A Week In The Life Of...

It's been almost a week since I last was able to tell any of you what has been going on in the Leslie household.  Todd left last Saturday for business and I was single parenting until Friday evening.  I'm not as good as Todd at prioritizing and keeping up with the house and the dog and Em and myself, so we spent yesterday trying to get caught up.  But I have time (and energy) now to let you know what's been happening here in SA, so sit back and enjoy the show.  

Murry (the nickname given affectionately to the new baba coming- from the book A Wrinkle in Time):  Despite some skepticism, I can feel this one doing the trapeze act across my lower belly, which bodes well for when he/she actually makes an appearance.  Murry's about the size of a large lemon and is working on opening and closing fists... and practicing for future marathons I think- must take after daddy on that one. 

Lani:  She is growing so fast that even the three year old boy across the street made the comment, "The doggy is all growed up!"  She still has a few issues with chewing on the barstools, but she's doing much better with life in general.  Todd is convinced that she hates the number 6 as she refuses to allow us to sleep until then, but I think she loves the number and only wants to share with us the experience of seeing the clock tick to 6:00 am.  Other favorite things to do:  get stuck in small, confined spaces, eat Em's only church shoes, and lick the floors after every meal (or at least after Em's meals).

Em:  We have hit two milestones in the last 48 hours.  Em got her second tooth (she has both of her lower middle teeth now) and she walked for the first time.  Neither Todd nor I saw the wonderful event, which was depressing, but we saw steps #4, 5, and 6... and somehow I think we'll be around for more of them than we'll miss, so it's okay I suppose.  The adults were all standing around talking in front of our driveway in the evening, and the half dozen girls in the community were all playing a few feet up from us in the grass.  Suddenly, the two 10 year-old girls came screaming incoherently and Todd and I went running, only to find out that Em had taken three steps before falling into the squishy grass.  So, she did it again one more time for mom and dad, and that was it.  So now, Em has three words in her vocabulary (Mama, Hi, and Uh-oh), she has teeth and she's walking... my baby is all grown up!  Her new favorite past times are:  trying to get outside, blowing spit bubbles (which also helps spit-polish the floors!) and trying to annoy the puppy.

Parents:  We're glad to be together again- not looking forward to the almost two-week separation coming up for the Africa Leadership Conference, but good for now.  We loved eating a Sunday lunch with the pastor and his family.  It's been such a long time since we've been able to do that, it felt wonderful.  We're settling into church activities and such.  Brittany has made a new friend to do play-dates with, so thanks for all the prayers since last April!  Todd is still working on work.  It seems his job is never done, but it's all incredibly fulfilling... at least that's what he's telling me!  Our new favorite hobbies are playing "Ticket to Ride" (a visiting missionary has it here) and sleeping- although that's more of a wishful hobby at the moment as opposed to an 'every day' hobby!