Leah

We have been doing an Advent reading plan with Eva using The Jesus Storybook Bible.  I really just can't say enough about this little Bible.  It is so great.

Here is my favorite quote from our first day of reading:
"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do.  The Bible certainly does have some rules in it.  They show you how life works best.  But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing.  It's about God and what he has done."

I wish everyone could grasp that.  I pray that my children grasp that as they grow.  God is not some entity up on a throne in Heaven shaking his head every time we mess up.  Because in His eyes, our debt has already been paid.  His love is perfect and does not hinge on our ability to follow rules perfectly.

But that's not really what's been on my heart.  All of the above was just a bonus. :)  What has really been on my heart is Leah.  You know, Leah, she was the ugly sister. Poor girl.  The oldest girl of the family.  The one whose own father figured he could never marry her off without some trickery.  And if she couldn't get married then beautiful daughter number two couldn't get married either.  So dad tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, even though he thought he was marrying Rachel, the one he loved.  (Feel free to start reading in Genesis 29 if you would like to have the non-paraphrased version :). )

And we find out in Genesis 29:30 that "...he loved Rachel more than Leah."

How awful would it be to go through life knowing that your husband didn't love you?  Knowing that you were the ugly one?  The one no one wanted?  I can't imagine the pain that Leah must have lived with.  Always hoping that maybe her husband's heart could change.

But verse 31 tells us that God saw that Leah was unloved.  But God loved her.  And he wanted to show her, so he allowed her to have a baby.  And all you mamas know that there are few things in life more precious than the love you feel for your child... but beyond that, in those early years, little ones love no one else like they love their mama.  It is exhausting at times to be loved that much, but it's just so precious.  It was her special gift from a God who loved her.

As I was thinking about Leah, I was reminded that not only did God allow her to have children, he allowed one of those bouncing baby boys to become the lineage of His Own Son!

Stay with me on this rabbit trail for a second, if you will. Leah named her first son Reuben which means "Look, a son!" and the Bible tells us that she hoped that with the birth of the son that Jacob would love her.

Son #2 was named Simeon saying "The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son."
Son #3 was named Levi saying, "Surely now my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!"

But apparently Jacob didn't magically start loving Leah after 3 sons (while Rachel remained childless).

Catch this, though, Leah then became pregnant again and had another son whom she named Judah.  Judah means "praise", and she said after his birth "Now I will praise the Lord!"

Sometimes in the depth of our pain, God just asks us to praise him.  And when we do?  Well amazing things can happen!  Judah ended up becoming the great-great-great-(a lot of greats)- grandfather to Jesus!

I'm so glad that we have a God who loves us, not with a far away kind of love, but with a "I see you" kind of love.  Thank you God for being the "God who sees" us (Gen. 16:13).

Rocks and Manners

Yesterday we had our first incident of having an object stuck in a nostril.  It was fun.  I was on the phone with Ryan and was about to try to figure out how to get Eva from school and get Eli to the doctor to get the object removed, when Eli started sneezing... and sneezing... and sneezing.  And then, out flew a big rock from his nose!  I'm pretty thankful that we did not end up making a trip to the pediatrician just to have that removed.

Every month at Eli's school, they work on a character trait and for the month of November, they worked on being polite.  So his manners, which were already pretty good, have gotten exceptional.  It is the funniest thing to us.  He went from the simple "Please" and "thank you" to things like "excuse me" and "Nice to meet you,".

Which brings me to my next Eli story:  This weekend we were out running errands and the boys had reached their limit of cooperation.  I told Ryan to run into the last stop real fast while I kept the boys in the car.  It was unseasonably warm, so we were sitting in the parking lot with the windows down and Eli's sliding door was open.  As we waited, a worker from the store came out to collect the shopping carts from the return next to where we were parked.  As he walked up, Eli said, "Um, excuse me. Whatcha doin'?".  The guy looked at me and asked what Eli had said, when I told him, he just laughed and then explained to Eli what he was doing and asked Eli if he wanted to help!

Then, at church on Sunday, we were walking through the halls and Eli started telling every person we passed, "Hi!  Nice to meet you!  Hi!  Hi!  Hi!  Nice to meet you!..."  He has also started saying this to people out in public.  It's so funny to see people's responses to him.  Even the most stone-faced person just lights up when Eli greets them.

We have been calling him our little politician lately.  I obviously have no idea if he will be a politician someday, but I do think God has very big plans for that little guy.

Eli also now responds to me with a "Sorry mama" if he doesn't want something I'm offering or suggesting.  Such as, "Eli would you like some milk?"
"Uh, sorry mama."
"Would you like to go play with blocks?"
"Uh, sorry mama."
It totally cracks us up.

"More time."

At times you may find yourself being increasingly frustrated.  Frustrated at little hands that hit and pinch.  Frustrated at the sound of your own voice when you say, "Be GENTLE!" for the one thousandth time this hour in a way that does not convey gentleness.

Maybe you find yourself staring a Galations 5:22-23 and realizing that the fruits of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit don't look a whole lot like you in the last few weeks.

Maybe you find yourself praying that God will help you show a little more love, a little more joy, a little more patience, a little more kindness, a little more gentleness today.

But it's only lunch time and the feelings of frustration are quickly rising.

This is where I found myself today.

"Why do you keep hitting?!?"

And then, God, in all of his mercy whispers quietly, "Show him gentleness."  And I am reminded that he is just a child.  And his aggressive behavior is an attempt to communicate.

So I demonstrate.

And I wonder, what is he trying to tell me?  So I scoop that big boy up, cradle him in my lap, and ask about his morning.

"Did you sing songs?"

"yes."

And I begin to rock.  And I begin to sing.  Christmas songs at first.  He smiles.

I notice how he falls into me.  How he rubs his eyes.  I know he is tired, but he refuses to nap.  So I begin to sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children".  When I finish he says, "More time mama?", which is his way of asking for one more time.

