So I was at Bible Study last night (Beth Moore's Deuteronomy study...and if you have never done a Beth Moore study, put that on your to do list right now!), anyway, she was talking about the best parenting advice that any parent could have. When she mentioned she was going to give this advice out during the session, I was very eager to hear what she had to say. I respect and admire Beth as not only a Bible teacher, but also as a wife and mother. She is not perfect, and certainly never claims to be, but she loves her family fiercely. Anyway, her advice was this...."Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (you can find the whole verse in Deut. 6:5). Her teaching from that was that the loving drives the living. In other words, how you love is how you live. That's it.
I spend a whole lot of time reading parenting books and magazines and blogs and have since the minute we found out we were pregnant the first time. I like to read from many, many different authors who have varying viewpoints so that I can educate myself and find out what works best for our family. I have to say, it was a relief when Beth gave that advice. And do you know why? It was because it took a whole load off of my shoulders. All I have to do is love God and I am being the best Mom I can be. Of course there are still many things I can do, but I can put my whole check list aside (no more than 30 minutes of TV a day, vitamins taken, fruit and veggies eaten, craft done, reading time, devotional time, etc.) and just focus on that. And it works. I can still strive to do other things and of course need to, but as long as I am loving God with everything I have, I am doing exactly what He asks us to do as parents.
I would love to get up before my kids and get dressed, have my quiet time, and be ready for the day. But, that rarely happens. I almost always just do my quiet time with God at night. This evening I decided to read from my Jesus Calling book while the kids were playing in the living room and I was holding a sleeping baby. The little devotional in there is only about a paragraph long and has 2-4 recommended Bible verses to go with it. Ella heard me reading from the Bible (I usually read the verses out loud in case they are listening!) and ran over to me and said "You are reading about God!". Brady then grabbed one of his little Bibles and climbed on the couch and asked me to read him Bible stories. Beth mentioned yesterday how we have such an amazing opportunity to make the Bible exciting for our kids. David is a great storyteller and he makes Bible stories so fun for the kids. While I am not a great storyteller, I could spend hours a day reading to my kids. I love it. So, when he asked me to read to him from his Bible, I of course obliged and we read many stories. And that was it. All they had to do was see me loving God and they wanted to do the same.
I had many bad moments today as a Mom. My back is killing me so I was a bit crabby, we slept in and I was rushed getting Kinsley to the doctor, I was not very patient as we cleaned the playroom, and so on. So I am by no means saying that I have it all together. I just wanted to share the advice that Beth gave and how it worked for me today without me having anything to do with it. God is so, so good and He will take even our smallest attempts at loving Him throughout the day and make something great out of it.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
I'm Turning 30 (Aging Gracefully)...
Okay, so I am 16 days away from my big 3-0 birthday. When I look back on my 20s it is amazing to me what my life looked like when I turned 20 and what my life now looks like as I am turning 30. It seems like a whole lifetime ago. And it seems like just yesterday.
I am a goal setter. I like to achieve things and I always like to be moving forward and improving myself. I like to have a list where I can check things off and I like to consider myself a continuous work in progress. These things seem pretty opposite, but to me, they go hand in hand.
I am going to start using this blog as a place to “turn in my homework”. I have always done better with accountability, so this little place of mine will serve that purpose. My hope is that it will never appear as if I am saying “look at what I did!”, but will serve as a place where I can share some things that work for myself and my family and also a place where I can share what is not working. That is where you come in. I’d love to have your ideas and I also hope that I can encourage you along the way.
The idea that I have to check in here a few times a week will help me to make the most of each day because I will want to help you to do the same (wow, that sounds a little bit too much like an after school special). It will also help me to actually stay on top of editing and uploading my pictures. I am a firm believe that photos should still be printed out, labeled, and put in photo album, but I am behind on that...by 2 years (it looks like that is going on my project list). I also still do the old school baby books and am mainly on top of those. I do still need to buy one for Kinsley however
Okay, so here is my list of things I would like to accomplish during my 30th year (I have always consider my birthday more of a time to make New Year’s resolutions rather than actual New Year’s…procrastinator?):
1) Read the whole Bible this year. I have never read the Bible in a year and would like this to be a yearly tradition I start this year.
2) Lose my baby weight (and my married weight!). I had three babies in four years…two of those pregnancies requiring bed rest, so I gained more weight than I am happy with. I need to lose the weight so that I am my best self for my family.
