At Home

One of my favorite things

My first week as a full time Mom was nothing but awesome!  I loved every minute spending time with my babies and homecaring.  Deep down in my heart, I yearned to do this for so long and it feels good to be in this season now.  I am enjoying the slower pace.  The lack of rush.  The quietness of my house during nap time.  The air that I can BREATHE when I wake up... rather than the exhaustion I used to feel knowing that I had to drudge through another day doing what was making me miserable.

Inspirational, but Aspirational.

Seeing my house during the different daylight hours is calming.  I love the way the house fills with the soft, early morning light. At noon, all of the sunlights are aglow and I can even see the shadows of clouds and trees blowing across the shadows on the floor.  The evening sun is blaring in around 5pm and I run around closing up blinds and curtains to keep the heat out.

There is space and time to breathe.  It feels amazing, but it isn't all easy.

I haven't stuck to the routine that I had daydreamed about for the past several months.  I haven't exercised once...well...we did go for an adventure walk, but my feet have not yet graced the elliptical.   The house is not clean by any means.  There are certain spots that I couldn't wait to attack with a scrub brush.  Haven't gotten to those yet.

Proof that Playrooms are for Playing. 

I allowed a little too much TV last week and the little man throws fits now if he doesn't get to watch it or when we turn it off.  This week, this house is undergoing TV detox.  It's painful for all of us. (Seriously!)  Also, it's feels like I spend the entire day in the kitchen either preparing or cleaning up meals. 

But, I've gotten to be creative.  Whether is it cooking, sewing, crocheting or figuring out how to entertain the kids, full time Mommy'ing allows me to be more creative than ever.  I'm super resourceful in the kitchen and I'm on a mission to use everything in my pantry so I can refill it next week with all sorts of good stuff! 

I've even had time to do bible study (started Beth Moore's Patriarchs this week!) and read!  Oh...and blog! :)

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  1 John 3:18

Oh Yes We Did! - Adrenaline 2011

Last weekend, my dear friend and I decided to take a break from mommyhood and go spend the day on an adventure course. To be totally honest, she asked me to go with her and I said yes....not really knowing what I was getting myself in to.

On the ride up to the adventure ranch, we were joking and laughing like a couple of 12 year old girls. And when we saw our first adventure task...not only was our laughing silenced... I began to feel regret that I had agreed to coming with her:

The Tower of Death.

But I'm happy to say that we both made it to the top of the Tower of Death and we jumped off that very top platform together. It was exhilarating...and frightening at the same time.

I was so nervous...I couldn't even smile correctly.

Weeeeeeee!

Then we went ZIP LINING! WHOO HOO, now that was fun! We wrapped up the day by kayaking!  It was the shortest kayak ride in the history of "adventure coursing" though, because we were anxious to get back to our babies at home.  

It was a physically tiring, emotionally draining, fun day.  A roller coaster of adrenaline. I'm so glad that I went. Thanks, A!!!

New Life

So, I am in the 5 week stretch until my due date of our baby girl.  It is surreal.  I'm about to be a mommy of 2!  A part of me feels like it still hasn't sunk in that I'm pregnant, the other part of me feels like I've been pregnant forever.  It's not like I can forget that I'm pregnant.....my bulging waistline is the topic of every conversation at the office, at church, at the store....everywhere! The weight of it all (physically and emotionally) has me losing sleep. :)

First off, let me say that I know that children are a gift from God.  So are spouses, parents, friends, meaningful work and solitude.  The "What's to Expect when Expecting" book only glosses over "anxiety of this life event", so I wanted to articulate and capture some of the anxiety I have about becoming a mommy of 2.

I'm looking forward to having our little girl, but I also feel sad for our little man who is so used to the world revolving around him.  Since both my husband and I work full time, we completely and thoroughly lavish our little man with attention in the evenings and on the weekends.   We spend lots of quality time together doing the things that our son enjoys, purely because it brings us joy to do so.  We truly soak him up and spend every ounce of our energy loving him.  I'm worried how we will be able to sustain this with two kids. 