We sing again, only this time I put his name in the song:
Jesus loves the little Elis,
All the Elis of the world.
Red and yellow
Black and white
Eli's precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little Elis of the world.

"More time, mama," he whispers.  We sing about Jesus' love over and over again.

 I'm overwhelmed by how much He loves my little boy.  And how much He loves me.

I'm thankful for the times He helps me get this parenting thing right.  Because it's too hard of a job to do without Him.

For Silence

This month, we said goodbye to cable television.  I'll be honest, I wasn't very excited about it, but knew it was something that must be done.  But I must say, I have grown to greatly appreciate the silence that has come with not having a tv on for "background noise".  It's been really nice and Ryan and I both noticed that we really don't miss cable.  We also won't miss the money we paid for it anymore either.  And our kids haven't missed a beat because the only shows they watched were on PBS anyway.

Try it.  You may like it, too!

Silence really is golden...especially in a small house with three young children.  Unless it's too quiet, and then we probably need to go check on two little boys who shall remain nameless.

It's about time!

I am grateful that at 3 1/2 years old, Eli is finally showing some interest in potty training.

Lesson one in potty training a strong-willed child: He absolutely will not go unless and until he wants to!

Last night before bed, I noticed that Eli's diaper was dry.  And as I always do when I notice that, I asked if he wanted to go potty.  And for the first time ever, he said YES! And he hopped down, went to the bathroom, got right up on the potty and tinkled like it was the most natural and normal thing he does.  I squealed and jumped up and down and clapped and squealed some more!  It was so funny!

Eli was awfully proud of himself, which was so cute to watch.  His smile could not have been bigger and he kept hugging and kissing me.  I kept telling him over and over, "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!". To which he would say back to me, "I so proud ob you!"

I do love that boy with everything in me.  He can sure push my buttons, but then he can grin at me and tell me he's proud of me, I turn to mush.

Today, he only actually went once in the potty, but that is still HUGE progress!  I'm just glad that he is now saying yes when I ask him to sit on the potty instead of saying no.

He still has no desire to wear underwear, so we'll see how that plays out in the days to come, but there is light at the end of our diapering tunnel!

Eli, I'm so proud of you!!!

My Daddy-o

Today I am insanely grateful for my big teddy bear of a dad.  Today is his 65th birthday!  65?!?  Aside from his silver hair, he doesn't look a day over 50.  He's a handsome one!  Mom chose well.  :)

I'm so thankful for my dad for many, many reasons.  Including, but not limited to:
-his mad BBQing skills (or should I say sillZ?!)
-his intense love of all things nature.  He can often be heard saying, "Look here y'all!  Do you see the deer/turkey/raccoon/eagle/lightning/tree/clouds/etc..."  It makes his heart happy to spot some pretty nature.
-his vast football knowledge, which he imparted to me.  When Ryan and I first met, I told him I loved watching football. I'm not sure he believed me until football season rolled around a few months later and I started calling the game.

But as I've been thinking about him in light of things God has been showing me lately, I found myself thinking about how thankful I am that God gave me my dad.  He has always been such an example of what it means to follow Christ even when it doesn't make sense.  Many times growing up my dad chose to be obedient to God's call.  When I was 4 yrs old, my dad had a pretty good, upwardly mobile job.  But the Father began to show him that He had something more for our family.  So he let go of the job, the retirement savings, the savings in general, and our home in Louisiana and moved our family to Ft. Worth, TX so he could go to seminary.  Two years later, he had his first pastorate job. Twenty-seven years later, I think know that my dad would say that God is always Faithful.  And God honors obedience.  And God will always provide.

Growing up with a dad who believes like that sure makes it easier to live a life by faith.  I feel a little more prepared to do the hard things that don't necessarily make a lot of sense to some people.

I am reminded of the passage in Deuteronomy 6, when God is telling the Israelites to remember what he has done for them, and talk about it at home, and to tell their kids why they do what they do.

So Daddy-o, thank you for being the dad that you are.  I am beyond grateful that God gave me to you. Thank you for always being faithful to the God who has been so faithful to you, and for doing it even when it was the hard thing.  I love you mucho!

Our church

I have been feeling particularly thankful for our church lately.  From the moment we decided to pack up and move here, we prayed that we would be able to find a new church quickly.  We knew that we were likely embarking on a spiritual journey that was bigger than we were when we decided to say yes to God's calling to leave Fort Worth.

We learned about our church through an old college friend of Ryan's.  He had a friend who had just come on staff.  And another friend knew someone who knew someone... or something.  Either way, we didn't know a soul, but decided to give the church a try.

It took exactly one visit to know that we were at home.  My heart felt more at home than it maybe ever had before at any church.  For weeks, I felt like God was speaking right to me.  I obviously felt very alone in those first few weeks and months, but again, God was so good to start building friendships and relationships so quickly.

Since those first visits, we have gotten to know the staff more and I so appreciate their hearts for the lost in our city and for the lost around the world.

I leave church feeling very challenged to live differently.  To live in a way that brings glory to our Father.

I'm so thankful to be living this journey with the believers at our church.

Take the challenge!

Brittany has a challenge for us today.  Skip your Starbucks drink, or your fast food lunch, or your Blockbuster movie, or any other thing you can think of and donate that money to the Pink Project.

Will you take the challenge?  Will you help to free a woman caught in the awful cycle of prostitution because they think there is no other way to provide for their children?

Five dollars may not seem like much, but if we all give, it adds up!  And God is able to multiply our humble gifts given in faith.

So head on over to Brittany's blog and donate!

Oh and if you donate you'll be entered to win a Starbucks gift card!  Score!

So much bigger!!!

Today I am thankful that my God is bigger than American politics.  Funny story, not a single person I voted for yesterday won.  I don't even think any of the propositions that I voted for passed.  But, it's okay.  Because my God is bigger than American politics.  Let me say that again.

MY GOD IS BIGGER THAN POLITICS!!!

