So our refrigerator is definitely nothing to brag about. It’s pretty old and ugly. No matter how much you clean it, it looks dirty because the color has faded a lot. But it works just fine, so we decided not to spend the money [that we don’t have, anyway] on a new one. The dishwasher, oven, and microwave needed to be replaced. I even toyed with the idea of doing without a microwave – but we have the kind that hangs on the wall and doing something with that wall space would probably cost just as much as a new microwave.

Anyway, the day after we got all of our new appliances, my dad called me up to ask if we wanted his fridge. Apparently their dishwasher broke and since they have been wanting stainless appliances, they went ahead and got new everything. Well, they’re the kind of people who get the best of everything, so even though their refrigerator is a little older, it’s still probably higher quality than anything we would get anyway. So we’re going to take it.

The only thing is that it’s a white refrigerator and the rest of our brand-new appliances, along with our cupboards, are “bisque.” We’re going to give it a try and see if the color difference doesn’t look too bad. I hope it doesn’t! Otherwise, we’ve been given the go-ahead to sell it on craigslist ... (except that my brother expressed interest in it if we’re not interested ... grrr. :-)

All this to say, I cannot believe how blessed we are. I don’t always look at it that way, but my eyes are being opened.

I am so deeply in love with my family. My husband, my daughter, even my dog. We all fit together so nicely and when I think about it, I feel all warm, fuzzy, and satisfied. I love the permanent addition to our house who is Rosemary. I watch her run around the house, climb the furniture, whine, laugh, cry, sleep, and I’m so glad she’s a part of us and she’s not going anywhere. I love how we all interact with each other separately and together, as a family and individuals. Rosemary and Owen, Rosemary and her daddy, her daddy and me, Rosemary and me, Owen and me, and so on and so forth. It’s such a fantastic puzzle that only grows. It makes me happy and reminds me how incredibly blessed I truly am.

I miss my mom. She’s been in Mexico for a week now and she doesn’t come home until Saturday. When she’s on vacation, she pretty much makes no contact. For her, no news is good news. Makes perfect sense, but I’m so used to regular conversation with her that it feels like it’s been ages!

I took Friday off, and that was lovely. I went to the chiropractor in the morning, then to Super Target. One can spend a lot of money at Super Target. Went home, cleaned up, put all the groceries away, and picked up Joel at work. We stopped by his bank to make it our bank. We have a joint account at one bank, but years ago, when he became an employee of the state, he started an account at a credit union and I was just too lazy to go up there and get my name on the account, too. I got a free pumpkin for joining – so I figure that offset the amount of money I spent at Super Target. :P

Friday night we had our neighbors and their two daughters over for dinner. Ava is a few months older than Rosemary, and Lauren is just a few months. I thought it was a really good night. A little chaotic with two toddlers running around, but they were running around jovially, so I count it a win. Lots of kisses and sharing took place, and I didn’t notice any smacks in the face. Success! We had Joel’s deliciously yummy homemade pizza.

Saturday night we got together ... everyone ... to celebrate my mom and SIL’s birthdays. My mom wanted to go to the Como Zoo Boo, so that’s what we did. Rosemary wore her cow costume and Gray wore his beaver costume. The beaver costume was way too stinkin’ cute. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a beaver costume before, but it was awesome! The Zoo Boo was fun ... for the kids. :-) It was a little crowded, and they had closed all the exhibits – there were very few animals out, we mostly just saw cardboard cutouts of animals! Seriously! Oh well, fun was had. Rosemary joined in on the Alice and Wonderland tea party, she even pretended to drink tea with the Mad Hatter. It was adorable. I wondered if she would be scared of any of the people in costumes, but she wasn’t at all. She LOVED the monkey, and I personally thought he looked scary. She walked right up to him and said, “oooh oooh aaah aaah,” and she wanted to hug and kiss him. She also loved anybody who was dressed up as a duck.

Oh, and there was a police officer on a horse outside of the zoo. Rosemary loved the horse (it was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen, to be honest) and she had to go over to it and give it kisses. She’s quite into kissing these days.

After the Zoo Boo, everyone went back to my house and we had taco soup. Joel made bubble bread (a large caramel roll, basically) for dessert. All was good. Chaos ensued again, with two toddlers ... but it was all love and no hitting, so yay!

On Sunday I decided the weekend had been too hectic and Rosemary and I decided to stay home from church. I later learned that Joel’s brother preached, so it was disappointing to miss that. Joel had to go and do the songview/powerpoint. While Rosemary napped, I did two scrapbook pages – one of Rosemary’s dedication and another of the first times we fed her. After her nap, we went to Joel’s parents house. It was fun. Joel and I played catch outside. And I got to actually visit. I have certainly loved every stage of Rosemary’s childhood so far, but I am totally loving that she’s a little more independent. I didn’t have to watch her every second, the house is child-proofed and she was busy playing with her cousins. It makes my heart so glad that she loves being with other kids. And she would check in on me every so often.

We just spent the afternoon with Joel's family for his grandma's 90th birthday party. Can you imagine live 90 years?? She has done so much in her life. Joel's mom was telling me about how she decorated her living room with black curtains and brightly colored flowers. I just couldn't picture this little old lady being a trendy decorator. Think about how much somebody who was born in 1917 has seen in her lifetime!