3) Do one pinterest project a week. I know, this seems crazy, but not all of them will be super big.
4) Get out and explore what our city has to offer more.
5) Learn to cook better!
6) Write to my kids in their journals (we start a journal to each of them when we find out we are pregnant) once a week.
7) Get caught up on all of our photos.
8) Stick to our spending plan…pay off debt, start saving for things we have coming up, etc.
9) Declutter our home. Learn to live more simply.
10) Start an allowance system with the kids. Let them pick out groceries to donate at church (Brady asked that we do that with their tithe money).
What are your goals for the year? Any tips on how to achieve the goals I have listed for myself?
I am a goal setter. I like to achieve things and I always like to be moving forward and improving myself. I like to have a list where I can check things off and I like to consider myself a continuous work in progress. These things seem pretty opposite, but to me, they go hand in hand.
I am going to start using this blog as a place to “turn in my homework”. I have always done better with accountability, so this little place of mine will serve that purpose. My hope is that it will never appear as if I am saying “look at what I did!”, but will serve as a place where I can share some things that work for myself and my family and also a place where I can share what is not working. That is where you come in. I’d love to have your ideas and I also hope that I can encourage you along the way.
The idea that I have to check in here a few times a week will help me to make the most of each day because I will want to help you to do the same (wow, that sounds a little bit too much like an after school special). It will also help me to actually stay on top of editing and uploading my pictures. I am a firm believe that photos should still be printed out, labeled, and put in photo album, but I am behind on that...by 2 years (it looks like that is going on my project list). I also still do the old school baby books and am mainly on top of those. I do still need to buy one for Kinsley however
Okay, so here is my list of things I would like to accomplish during my 30th year (I have always consider my birthday more of a time to make New Year’s resolutions rather than actual New Year’s…procrastinator?):
1) Read the whole Bible this year. I have never read the Bible in a year and would like this to be a yearly tradition I start this year.
2) Lose my baby weight (and my married weight!). I had three babies in four years…two of those pregnancies requiring bed rest, so I gained more weight than I am happy with. I need to lose the weight so that I am my best self for my family.
3) Do one pinterest project a week. I know, this seems crazy, but not all of them will be super big.
4) Get out and explore what our city has to offer more.
5) Learn to cook better!
6) Write to my kids in their journals (we start a journal to each of them when we find out we are pregnant) once a week.
7) Get caught up on all of our photos.
8) Stick to our spending plan…pay off debt, start saving for things we have coming up, etc.
9) Declutter our home. Learn to live more simply.
10) Start an allowance system with the kids. Let them pick out groceries to donate at church (Brady asked that we do that with their tithe money).
What are your goals for the year? Any tips on how to achieve the goals I have listed for myself?
Something I found in the Draft Folder...
Lately, my eyes have been open a lot to the struggles other people face. I have spent a lot of my life assuming that I can read people like a book and that I must know everything about their life...whether it was perfect or a complete mess.
Since I spend most of my time around either small children and playdates or at the church, I have the opportunity to meet a whole lot of people, all in different situations and circumstances. To be painfully honest, I have spent 97% of my life wondering what they were thinking about me and my life. But recently, God has really opened my eyes to some things...
Way back in 2008 when I was a new mama who had her world rocked by a pretty traumatic birth and recovery, I had my first wake up call to "you never really know what someone has gone through or is going through right now". For the record, I realize that having the ability to carry children is a huge blessing and I do not take that for granted, but I also don't think I should have to hide what I went through. I would do it a million times over again, but it was tough. I remember people telling me how natural birth is the way to go and how c-sections are just plain evil and thinking, you clearly have no idea what happened in that room. If they would not have taken him by c-section, we both would have died. How am I a bad mother for that? (For the record, I would have loved a natural birth.) And then the breastfeeding comments. Oh the breastfeding comments. One time a stranger came up to me and asked me why I was giving my child formula when I could hire a wet nurse. WHAT???? My story, had she bothered to ask, was that I had a severe infection after delivery and I spent my first 3 weeks as a new mama bed ridden and not able to do any of the things I had dreamed about. And even though I was sicker than I had ever been, I still pumped every 3 hours to attempt to get even an ounce out (and it never happened).
The week I got better, I found out my Mom had breast cancer. Two weeks after that, we found out that my 3 year old niece had brain cancer. They both had surgeries shortly after that and THANK GOD they are okay. When I was in a daze and crying most of the time, I just remember thinking how the heck is the world still acting normal and going on like everything is okay????