So, we move on.  And we trust that he is more than capable of accomplishing his purposes in and through us.  He will only work through us, though, if we are willing to be used.  

With that in mind, God has been doing a lot in my heart lately.  Reminding me that I'm so quick to say, "I need..." when really more accurately it's something I want. We as Americans, have all sorts of mixed up ideas of needs and wants. 

I've learned a lot lately about sex trafficking in this world.  It is a disgusting, gut-wrenching, nausea-inducing event that occurs more than we first-world citizens care to believe.  But friends, it is happening.  And I don't think we have to ask IF we should get involved.  I think we should ask God HOW we can get involved in stopping this.  It's happening with children.  It's happening with teenagers.  It's happening with adults who feel they have no other choice than to sell themselves in order to provide for their children.  

There are ministries that are helping these women all around the world.  

Have you heard of the Mocha Club?  They are rescuing women in Ethiopia, educating them, teaching them a skill, and providing counseling to them to help free them from the guilt of their past!  Can we shout "Praise Jesus"!!!

Well, my friend Brittany is trying to raise $1600 right now in order to set FOUR women free!  $400 is all it takes to set one woman free from prostitution.  Four hundred dollars!  That's more money than I have, but what if instead of buying gifts for your kids teachers this year, we all made a donation on their behalf to this ministry?  What if instead of asking for something else that I don't really "need" for Christmas I ask for that money to go to this ministry?  

What if a whole bunch of Christians decided to think bigger than themselves this Christmas?  What could God do with a whole bunch of willing hearts?

What if He blew our minds this year?!?

Watch this video to see the faces of these beautiful women.

Now, go donate at Brittany's blog or go straight to The Mocha Club and donate.  But, if Brittany raises $1600, she has promised to dye her hair pink and that is something I want to see!  :)

Just trying...

Well, the angels are rejoicing!!!  It worked!!!  So here is a sweet picture of my little Isaac.  :)

My baby boy

This morning I'm feeling particularly thankful for my sweet little Isaac, even though he keeps walking over and pushing the caps lock button on the computer.  Stink pot.  He is also having so much fun pretending to be an alligator with a little tube he found.

I'm thankful for the 2 hours I get to spend with just him every morning.  He loves to be where I am and doing what I'm doing.  And anytime he starts to get in my way, or if I just need half a second to think, all I have to say is "Isaac, do you want to clean?"  And he does.  I just give him a wipe and off he goes.  He will start cleaning everything from windows to toys.  He's very helpful to have around.  And no, he's not for sale.  :)  He's all mine!

I love his sweet smile and hearty laughter that can be so quickly turned off in order to give a serious face if he feels that you need it.  It is absolutely hilarious!  I am so thankful that God surprised the heck out of us with this little guy almost two years ago.  I absolutely cannot imagine life without him!

(Wouldn't this post be better with a picture?  I still can't figure out why this dumb blog won't let me upload pictures anymore.  It's making me crazy, though.)

I already fell off the bandwagon, but I'm getting back on!

So yesterday I had a headache all day and didn't do much except try to make it stop.  But I was still very grateful for a husband who let me veg out while he wrestled with, read to, fixed food for, and just generally loved on our 3 wild monkeys.  He is such a blessing.

I was also thankful for sweet friendships.  I have been blessed with some great girls in my life who point me to Christ.  And yesterday I was particularly thankful for a night out with a girlfriend to laugh after I'd been feeling blah all day long.

And right at this very moment, I am so thankful for the 6 yr old who is sitting on the couch waiting for me to read to her.  I love that girl an insane amount.  And instead of writing more about it, I'm going to go show her.  Because the three (maybe?) of you who read this already know that I love her.  And she knows too, but quality time is her love language.  And right now it's just her and me for a little bit.

Being Thankful

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and sharing things I'm thankful for this month.

Even though I'm already a day late.  Ahh.  Such is is life these days.

I have been overwhelmed with thankfulness this week for the team of teachers/ therapists that work with Eli on a daily basis.  It just becomes more and more apparent to me that he is exactly where God wants him to be right now.  He is learning so much and their insight on how to help him has brought me to tears more than once in recent weeks.

Ever since Eli was a wee little one, he has always cried when other kids cry.  He is just very in tune with other people's emotions.  It's one of those things about him that I've always felt like was a gift, that God had just given him an empathetic heart.  However, a couple of months ago, those emotions started to be kicked up a notch and we realized that he seemed to be having panic attacks when other children would cry.  That's a hard thing to watch for a mama.  We were even worried that he might be having small seizures.  After talking to a lot of people, the seizure idea was ruled out, but we did all agree that he seems to be having some sort of panic attack.

I told his teacher about what was going on and she passed it on to his occupational therapist.  So they came up with a plan to help him and it has been amazing!  His teacher focuses on reiterating that "Little Joe" is sad, but Eli is okay!  She just says this to him over and over so he will begin to understand that just because someone else is sad/hurt/scared/etc. doesn't mean that he has to feel the same.  Then the occupational therapist treats his sensory system when he gets worked up so that he can calm down easier and quicker.  They will put Eli in a swing, put a weighted blanket on him, and just let him swing in silence until he says he's ready to go back to his class.  It is so incredibly fascinating to me  how that helps him.

They had a bit of a rough day one day this week at school, and Eli told me on the way home, "I sad. I jumping."  He was trying to tell me that he had gotten sad and so he went to the OT room and she let him jump on the trampoline.  I'm so thankful that they care enough about my little guy that they are constantly working to figure out how to best help him.  I'm sure they get frustrated some days, because I get frustrated with him some days and I'm his mama!  But they use that to try to figure out what he needs.

I really just can't say enough about these sweet ladies!  They probably don't even know how much of an answer to prayer they are.

