Changing Rides

For the last four years, our family has ridden the roller coaster that is entrepreneurship, with exciting highs that take your breath away and scary lows that make you want to close your eyes.  My husband is a remarkable man, gifted with the confidence to make every twist and turn smooth and carefree.  His capacity for learning new things, solving hard problems and negotiating relationships keeps him ahead of the game.  And though his capacity is far beyond what anyone else I know can absorb, he too has a limit.  You can read his own words about leaving Snoball on his blog.

So we found ourselves stepping off the self-employment roller coaster and settling into more of a traditional ride.  He didn't have to search long before companies started lining up to interview him.  I'm not the only one that recognizes something special in him.  At the end of November, he started a new job with Indeed.com.  I had never even heard of them, but they are apparently the largest job search engine on the web, even surpassing monster.com.  Shows how long I've been out of the loop.

His title is "labs hacker."  Doesn't that sound like him?  If I understand it correctly, his team comes up with new solutions to site-wide problems, and makes sure they work on a small subset of the traffic.  Then they pass it off to the development team to make it work site-wide, and start on a new problem.  So he gets to learn new things and solve hard problems without the CEO-ness that never really fit comfortably.

We were riding the roller coaster together and I was excited with him, but I felt the weight of it too.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a smidge relieved to step off.  I know we'll take that ride again sometime.  He has way too many incredible ideas to not try it again.  But we all need some time to recuperate. And I'm equally as excited to see him have the opportunity to decompress some and get out from under what was never intended to be a burden.

Only God knows where this new adventure will lead.  But I don't think it will be quite so white-knuckled.  I'm honored to be a passenger with the man that is immeasurably more than I could have asked or imagined when I prayed for a husband.

First Day of School

Before our house guests arrived, we had our first day of school.  I got our schoolroom all ready the night before with a fun new sign inspired by a Pinterest find.  I don't think I've ever shown you, loyal reader, our schoolroom.  Ta da...

That's my gumball sign.  We added gumballs with our ideas for making school enjoyable (i.e., being kind, waiting our turn, helping each other, listening, etc.).  I can't put much on my walls this year because Z enjoys ripping it all off too much.  Shouldn't every schoolroom have a baby gate, by the way?

These are my craigslist find cabinets.  J and my dad installed them earlier in the summer.  They are fabulous!!  J also installed our roof flashing turned magnet wall.  He's a handy guy.  I like the magnet wall because I can put independent supplies in a pencil pouch hanging from a hook on the wall.  The girls can get to them anytime.  I've also got a planning calendar up and my own notes for the week.  There's also lots of room for posting their creations and school work.

This is the other end of our schoolroom, but it's really more of a play area.  But I wanted to show off my map wall.  Strictly decorative purposes because the maps are from old National Geographics.  Again, I'll go lower with more maps when I know Z won't tear them off.

I told the girls we would be taking first day photos and I loved the results!  A asked to stay her in pj's all day, including for photos.  Then she took one photo and was done.  So very A.

C asked to put on her fanciest dress, wanted a headband and a bow, then wanted a portrait session for the next 20 minutes with silly faces, serious faces, good smiles, bad smiles.  Every bit C right now.

Getting lice the first week of school has definitely put a damper on things, but I'm so glad we homeschool!  We'll keep going, keep practicing our nice attitudes, getting down routines and figuring out realistic expectations.  Hope your year gets off to a smooth, sweet start!

Can Your Husband Do This?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  My husband is a genius!  Look what he made me to solve my laundry room dilemma...

Okay, so it's hard to communicate in a photo.  It's a pulley system for a clothes rod.  It's not a new idea, but I was super impressed that he figured out how to do it in our space and got it rigged up in one afternoon.  He loved being able to use his experience with sailboat rigging and play with pulleys and knots.  He even designed it so that the rigging is inconspicuous.  I take the ring off the hook behind the door to lower the rod and hang my wet clothes, then pull the rope to make the rod go back up.  The clothes are out of the way and dry faster up there.  My man's a genius!

Paradigm Shift

J and I were discussing school philosophies recently and the topic of memorization came up.  In the homeschool waters I swim in, there is a lot of emphasis on young children being able to memorize facts as a way to organize information so that they can process and manipulate it as their brains develop those abilities.  While I maintain that there is value in memorizing because of the physical exercise it provides to the brain (neurons and synapses making connections and all that), J opened my mind to a new paradigm that I hadn't realized was upon me.