And most recently, when we miscarried our third baby, I became even more aware of how you just never know what someone is going through. We lost our baby on a Wednesday and I chose to work that weekend. Some people knew what I was going through and others had no clue. I would have a lot of normal conversations with people and in the back of my head I just kept thinking "if you only knew, right now, at this moment I am losing my baby".
Okay, I realize that was all super depressing and it probably made me sound like I was having a pity party....which, if you know me at all, you know that is not how I roll. My Mom and niece are both in remission which is the most amazing thing, my son and daughter are both beautiful and healthy, and I will meet our third baby (Reese) in Heaven one day. It has just been so heavy on my heart that we really don't know what is going on in someone's life. So when you have to wait a little longer in line because someone can't get their act together, remember that you don't know what challenges they are facing. And when someone seems distance, pray for them. God knows what is going on. And for the love, please do not tell someone she is a bad mother for the way her child came into this world.
Since I spend most of my time around either small children and playdates or at the church, I have the opportunity to meet a whole lot of people, all in different situations and circumstances. To be painfully honest, I have spent 97% of my life wondering what they were thinking about me and my life. But recently, God has really opened my eyes to some things...
Way back in 2008 when I was a new mama who had her world rocked by a pretty traumatic birth and recovery, I had my first wake up call to "you never really know what someone has gone through or is going through right now". For the record, I realize that having the ability to carry children is a huge blessing and I do not take that for granted, but I also don't think I should have to hide what I went through. I would do it a million times over again, but it was tough. I remember people telling me how natural birth is the way to go and how c-sections are just plain evil and thinking, you clearly have no idea what happened in that room. If they would not have taken him by c-section, we both would have died. How am I a bad mother for that? (For the record, I would have loved a natural birth.) And then the breastfeeding comments. Oh the breastfeding comments. One time a stranger came up to me and asked me why I was giving my child formula when I could hire a wet nurse. WHAT???? My story, had she bothered to ask, was that I had a severe infection after delivery and I spent my first 3 weeks as a new mama bed ridden and not able to do any of the things I had dreamed about. And even though I was sicker than I had ever been, I still pumped every 3 hours to attempt to get even an ounce out (and it never happened).
The week I got better, I found out my Mom had breast cancer. Two weeks after that, we found out that my 3 year old niece had brain cancer. They both had surgeries shortly after that and THANK GOD they are okay. When I was in a daze and crying most of the time, I just remember thinking how the heck is the world still acting normal and going on like everything is okay????
And most recently, when we miscarried our third baby, I became even more aware of how you just never know what someone is going through. We lost our baby on a Wednesday and I chose to work that weekend. Some people knew what I was going through and others had no clue. I would have a lot of normal conversations with people and in the back of my head I just kept thinking "if you only knew, right now, at this moment I am losing my baby".
Okay, I realize that was all super depressing and it probably made me sound like I was having a pity party....which, if you know me at all, you know that is not how I roll. My Mom and niece are both in remission which is the most amazing thing, my son and daughter are both beautiful and healthy, and I will meet our third baby (Reese) in Heaven one day. It has just been so heavy on my heart that we really don't know what is going on in someone's life. So when you have to wait a little longer in line because someone can't get their act together, remember that you don't know what challenges they are facing. And when someone seems distance, pray for them. God knows what is going on. And for the love, please do not tell someone she is a bad mother for the way her child came into this world.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Today was a tough day. Not every aspect of the day was bad, in fact we had some really fun things, but I hit some of my all time lows as a mother today.
I have two very passionate kids. I love this about them. Passionate people are the ones that change the world and my prayer is for them to do this with their lives. However, being passionate means that you have a whole lot of personality and that can be hard on a parent. David and I work opposite days in order to ensure that one of us is always home with the kids (my Mom covers for us one day a week for six hours, but that is the only exception). I LOVE that we have the opportunity to raise our kids this way. It is not the perfect solution for every family, but it works for us. The challenge for us is that we are either home alone with the two kids or at work. Rarely are both of us home together and parenting. So, there are days when we are just plain TIRED! Not always physically, in fact generally not physically, but emotionally. I have felt so drained this week. Brady is at the age where he is constantly seeing how far he can push us. Truthfully, that is what three year olds do. That is how they find out that they have boundaries and that is what makes them feel safe. But, man, is it exhausting! I know I am his mom, but seriously, that kid is smart. He remembers everything and is quizzing us on it often. I think this will serve him well in the future and it humors us sometimes now, but it can be tough. And Ella, she is just everywhere! She wants to be a big kid like Brady. She wants to explore everything (and for the record, I am totally for this as long as she is not disobeying. How else will kids find out what works and what doesn't?). But the tiring part for her is that she has a very set way in how she wants things done (dude, I know, the apple does not fall far from the tree).