Maybe I'll tell them.  :

I have to end with this hilarious story.  Yesterday when I picked Eli up, the speech therapist came out to tell me what he had told her.  She is working on him saying three word sentences clearly.  (He still gets jumbled up when he tries to put too many words together.)  So she was trying to get him to imitate "Mommy drink water."  She said he had been able to say "drink water" very clearly, but when she added the word mommy, Eli said, "uhdupado Mommy drunk."  We were dying laughing.  The speech therapist said, "I'm not at all worried that he has seen you drunk, which is why it was so funny.  There may be some kids, that I might be worried about, but not you."  She said that the "mommy drunk" part was as clear as it could be. Of all things for him to say!!

Life is never dull, that is for certain.

A milestone that kind of makes me want to cry

I knew it would happen soon.  What I was not expecting was that it would happen so quickly and so easily.

Isaac is now paci-free.

To back up a bit, Isaac is my first kid to really take a pacifier.  Eva took one for about a month when she was a newborn.  Eli took a pacifier for a few months as a baby, but gave it up on his own during his bout with RSV, because it was impossible to breathe and have a pacifier.

Enter Isaac.  :)  Little Man loves his pacifier.  I found his love for it to be awfully endearing and adorable.  I thought it was just the cutest thing that he loved it so much.  So I didn't press the issue too much.  I just always had the goal of doing away with it around the time he turns 2.

Because Isaac liked his paci so much, he had been having a little bit of a hard time with some of his word sounds.  So, he called it a "tassy".  Which we thought was adorable.  But I was still working with him on saying the 'p' sound at the beginning.  So he would usually say, "puh, puh, tassy".

Then, just last week, he started calling it his "happy".  I mean, seriously.  How cute?!?

Along comes Wednesday, however, and we are down to just one pacifier.  We at one time had 4, but slowly got down to 2.  Over the last couple of weeks, we seemed to lose each one at different times.  Leaving us with just one on Wednesday morning.  We went to pick Eli up from his school and Isaac had it in his mouth.  (He knew that I would always let him have it in the car and would immediately ask for it as soon as we got in the car.) I thought that he still had it when we came back home, but when it was nap time, I couldn't find it anywhere.  Little Man was so tired and we had looked every place I could think of.  So I took him to his room, gave him his blanket, and told him his paci was gone.  He looked around his room a little bit and I told him again it was gone and he just laid his head down.

I sang to him like always, put him in his bed, and closed the door.  The child never made a peep until 2 hours later!

Bed time went much the same way.  He did wake up after about 15 minutes and cried, but I think that had as much to do with a certain daddy in the house making big sister and big brother squeal with laughter.  {Grin}  Isaac went right back to sleep after Ryan rocked him for a second.  Then he slept all night!

Thursday- he never even asked for it and slept fine at nap and bed time. The rest of the weekend has gone the same way.

So I think I can officially say he no longer needs his "happy".

I did end up finding both pacifiers by Thursday morning, but just tucked them away so that he wouldn't find them.  (One pacifier was under my dresser.  Obviously. :)  The other one was in the back seat of the van.  So he must have thrown it behind him on our way home.)  I want to take a picture of them before they go off with the Paci Fairy.

My BABY is not much of a baby anymore.  I'm feeling a little sad.  :(




(As a side note:  I cannot for the life of me get this blog to cooperate with uploading pictures.  It just protests and says No! Feel free to share your words of wisdom on that one.)

Already?!?

How is it even possible that tomorrow is our last day of summer?  This has been the fastest summer ever, by far!  I had so many things that I was going to do this summer that haven't been done yet.  But I feel completely okay with it because I have done a lot of stuff that can't be measured at the end of the day.

But on Wednesday, Eva starts 1st grade.  First grade?!?  Shouldn't she only be like 4?  My brain is so confused.  But she is excited and is ready to go.  We prayed all summer that she would get a teacher that she enjoyed, and she got the teacher she was hoping for.  Thank you Jesus for caring about the details in the life of my sweet 6 year old!

On Wednesday, Eli will start his preschool class 4 days a week.  We could not be happier for him.  I have a feeling that this year will be difficult at times, but we are confident that it will be exactly what he needs.  I still feel that God has opened up the door for him to be there.  He knew how much my little guy still needed some speech therapy and some occupational therapy.  I can't wait to watch him continue to make progress this year.

And on Wednesday, I will have just one child to care for every morning.  Again, my brain is very confused!  I'm not sure Isaac or I will know quite what to do with ourselves.  But it will be fun.  I'm looking forward to it.

Today we had big plans to go swimming one last time to close out the summer.  Instead, we met friends at the park because it was too chilly for swimming.  Go figure!  I wore jeans and wished I'd brought a sweater.  More than once, we caught Isaac with a quivering chin.  He wasn't so cold, though, that he wanted to be held for more than 5 seconds.  One quick warm-up and he was good to go!  We had a great time with some great friends this morning.  It was a fun way to round out our summer.  And tonight we go meet Eli's and Eva's teachers!

And so it begins...

In just 4 short years, all of my kids will be in school.  That is completely mind-boggeling!

My sweet Eli

I wanted to write down some sweet things my Eli has said or done recently. I do love that boy. His heart is so tender.

This weekend, Eva came upstairs after getting dressed for the day and was wearing a skirt. He looked at her and said, "Princess! Hug." And then walked over and gave her a hug and kiss.

Tonight after dinner, Eva turned on a little musical toy and started dancing. Eli said, "Mama, dance!" I love, love, love that he wants to dance with me. When he's 15, I'm gonna still make him dance with me in the kitchen. :)

I just found this post that I started and for some reason either didn't finish it or forgot to publish it.  But, I'm doing it now because these are things I do not want to ever forget.  :)

Ever Faithful

At the beginning of this month, Ryan and I looked at each other and wondered aloud how we would make it through.  But our God is Faithful.  He always has been.  He always will be.  I love to remember the ways that he has been our Jehovah Jireh.  The God who Provides.  This week has been one of those weeks that He has just been showing off a little bit.  :)

And just because I like to brag about my Heavenly Father, and because I want to always remember, I'm writing it all out.