He (and lots of other smart people) realize that memorizing facts is no longer a necessary or useful skill.  In a literate society in the information age, we have the entirety of human knowledge at our fingertips in an instant.  There really is no need to memorize the Presidents, the periodic table, or prime numbers to 100.  We told our teachers that we would never use that information in real life.  But now the students tell the teachers that they'll find it on the internet if they should ever need it.

I'm still wrapping my head around what this means for the way I teach my kids.  I know it doesn't change my goal of teaching them how to learn.  A very wise friend recently told me that it is more important to teach my children skills than content; great content is a means for teaching the skill.  It's more important to be able to know how to learn, but while we're at it, let's learn great content.

I'm babbling here as I think through it myself.  This article--the web kids manifesto--that J shared with me really does a much better job of communicating the generational shift.  The scary part is that it probably is shifting even faster than whole generations.  The way A learns and gathers information may be outdated by the time Z approaches the same skills.  Read the article.  It really will help you see information in a new light and ponder the ramifications for the way our kids learn.

More Great Press

How about The Boston Globe for a little Snoball.com love?  And a great interview on our local ABC affiliate just this morning.  So exciting and surreal!!

Christmas Photo Wrap-up

I'm catching up on life events around here.  Don't worry...I try to get to all the major ones sometime in the same season they happened.  :)  Here's our Christmas in quick pics...

 Caroling with extended family on Christmas Eve eve.  This is something that we all sort of cringe about when planning it, but always love it while we're doing it.  We had big Christmas lunch with the fam on Christmas Eve, but I forgot to take any pictures until Christmas morning.

 I relent on my chewing gum ban for one day of the year.  Gum was probably C's favorite gift.  Gum.

 This is that bleary-eyed, just-woke-up Christmas morning happy face.

 J got finger mustaches in his stocking.  Really funny stuff.

 Daddy got a Captain America bobble head for Z.  He thought it tasted pretty good.

 But not as good as his thumb.

A was a little excited about her squinkies gumball house.

 C was thrilled to have her own box of band-aids to do with as she pleased.  The whole box lasted a week.

 She also enjoyed her Toy Story gang.  Which was a good thing, because that's the item I waited in line for at Toys R Us in the cold on the eve of Black Friday.

And the piece de resistance!  Z's present to mom on Christmas morning.  Love you, too, little guy.

Quarantine

Z broke out with a high fever Sunday afternoon.  I assumed it was an ear infection related to his two new teeth.  Can you see how swollen those top gums are?  So pitiful.

I took him to the doctor yesterday and learned it was not his ears, but a virus.  Great.  He was contagious in the 24-48 hours prior to symptoms.  That means Friday and Saturday, the only days we left the house and had contact with other people.  I had to call all those friends and let them know why they were feeling sick.

Want to know the interesting part?  (Because I know this post is already fascinating.)  The same virus in adults has two symptoms....general fatigue and the worst headache you've ever had.  When the pediatrician said that, I knew exactly where Z had gotten it.  Daddy.  J came home from work last week complaining of a terrible headache.  He went to bed and slept for 20 hours.  I sent him to the doctor thinking it was the flu.  He was diagnosed with a sinus infection and given antibiotics.  Now we know.

We'll be staying in our four walls for the rest of the week, praying no one else starts showing symptoms.

Up Early

J's alarm went off at 2:20 am this morning.  He was out the door shortly after 3am, on his way to the local NBC station in downtown Austin for a live interview on CNBC.  The spot was due to come on at 4:20 am, so I set my alarm for 4:15 am and went downstairs to catch his two minutes.  It was a two-hour show that started at 3:00 am, so I fast-forwarded through the majority to get a feel for what kind of show it was.  It was "Worldwide Exchange" with an anchor in London and another in Singapore (I think).  So J was piped in via satellite.  It was a very stock-exchange heavy news show, so I wasn't sure how Snoball would fit in, but they requested the interview, so we were excited for the incredible opportunity.

Here's what he saw....at the studio...quite a bit different from the local show's set-up.  And here's what I saw from my couch....Snoball on CNBC.

It was a bummer that the interview got interrupted by breaking news, especially since the breaking news was the result of an Italian bond auction.  J said they had prepped him for a possible interruption.  Apparently, the mediocre results of the auction are strong enough to keep the Italian economy from collapsing, so you know....I guess that's breaking news.

