Testing 123

I thought I was going to get my husband back on Friday. He came back into town, but dove straight back into his studies for the CPA. His test is Tuesday. The poor thing has been hanging out at the library most of the time since he got home. (He's much more disciplined than I am.) He has poured himself into preparing for each individual part of the exam. We were hoping to have all this behind us before Avery came along, but we should have realized that you can't rush this and that you have to completely focus in order to end up with a good score.

Parenthood has interrupted a few of our plans. We should have known. Some of them have been welcomed interruptions and others seem a bit more sacrificial. Regardless, we know that God timed Avery's arrival just perfectly for us. While we would love to have the CPA exam behind us, we know that Chad will be finished in plenty of time to reap the benefits.

We had a nice weekend. Chad rolled into town earlier than expected on Friday, so he squeezed in a quick 9 holes of golf. (It's been ages since he has played.) We grabbed dinner out with Avery on Friday night and got our wedding rings cleaned, too.

Chad spent most of the day at the library on Saturday and I went to Traveller's Rest Plantation to help set up for Lindsey Stigall and Josh Crites' wedding. That place is gorgeous and the wedding was so beautiful and fun. Although I didn't do much, helping with the reception made me want to be a wedding coordinator. If I could do it all over again, I would have hired someone to take care of all the details of my wedding. It's just too stressful for a bride (& her family) to have to worry about that stuff on the wedding day. I'd much rather have left it up to someone else so I wouldn't have even had to think about what might have been forgotten. Of course, I probably would have done several things differently. Brides too often feel as though they have to please everyone else rather than actually have the dream wedding. It's going to cost a fortune anyway. A bride should get what she wants!

Kim spent the night with us after the wedding. She left around 8 this morning so we went to one of my favorite places for breakfast -- Bruegger's Bagels -- and then to class. Ken Switzer and Randal Wilcher are teaching a class on Paul's letters and it's fantastic. It is very well attended because Ken and Randal are quite educated -- and quite funny, too. I'm amazed that Ken seemed so eager to attack the controversial topic today of women's role in the church. I'm really sad that next week is the last week of the quarter. I'm sure we'll have another great set of choices for class.

After church, we went to Pei Wei. (Wow. Does it seem like we eat out enough?) We love to eat out with our life group, but it's pretty tough to find a place that can seat so many babies. We usually end up scarfing down our food before all the kids start screaming.

Chad headed back to the library this afternoon and Avery and I settled in front of the Braves game for a quick nap. She slept a little longer than expected, so we were late for Celebration service at church. We were expecting our life group there. We decided not to meet in someone's home tonight so we could go to Celebration, but it ended up being us and the Daniels and Laura Essner. So we went to McAllister's with the Daniels afterward. (Okay, so YES, we do eat out way too much.) It was nice to have some two-on-two time with them. They're pretty fun. Although they've been married longer than us, they are at a place in their lives that I remember quite well -- just getting plugged in at church and in a life group. I just hope that their lives are blessed by the life group as much as our lives have been blessed.

It is a sense of belonging. Even though we still have some insecurities, Chad and I feel amazingly close to our group. We're all sharing the joys and challenges of being new parents and still trying to keep our marriages fresh and new. It's definitely good to have friends who know what you're going through, good or ill.

Mom and Dad are coming to visit this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! It has been so long since they've seen Avery, so they're taking advantage of the long weekend. We still have to work out the lodging logistics, but it looks like they're coming Saturday morning. I think they are going to flip out when they see how much Avery has changed and developed. Her face is so expressive now and she's using her hands really well. I'm very proud.

Well, Chad is already asleep, trying to get rested so he can get up early and study before work. Bless his heart. I'm calling it a night. Till next time . . .