Why am I saying all of this? Well, honestly, I need to hear from people who have BEEN THERE. I need to hear what worked for you. I want to look back on these years and CHERISH them, not think about what I wish I would have done. I may not follow all the advice that I am given, but I love to hear it. I think God blesses us with having friends of different ages and life stages so that we can learn from each other. So, what are your tips? How did you make sure that you were staying on top of things without getting exhausted? What really worked for you?
I have two very passionate kids. I love this about them. Passionate people are the ones that change the world and my prayer is for them to do this with their lives. However, being passionate means that you have a whole lot of personality and that can be hard on a parent. David and I work opposite days in order to ensure that one of us is always home with the kids (my Mom covers for us one day a week for six hours, but that is the only exception). I LOVE that we have the opportunity to raise our kids this way. It is not the perfect solution for every family, but it works for us. The challenge for us is that we are either home alone with the two kids or at work. Rarely are both of us home together and parenting. So, there are days when we are just plain TIRED! Not always physically, in fact generally not physically, but emotionally. I have felt so drained this week. Brady is at the age where he is constantly seeing how far he can push us. Truthfully, that is what three year olds do. That is how they find out that they have boundaries and that is what makes them feel safe. But, man, is it exhausting! I know I am his mom, but seriously, that kid is smart. He remembers everything and is quizzing us on it often. I think this will serve him well in the future and it humors us sometimes now, but it can be tough. And Ella, she is just everywhere! She wants to be a big kid like Brady. She wants to explore everything (and for the record, I am totally for this as long as she is not disobeying. How else will kids find out what works and what doesn't?). But the tiring part for her is that she has a very set way in how she wants things done (dude, I know, the apple does not fall far from the tree).
Why am I saying all of this? Well, honestly, I need to hear from people who have BEEN THERE. I need to hear what worked for you. I want to look back on these years and CHERISH them, not think about what I wish I would have done. I may not follow all the advice that I am given, but I love to hear it. I think God blesses us with having friends of different ages and life stages so that we can learn from each other. So, what are your tips? How did you make sure that you were staying on top of things without getting exhausted? What really worked for you?
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Lately...
Saw this on some blogs and loved it, so here's my list:
Obsessing over: house projects (I always have one in mind), paying off all our debt and finishing up the Ramsey steps
Working on: finishing up our master bath, finishing up our kitchen, taking the heater in Brady's room apart to find all the vinyl letters he shoved in there last night, finishing up some homemade pizza dough
Thinking about: what house project to do next, how badly I want to declutter so many rooms and closets in this house, making the back of Brady's closet a book nook, simplifying our lives in every eay, ways to get back in shape that are realistic with our schedule
Anticipating: Christmas, the week between Christmas and New Year's (always my favorite), being more intentional in 2012, starting Beth Moore's new Bible study in January
Listening to: quiet....the kids and dogs are all napping!
Drinking: home brewed Starbucks coffee with peppermint mocha creamer
Wishing: possibly a third baby (though the doctor said a VBAC is not an option for me and I am just not physically/mentally ready for a third c-section)
Obsessing over: house projects (I always have one in mind), paying off all our debt and finishing up the Ramsey steps
Working on: finishing up our master bath, finishing up our kitchen, taking the heater in Brady's room apart to find all the vinyl letters he shoved in there last night, finishing up some homemade pizza dough
Thinking about: what house project to do next, how badly I want to declutter so many rooms and closets in this house, making the back of Brady's closet a book nook, simplifying our lives in every eay, ways to get back in shape that are realistic with our schedule
Anticipating: Christmas, the week between Christmas and New Year's (always my favorite), being more intentional in 2012, starting Beth Moore's new Bible study in January
Listening to: quiet....the kids and dogs are all napping!