He still got in a really great explanation of Snoball and lots of exposure for the company.  Then he was back home and in bed again by 5:30 am.  But not before driving through on his way home to bring us all a special breakfast.  I just saw it in my fridge.  Not only is he a genius nerd leading an amazing team to becoming a household name, he's also thoughtful and considerate.  And mine (smitten sigh).

This is the last interview that we know of for right now.  It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks with all the great press.  This just means the Snoball Christmas party next year is really going to be surreal.  To God be the glory!

Makin' News!

Look who got up early to make news - Snoball on Good Day Austin!  Crazy, surreal cool!

Here's what he saw....
waiting his turn
on the couch
scary teleprompters

That's My Man!

As I was reading the latest article on Snoball, I got to the middle part where the writer talks about the qualifications of the person he interviewed and realized, "Holy hippies and nerds, Batman!  I'm married to that genius!"  (You have to read the article to get the reference.)  I'm so proud of you, J--every little hippy, nerd, genius bit of you!!

It's a God Thing!

Last night we had the profound blessing to have dinner with about two dozen people who are now part of the Snoball fort.  The original four founding families kept looking around and at each other, repeating the same word, "Surreal."  Our little company is up to 15 employees now and they gathered with their significant others for a Christmas party last night.  Best office Christmas party ever!  Every time I shook a new hand and tried to remember a new name, my heart praised God for the answer to prayer that that individual was.  We have prayed and prayed for the right people, in the right time and God is answering in ways that are more than we could ask or imagine.  I even heard it from several of the employees, "This is just such an amazing team; I love working here!"

Another comment I heard a lot last night was how great a boss these folks have.  It was so good to be in J's world and hear what is going on and swim in those frenzied waters for a few hours.  He is doing an a-ma-zing job at the helm of this speedboat.  His capacity for keeping up with the high-level strategy while also managing the day-to-day operations continues to mesmerize me.  I don't give him nearly enough credit for being able to switch gears from CEO of a fast-growing start-up to wrestling-on-the-floor daddy.  I am more and more convinced that he has super powers.

Because we have such an awesome team with an amazing leader, look what Snoball's been up to...Unleashing the Snoball Effect.  That's right!  Snoball's on Forbes!  Recently, it was the Austin American-Statesman (two times) and the Examiner.  To me, this is some crazy confirmation that this is a God thing and I better hang on for a great adventure.  Woo hoo!

Boo!

One night last week, when C was still in her crib, she woke up screaming and crying around 11:00 pm.  J was still up and went to see what the fuss was about.  "Pants!  Pants! I don't have any pants!" she railed at him.  She had picked a nightgown to sleep in and was apparently regretting her choice after several hours of sleep.

J moved to accommodate her because there is no reasoning with an irrational 2-year-old in the middle of the night.  You may as well tell a pregnant woman you ate the last of the ice cream.  J knows when to pick his battles.

What you need to know is that we moved all of C's clothes into A's room months ago to make room for Z's clothes in the nursery closet.  So J had to sneak into A's room for the very necessary pants.

J was rummaging around in the pajama drawer as stealthily as he could when A popped up from her perch on the top bunk and gave him a hearty, "Boo!"  I think she probably got a good payback for all the times he's pulled a similar stunt on her.

Marching Orders

My husband came home a couple of months ago and introduced the idea that the business he's been working on with three of our friends might someday need to move to Austin.  "Just want you to keep that on your radar," he said.  "Maybe by next spring," he said.

I've known this man for almost 18 years.  I've learned to filter out remote possibilities and not freak out until he's really ready to pull the trigger.  Fast forward to the beginning of July when he comes home and says, "We need to move by the end of the summer."  Time to FREAK OUT!

By the end of that conversation, he had softened the blow to moving sometime this fall because his wife just kept stammering, "That is not possible.  You realize that is not humanly possible."  I may not have been the best cheerleader for my husband that night.  Sorry, babe.

It's taken me so long to write this post, that most of you know by now that we are moving and hope to be settled in our new home and office location by the beginning of October.  That's in two months! While I'm excited about going back to the area and people we left three years ago, this has definitely been an abrupt interruption of my little world.  I have frequently been reminded that "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. (Prov 19:21)"

I had plans for kindergarten all laid out and set up in my dining room...never mind.  I had plans for a great co-op for A this fall...not to be.  I have relationships that seem like they are just starting to normalize....shake 'em up.

