Monday

A few images from our start to another week.

We're learning B this week...bumblebees, babies, books, balls, bananas, Noah built a big boat...I mean, the possibilities are endless for the direction we could take this thing...

 And here is John showing off his new favorite thing--start on one side of the room, army crawl my way across the room, and promptly pull every single book off of the shelf.  He loves it.

Ada was reading to him (not the real words!!), but he certainly wasn't listening this diligently the whole time.

On this day I am thankful that John slept ALL NIGHT LONG last night!!!  He went to bed at 7 ish, and I think I fed him once more before 9, and then I woke him up at 6:30 am because I was desperately needing to nurse him.  I can't believe it.  We moved him into his bed last night, out of the pack-n-play, and it apparently did the trick.  We'll see if it sticks.  He has also napped in his room all day today. 

I am also thankful that the highs are in the 70s/low 80s all week.  That is such a nice break from the 90s!!! 

Come on, fall.

Saturday and John's EEG

well, we are recovering from our hard day yesterday.  Ada and I hugged and talked and listed all of the things we are not going to do today--like disobey and, you know, hit mom in the face.

The day is going fairly well, with a more normal level of disobedience, and it helps, of course, that Scott is home and able to share the load with me.  For instance, when the nap time battle began again today, I turned it over to him.  And it's no secret that he has loads more patience than me.  Loads more.  She never went to sleep, though.  It is going to be a daily battle apparently.

Anyway...in the midst of yesterday's frustration and need to vent on the blog, I forgot to mention that I finally took John to have his EEG done.  (Which added to yesterday's frustration--I was already exhausted from the morning's visit to the neurologist).  God was very gracious throughout the whole visit.  The doctor specifically told me to bring him during his nap time so that he would be sleepy.  So, when we walked into the EEG room there was a medical exam table and the computer and other "medical" things, and the nurse asked me if I thought that John would sleep.  I asked, "on that table?"  And she said, "yes..." and I said, "no, I don't think he'll sleep on that table."  I wanted to ask, has a baby ever slept on that table.  If I put John on that table and left him to go to sleep, he would promptly roll or scoot himself off onto the floor.  So...anyway, I did hold him down on the table while she attached all the wires? things that looked at his brain? to his head and then wrapped his little head in gauze.  He looked so pitiful.  But then I was able to hold him and nurse him and for the first time ever he fell asleep and stayed asleep in my arms, so they were able to get the needed information.  Seriously, it was God's grace.  I couldn't believe he was sleeping away in my arms.  After he slept in my arms for 20+ minutes, I had to wake him up and they flashed a bright light in his face ten times.  I felt like they were torturing him, but then we were done, and I am so relieved to have it done!!  We will find out the results in a week. 

Anyway...just wanted to let everyone know that the EEG is done, and we still assume that they will not really find anything, though I would be very thankful for some definite answers.  Every doctor we talk to still says the same thing, every symptom matches breathholding spells except for his age, his age doesn't make sense.

Well...off to enjoy more of this fall Saturday that feels like the dead of summer!!  Come on fall weather, please show up.

This Afternoon

sin has tornadoed its way through our house today, destroying everything in its path. 

During the last few hours I found myself in the trenches of motherhood, not knowing what to do, face to face with Ada's sin, my sin, my inadequacy.  In tears, I called Scott, my mother, over and over again, "Help me," I said, "I don't know what to do." 

I just wanted her to obey.  Simple as that.  She refused to obey.  Simple as that. 

I tried spanking and pinching and talking and taking away over and over and over again, and she disobeyed and disobeyed and disobeyed over and over and over again. 

It was nap time, and I needed her to stay in her room.  I can't make her sleep, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a three year old to rest.  I don't think it's unreasonable for this 28 year old to want to rest.  And she refused to stay in her room, and you can fill in the details, which included her hitting me (lots of hitting), and finally, I took her blanket away, and that did the trick.  But only after we were both exhausted and broken and sad.  Very sad.

At the beach Ann asked me if I thought age two was harder than age three, and my answer then was that I didn't know.  Today, I shout it from the roof tops, "THREE IS HARDER.  IT FEELS LIKE THE HARDEST OF ALL."

