Rory Girl

Oh man. It's December. And according to this blog of mine, the last time I posted was July. I had big plans for this blog, my writing and life in general for 2015. And then I found out I was, er, unexpectedly pregnant in February and 2015 started to look a whole different than I had planned. Truth be told this pregnancy took it's toll on me and 2015 has been lost in exhaustion, baby growing, baby delivering and keeping baby alive. It seemed to take every ounce of my energy and creativity to do that, and there was nothing left over. Then there's the deeper truth that who I am at my core, my faith and much of what feels like my foundation has been out of sorts since I lost my dad two years ago. And hence, December has arrived and I've written very few words this year.

BUT I have high hopes for 2016 and this little corner of the internet of mine. I've got lots of thoughts swirling in my head, and am feeling ready to start sorting through my out of sorts-ness on the blank page. So hopefully I'll be able to pick back up in the new year and give this blog some new life (just in time for the "end of blogging" of course. I suppose I'd be better off closing the blog and starting a podcast like every blogger I know and love.)

In the meantime I thought I'd share the main reason it's been so quiet around here...

On October 9th at 11:50pm we welcomed this little one into our home.

Rory Powell.

Our Rory girl has been a surprise in every sense of the word. A lovely, beautiful, perfect surprise.

She is darling and sweet and adored by her sisters and brother. We are all adjusting to life with a little less sleep and attention than we'd prefer :) Some of us are handling it better than others.

I have big thoughts on what I've learned now that I have four kids (what the what- I. have. four. kids.), how I feel about raising three girls (our home is now covered in a layer of glitter) and how I'm feeling about being a stay-at-home mom full time now. I hope to dive into it all here soon.

But for the rest of the month I'm committed to snuggling these guys,

creating space to anticipate the coming of Christmas and all that it means,

and keeping the newborn alive. It's chaos, but I love it.