Recalled to Life

Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but...

...Michael is sleeping through the night.

(Knock on wood)

It's funny how you can be right in the middle of that zombie-newborn phase, when you're getting up and feeding in the middle of the night every night for weeks and weeks; and in the middle of it all, you have moments where you think to yourself, Hey, I'm doing a pretty good job, keeping my head on straight and managing life.

Then the baby starts sleeping through the night.

Then you look back and realize what a mess of an ogre you've been, and you remember how it feels to be really well-rested. The last 13 weeks seem like a dream: vague and slightly bizarre, with momentary flashes of memories I can't quite make out.

So last week I woke up, truly woke up, for the first time in 13 weeks. I looked around myself and found that I was surrounded by a toddler who is suddenly speaking in full sentences, a smiling, chubby 3-month-old, a house that's still standing, and a husband who has patiently, lovingly held my hand through it all.

So here I am now: Recalled to life.

Want to see some pictures from Michael's baby blessing? It was a beautiful day, and Darren gave a beautiful blessing.

Never mind that these are already a month old. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself, getting them up here before his 1st birthday.

Here's the man himself. See those cheeks? They're even chunkier now!


It was so great having my family over for dinner after church. I don't think I can really put into words how cool my family is. Eternity with these people is going to be a blast, I tell you what.

Hi John and Ruth! Way to represent the Hansen side there.

This is the most current family picture of the Manwill side. Give it a few more months, and it'll be outdated!

And the most current picture of our little family. I think it will be a little while before this one is outdated.
What handsome boys I have!

And here's poor little Peter, trying to finish his lunch one lazy Sunday afternoon. This is probably what I looked like to a lot of my college professors.