On the other side of this is snoball.com.  I'm super excited about the momentum this idea has!  If you haven't gone and explored the site, please take a few minutes to do that.  This thing is going to be big and you'll want to say you were there in the beginning.  The four men behind the idea are incredibly talented and smart.  They have investors chomping at the bit to get in on the action.  The only thing holding them back is their own physical limit for working....they need more manpower.  Which is the main reason for the move.  They've been unable to find local developers who are ready to hit the ground running and they can't convince any to move here.  So J will be focused on finding a new office and hiring a small army in the next few months.

In my panicked, overwhelmed-with-all-the-details moments, I ask the impertinent question, "Why, God?" He has been gracious, merciful and loving in His abundant way and provided me with an answer.  Back when I was reading this book, I prayed for an adventure.  I asked God what adventure He had for J and I to go on for His glory and our good.  And I prayed that He would show me where I fit in His eternal agenda and how I could glorify Him with what He had blessed me with.  As Bill Engvall would say,....here's yer sign.  "You asked for it, Sarah; here ya go...one adventure for the kingdom coming up.  Will you win the battles for My glory? Or will you whine and whimper in the foxholes?"

Can I just say how amazing it is to link back to so many posts over the last year that chronicle God's hand in preparing me for this?  What a mighty God we serve!

So here we go.  Back to back, tools and weapons ready, into the fray of a grand adventure.  Wherever it leads, may it strengthen our marriage, grow our children's faith and bring glory to God, the King of Kings and Lord of Hosts.

Thanks!

Wow!  What a great birthday I've had this year!  J came home early on Friday to stay with Z while I took the girls to their first movie in the theater.  We saw Winnie the Pooh on the big screen and it was a lot of fun.  I had mixed feelings about our arrival time.  We were running late, so we missed the previews (good thing because you never know what you'll see) but had to find seats and get situated in the dark (bad thing).  It was a great experience and I hope to repeat it in a week or so at the dollar summer movie for kids when they play Horton Hears a Who.

Saturday morning, J stayed with all three kids (!!!) and sent me out of the house with cash in hand to spend only on myself.  He said he was going to want to see receipts and I couldn't spend any of it on the girls or homeschool stuff.  He knows me really well.  I picked up some new duds and enjoyed a silent lunch on my own.  Wonderful birthday gift!!

While I was gone, he took the girls to the grocery store to pick out a cake mix for me.  They came back and made brownies for me that afternoon and supplemented the birthday decorations still up from A's party.  The girls spent some time drawing me pictures and finding gift bags to put them in.

Sunday, we all actually made it to church on time and enjoyed being back in the groove with our friends.  We attempted a civilized lunch at a restaurant afterward.  Only missed it by one diaper blow-out.  Newborn poop is diabolical when said newborn is in a car seat.  That afternoon, J baked the chocolate cake with chocolate icing that the girls knew I wanted.  I guess I've said a few loving words about chocolate as of late.

Today (my actual birthday), a sweet neighbor friend came over to play with the girls all morning.  I wasn't expecting to get much done because Z is so unpredictable.  But he took a THREE HOUR NAP!!  Hallelujah!  I got soooo much done!  I feel lighter and happier having checked so much off my to-do list.  Since I was feeling caught up, I was able to enjoy spending the afternoon playing with the girls and reading to them while Z took another big nap.  I really believe all this time today was God's birthday present for me.

To top it all off, I've received dozens of birthday greetings in cards, emails and Facebook messages.  Icing on an already sweet day!  Thanks to everyone who made me feel so special and loved on my birthday, especially my hard-working, fast-thinking, never-a-dull-moment best friend of a husband.

More Father's Day Gifts

C had two special gifts to share with her daddy this past weekend.  We tried to coordinate the day in such a way that he and I would both get naps, but we ended up fielding several interruptions during that part of the day.  He handled the big girls, while I kept Z happy.

On Saturday, he was roused from his almost-nap by C yelling that she had stinky pants.  This is an almost daily occurrence.  Something about being alone in her room during quiet time gets things moving.  He trudged in to change her diaper and discovered that for the first time in our parenting years, she had gone exploring in her diaper.  I don't think she liked what she found, because she had tried to clean it off on her shirt, belly, pants, and door.  It really could have been a lot worse, but J thought it was bad enough.