Drinking: home brewed Starbucks coffee with peppermint mocha creamer
Wishing: possibly a third baby (though the doctor said a VBAC is not an option for me and I am just not physically/mentally ready for a third c-section)
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Ella's Birth Story
Ella Ave’s Birth Story
May 19, 2010
Ella’s birth story begins in September of 2009. David and I had definitely thought about having more kids, but thought we’d wait until the winter to start trying so that our kids would be two years or more apart. We were at the Cincinnati Zoo one September day and every time I saw a baby girl, I thought I was going to cry I wanted to hold one so bad. Seriously, it was the strangest thing. I thought I was going crazy. Later that day I had this really weird feeling that I might be pregnant. Remember, we were not trying at this time, so there was no reason to believe that we were pregnant. We went to the store and picked up a home pregnancy test. I decided to take the test the next morning. I usually work Sunday mornings, but I was off that day. I took the test, waited a few minutes, saw only one line and threw it away. Then I remembered that I had done the same thing with Brady’s test, so I went back in, took it out of the garbage and sure enough, there were two lines. We went to the doctor that week and we had to take a blood test there (for some reason, my urine pregnancy tests always come back negative at the doctor’s office). We had given the doctor permission to leave a message on our answering machine with the results. I was at Bible study that night, so David heard the message. He called me when I was on my way home and told me we were having a second baby. Though we were so surprised, we were even more excited! I decided to call my Dad and let him know since he is always the last to know things. He was at the Reds game when we told him. I then called my Mom and told her the big news. We decided to wait to tell David’s family because his younger sister had just had her first baby that day and we did not want to take anything away from her. But, the next day the news came out (we are horrible secret keepers). Fortunately, his sister was so happy for us. David told her on the phone while I was in the hospital room visiting her and the new baby. That was fun, just keeping the cycle going in that family! We wanted to wait to tell everyone else, but by the time I was seven weeks, people could already tell and starting asking (which was pretty brave if you ask me!).
We had quite a few ultrasounds with Ella early on. The doctor ordered one at around six weeks just to check on the size and all that fun stuff. I don’t think I really believed we were pregnant until I saw that little dot on the screen. We had one or two more before our twenty week routine one. We decided to take Brady with us to the twenty week, but since he was only about seventeen months, he was not too into it. We went back and forth on whether we would find out the gender or not. For awhile we thought about finding out ourselves and not telling anyone else (I love surprises), but in the end, we decided to share the gender and not the name. David was busy occupying Brady when the ultrasound tech started typing the letters on the screen. As soon as I saw that “G” I was overjoyed. I looked at David and said, “It’s a girl!”. I could not believe that we had our handsome little man and now we were going to have a little beauty. I had always wanted a boy then a girl, I felt so blessed! We called our family and friends to tell them the news and everyone was so excited. It was the best feeling, knowing that other people were already loving our little one.
My pregnancy went pretty well, minus the usual pregnancy symptoms, until my 32nd week. I thought I was having contractions and they were becoming regular, so my doctor sent me to the hospital. We went up to the hospital where I was told to be very careful and not do anything that I did not need to do. That was on a Sunday night. Just a few days later, on Wednesday, I was having contractions again. This time, I was sent home from the hospital on much stricter bed rest. I was devastated. This happened with Brady at 33 weeks and I had been adamant about this not happening with my second pregnancy. I realize that there was nothing that I could have done to prevent it, but I was hoping that if I said it wouldn’t happen again, that it wouldn’t. I was unable to work, but still went to church once a week with David and Brady. We made this deal because I had started to get depressed when I was not able to leave the house for four weeks when I was on bed rest with Brady. It definitely helped. I was anxious for our little girl to get here, but wanted for her to wait until at least the 37th week. Brady had been born at that time and minus a little jaundice, was perfectly healthy. So, I tried my best to take it easy.