On Monday, Ryan brought in the mail and I saw a card on top.  I was wondering what it was, because we normally just get cards from our parents and usually we know those are coming.  So I opened it before it registered where the address was from.  Inside the card was a very sweet note from some very dear friends.  The card also contained a very generous gift card to Target.  I got all sorts of teary eyed as  I sat there stunned.  Stunned at their generosity.  Stunned that God has used them to bless us, when they had no way of knowing how tight things are for us right now.  And humbled because they said yes to God's prompting.

On Tuesday, I actually had a job interview.  The interview went well, but at the end they basically told me that they didn't think this job was the best timing for me.  They want the job to be full time during training before it goes back to part-time in a couple of months.  My ability to work full-time really just doesn't work for our family right now.  Our kids have to come first.

Later that afternoon, I was talking to one of my brothers on the phone and telling him about the interview and he said, "Would you be interested in doing some expense reports for me?  I'd pay you to do it."  And I was humbled again and felt so blessed again.  Expense reports.  I never would have thought of that one.  But God knew.  And He did.

Today, my husband called me from work and said, "I have something really cool to tell you." I was hoping that his boss had decided to give him a gigantic raise.  :)  But instead, he told me that one of his co-workers walked up to him this morning and said, "I don't know why, but I feel like God wants me to give you this."  And then proceeded to hand him thirty-four dollars.  That seems like a random amount.  I'm wondering right now, what is going to cost us $34 sometime in the next few days.  This guy told Ryan that if there wasn't anything we needed it for, then he wanted us to take the family out for pizza.

Again, I'm humbled and amazed.  And I feel so loved!

I told Ryan this morning that living by faith is exactly where God seems to want us to stay.  I will be honest, it is kind of more fun this way.  I love looking for how God is going to answer the next prayer.  Because He will.  He always does.  Even if the answers come in ways that are different than we hoped or expected.

An Anniversary of Sorts

It was during the Major League All-Star baseball game back in 2001 that a very cute boy kissed me for the first time.  I think, even then, I knew it would be my last first kiss.

I might just let him kiss me again during the 7th inning stretch.

Maybe.

He'll have to play his cards right.  :)

The Tale of the Spaghettio's

For months now, when Eva comes to the grocery store with me, she has asked to get Spaghettio's as a treat.  And for months, I have been telling her no because I knew she wouldn't like them.  So last weekend, we were at the grocery store and she started asking for this special canned pasta treat. Not just any Spaghettio's... the ones with princesses on the can.

Those marketing people are no dummies!  That's why they get paid the big bucks.  Not only do they put Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty right there on the can, they also have those cans placed on the next to bottom shelf.  Just about eye level for the wee ones.

So this time, I said, ok.  We paid the $1.39 for a can of pasta shaped like crowns mixed with tomato soup.

Gross!

But to each his own.  (FYI:  please don't take it personally if you happen to enjoy Spaghettio's or if you feed them to your children.)

So we get home and Eva immediately asks if she can have them for dinner.  Since it was leftover night, I told her that was no problem.  I opened the can, plopped some in a bowl, and heated it to the perfect temperature in the microwave.

Clearly all the makings of a delicious meal.

Eva happily digs in.  And after a couple of bites, I walk back into the kitchen to find her NOT eating.  So, I said, "Do you like it?"

"Well, it tastes good in my mouth, but it tastes funny after I swallow."

The rest of the can got thrown away.  I don't think we'll be buying spaghettio's again anytime soon.  :)

Some funnies

The hard thing about having a kid with a pretty significant speech delay is that you miss out on so many of their thoughts.  For at least a year, we have said things like, "I would love to know what Eli is thinking about!" The fun thing is that when he starts gaining the words to share some thoughts, the reward feels bigger.  My big boy still has a long way to go, but he starting to get some stuff out.

(As a side note, Eli was tested for the preschool program with our school district back in April.  He definitely qualified and will be doing a 4 day a week preschool program, where he will be getting daily speech therapy as well as occupational therapy to help with some of his sensory needs.  We definitely felt that this was a HUGE answer to prayer for our Eli.  After lots of testing, the speech therapist believes that Eli may have apraxia.  This is one of those good news/bad news kinds of things.  The good news is that knowing his difficulty gives the speech therapist a direction to go with therapy.  The bad news is that this is not a quick fix diagnosis.  He will have a long road ahead of him.  But he is making progress and we are INSANELY proud of him!  I mean... the kind of proud that makes me cry when I talk about him. *Cheesy mom grin*)

So back to the funnies.  Eli has said several things lately that need to be written down to remember forever.  :)

Last week, I chose not to wake up early and shower before the kids got up.  I had a reason, but can't remember it right now.  :)  Anyway, I still had an awesome case of bed-head when Eli woke up.  He looked at me with that furrowed brow and serious eyes and said, "Mama!  Your hair! (something I didn't understand) It a mess!"  It was so funny!

Also last week, we were driving in the car and singing along to my new Christy Nockels CD.  (LOVE!)  Anyway, we finished singing the very first song which is the current favorite and Eli said, "Good job, mama!"  Now the secret is out.  I sound exactly like Christy when I sing.  :)

I feel like I had another funny story, but I can't remember it.  :-/  I'll keep thinking.

Just feel so blessed to watch this boy work so hard and then to see his thoughts come to fruition with words.  Oh the things we take for granted.

"We used to want it all...

...but now we just want to go to the bathroom alone!"

Have you all seen that poster floating around Pinterest?  It's humorous because it's true.  Except I never really wanted it all.  I always wanted to be a mom.

But I was thinking about it this morning as I was replaying a conversation I had with Eva yesterday.  She was pouting about not being able to do something she wanted to do.  I was explaining that we don't always get to do everything we want to do.

I said, "Even mommy doesn't get to do everything I want to do."

"Like what? What can you not do?"

"Like... go to the bathroom ALONE!"

"Well you get to do that sometimes," she said.