More Preschool

making an apple tree.

Eating apples and peanut butter and watching an orchestra play Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and then, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

stove popped popcorn (which has nothing to do with the letter A, it's just what we wanted to snack on) and learning to use scissors.

concentrate...

Things turned around after our initial "slow" start.  I quickly learned that this little girl needs one art project after another.  So...as we read stories and talked about the Letter A and Adam and Eve and eating the fruit in the garden, Ada drew and cut and glued and colored, and the stories seemed to stick. 

Playing School

I am a champion homeschooler, really.

About 15 minutes into our first day of school at home, Ada announced, "I don't want to play school anymore."  Awesome.  And when I said, "We're not playing; this is really school, and we aren't going to stop yet," she burst into tears.  A successful first day, don't you think?

No, really, it got better after that, though she continued to call me teacher and call what we were doing playing.  Whatever gets the learning done in a way that will stick. 

A says aaaa....

1 letter A sticker...

Adam and Eve...

The Ants go marching in...

Leroy Anderson, the composer of Old MacDonald's Farm...

Snacking on an Apple...

One day down, so many years to go...

(excuse her stomach, she is currently "pregnant" with her little girl named John).

Sunday Night

We are starting "preschool" in the morning, right here in our very own kitchen;)

I am excited to create a schedule for our days.  I am hoping it will help me to get things in line around here--and by things I mean John's feeding and nap schedule, the house cleaning, and Ada's daily activities. 

And we are officially starting P90X in the morning.  We did a trial run right before the beach to get an idea of the time commitment involved, and it looks like 5:30 am is the best time to do this thing.  Yikes, yikes, and more yikes.  But I am excited to get. in. shape!!!!

And by the way, WAR EAGLE, right?  It was a close one.  I love the feeling of waking up on Sunday morning and remembering that we WON the night before.  (And of course, I hate remembering that we lost).  I told Scott that I was sad that I didn't really have anyone to share the victory with--no other Auburn fans around here, despite the fact that I am living in the south.  So...I decided to share my joy with Ada.  I said, "Ada, war eagle!!!"  And she looked at me, threw her little fist in the air and said, "T-Rex!!!"  What?!!!!  Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Okay, just wanted to chat for a bit.  Off to lesson plan (sort of).

The Beach Trip

Ada sees the ocean for the first time, and, by the way, the weather was this beautiful the entire time we were there.  Amazing.  How can anyone doubt that we have a CREATOR, when you see a sight like the Gulf?

And she experiences the ocean for the first time--she loved it, to the point that we had to remind her over and over not to go too far in without an adult. 

And John also sees the ocean for the first time.  He was not impressed, and after that first morning, John stayed in the house, never going to the ocean or the pool.

Here is what John and I did for the rest of that first morning.  He was hot and miserable.  See the workers in the background cleaning up the oil? 

John's favorite toy of all, my keys.  Check out his fat rolls, and that is 100% breast milk, folks, since he still hasn't mastered baby food (which the doctor says we have to work on).

And an unsuccessful attempt to get him out of my lap.  See his crawling stance?  He has become an expert scooter, getting across the room very fast, so he does the crawl position less and less. 

Thoughts on the beach trip--it was exhausting, to say the least, and by 7:00 everyday I was wishing I could crawl into bed.  However, I am thankful for Ada's sake that we were able to go.  I think she loved it.  Plus, the first day we were there, Ann and I had a very relaxing time lying out at the pool while the kids napped, so that afternoon did feel a bit like vacations from the past.  We would have had another relaxing afternoon at the beach, but while Ann, Ellie, and I (everyone else was back at the house) were trying to enjoy the beautiful ocean (no oil in sight, maybe because of the diligent workers?), we were suddenly surrounded by sea gulls.  It was hilarious and frightening, and I wish I had the words to explain the whole scene.  Bottom line, though, the afternoon was not relaxing once the sea gulls arrived.

