The Mr. and Mrs.: The Revival

Lights and sounds are raging and whirling and through the chaos an electric charge is gearing up, someone shouts, "CLEAR!" and then comes the shock. The chaos calms momentarily.

Nothing.

"Start it again, we have to try one more time." Chaos. Electric charge. "CLEAR!". Shock. Silence.

Only this time the shock sent tingles that were recognized and there is a response. Then there were cheers, and a single tear runs down my cheek.

Words break from my lips, "Blog, you're still alive, I thought I had lost you." And we embrace.

It's been awhile, huh?

At this point I think Christian is almost a teenager (not really) but it has definitely been awhile.

I have noticed that the blogging world is starting to thin a bit. Blogs left by the wayside with last posts dated around 2009, some with cobwebs and outdated pictures seems to be the norm. Its hard with the new "insta-blogging" that occurs through instagram, and the time consuming song and dance of uploading pictures and formulating supporting text throughout with blogging seems much less appealing. Don't get me wrong, there are still blogging powerhouses that remain, but for the more familial blogger types, this thinning seems to be a trend. I, too, have fallen into that trap. My instagram account is very up-to-date, but my blog seems harder and harder to keep up with. I have found myself many times wanting to blog, but the thought of spending 90 minutes uploading photos makes me want to watch Netflix instead.

However, as of late, I have noticed that the things I blog about I remember a lot better. The thoughts and feelings when conveyed in a timely fashion (instead of months later) remain fresher in my mind than those I piecemeal together later, or that I don't blog about at all. I want to remember things again. So much has happened in the past few months that without pictures I wouldn't have remembered it at all.

With all of that said I am hoping for a revival. A blog revival. I'm hoping I can be more consistent in posting events and memories because for me, this type of outlet has proven to be the most useful for me. Without further ado, the month of May. It's time to catch up.

Three days into May, Christian hit double digits month-wise, ten months.

A few days after that Aaron and I celebrated our 7th anniversary.

The very next day, with all his things in order, Aaron left on an international trip with his school to Brazil and Argentina.

During this time Christian developed the craziest diaper rash and landed some prescription creams. Is this not the saddest picture of Christian?

With Aaron out of the country and us with a move a mere two weeks away, my Mom graciously agreed to come and help me survive the situation.

But first we celebrated Mother's Day with some pampering.

And gifts from Aaron

And flowers for my Momma

And love.

My Mom snuggled Christian so I could teach Sunday school.

And Grace dictated the answers to this survey, which still makes me crack up every time I read it.

We were able to sign the lease early and we had the opportunity to take carloads over to the new place. We packed and took over 20 carloads worth of our stuff. It was surprising pleasant despite the fact that we had to walk up and down two flights of stairs just to get stuff to the cars. Towards the end we were caught between both places and I realized that we had no bowls on hand. There was a lot of improvising going on.

The best part about taking things to the new house was seeing Grace play in the backyard. She now had space to run around and explore and she was taking full advantage.

My Mom was flying down to Houston with my kids so that Aaron and I could finish packing and make the final move with all of our big items, along with cleaning out the old apartment. So we practiced a few things for their flight.

Aaron flew in that morning from Argentina. After a few hours together as a family, we headed to the airport once more to take my Mom and the kids. As I wrote about before I bawled my eyes out and ached as I watched my babies walk away. I came home, sobbed, and then self medicated with DDP and M&M's.

My Mom sent me lots of pictures to inform me that my kids were just fine and were actually enjoying themselves

And we sent pictures of ourselves so that our kids wouldn't forget what we looked like.

We packed and took more carloads over to the house. And when we were about to go insane we would go to movies, because when you don't need to find a babysitter going to the movies is really easy.

Finally came moving day. Everything was set and ready to go.

We finally had all of our stuff under one roof.

But we were both exhausted

After a few days of unpacking and organizing, I headed down to Houston to get my kids and to give Aaron some much needed time to study for the CFA exam. I stopped briefly at Buc-Ee's and put the pedal to the metal because I was dying to see my kids.

Grace ran into my arms and hugged me big, and then scampered off to the pool with her cousins. And I sat quietly waiting for Christian to get up. Hi baby.

We got in the groove with things and napped when we had the opportunity.

At one point my Mom, Grace, and I were all sharing a room.

We headed down to spend the day with my sister-in-law and family. We love Aunt Liv.

Gabe and Christian

After hanging out in the morning, they spoiled me and took me out for a birthday dinner. I lucked out with my in-laws, they are the best.

Tarynn and Grace are serious buds.

After a fun-filled day we sadly said our goodbyes

My parents are cute

So is Grace

And Christian

Then it was time for my birthday. Chocolate Chip Cookies instead of birthday cake is a must in my book. My Mom cooked up a fiercely delicious batch.

And then I got spoiled some more. I lucked out in the family department all around.

Dinner at Lupe's. Yum. And yes, they told them it was my birthday when I wasn't around and I had to wear a very large sombrero. But, hey, I got a free flan.