Fumes

Just the other day my Beloved commented on the fact that Zeke is now 4 months old. “Where did the time go?” he asked. He followed that up by saying, “Are we just running on fumes?”

To which I most assuredly replied, “Yes!”

I am not sure why it has worked this way but with babies #1 and #3 I seemed to bounce right back into the swing of things. I hit my stride, if you will, after a month or two. But with babies #2 and #4 it just feels like chaos reigns and here we are four months out and I still haven’t hit my stride. Yet. (Thinking positive.)

Part of the problem is sleep. Yeah, not getting so much of it again these days. I stay up a bit late with Zeke to get a feeding in. He has had some trouble with gas discomfort so often times he wakes up more than once scrim scrambling crying out in pain. Thus sleep time is not solid but broken up. Add to that Katie has taken to waking up early. By early I mean around 6ish. It would be irritating but she wakes up and comes down to the bedroom in the sweetest way.

“I waked up, Mommy,” she says in her little girl voice. She has her blanket in hand and her binks still in her mouth.

“Climb on in Mommy’s bed,” I tell her. She grabs a pillow and snuggles in the covers close to my side. She doesn’t sleep but does doze from time to time. What I most appreciate is that she isn’t a wiggle worm. She just lays there and snuggles and dozes. That gives me a little more time to lay there and doze myself.

Someday I keep telling myself. Someday we’ll get on track. The schedule of nursing every 3 hours will click with all else that we have going on around here. Someday. Perhaps on that day they’ll be some actual gas for us to thrive on. Until then I am afraid the fumes will just have to do!

Blessings 61-75

- a tank that still has fumes

- sweet little girls who snuggle in my covers with me

- babies who forget/forgive mommies for ugly behavior in the middle of the night

- older children keeping baby occupied so I can make lunch

- good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich

- 2 hours or so of quiet at home with just baby while rest of family went to church

- Husbandry allowing me to stay in bed when older children got up after a particularly rough night

- deal on cutest little shoes for Katie

- empty dirty laundry baskets

- no one is sick

- my Beloved doesn’t give me a hard time for coming home to find me still in my jammies and not showered

- long eyelashes (all four have them) to go with beautiful eyes

- children ‘seeing’ that not all kids live the way they do through Mission India’s My Passport to India

- math doesn’t seem to cause Kiersten anywhere near the frustration and boredom as it has previously

- seeing that Isaiah’s penmanship has improved from just 8 weeks ago

A Bun

Each Friday it is a mad race to get Kiersten ready for dance on time. It shouldn't be a big deal and yet it is. See the first week she came home after ballet she promptly informed me that Miss Jean said her hair needed to be in a bun.

Ta-Ta.

You haven't met Miss Jean but if you did you would be well aware she is a force to be reckoned with. If Miss Jean says that's what she wants than that is precisely what Miss Jean will get. Or you will regret it. Promise.

Oh, I don't mean to play her out as some mean lady. She isn't. She is just a person who knows how she wants things done and expects you to follow suit. She knows that what she does she does well. Know what I am talking about?

There is that and the fact that she is 80 some years old. You're getting the picture.

Anyhow, I am not a 'hair' girl. Never have been. I just have uncooperative hair with a mind completely of its own so I have never really taken to 'fixing' it all that often. And what I do consists of no more that 30 minutes tops, for a wedding or some special occasion, and 15 minutes on a regular day. To be honest I mostly just brush it after I shower and let it dry as it is with a bobby pin added here and there to keep hair out of my eyes. When it was longer it just went straight into a ponytail, wet and all.

This order to have Kiersten's hair in a bun had me panicked a bit. I seriously set aside 20 minutes the next week in order to ensure it would get done. That was before I realized that bobby pins fight back. I should have allowed for another 10 minutes.

Each week it is still a challenge to get her hair just so. I not only have to get it in the bun but need to make it so that it stays in a bun despite her moving around dancing. (Last week she came out of dance with a ponytail. Oh, the bobby pins were still logged in her scalp. Chalk that down as a win for the bobby pins and a loss for me.)

This week though...ah, I won. She came home with this lovely bun still intact. Bobby pins 1, Me 1. A tie. I hold no grand illusions. I know the bobby pins will win more than I will but each week I am determined to try hard to give my girl a beautiful bun that stays. Why? Because she feels like a ballerina and because it looks beautiful on her.

Blessings # 46-60

- learning the art of making a good bun for my ballerina

- children who have contagious giggles

- a girlie girl learning to apologize without it being asked of her

- babies who smile in their sleep

- a husband who loves to cook

- a husband who always thinks I am beautiful and often tells me so

- cousins who live close enough for sleepovers

- a little girl declaring, "I'm a princess!" at the top of her lungs because she is in a dress

- homemade caramel corn

- a soft, warm head nuzzling into my neck (a.k.a. a cuddle : ))

- coming home to a vacuumed living room 

- seeing 3 dressed up kiddos, all with tails (kitty, dragon and giraffe)

- clean sheets

- a stolen nap for myself when my energy tank was low

- the Lord wooing me once again

Blessings to you and yours as we head into the Thanksgiving season. : )

Dodged a Bullet

Boy did I luck out the other day.