So, I stand corrected.  SOMETIMES, I get to go to the bathroom alone.  :)

I'm not sure I remember the last time that happened, but apparently it has.

The Family Circus

I was telling my mom tonight that I was contemplating renaming this blog from "Our Day to Day" to "The Frederick Family Circus".  That is assuming that I ever make time again to blog consistently.  But by the time the end of the day rolls around, I'm just plum worn out!  But I do want to keep up with this because I really want to have this record of our family events as we grow.

To catch up since I last wrote 2 months ago:
- Eva finished Kindergarten, turned six, and started swim lessons.
- Eli continues to be a hilarious handful and will turn three next Tuesday.
- Isaac is 18 months old and his personality is blossoming daily.  He is a mess and a half!

Now back to the circus.  Tonight, Ryan was mowing the grass, while I wrangled the munchkins.  They were playing in the sprinkler up on the deck.  Eva decided it would be fun to catch the water in her mouth and then spit it on Eli.  I almost stopped it, but then I realized that he thought it was the funniest thing ever.  I couldn't help but laugh at them!  No discipline necessary.

Fast forward to time to go inside and get everyone ready for bed.  I realized that Eli had made a special present in his pants (nope, still not potty trained).  So I got him in and cleaned up, then got him and Isaac in the tub.  Bath time with those two requires a wet suit.  The walls, floor, extra people, everything gets wet.

(Side story:  A few nights ago, Ryan was giving the boys a bath and I went in there to drop something off and found Ryan without his shirt on splashing just like the boys.  He smiled and said, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" One of the many reasons why I love that man!)

I managed to stay mostly dry.  And managed to get both boys OUT of the tub, which is quite the accomplishment because once they're in, they don't want out.  :) I dried Eli off and was just drying Isaac off when I heard that famous sound.  Turning, I see that Eli has decided to tinkle on the floor NEXT TO the potty. (Close enough?!)  As I was evaluating that situation, Isaac ran out of the bathroom, dropped his towel and also proceeded to tinkle on the floor.

Two boys= two separate tinkles to clean up.

Then I have to start chasing naked babies around the house because apparently running around like a jay bird is more fun than anything else in the world.  I managed to catch them and put diapers on both of them before moving on to clothing.

So yeah, welcome to my circus.

And for pete's sake!  Watch where you step when you come over.  Ha!

Can you please help a sister out?!?

Okay friends with little boys! I need your help. I need your best potty training tips for boys. And we're not talking about just your average boy... I'm talking strong-willed boy! I'm tired of cleaning up tinkle off the floor, friends. But my little boy seems to be completely content to take his diaper/underwear off and go on the floor the minute I turn my head. How sweet of him.

So here is where we are: Eli will sit on the potty but not for very long. About 60% of the time he takes his diaper off right after he has tinkled or pooped. The other 30% of the time, he takes it off and goes on the floor. I think he mostly has the understanding, but just hasn't put it all together. Oh and also, he doesn't like wearing underwear. I think it is related to sensory stuff. They just feel different, I guess, and so he doesn't really like them.

Now please share your best secrets and tips.

And Go...

Go girls!

(First of all, thanks for the encouragement, friends. It means so much.)

For months, and months, and months my sweet girl has been asking me to have a campout with her. That always sounded so fun! However, I had a certain little baby boy who was convinced that he needed to be nursed at night until he was 14 months old. :) But alas, Isaac is finally sleeping through the night. Hip, hip, hooray!

Every other time Eva has asked, there have been reasons that I couldn't spend the night in her bed. But today when she got home from school, I told her that it was Girl Campout Night!

She is now very excited about staying up late like a grown-up. We have played Uno, colored pictures, and now we are ending the night with watching Ramona and Beezus. I'm pretty sure she is about to pass out from exhaustion, though. So we're going to call it a night and head downstairs!

She is my favorite girl in the world! :)

Husbands should not have to work late

I have decided that if I were President, my first act of business would be making it illegal for daddies of little ones to ever have to work late. Ever. Ryan has been working like crazy lately, and it is just no fun for me or for the wee ones. Tonight for example, Eli, who isn't potty trained yet but hopefully will be soon, has taken his diaper off twice in order to tinkle on the floor. *Grin* Hopefully his next step will lead him to realizing that no one else in this family pees on the floor and he shouldn't either.

So that's that.

Speaking of Eli, it's been a rough few weeks. I love, love, love that little boy. Wouldn't change a single thing about him. I love that he goes 90 mph all the time. He loves life and laughs easily. He continues to make progress with his speech. One of things he has started saying lately that is so cute, is when he finds his blanket, he picks it up and hugs it, and says, "I lub it!".

Ove the last couple of months however, he has gotten more and more difficult to handle. His behavior is unpredictable and aggressive at times. It's been so frustrating because I know he has such a sweet, tender heart, but not many people ever see that because of his unpredictable and aggressive behavior. We have just been praying for wisdom in how to parent him and realizing more and more that it seemed to be something more than just being strong-willed.

To make a long story short, I ended up being able to talk to a wonderful lady last week (who happens to have a Ph.D., so she knows her stuff!) and she gave me so much wisdom and insight with Eli. He seems to have a lot of sensory needs, lack of body awareness, and delayed communication skills. All of that combined with being almost three and being strong-willed basically makes for the perfect storm of difficulty.

I believe fully that this lady was sent by God to encourage me as well as to offer practical advice on how to help Eli. Aside from all the wonderful practical things, she ended with telling me that Eli is going to be fine and that with some hard work we would see improvement.

You see, I don't hear good things about my sweet boy too often. That's hard as a mama! I know what a wonderful kid he is and I believe that God has amazing plans for my little Eli. I pray every day that God will use the fact that Eli is not easily swayed by those around him for His glory. I believe it will happen. But most days I only hear about the bad things he has done, and I feel the judgement of how someone else's kid would never act like that.