Then on Sunday, we tried again to finagle naps.  We even made the girls lay down to take naps.  C wasn't having it, though, so he gave in and let her do quiet time.  When he went to her room at the end of quiet time, he was shocked to see that she had been playing "splashpad" and had very thoroughly applied "sunscreen" to herself and her duplo blocks.  She had nearly emptied a tube of A+D diaper cream onto her face, arms, legs and every crevice of most of her duplo blocks.  Keep in mind that diaper cream is formulated to resist moisture.  I only washed one block, and that is tough stuff.  After googling "how to clean diaper cream out of carpet," and seeing the poor results most folks have, I decided not to waste my time.

Happy Father's Day, J!  Thanks for saving C from the wrath of Mommy.  If she pulls a stunt like those during the week, I can't promise I'll handle it with the grace you did.

Happy Father's Day!

We were a little preoccupied on the actual Father's Day, so I asked J to give me an extra week to coordinate a weekend of celebrating what a great man he is to our family.  He was happy to oblige, because he's a great man.

So Friday afternoon, we used our kidsbowlfree.com coupons to all go bowling.  If you haven't signed your kids up for this yet, you really should.  Every kid in your family under 12 gets 2 free games of bowling every weekday for the whole summer.  We signed up for the family pass on top of that and both of the grown-ups get 2 free games every day for the summer for the cost of one game.  (You still have to pay for shoes, which was $12 for the family at our local place.)  The girls had a blast!  They had a special ramp that you could push up to the foul line and let them push their ball down the ramp toward the pins.  It was perfect for C.  And A really enjoyed seeing "real" bowling instead of Wii bowling.  Z was a trooper and slept through almost all of it.

Saturday morning, the girls gave cards they had made to Daddy and we decorated with a banner and some balloons.  We made a pie that Daddy had raved about and had it for dessert at lunch.

For my gift to J, I had planned a surprise date.  One of our neighbors was kind enough to come watch all three kids and I tried to orchestrate the afternoon so that I could feed Z, run out the door, and be back in time for his next feeding.  J has been trying to get me to the gun range for a long time and I knew it would mean a lot to him if I finally caved and went.  I thought we would go to a nearby indoor range, so I arranged babysitting for middle of the afternoon.  Alas, I heard through the grapevine that the nearest range is no fun; we would have to go a little further out of town to what I learned was an outdoor range. This is how I say "I LOVE YOU!"

That's me, shooting a gun, outside, at 5:30 pm in the blazing heat.  (You can be doubly sure it's me 'cause I'm wearing a hat.)  File it away, because you won't see that again ever anytime soon.  I think J had a good time teaching me some really basic gun safety and introducing me to his latest hobby.  It was good to enter his world and see what fun looks like for him.  I have to admit, though, that I was surprised by my reaction to shooting.  It made me cry.  No kidding.  Granted I'm a postpartum hormonal mess, but I still wasn't expecting to tear up when I pulled the trigger. And no, it wasn't a happy cry.  Something very powerful about firing a gun.  I don't like the idea of being responsible for that action.  I don't want that kind of power in my hands.  But if we're going to have one in the house, I am at least grateful to know how to hold it and how to make it work if I need it. I can honestly say I'm not scared of it anymore, but I'm nowhere near comfortable with it.

We made it back home in time to feed the kids and get them in bed before a long night with a newborn.  Happy Father's Day, J!  I wish every kid had a dad like you who would play rough, talk soft, stand firm, and be crazy like you do with our kids.  You make me a better mommy and I thank our God for bringing us together and blessing us with three special kids who bring out the best in you.  I love you!

Introducing...

Zane Miller Kelley! 

Can you believe we finally named our son?!  We had tossed the Zane option months ago because I felt it was not quite in keeping with the traditional names of our daughters.  But when I asked J if he had any strong preferences, he said he still really liked Zane Miller.  I figured my misgivings were not strong enough to keep my man from naming his son what he wanted.

If you trust the baby name book, Zane is a variation of John, meaning God is gracious.  Miller was J's grandpa's name.  J has lots of fond memories of his grandpa and has been told on more than one occasion that he and his grandpa had a lot in common.  I wish I could have had the honor of meeting him.

In case you haven't heard, he was 8 lbs, 12 oz and 21" long!  That's a big baby! And he was in no hurry to greet the world.

I kept saying all day Tuesday during the delivery that I was so glad we had decided to induce.  I left the house  shortly before 7 am looking like this...