Isaiah lost his second tooth. It had been hanging on by a thread and while playing he wiggled it out with his tongue. So tooth out means a visit from the Tooth Fairy. He seemed to have the idea that so long as he put the tooth under his pillow, no matter the time of day, the Tooth Fairy would come. When lunch time hit and nothing happened he made a comment.

We reviewed what we knew to be true of the Tooth Fairy: she makes no appearance until all are asleep and in dreamland. It is only then that she comes and then that she makes the trade of some treat from the tooth.

That is what she does if she doesn’t FORGET!

The next day Isaiah and I are by the dining room table and it hits me. I did not make a nighttime trip to his room to deposit a ‘gold coin and a lollipop’. How could I have forgotten? (I know how, I won’t bore you with the details.)

The funny thing is Isaiah didn’t say a thing. Not one word.

I needed to get some clean, dry clothes for Ezekiel so I had good reason to be near their bedrooms. As any good Mom can, I gathered together a ‘gold coin and a lollipop’, without any little people taking notice, and made my way to his room. Sure enough there lay the littlest tooth under his pillow waiting patiently to be taken. I made the swap and headed downstairs.

Of course I couldn’t say anything to him right away lest I appear the culprit. I waited for an hour or so and then asked him about his tooth is some sly way. THEN he mentions that she didn’t come.

“Are you sure?” I asked him. “You’re sure she didn’t come? Let’s go upstairs and look. I cannot believe she didn’t show up!”

Up we went. He lifts up his pillow…”She came!” he shouts. The coin went in the piggy bank and the lollipop in the mouth. All was well and right with the world.

My excuse? I told him there must have been an awful lot of teeth she needed to collect in the night. She was busy. She didn’t forget him, she just hadn’t made it here yet. (Good thing he didn’t remind me about what I had shared with him only the day before regarding when the Tooth Fairy comes!)

Whew! That was a close call.

Life

I fear life has kept me busy enough that right now I am just counting blessings here. : ) Not a bad thing to be doing, mind you, but I know some dear ones (Hi Mom!) are missing seeing the little people with whom I dwell and hearing about their shenanigans. I'll get there again soon, promise. I definitely need to do a post all on the wee littlest man of the house.

To be honest one of the things that has kept my time occupied is laundry. I believe it to be related to bunnies - seems to breed at an alarming rate! I don't water or fertilize my laundry and yet it blooms and grows. It is amazing! If Zeke ever stops being one who cannot hold down his milk or Katie doesn't have any more 'accidents' in her bed (mostly my fault for giving a try at no diaper for rest time and forgetting it one night when I put her to bed) I think I might gain ground. Until then....

So enough with the excuses let's get to counting some of our blessings shall we?

31.  a dentist who is amazingly good with children

32.  a haircut given by a dear sister that is both cute and a nice change

33.  a warm, quiet (non child interrupted) shower : )

34.  Friday dates with Isaiah at the coffee shop

35.  the game of Sorry

36.  the smell of newly bathed children

37.  the sound of baby squeals as his neck is kissed

38.  a gracious husband (more on that another day)

39.  floors that were cleaned by a hand other than my own

40.  listening to Scottish friends talk (I love accents!)

41. having friends over for a meal

42.  an upgrade to my cell phone (I snatched my Beloved's old phone. This is my old phone 6+yrs of faithful service)

43.  catching a good sale on clothes for the kids

44.  getting time to read for pleasure several times a day while meeting the needs of the littlest person here

45.  laughter

Still honing that eye, training it to see things to be thankful for and rejoice over. Slowly but surely we are learning. (A good night's sleep goes a long way to helping the learning curve I've discovered. I know, I should have been a rocket scientist. : ) ) All kidding aside Miss Ann had a lovely post today and it is worth a read if you have the time. She is the dear lady with whom this 1000 gifts, the art of seeking blessings in the everyday, was prompted. Anyhow she blessed her Mom with a sweet gift.  Something like that would be a dear gift for any family member for Christmas. Can't put a price on something that feeds the heart. You'll have to jump over there and see what I am talking about! : ) 

Alright, I hope to be back before we count blessings again. I'll try, that is all I can guarantee just now. Hope you have a blessed day. Keep counting!

Blessed

I am tired today so we'll keep it short and sweet. I know you won't mind. :) If you've a mind to see what is blessing others jump on over here. The links are at the end of the post.

We are continuing on our journey to count our blessings...all the way to 1000.


15. Zeke's thrush seems to be gone : )

16. babies who have a snort mixed in their laugh every now and again

17. a husband who readily laughs...makes me smile when I hear it

18. gift cards

19. baby announcements in the mail

20. a boy who dances during church worship

21. sweet girl who looks precious with her hair in a bun for ballet

22. Dora sheets and underwear (making transitions easier and more fun for the Katie girl)

23. a laundromat mere minutes from the house

24. white chocolate mocha's (a weakness of mine to be sure!)

