New Hannah pics

There are new pictures of Hannah up at www.theclingerfamily.com.  Click on the photos tab at the top of the page to see pics of her from the last couple of weeks.  Such a cutie!  :-)

"On My Own" - or - "Out of Proportion"

This week Jeff has been in Arkansas for the New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI).  It is the second of two weeks he has been gone for the institute.  He went to the first one in October, and we had the "what if" plan in case I went into labor (I didn't).  I think I spent at least one night in Lawrence with Barb and John (Jeff's folks) so I wouldn't be alone for the whole week.  This time, I had sole "Hannah duty" all week.  Jeff encouraged me to try to plan things to do each day to help the week go by faster.  And actually, the week has been pretty good.  Monday I met Sara and Kara for what I thought would be a "working" lunch but turned out to be just lunch for my birthday.  Tuesday I was able to get some work done during the day, and then Hannah and I went to walk around the mall while dinner was cooking in the slow cooker.  Last night I had a meeting in Lawrence and tonight I had rehearsal, so Wednesday evening I loaded up the girls (Hannah and Kayla) to spend some time with Barb and John.  They watched Hannah last night during my meeting and tonight during rehearsal.  Tomorrow I will meet Julia, a long-time friend, for brunch, then get the girls loaded in the car to go home.

This week has made me appreciate a couple things: #1 - all that Jeff does around the house and his presence and support; #2 - how helpful it is to be living close to family; #3 - how much I appreciate John and Barb being willing to watch Hannah (so, ok, we don't exactly have to twist their arms to do it, but still...); #4 - what a privilege it is to have the option to work part-time; and #5 - how difficult it would be to be a single parent.

Thanks for doing this parenting thing with me, Jeff!  I'm glad we're doing it together.