I know my worry is in vain, because God's miraculous hand will place spaces in our hearts to equally love both kids to the utmost.  It is just so hard to imagine how we can do it until we meet our new little one. 

I remember similar hesitations and fears while I was pregnant with Little Man.  I was so worried how I would be able to "fit" the baby into the marriage, work life, social events, personal time, etc.  And looking back over the past 3 years, the addition of Little Man made everything (marriage, work life, etc) even more worthwhile. 

It's going to be a new life! 

The amazing thing about it all is that Little Man doesn't worry about competing for attention or what having a baby sister will mean.  He kissed my tummy last night and proclaimed "I'm a good big brother."  And I believe he will be.  And she is going to love him.  And they will have each other and a bond that will last a lifetime.

Teaching him to Give...

Acts 20:35 (New International Version, ©2010)

³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” 

It IS better to GIVE than to RECEIVE.  However, when you are two years old, this idea seems as delightful as eating a bowl full of broccoli.


My Little Man's daycare class adopted a less fortunate boy, named Dennis, age 2.  We are using this opportunity to take the focus off of the list of toys my son wants and focus on giving to another little boy.

Dennis loves Toy Story, just like my Little Man.  We got him little Woody and Buzz action figures for his present. As a mommy, I couldn't pass up making Dennis a blankie.

I don't know if Dennis is cold, or hungry, or has a blankie already.  I know that my son loves to cuddle under his fleece blankie.  It keeps him warm.  It helps him feel safe.  It is his blankie and he doesn't have to share it with anybody.  My prayer is that Dennis feels the warmth, love and peace under his blankie.  My Little Man helped me put Dennis' name on it and added a little airplane for an extra special touch.

Merry Christmas, Dennis.  Merry Christmas to you, too!

The Fog has Lifted!

The last three months have been tough! I haven't posted a blog, and I haven't been doing much crafting.  But it was all for a good reason! 

I am delighted to say that I am 15 weeks pregnant (Yippeee!) and I've spent the last 10 weeks with the most miserable morning sickness!  I think the "Fog finally lifted" this past Saturday.  I had so much more energy than I've had....and a lot less nausea.  This morning sickness took me to my lowest point ever and taught me a lot about myself. 

First off, I thought that if I was ever 'really sick' that I would completely lean on God and be steadfast in my faith that I was in His hands.  (I always imagined I would become some amazingly faithful woman who would be known for her strength through tough times....like out of some Lifetime movie or something.)  Well, I hate to say it but I did a lot of "giving in" to the sickness and feeling sorry for myself.  I wasn't very strong....in fact, I let lots of things slip.  Things at work, things at home, things with friends... it was getting pretty lonely and dark in my little nausea filled world.  Lots of tears...lots of "why me's"...and lots of "I'm never doing this again!"

Well, now that "The Fog" has lifted, I'm seeing a whole different side of life.  I'm thankful for everything and everyone that is still here for me....even though I've been a real bother the last 2+ months.  My husband was so helpful, and really took control of everything for the last 2 months.  It didn't come without a few arguments, but he was amazing and I'm so thankful that he's such a good care-taker.  If I were him, I would have been done with my after 2 weeks of it!

I am feeling like my old self.  I want to sew.  I want to bake.  I want to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Lord knows, I want to EAT!  Boy, I'm hungry.  I want to blog.  I want..... for the first time in months, I want to do anything except lay around and be sick.

So long, Fog.  You will not be missed.

Discovering

I had no idea how much fun it would be to be a Mommy! This summer has been the best summer since we became a family of 3! Our little man just turned two, and he's such an adventurer! Now that we have the nap/snack schedule down pat, we can do so much more with our little man!

And he enjoys being on the go...


We've gone to see the dolphins at the aquarium.


And we've buried our feet at the beach!

He even loves shopping! (Wish that would rub off on his daddy!)

It has been PURE JOY to take him places and discover the world through his eyes! I really feel blessed to have this experience!