...and having made no progress in dilating since my last doctor's appointment.  I got started on pitocin at 8:30 am and the doctor came back at noon to find that I was still not making any progress.  If left to his own devices, this boy would've camped out in my womb for another month!  The doctor broke my water at 12:30 pm and that got things moving.  By 1:30 pm, I was getting the epidural and he arrived at 2:56 pm!

Even when being evicted, he put up a little resistance.  His shoulder got stuck against my pubic bone and I was given the medically-necessary pile driver to the gut by one of the nurses to help him rotate and get past that last hurdle. Fortunately, the epidural was successful and I was oblivious to any pain.

Praise God we both maintained great vitals through the entire delivery, the epidural lasted the hour I needed it to, and we arrived at a name before leaving the hospital!  I could not have asked for things to go any better than they did.  Thanks to all those who were praying; to God be the glory!

Enough About Me

I have been very neglectful of late to talk about my amazing husband.  While I've been whining about the woes of pregnancy, he has been laboring on the birth of an exciting new brainchild of his start-up company, Collective Labs.  They launched snoball.co at the beginning of this week to rave reviews at a technology conference in New York.  Of course, he did not go with his partners to said conference because it was in New York and his very pregnant wife was not.  He stayed behind to babysit servers and sit in the quiet office watching a live stream of the conference.  If you know J at all, you know that he lights up at those conferences, rubbing elbows with other techies and comparing notes on the best way to do things.  It is no small thing that he stayed home with me.  Thank you, babe.

So what is snoball?  I've been asked this several times and the best way I can explain it is to say that it is a social giving site.  You can create "rules" for giving to your favorite charity and snoball will manage the giving for you.  For example, I could create a rule that says, "Every time I eat at xyz restaurant, donate $1.00 to the local crisis pregnancy center."  I can link to my facebook and twitter accounts, so my friends can see my rules and join the giving, too.  Rules can be based on anything....personal spending habits, sports scores, places you go, etc.  If you go to the site and watch the video, it explains it much better than I can.

To be honest, the whole thing totally overwhelms me.  When I think about all the contingencies that go into creating the rules, it makes my head spin.  But it's an incredible testament to the genius of my husband and the guys he is blessed to worked with.

Next month, they pitch another genius idea, blinksend.com, at yet another conference.  This is a web-based document management tool that also overwhelms me because of its scope.  But so many people who hear about it are so excited about it, that I know they're on to something.

Owning your own business is a scary endeavor, but it's an exciting kind of scary, like a roller coaster that makes you want to lose your lunch but that you can't resist getting in line for again.  J is loving every minute of it and that smooths the ride for me.  I love that he loves his job and can't wait to see what's around the next curve.

The Problem With Expectations

J was trying to convince the girls to go with him yesterday to WalMart so I could get a little peace and quiet.  (I have so enjoyed our long weekend with him with no real plans.  He's filled all his girls' love tanks plumb full.)  My girls don't thrill to the idea of going to WalMart, so he had his work cut out for him.

A was quite the negotiator.  She informed him that Mom could go get the bicycle tire he needed and he could stay home and play with them.  Normally, a win/win accomplishing the same goal of peace and quiet.  However, Mom did not want to go out in the heat or waddle around WalMart.  But that didn't stop her from trying.

She came to the door of the laundry room where I was shuffling baby clothes into the dryer and announced with confidence, "Dad needs a new bicycle tire from WalMart and I expect you to go get it."  See how that's the problem with expectations?  If you expect anything, you should equally expect to be disappointed.

She came home from her trip to WalMart with flowers and chocolates for Mom.  I didn't expect that!

Laundry Day

I turned the dryer on this morning only to have Jeremy ask, "Are you drying gravel?!"  No, that would be a load of baby clothes resplendent with snaps.  I did five loads of baby stuff today!!  And that doesn't include the four bags of pass-me-downs that didn't get washed.  I washed two loads of tiny clothes, then three loads of burp rags, washcloths, towels, blankets, sheets, etc.  I've only bought one outfit, but we are set.

I hoarded baby girl clothes for so many years, "just in case."  Having boy clothes rain down in spades has only confirmed for me that there is no need to hold on to things "just in case."  God will provide what we need, when we need it.  And in the meantime, I can funnel His provision on to someone else instead of carting it up and down the attic stairs (or asking my husband to).