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This is the beginning.

Here are a few things I should write down.  Understand that I'm mostly talking to myself, so this may not always be sequential or obviously coherent, but it's how this runs through my head.

We've been living in our new place for just over two weeks now, and I think we are pretty much done with the "our new place" period, and have started the "our place" period.  While change is a very exciting thing, it's also nice to be out of a transition period.  Really, the last 8 months or so have been a transition period.  And in a way, the last three and a half years have been.  I went from being a single college student to married with two kids, and now working on a PhD.  Amazing how quickly it all happened, too, though I wouldn't want it any other way.  God's been moving our lives in very visible ways in the last few years, for which I'm very thankful.  It's strange to see what have certainly been the best and most important handful of years of my life, summarized in a couple dozen words...

Julie is incredible.  I don't think there's anyone else out there that can manage raising two kids, taking care of her husband, and really encapsulating the term "homemaker" with so much love.  She has really made a world of difference in my life.

Tristan is such a beautiful boy.  He's unbelievably smart, and is so eager to learn... While he may rebel from time to time (as 2-year-olds are wont to do), his goal in these rebellions seems to always be to spend more time with Momma and Papa and Lucy.  He's such a lover with an obviously big heart and a glimmer in his eye.  And he sure does love his sister.

Lucy is perfect.  She is filled to capacity with love and smiles (and capacity's pretty substantial; she's a big girl), and always wants to share both.  She's getting so close to crawling now, and you can tell how much she just wants to get up and follow big brother around.  She's super smart, too.  Her body is definitely trying to grow into her brain.  And what a personality!  It's so apparent how much she knows about what's going on around her, and how much she wants to participate in shaping her world.

At the moment, I'm putting Tristan to sleep.  The poor guy is so interested in what goes on after he's in bed.  He just doesn't want to miss anything.  Even if he's falling over because he's so tired.  We're very blessed to have such an inquisitive boy, and I hope I never do anything to curb that enthusiasm.  He so badly wants to know everything:  "What's this?  Where are we going?  What does this do?  How does this work?"  The next question, of course, is "Why?", but it hasn't entirely come up yet.  I have no doubt it will soon, though.  I think that may prove to be a real challenge, especially because Julie and I both majored in science, meaning we can actually answer quite a few "why" questions... And again, I don't want to discourage him from asking them, so I may find my hands full soon.  And I'm looking forward to it.

He (Tristan) is also very excited about reading the Bible before bedtime, which is wonderful.  We lay together in his bed and read a couple chapters each night, and he loves it.  It's funny, too, because he throws in little thinking sounds here and there, and seems to know the appropriate times for an enthusiastic "mmmhmmm".  Sometimes he even tosses in an "amen!".  It's not a far cry from "You ain't lyin'!" (referencing Shane Hipps).

There's so much more to say, but it can wait until tomorrow.  I'll update more then.