Let me just say, I had similar thoughts before. But I am being humbled and am eating a lot of words. Luckily, having multiple kids makes it easier to not care so much about what other parents think about me. I know that we are doing the best we can do and trusting God to fill in the gaps with his grace and his mercy.

(This was supposed to be a long story made short. Whoops!)

I'm not even sure if any of this made much sense. I just needed to get some words out about how much I love my little boy. And I am proud to be his mama. And I wouldn't change one single thing about him. God created him perfectly and He has big plans for my boy.

Some weekend thoughts

1. Sticks make little boys happy.

2. Bubbles are the universal live language of kids.

3. There is nothing cuter than a wee one chasing bubbles!

4. Today Eli dipped his grilled cheese in ketchup and his French fries in apple sauce. It made him happy.

5. We didn't see any snakes in our yard this weekend! Pretty pumped about that!

6. God blessed us with a great backyard! It is our happy place.

7. Swinging makes my babies happy...all three of them.

8. Our new $12 hammock makes Ryan and me happy! (I am actually writing this from the hammock!)

9. When we're outside everything feels calm. Hence all the happiness. :)

10. I don't like ants. Particularly the ones living in our house.

Those are some of my weekend thoughts. I hope you all had a great one too!

The Protector

I've been meaning to share this story for a while now, but life is just busy. Alas, it's spring break! Happy times!

About 3-4 weeks ago (I think???), we met some friends for dinner at Chick-fil-a one Saturday night. We all ate and then let the kids go play while the parents got to talk. We were sitting right by the play area so we could see the kids playing. It was a whole lot of fun...

UNTIL...

My sweet friend Becky kind of checked out of the conversation for a second and when Ryan and I turned to see what had caught her attention, we were stunned. Speechless. Shocked. For what we saw we would have previously bet our lives that it would never be a sight our eyes would behold. But our eyes were beholding! And our brains were not believing!!! Even now, weeks later. I'm still speechless.

(I know you're dying to know what we saw.)

When we turned and looked in the play area, we saw our sweet, little peanut of a daughter standing over a boy who had to have been a good 6-8 inches taller than her. She had him on the ground. Fists balled up. I never actually saw her hit him, but minutes later the little boy came out and said, "Dad! She was hitting me! And I didn't do anything!" Ryan jumped up and ran into the play area to break up the little scuffle. Eva's side of the story was that the boy was messing with Eli. We still are not exactly sure what happened.

We later asked our friends' little girl who is older than Eva about what had happened. She said that the little boy was chasing Eli and every time the kid got close to Eli, he screamed. For those who don't know Eli, screaming is what he does best. He screams when he's excited, he screams when he's mad, he screams just to hear himself scream sometimes. To Eva's credit, she really thought she was protecting Eli. I think that Eli was having the time of his life and didn't need to be protected.

Needless to say, we had a very stern discussion with Eva that evening about how it is never okay to hit someone. Secretly, we were high-fiving each other for her ability to stand up for herself if she needs to. Because she is so tiny, we tend to think that she is helpless, but girl's got some FIGHT!

Never been more proud to be her momma! :)

(We still remind her regularly that it's not okay to be aggressive.)

I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around seeing that little girl standing over that bigger boy after she put him in his place!

Oh and also, thankfully!!!, the dad of the little boy was beyond gracious about what happened. He never got upset or anything. It could have gone very badly, but he was very kind about it all.

A sentimental mama

My mama heart is feeling sentimental this morning. I sat down with my coffee to make my to-do list for the day. The coffee was too hot to drink quickly and a little boy wanted to sit in my lap and color with my pen instead. So here I sit, slowly sipping my pick-me-up and kissing the soft little head in front of me. Call me crazy, but I found myself feeling insanely grateful for my three littlest gifts.

This morning Eva came and crawled in the bed with me after Ryan was up. She cuddled up next to me and said, "I love you mama. You're the best mama a girl could possibly want." And then I melted into a puddle.

We have had fun lately hearing the fruits of our labor with Eli's speech lately. We are starting to understand more and more of what he says. And some of what he says is so sweet! Last weekend Eva came upstairs after getting dressed in a dress or skirt. Eli looked at her and said, "Princess! Hug." It was so sweet. When I hear him say, "Loves you!" now it kind of makes me want to do the ugly cry because it felt like it would take forever for him to say it back. I love that boy. And of all of our kids, Eli is probably the one who has taught me the most about God's unconditional love. Because even on the hard days with that boy, I could not possibly love him any more. He is such a blessing!

And Isaac doesn't really talk, but he says a ton with those smiles and his eyes. And last night when Ryan came home, he screamed "Daddy!". It was very sweet. Our kids always get giddy when their daddy gets home. It's so fun to see Isaac joining in.

Isaac is now beside me on his rocking horse and having so much fun. He keeps looking up at me and smiling. :)

My heart is full this morning.

And now I have to start cleaning up some messes that those little blessings help to create. :)

A random assortment of happenings

Our house continues to be plagued by illness. Anybody else have that problem? It's hard when Ryan and I both work with kids and our three kids are all picking up germs from three different places. It can kind of make me a crazy person on any given day. And sometimes I feel like I should lock everyone inside our house and not come out until spring. Unfortunately, Ryan and I might not have jobs if we didn't show up for the next two months. And they might not let Eva pass kindergarten if she were to miss that much school. What a bummer! I guess we will have to keep taking our probiotics and hope for the best!

Today, I need to brag about my husband. He is a great one. I love him for lots of reasons, one of which is that he brought me flowers on Wednesday. On top of that, he brought Eva flowers too. What a great daddy! Anytime he brings flowers, he brings them for both of his favorite girls.