We had scheduled Ella’s c-section birth for May 21st. Her due date was May 28th, so that was the earliest we were allowed to schedule. Since my blood pressure was fine (I was induced with Brady because it got dangerously high), we just waited around patiently (kind of patiently!). I had planned out our week leading up to the delivery. We would have grocery shopping one day, another day for packing, etc. Our good friends decided to host a grill out for us on Thursday, May 20th as a little party before our baby girl arrived. I was really looking forward to celebrating her with our close friends on that night. My parents and sister had traveled up to Michigan that week to visit my brother and his family who were in town. I repeatedly told my Mom to go since they would be home late on the 18th which was plenty of time. As now we know is typical Ella fashion, girlfriend had her own plans. Around 5:00 a.m. on the 19th I dragged my huge body out of bed for the millionth time for a potty break (seriously, I gained 60 pounds…I mean huge body). I laid back down and felt a really odd sensation, like bubbles. I then heard a snap and somehow got my big pregnant belly out of bed just in time for my water to break. And I mean it broke, big time. I woke David up and said “my water broke”. He responded with “really?” which made me question it, so I responded back with “oh my gosh, no, I am wetting my pants”. He looked up and said “nope, your water broke”. Brady was asleep on our bed through all of this and never woke up, he sleeps like his mama. We called my Mom right away (they had just gotten back in town about eight hours before this) and told her to come over. The hospital told me to come on up and I did my best to not leak everywhere. We grabbed our bags and headed out the door when my Mom arrived. I was contracting pretty regularly at this point, so the ride to the hospital was not my favorite memory. I am pretty sure I yelled at David a few times about his driving (sorry, David).
When we checked into Triage, we did all of the normal routine. We were back in the room when some of my water started leaking again. The nurse looked at it and looked at me. She asked if the water had always been that color and as soon as she asked that, I knew something was wrong. I had read about this and for some reason it had not hit me yet. The water had a brownish tint, which meant there was meconium in the fluid. The nurse started calling pediatricians and I started praying. The plan was to have pediatricians on standby at her delivery in case she needed to be taken to the NICU for complications.
We were taken back to the surgery prep area and I sent out the text messages to our family and close friends to let them know it was baby time. I tried my best not to worry too much and just kept praying for our yet to be named little girl. We were taken back to the c-section room and it was a much better experience than with Brady. There was not as much rushing, so the drugs actually had time to numb me. I loved our anesthesiologist, he was funny and kind. He sat right by my head the whole time. He offered to let me watch her being pulled out and I declined. He promised me that I would not see anything bad, so I agreed. I am so glad I was able to witness her birth! The anesthesiologist saw her and said “I bet she is nine five!”. He was close; she weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces. The whole surgical team was great and made the delivery so much more enjoyable and really calmed my nerves. The nurses started to ask her name and we told them we did not know yet. I knew I wanted her middle name to be “Averil” or “Ave” after my great aunt. I never met Aunt Ave, she died before I was born, but she had played a major part in my Dad coming to Christ, so she was important to me. Her full name was “Averil”, but she always went by “Ave”. We were going to pick the middle name based on how many syllables were in the first name (so a two syllable first name meant we would go with a one syllable middle name). We had been through so many names when we were pregnant. For a really long time, we were sure her name would by Lyla. Then I decided I really liked Cooper for a girl. We finally narrowed it down to Reese or Claire. Two days before she was born, I put Ella into the running. I had wanted to name a girl that for years and it was even Brady’s name if he was a girl. I had decided early on in the pregnancy that we would not name her Ella because I knew people who had daughters named Ella. But, right before she was born, I decided that I did not care if other people I knew had an Ella, I just loved that name. We told the nurses that her name was either Reese or Ella. They encouraged Reese and then we told them the middle name and they loved Ella Ave (pronounced like Ava, minus the “ah” at the end). As soon as I saw just how perfect and beautiful she was, I knew she was an Ella. So, as we were wheeled into the recovery room, we announced to the surgical team that her name was Ella Ave. It was fun sending out the message that her name was Ella because no one even knew we were considering that name.
My Mom and sister brought Brady up to the hospital as soon as we were settled in. They had him buy her a pink elephant (elephants are my favorite). I cannot describe to you the joy that filled my heart the first time our family of four was all together. This is it. This is what all is about. I am so thankful that God created families and loves us enough to allow us to become parents. My heart is so full.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Weekend Review
First of all, I realize that I should include pictures with these posts. One day I will, I'm just not there yet. It's a time thing.
We had a good weekend (and beginning of the week, for that matter). On Saturday, we drove up to the Cochran's lake house to spend the day with our Hospitality/Connecting/Prayer team coaches and team leaders. The kids both fell asleep in the car (it's about a 2 hour drive) and then it hit me....we can listen to music that does not have a vegetable singing. I did the usual, grab the Lifehouse No Name Face CD. The look on David's face made it clear that he was not on board. Apparently, he does not enjoy listening to the same CD over and over and over again. I have had that CD since I was 18 and I have probably spent hundreds of hours listening to it. It was the CD that stayed in my CD player in the Probe, the Mustang, the Alero, the Accent, and now the Relay. It has seen some major life changes with me. I compromised and told David I would only listen to two songs and then we would switch to something we could both agree on. I am overly thankful that 700 WLW was not an option...how does he listen to that all day???? We agreed on a Dave Matthews Band CD and life was good. One of my most favorite things to do with David is road trip it. I get horrible car sickness, but I still love it. We are forced to do nothing but listen to good music and talk. And now that we have kids, we have the bonus of being able to sit down for more than two minutes straight. It's wonderful.