The six hour drive to and from the beach?  Nightmare.  Absolute Nightmare.  John had multiple breath holding spells in the process, and I was frequently diving into the back seat to try to get him to breath.  Plus, on the drive home, John had a fever and refused to sleep in his car seat.  We are staying put for a while.  No traveling for us. 

Conclusion--give the kids a few years, and I think vacation will be wonderful once again.  I mean, let's face it, vacation is a gift anyway...so I stress again, I am so thankful that we got to go.  I hope that we get to go again.  Ann and I recalled afternoons at the beach growing up when mom and dad planted their chairs in the sand and stayed there all afternoon--we just have to give the kids a few years. 

Ann and I (and Sarah and Kate) sort of "grew up" at Orange Beach, going every summer for as long as I can remember because my dad had work meetings there every year.  It was surreal to see Ada run up the boardwalk to eat at "Sea n' Suds."  Life is coming full circle. 

Anyway...it was fun, I am thankful that we were able to go, and I am very thankful to be home!!!

Home Again

We have been away, vacationing.  Which, I quickly learned that with five children, five and under (Ellie-5, Luke-4, Ada-3, Andrew-19 months, John--7 months), vacation might not be the appropriate term;)

But I think that all the cousins had a wonderful time, and I am so thankful that we were able to go.  What a gift.  We certainly didn't think that we would be going on a family vacation this summer!!! (Fall?)

Anyway...today we are dealing with the aftermath of being away from home for 5 days, plus John is suffering from a cold with fever.  John is already a rather "fussy" baby, so when he isn't feeling well, it isn't pretty.  I hope to blog more about our trip, especially when I get more pictures from Ann...but you know, the best laid plans. 

Until then, here is a snapshot of the little sickling.

A Few Tidbits

So, it's about a year later (exaggeration), and I still haven't told you about what is happening over at Scott's blog.  So here it is in summary.

Scott, along with 29 other bloggers, are trying to raise 30,000 dollars, "30 bloggers, 30 days, 30,000 dollars."  "Why?" you ask.  Because 20.00 gives one person 20 years of clean water.  Crazy, right?  If you head over to Scott's blog you can find out the details.  But, please, check it out, and consider donating!! 

No clean water. It quickly puts things into perspective.  These days I find myself fretting over the fact that our budget doesn't allow me to feed my family only grass fed beef and farm fresh eggs laid by pastured chickens, and then I think, but we have clean water.  We have clean water.

On a completely other note...I am in love with the munchkin mesh feeder.  (not the real name).  I am on a crusade to spread the word about this wonderful contraption.  It has saved my sanity, and I think will be my go-to baby gift from now on.  It goes with us everywhere.

John likes it too.  Here it is filled with cooked sweet potato.  He has also used it to eat banana, pear, avocado, and watermelon.  He loves it all.  I stick it in the fridge to make it really cold, and I think it feels good to his teething gums.  I don't have to make his baby food, he's doing it himself.  Self-sufficient; I like it.

And remember all that talk about turning the television off?  We're still watching.

Do you see John showing off his new sitting up skills?  He still hasn't conquered an official crawl, but he is giving it his all.  Any day now, any day.

Feel the need to share

When I am reading something that really resonates with me, I feel an immediate need to share. 

I have memories from college of sitting in my room doing my bible study, coming across something that really "spoke" to me, and immediately calling Scott or my friend, Amy, to share whatever I just read, despite the fact that I was in the middle of my quiet time.  I am a vocal processor.  I like to discuss; it helps me to figure things out and come to a conclusion about things. 

This is true for everything, not just spiritual things.  If I am reading a fashion magazine, and I read a really great tip on "dressing for your body type," or something of that nature, I also feel the immediate need to share that.  Unfortunately, Scott is not usually very interested in knowing how to "dress for his body type" ;).

Well, blog readers, I am not in college anymore; I don't have 13 friends living right down the hall, so...when I need to process something I have read, I turn to you.  This is my way of warning you that I am about to type a few things from the book I am currently reading, and I completely understand if you just skip this post altogether.

I am reading The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges, and I am loving it!!!!  It's subtitle reads, God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness."  If I were to share everything that I love about this book, I would probably end up copying the whole book onto my blog, so I just recommend that you find a copy and read it.  Really.

