December 3 was my last post. 7 months later, here I am again.

Much had happened in these 7 months. The kids both had a birthday. They are older and wiser. (Sometimes, I don’t know how they can get any wiser… It seems they’ve reached the height of wisdom and know SO much more than Matt and I. But all you veteran parents knew that already.)

Along with the kids’ growing wisdom comes an awareness of things… They know of this blog and Facebook. And one of them is becoming exceedingly private and cautious about what may be posted. (No arguments from me!) It isn’t uncommon for this child to totally crack us up, then say, “Please don’t tell anyone I said that!” Or, “Do NOT post that on Facebook!”

The other child has been known to request a public announcement of funny things said. “Mom! You HAVE to post that on Facebook!”

What can I say? One likes privacy. The other wants to be the clown. Sometimes, anyway. (If you know our kids, you might be able to guess which is which.)

Either way, Matt and I are very careful about sharing things about the kids now. We want them to know they can trust us with anything and everything. At the same time, we want to teach them that our private life is in fact private. And that the things we cling to for support and love and encouragement are not found on technological devices. Feedback on Facebook does not equate to value as a person. (And every mother of a teen said “AMEN!”) Might as well start those lessons now, as I’m sure they will only become harder to battle as they get older.

That being said, this blog is important to me as a documentation of our lives, lessons I’m learning, and ways God uses our children or life experiences to stretch and grow me.

I’ve been doing some growing these last 9 months. More on that another day…

In the last 9 months, we have:

– Started and completed another year of school. Which means Annalise is officially a 2nd grader. Gasp! And Jacob will begin kindergarten this fall. Cue opening of flood-gates. The tears won’t stop.

– Found out I was pregnant. Announced. Found out the baby was actually 2 babies – identical twins. Announced (to friends and family). Found out I was going to miscarry. Miscarried. (Like I said, I’ve been doing some stretching and growing. Another blog for another day.)

– Moved. Only a few minutes away, but to a beautiful home that was exactly what we dreamed of and more.

– Began the process of Foster Care Licensing. More stretching and growing. And much much more to come.

That’s it in a really teeny tiny nutshell. Elaborating will have to wait. Until then, happy summer to you all.