I haven't said much about it, but this year has been kind of weird for Eva in Kindergarten. She was so excited about starting school and then for the first few days, when we would ask her questions about if she liked school and stuff, she would just kind of give short one-word answers. Not her typical response if she likes something. Those of you who know her, know that she could talk the ears off of mule! She has lots of thoughts and lots of questions and we love her for it. But Kindergarten wasn't bringing any of that out. Long story short, we realized that she was having some anxiety about school, particularly regarding her teacher. Ryan and I had really talked and prayed about how to handle it all. One thing we had landed on was that Eva's teacher has been teaching for 30+ years and isn't likely to change her style at this point int he game. So about a week ago, Ryan and Eva were talking one night about her teacher having to use her "loud voice" as Eva says. And Ryan started telling Eva that any time "Mrs. P" has to use her loud voice that Eva should think about noodles coming out of her nose. Well, that got Eva so tickled! She kept laughing as she thought of more and more things that she could imagine coming out of Mrs. P's nose. She laughed so hard she got the hiccups. :)

So the next day, when Eva got home from school, I asked if Mrs. P had to use her loud voice and Eva said she did. I asked what she did when it happened and she said she thought about noodles coming out of her nose and it almost made her laugh so she covered her mouth. Success!!! This one little trick that Ryan helped Eva with has seemed to make a world of difference with our sweet, sensitive girl.

Yet another reason that I love that man!

In other news, I have decided that if I could choose my neighbors, I would request that Dr. Dobson live on one side, while Dr. Sears lives on the other side, and if Dr. Oz could live across the street I think we would be all set.

An actual post with pictures

The Frederick Five are all still alive... although Eli looks mad and Ryan looks half asleep in this picture. Eva is clearly very excited!

This was taken on Isaac's first birthday. I cannot believe that little boy will be 14 months old this week.

Some Isaac updates:

He started taking steps at around 10 1/2 months, which was a good 3 months earlier than Eva and Eli. The week of his birthday, he decided that crawling is for babies and he quit crawling and started walking everywhere. Now he is climbing and "baby running" and generally doing his best to keep up with his big brother and sister. Isaac is still his mommy's boy, but he is also pretty attached to that daddy, too. He gets SO excited when Ryan gets home from work every day. He starts saying, "Dada! Dada!". Very sweet. As I type this, Isaac and Eli are wrestling on the floor. And though Eli outweighs him by about 13+ lbs, Isaac does a really good job of holding his own. So much so that yesterday he bit Eli and Eli ended up crying. Not exactly how we want the wrestling sessions to end. :-/ Isaac is also our first baby to get attached to a pacifier. We still think it's cute and will worry about breaking the habit later. For now we'd do anything to get a full night of sleep. This little booger has only slept through the night 5 times in his whole entire life and this mama is T.I.R.E.D.! I'll give him anything that helps him sleep better. :)

This picture pretty much sums up life with Eli. :) Haha! He has knack for getting himself into interesting predicaments. He was quite determined to go downstairs and decided he could fit under the gate. He hasn't yet gotten the memo that he is bigger than the average 2 yr old. When I saw that he was stuck, I decided to grab my camera before rescuing him. Does that make me mean? ;) Eli continues to be our more challenging kid. And yet, he has the sweetest heart. I absolutely love that boy! It is so interesting that he is not easily bribed. When Eva was his age, I bribed her a little too much probably. Eli is not the least bit interested in getting stickers, toys, or treats for good behavior. It makes things challenging sometimes, but I honestly think it might be easier in the long run. He is learning obedience for the sake of obedience. Isn't that we all need? I certainly do. So, though, he is challenging at times, we absolutely love it and wouldn't trade one second of him. Eli does everything full force and I honestly pray all the time that he will follow Christ the same way. I think God has big plans for that little boy.

And also, the Bop-It game absolutely cracks him up. When you do the wrong thing and the game says something like "Oh man!" (or something) he falls to the floor laughing. It's so great! His laugh is absolutely 100% contagious!

Oh yeah! And Eli continues to make great progress with speech therapy! It is so exciting! Even his speech therapist was bragging on him this week. His newest phrase that made us laugh this week was, "Blanket! Where are you?" He absolutely loves his blanket and won't leave home without it. So cute!

This beautiful girl is getting way too close to 6 years old. She is maturing into such an amazing kid. She is so kind-hearted and continues to ask very deep theological questions. I think God has big plans for this one, too. It's fun to watch her grow. She is doing so well in Kindergarten making friends and learning to read. We still call her our little "Punky Brewster" because of the awesome outfits she comes up with. Her style is funky and fun! Love it and love her!

So those are our biggest updates as of right now. Nothing too exciting going on, which is good.

P.S. My fruit bowl still has only fruit in it! :)

What's in the fruit bowl?

I'm still in a bloggy funk. I think I just have too many other things going on that by the time I have a moment to write, I am too exhausted to actually write sentences. Maybe I can just start doing a weekly recap or something. I don't want to neglect writing because it's our family's timeline. I want to remember all the little things as they grow.

But for now, a funny. Yesterday, I got fed up. My kitchen counters had been overtaken with clutter. All of it were things that don't have a specific home, so they landed on the kitchen counter with great intentions of putting them away later. Well "later" came last night. I grabbed an empty diaper box and just started filling it up. If it didn't belong in my kitchen then it went into the box. Can I just tell you how much better it feels?!? (Next up is the top of my refrigerator!)

When Ryan got home last night, I said, "Look! Our fruit bowl only has fruit in it now!" We were both excited about that. Ryan then remarked that it should be a blog post confessing all the things that were in the fruit bowl. So although this would be better with a picture, here it goes:

- one piece of sidewalk chalk (all its other friends are in a box in the garage)

-receipts

-outdated coupons

-bananas!!! :) (the oranges, ironically enough, were in a bag next to the fruit bowl. Sad, sad, sad.)

- a mystery key

- a Chick-fil-a cow watch

- a medicine dropper

- an Oklahoma State pacifier... really?

-a handful of clothespins

Let's just stop there. Shall we?

I feel so much better and will feel even better when the top of the refrigerator looks just as awesome as my counters and my fruit bowl.

May your fruit bowls be as awesome as mine this weekend. :)

Happy long weekend!