Little Things

God has reassured me that He cares about the little things.

I recently was reading a blog which I have added to my "must read" list. :) The woman was mentioning breastfeeding and challenges and feeling guilty, but just doing the best she could. Now. I am friends with her husband from college, but I didn't know his wife. However, I so wanted to encourage her that she needs to just do what is right for their family, pray, and that the Lord will take care of the rest (HA, obviously from my previous post I need to take my own advice! :) ). Anyway, I didn't write because we had never met, I felt awkward about it, worried if she would think me crazy, etc. So I went to bed that night and just mentioned it to the Lord as I prayed for them, that I wanted to encourage her, but wasn't quite sure what to do.

Then what do you know, but the next morning when I checked my FB account there was a note from the husband stating that they had been reading my blog and felt encourage. Well that right there was the Lord, because I had not a clue that they were reading and more importantly I rarely would describe my blog as encouraging. I owe all that to the Lord.

So. . . the Lord whispered to me and reminded me that morning that He cares about the small stuff. I must say that is probably why He says cast all your cares upon Him. He doesn't say "stuff you think is big" or "I will only listen to things having to do with A, B, or C", He says all of it.
To part on an encouraging note: He cares about the small stuff, we just have to give it to Him.

Much Better

Okay. .if you read my previous post I am doing MUUUUUCH better. Thank you so much for those that commented and have been praying for me as I truly felt lifted up and encouraged. Needless to say, Christmas was wonderful. And we all made it through.
We are now home and Jeff is busily putting together the new doll house, Sean is napping, and Lauren is anxiously awaiting the construction of her new house that will only be touched by her. :)
Ooops. . have to run. .Lauren is asking to snuggle. :) My favorite!!!!!

Not My Finest Moments

It is Christmas Eve and I am blogging. I guess I just need a minute to myself for a quick cathartic release. As much as I would love to say that this time of year brings out my loving, good natured, humorous, go with the flow attitude, the truth is that it doesn't. I become irritable, tired, bitter, sometimes angry, frustrated, traveling back and forth trying to follow the "schedule" and praying I can make it until we arrive back in Tucson without falling apart.
I am currently praying for peace.
I have this problem, I constantly over assess and analyze every look, comment, etc. made to me by family and others this season. I have found as I sit here with tears that I particularly sensitive about one little thing. . well a big thing to me. My little boy.
He is . . how shall we say. . all boy, he likes any button, gets into everything, never stops moving, can throw a tantrum like you wouldn't believe, can hit, sometimes throws things in immediate grasp when he is angry, and can turn around and tell you "NO!!" when he doesn't like the answer. But this little boy who does all these things is also a lover, a snuggler, hilarious and so inquisitive. He has brought amazing amount of joy and opened our eyes to what it is to have a boy after having the girl first.
It has come to my attention the past few days or should I say I have analyzed other statements, behaviors, reactions, etc. that others are less than fond of his challenging behaviors. Now my friends with boys some of them with more than one boy finds all these things "typical". I feel that others are frustrated with him, judge our parenting skills and others still thanking the Lord that at least "their kids doesn't do that"!!
I have learned it is so easy to judge parenting. We do not discipline our children differently we have done it the same. They are different personalities. And now I realize when we look at parents, even without saying a word, judging them for their children's bad behavior it hurts. It makes parents cry, it bring heartache and sadness, and a feeling of failure.
I wonder if Mary, the mother of Jesus ever felt this way. For some reason I think maybe she did, I mean, they crucified him. She loved him. . she birthed him, she raised him. Although he was the son of God and perfect she must of felt some of these same things, even if he didn't throw a 2 year old tantrum .
I know,such a depressing post on Christmas Eve. I am just praying for some Christmas peace. And a feeling from the Lord that I am doing the best I can with this precious little one.

It's Official

So as you can see from the not so well picture of a picture. We went in today for a sonogram to see our new baby girl or boy to make sure the due date is in fact July 4th 2009. For those of you who don't know yes we are pregnant. That is our new peanut above. :)

Sneaky, Sneaky

This is what kids will do when you are checking email. All it takes is some "not so cheap" lotion and a few minutes. :)
ENJOY! :) Oh, and only a mom would say "we don't do that", then turn around and tell her to wait before cleaning up so she can grab the camera to take a pic! :)

Christmas Fun. . Thus Far

I thought I'd add a few pics of our holiday fun so far. We are Tucson Zoo members so every year we go to zoo lights on the member preview night for hot chocolate, cookies and lights. The kids had a good time, but always wish the animals were out.

Last Thursday was our sweet little girl's first ever preschool program. I must say she was the cutest one there, but of course I am biased. She is carrying hay and as they came in each child put hay in the manger up front. She looked great, but didn't sing a word. We knew this might happen as she hates standing up in front of people, but that is okay, at least she got on stage!! :)

And this is our gingerbread house we created last night. It was the first one we have ever done and I think the kids enjoyed eating the frosting and candy much more than putting it on the actual gingerbread house. Nevertheless, here is our masterpiece.

"D" for Done

We have a common phrase in our house that daddy uses most of all. It is "D" for done. We refer to it when we are done playing outside, done with dinner, done playing with objects from the kitchen that are hazardous, etc., you get the picture.
So I am officially calling "D" for done with nap time at our house for Lauren. She won't take them, no way, no how. No amount of bribing, laying down with, yelling, or other coercing will do the trick.
I am sad and tired. :) I think sadness doesn't even describe the feeling. More like terror at times. It was so nice to know that I could count on at least 1.5 hours to get certain things done or watch some ridiculous reality show on the DVR from previous nights. Or even nap myself. But those days are gone. Maybe this is how kids feel when you take away their blankets or pacifiers? It is definitely a sense of loss.
I now know what my mom was talking about all those years when she said you'd be tired for the first 10 years of each child's life. . .whew. .I have many more years of tired.

Encouraged

So I received this wonderful "blogger" award from my good friend Meredith at Therapeutic Ramblings Of A Mom. We have been friends since college and she is an amazing person and mom. Oh and a great blogger. . .I could only wish to be that good!

The rules for the Encouraged Blogger Award are:1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.3. Nominate 5 blogs.4. Put links to their blogs.5. Leave a message for your nominees.

1. My sister Katy at The Outlet an another site that you can link to through the Outlet. Amazing writer, even better sister.

2. Dana -A wonderful woman from Michigan. Who has a heart of gold and a creative ability I could only covet.

3. Jobey - A amazing woman I know from HS who has a heart for the Lord.

4. Kim- A strong, courageous woman of whom I have known for years and recently reconnected with.

5. T.J.- A man with a wicked sense of humor who married by wonderful best friend from HS.