Here

We are here. 

That's a deceptively obvious statement, considering the amount of time, effort, etc., that was necessary to make it valid! Somehow, some way (I'm still fuzzy on the details) we managed to pack up our belongings and start the trek to Virginia. Actually, that's not entirely true, because it's very clear to me that the only way we did it was with an army of helpful friends & family, my parents (who made the 1-hour trek to our home an insane number of times that last month!), and Pablo's brother (whom we tasked with everything unpleasant that we didn't really want to do...). 

The drive up was interesting -- not really bad, in the sense that our new little Laddie slept virtually the entire time, the two older kids were relatively well behaved (we used our van's DVD player for the first time, which was a huge boon!), and the drive itself was smooth. It was just very, very, very long. Elongated by the necessity of frequent feeding/potty/eating breaks. But, by God's grace, we arrived! Three days later we signed the lease on a rental -- a providential story in itself, since the rental we were planning on pre-move turned out to be a 2nd floor unit with no outside area for the kids to play. Just before we went to see it, I found another rental that cost less and had some outdoor space for the kids. And it's in the perfect location, too. We unpacked the truck the same day we moved in (and also drove a few miles away to pick up a Craigslist washer and dryer, as the unit didn't have them!).

The littles and I enjoyed watching this fellow rustling up some breakfast

Two days later, Rosa came down with a stomach bug. The next evening, the rest of us got it. There has been a lot of laundry lately -- thank goodness for that washer and dryer! It has easily (or rather, not-so-easily *wink*) been the craziest four weeks of my life, but God has sustained us through it all. And really, very little has actually gone "wrong." He has blessed us over and over again, even as we've been bombarded with challenge after challenge.

Spring is on its way here -- our second spring this year!  

Little by little, box by box, we're settling into a new rhythm. And hopefully I'll be able to stop and catch my breath soon!