When we arrived at the lake house, we made the decision not to head to the beach. Ella can not get lake water in her ears and Brady was still a little sleepy. So, we held down the fort at the house. We put the kids in their swimsuits and let them play in the baby pool. They had plenty of fun running around the yard and playing. Ella made every grown man try on her pink polka dot sunhat. Brady made a new buddy with Max. Later in the day, David told Brady he could only have a cupcake if he picked up the crayons. A minute later we heard him say, "Max, pick up the crayons". Max helped him out, I think because Brady told us that Max was his favorite :) It makes my heart burst when I see people that we love, love our kids.
On Sunday, we had a swim day at our friend, the Montgomery's, home. David has known Steve and Nicky for years, but I am still pretty new to the group. Steve and Nicky have two kids who are just wonderful and get along great with our kids. We noticed this last fall when we were at a mutual friend's home. So, I contacted Nicky a short time later and set up a playdate. David laughs because he swears I can not leave a place without having at least one playdate ready to go with someone new. I like people, what can I say??? Okay, so we spent the day swimming, helping each other out with the kids, and just enjoying each other. Another one of my most favorite things, having friends who jump in and help out your kids and you can do the same with theirs. Just one big family feel...I love it. After we had a few hours to swim and play, we headed up to Anderson days. Being at Anderson days confirmed a few things for me: 1) No matter what side of town you live on, there will always be girls who think it is okay to wear bikini tops and cut off jean shorts to festivals. This is not okay. 2) There will always be old men who think blowing cigarette smoke near the kiddy rides is okay. Really???? 3) The egg ride will always be the best.
Brady rode his first festival ride, the car carousel. He rode with Sam the first time and then went on his own the next time. He loved it and I was so proud. We finished the night off watching fireworks on the grass. I don't care how old you are, fireworks are always awesome. We were at the top of a hill and the kids were running up and down the hill the a lot of the time. Ella scooted down backwards, pretty wise. At one point, Brady took off down the hill and ran up the other side. At the top of that was a parking lot. I ran faster than I can remember to catch him. Adrenaline.
Monday was a down day at home. Just a lazy day of cleaning, laundry, reading books and letting the kids watch too much TV because we were so tired from the weekend. Then Monday night, I met my friend Karen and we looked through old photo albums. We have been friends since we were 16, so we had a lot of photos. It is funny looking at those pictures thinking that in just a few years, I would be working at a church. And loving it. It's funny how fast we can change. I am so glad that I am not in that place anymore and so thankful to have friends that have grown up with me.
Today we had our Tuesday standing playdate with Natalie and Toby. I am so thankful for those people. Natalie has become such a great friend over the past few years and our families get along so well. We can talk for hours and both have issues with how many blogs we follow. Toby is like a cousin to my kids and I love that. Brady talks about Toby in conversations all the time and it is so stinking cute.
After our playdate, I took the kids with me to get my haircut (they were shockingly well behaved), and then we met Amy here for dinner. Oh,by the way, you should totally go to Amanda Wendling-Morris to get your haircut at her new place. Okay, back to Amy. We have been friends FOREVER! She got married seven years ago and moved to Indiana, but she is finally home!!!! I look forward to spending a lot of time with her now that she is home. Her husband is still in Indiana (job thing), so until he gets a job here, I'm sure she'll be having many dinners with us. I love, love, love spending time with Amy. When David found out that she was moving back, he asked if he was ever going to see me again.
Okay, it's almost 1 a.m. David is up doing some work for his job and I am waiting on the oven to finish up. I hope the kids sleep in tomorrow!