25. little toes on little feet (really all things little)

26. shared recipes to add to my arsenal

27. naps

28. a dent made in the laundry

29. bunk beds

30. Grapevine Bible studies for kids

A Small Smile

That is what I had on my face a few times at church this morning. Each of the children brought one to my face and all for different reasons.

After my Beloved and I had dropped all but Ezekiel off in their rooms we headed across the fellowship area towards the sanctuary. As we walked I noticed a cute young boy heading our way.

“Look,” I said as I nudged my Beloved.

He looked up but not where I wanted him to.

“Look!” I said again. “It’s him.”

This time he noticed to whom I was directing his attention.

“That’s Ian.”

“Oh!” a dawning realization then of what I was wanting him to see came over him.

Ian.

Kiersten’s crush. Her first crush.

I had a feeling my Beloved hadn’t yet known who the young boy was that had captured his daughter’s attention. Now he knows and now I won’t be alone in my secret smiles each time I see him at church or the dance studio.

Isaiah. I didn’t witness this but a dear friend of mine who helps run our children’s ministry made it known our biggest man was dancing for joy to the Lord during their worship time.

If you had only seen this boy when he was in the room with the 2,3, 4 & 5 year olds during their worship time you would know why this was such a surprise but a delight to know. I honestly never would have imagined my boy enjoying worship at church let alone dancing.

When he was in the other rooms, the 2, 3 or 4&5 year old rooms, he was a totally different person. See they crammed all those kids together in a cordoned off area within one of those rooms. He is not one to be in a crowded room and function well. He would slump to the wall and there he would sit. All the other kids would be dancing, singing or following the motions of the teenager leading them in worship. Not Isaiah. Never did he participate although he would sing the songs on the way home in car. Go figure.

So my point…my boy was enjoying worship so much so he was dancing. : ) What a sweetie that boy is.

Katie girl. She’s at the age/stage where a lot of what she does makes me grin. I’m not complaining. But what she did this morning at church that made me smile was grab my hand, follow me to the bathroom and proceed to use the toilet. This was the first Sunday we let her leave home in her Dora underwear (sorry if that is too much info!). She does a fabulous job whether we are at home or out and about of letting us know it is ‘time’.

She does play this little game when she goes and you are watching.

“I made some tank-le, tank-les Mommy!”

“Make some more tinkle, tinkles.”

“I’m all done.”

“Make some more tinkle, tinkles.”

She does.

“I’m all done.”

We go through this a few times before she says in a different tone, “I’m all done.” And all this is always said with a grin. She knows she is teasing you. Mark my words…she is going to be the ‘fun’ one (and a handful!).

Lastly Ezekiel. This morning was child dedication. This is simply where we dedicate ourselves to live for the Lord, promising to do our best to raise him in the love and knowledge of the Lord with the support of our church family.

Zeke is just such a sweetie. He has the most precious smile. When he flashes it your way, which he will often (he’s not stingy with them), it makes you feel like a million bucks.

As it the usual Sunday morning routine he fell asleep in my arms not 10 minutes after we were up front. I got to hold him and enjoy his little sleeping self. It is a rare thing to do that at home but at church it is a blessing and joy to be able to.

It was just one of those days that I could help but smile over each of these dear ones. Am I blessed or what?

Thankful

I have decided to try to be intentional about seeing the goodness of God and giving thanks to him in the big and the small.

I find I can find fault easily. That bugs me. I know my perspective needs a different vantage point. In changing how I look at everyday things and in even taking the time to ponder the everyday things I figure to find more that I am pleased with than I am displeased with. And yes, I mean mostly in regards to my family.

Please don’t get me wrong. It isn’t them it’s me. : ) Ok sometimes it is them.

The point is I am with them day in and day out. They school at home so we are never apart. Living life together all day every day helps magnify those things that do get on your nerves…but only if you are looking for them.

So instead of looking for things that bug me I am going to try to look for things that bless me. To get an attitude of gratitude as Miss Ann would say. : ) The eyes of my heart need a new vantage point, a refocusing, to one of thankfulness. So here we go on our journey to counting 1000 blessings.

Let the thankfulness commence!

#1-15
1. a baby who sleeps through the night


2. a husband who supports homeschooling


3. a husband whose job supports my being at home full-time


4. four healthy, happy children


5. a little girl who cries out as we near church, “Friends! I’m coming Friends!”


6. some serious progress on the potty training front


7. all things pumpkin (pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins…..)


8. a big man who gets right down to business with his school time


9. a daughter who has come around in her attitude towards school, math in particular


10. the sweetest smile an my baby boy’s face


11. dimples


12. Fall, the beautiful colors of leaves


13. a warm cup of something each morning (coffee, tea, hot chocolate)


14. quiet, the sound of all sleeping peacefully


15. a soft pillow on which to rest my head

Here’s to our journey of gratitude, being thankful in the everday- cheers!