But...this morning, I read a great passage on how the gospel reveals the glory of God, and I had to share.  I couldn't help myself.  Bare (Bear?) with me, please.

"The law reveals the glory of God in his righteousness; the gospel reveals the glory of God in both his righteousness and grace.  Christ's death reveals the righteousness of God in that it satisfied the justice of God, but it also reveals the grace of God in that it was the means of salvation to those who deserve only eternal wrath [amen!!!]. 

Furthermore, the gospel reveals the wisdom of God in devising such an infinitely magnificent way of meeting our desperate need without sacrificing his holiness and justice.  And it reveals the power of God, both in His raising Jesus from the dead and in raising us from spiritual death to a new life in Christ.  So the gospel pulls together and harmonizes all these glorious attributes of the Lord:  his righteousness with His grace, His justice with His mercy, His power with His love, His wisdom with his patience and compassion.

It seems, though, that God desires to magnify His grace in a special way to us, for Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:6-7 'And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.' The key phrase is that God might show the incomparable riches of his grace.  This is God's goal in salvation of fallen human beings: the exaltation of His grace shown to us in Christ," (106-107).

Okay, I am done.  I had to share.  Scott is out getting the oil changed in my car, so I couldn't read it to him, so I chose you.

Thank you, Target

We made a quick trip to Target this morning, as soon as the doors were open.  I wanted to get there and back before John's morning nap.

Why was I in such a hurry to get to Target?  Here is why...

I wanted to stock up on play clothes for next summer!!  You can't beat 1.00.  I mean, really.

I also got John a few items, not pictured.  Things were a bit jumbled on shelves, so I plan to go back tonight to do some more searching through the piles.  I had John, crying, on one hip, and Ada in the buggy pleading to get out (I said no), so I was in a bit of a hurry.

And for no reason, here are a few pictures of the two stinkers.  John is starting to sit up on his own, though he usually falls over on his stomach after a few minutes, and he is trying his hardest to crawl.  He gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth as hard as he can.  He can move his legs, but he hasn't figured out how to move his arms to actually move himself forward.  Any day now, I predict.

I have decided no more baby food for us--I HATE IT.  It ends up all over me and John and the kitchen floor and who knows what else.  So...I bought one of those munchkin mesh feeding things--you know what I am talking about?  And from now on, only real solid food for John.  He will be happier, I will be happier, and he will be eating real food.  It's a win-win.  It's the perfect contraption for chunks of sweet potato and avocado and other fruits. 

We are gearing up for our beach trip next week, so I need to run and make a dent in the mountain of laundry that has collected upstairs.

I hope to be back later today or tomorrow to tell you about something exciting that is happening over at Scott's blog.  Stay tuned.

Getting things in order

I keep wanting to blog, mainly because it's my outlet of sorts, but I can't seem to find the time lately.

Or...I could find the time, but it would mean sacrificing something else, and I am working on putting "first things first," and most days, blogging doesn't qualify as a "first thing."

With the start of another school year, comes the start of another season of women's discipleship group, and, therefore, a new accountability question to pray about/work on for the year.  For me, I am praying about SELF DISCIPLINE.  I need it, oh so badly.

What does that look like?  Well, I am trying to be SELF DISCIPLINED about bible study and prayer and exercise and house cleaning and nutrition and the list could go on and on.  Things in my life just run more smoothly when there is an order to things.

Here is what the Bible has to say about that...

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.  They are to teach what is good, and so train the young woman to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled...

For the grace of God has appaeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for hiw own possession who are zealous for good works," (Titus 2:3-5, 11-14).

It seems that every hour, every minute even, of my day is accounted for, so my little blog sits in the corner, forgotten, neglected.  But...I pray that as "God's grace appears," and enables me to produce some self-discipline and order and routine around here, that a blogging time slot just might open up. 

But, until then, I have to close this because my alarm will be ringing bright and early.  I have a date with Scott and the P90X video.  My health (and fitting into my old, pre-babies, pants) fits under the first things heading.