottery barn bumper and quilt that I just had to have so we could have the perfect room for such a perfect baby. Yep, gone. That one hurts a little, but again, the value is in the kids, not the stuff. I have a very wise friend that is "coaching" me on my purge. She says that if I gave her one day we could get my whole house done. I beg to differ, I worked for several hours tonight, pausing of course to paint the fingernails and toenails of my princesses, and I still only did Belle's room. What is the deal? Where did the stuff come from? Who is the closet monkey that sneaks out, and pulls random things into my baby's closet. I know it couldn't be me. I would never shove things in a place where they didn't belong. A place for everything and everything in it's place. That's my motto. ( I will wait while you catch your breath from the hysteria that overtook you with my last quote) Anyone who knows me knows I am messy, scattered, and slightly disorganized. But some think it's "Cozy" Well, my coziness has gotten to us all. We have some major purging to do. We have some major regrouping to do. Alas, Rome wasn't built in a day, this is a work in progress. I will keep you posted.

One Follower

I just sat down after a very long day, it is 10:00 p.m. and I am just starting to think about what I need to do before bed, ie: laundry, load the dishwasher, bleach something (I will get more into that later). Anyway, I signed on to my blog because my mind is racing and I felt the need to write something to settle me down. As I began to start a new post, something caught my attention. To the right, up in the corner, in blue is written, one follower. I am pausing for you to laugh, or to say "I am not surprised" or maybe "She has one follower?"

Yes I have one, my prince. My sweet, dedicated, loyal, loving, compassionate husband. My lone follower. It struck me this time, (although I see that everytime I log on) the signifigance of him being my one follower. That is him, my support, he is with me through it all. If I get a whim and think we should make a change, or if I get sad, happy, overwhelmed - whatever, he is there. Holding my hand, loving me, smiling at me, just being whatever I need at that moment.

It has been that way for nearly 15 years. He has been by my side. His support and love amaze me. His loyalty and dedication to our family have shown me a side of him that I could have never known existed until we had our children. The way he can do manly things like push ups, or hammer something, then come in doctor a booboo on our baby's knee all while singing her "You are my sunshine" is wonderful to be a part of. I need to pause, because I just read back over this and I feel like I have just accepted the academy award for "best actress" and I am thanking my husband. But all of this is true. He is amazing. He works full time, takes work on the side, and goes to graduate school all to better himself and our family. He knows the value of hard work, yet balances that with the importance of our family time. Can you tell I love him?

The "one follower" is also ironic because he's not a follower. He sets his own path, makes his own way, and leads our family in the best way possible. It is wonderful to know the decisions he makes for us come with prayer, evaluation, and a coin toss...kidding about the coin - not the prayer and evaluation. He weighs the consequences and makes decisions based on what works for us.

Just the other day, I was telling a friend that I really caught a glimpse of Christ's love when I had my children. That unconditional, no limits, no bounds, unearned love that we read about... but that isn't entirely true. I began that understanding when I stood before God and made vows to love and respect him forever, and he made them to me. I am in this life we've made together, and never once could I imagine another life would be better. He's my one, follower, leader, best friend, lover, partner - for life.