We had a good weekend (and beginning of the week, for that matter). On Saturday, we drove up to the Cochran's lake house to spend the day with our Hospitality/Connecting/Prayer team coaches and team leaders. The kids both fell asleep in the car (it's about a 2 hour drive) and then it hit me....we can listen to music that does not have a vegetable singing. I did the usual, grab the Lifehouse No Name Face CD. The look on David's face made it clear that he was not on board. Apparently, he does not enjoy listening to the same CD over and over and over again. I have had that CD since I was 18 and I have probably spent hundreds of hours listening to it. It was the CD that stayed in my CD player in the Probe, the Mustang, the Alero, the Accent, and now the Relay. It has seen some major life changes with me. I compromised and told David I would only listen to two songs and then we would switch to something we could both agree on. I am overly thankful that 700 WLW was not an option...how does he listen to that all day???? We agreed on a Dave Matthews Band CD and life was good. One of my most favorite things to do with David is road trip it. I get horrible car sickness, but I still love it. We are forced to do nothing but listen to good music and talk. And now that we have kids, we have the bonus of being able to sit down for more than two minutes straight. It's wonderful.
When we arrived at the lake house, we made the decision not to head to the beach. Ella can not get lake water in her ears and Brady was still a little sleepy. So, we held down the fort at the house. We put the kids in their swimsuits and let them play in the baby pool. They had plenty of fun running around the yard and playing. Ella made every grown man try on her pink polka dot sunhat. Brady made a new buddy with Max. Later in the day, David told Brady he could only have a cupcake if he picked up the crayons. A minute later we heard him say, "Max, pick up the crayons". Max helped him out, I think because Brady told us that Max was his favorite :) It makes my heart burst when I see people that we love, love our kids.
On Sunday, we had a swim day at our friend, the Montgomery's, home. David has known Steve and Nicky for years, but I am still pretty new to the group. Steve and Nicky have two kids who are just wonderful and get along great with our kids. We noticed this last fall when we were at a mutual friend's home. So, I contacted Nicky a short time later and set up a playdate. David laughs because he swears I can not leave a place without having at least one playdate ready to go with someone new. I like people, what can I say??? Okay, so we spent the day swimming, helping each other out with the kids, and just enjoying each other. Another one of my most favorite things, having friends who jump in and help out your kids and you can do the same with theirs. Just one big family feel...I love it. After we had a few hours to swim and play, we headed up to Anderson days. Being at Anderson days confirmed a few things for me: 1) No matter what side of town you live on, there will always be girls who think it is okay to wear bikini tops and cut off jean shorts to festivals. This is not okay. 2) There will always be old men who think blowing cigarette smoke near the kiddy rides is okay. Really???? 3) The egg ride will always be the best.
Brady rode his first festival ride, the car carousel. He rode with Sam the first time and then went on his own the next time. He loved it and I was so proud. We finished the night off watching fireworks on the grass. I don't care how old you are, fireworks are always awesome. We were at the top of a hill and the kids were running up and down the hill the a lot of the time. Ella scooted down backwards, pretty wise. At one point, Brady took off down the hill and ran up the other side. At the top of that was a parking lot. I ran faster than I can remember to catch him. Adrenaline.
Monday was a down day at home. Just a lazy day of cleaning, laundry, reading books and letting the kids watch too much TV because we were so tired from the weekend. Then Monday night, I met my friend Karen and we looked through old photo albums. We have been friends since we were 16, so we had a lot of photos. It is funny looking at those pictures thinking that in just a few years, I would be working at a church. And loving it. It's funny how fast we can change. I am so glad that I am not in that place anymore and so thankful to have friends that have grown up with me.
Today we had our Tuesday standing playdate with Natalie and Toby. I am so thankful for those people. Natalie has become such a great friend over the past few years and our families get along so well. We can talk for hours and both have issues with how many blogs we follow. Toby is like a cousin to my kids and I love that. Brady talks about Toby in conversations all the time and it is so stinking cute.
After our playdate, I took the kids with me to get my haircut (they were shockingly well behaved), and then we met Amy here for dinner. Oh,by the way, you should totally go to Amanda Wendling-Morris to get your haircut at her new place. Okay, back to Amy. We have been friends FOREVER! She got married seven years ago and moved to Indiana, but she is finally home!!!! I look forward to spending a lot of time with her now that she is home. Her husband is still in Indiana (job thing), so until he gets a job here, I'm sure she'll be having many dinners with us. I love, love, love spending time with Amy. When David found out that she was moving back, he asked if he was ever going to see me again.
Okay, it's almost 1 a.m. David is up doing some work for his job and I am waiting on the oven to finish up. I hope the kids sleep in tomorrow!
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