I’ve had a ‘first’ today.
I got to stick my hand down inside the toilet in hopes of pulling out a toothpaste tube. (Did I just say that I HOPED to pull out a toothpaste tube?)
I wasn’t sure whether to believe Shand when she said she put the toothpaste in the toilet. But it was draining slow and… VOILA!!
Yeah for honest two year olds, even if they are little trouble makers.
not much inspiring here… just some information for my ‘journaling’ purposes, if you can call it that! We’ve had a string of good days with Shand (if you can call three a string 🙂 ) I think we are FINALLY settling in. The day before bryan went back to work I was FREAKING out. turns out, every day has been great. Tiring, even exhausting, but great, nonetheless. Turns out what really makes me stress is FEAR, not the actual circumstances of the day. THIS POST from Conversion Diary is changing my days. Actually, God is changing my days, using this post that pinpointed the root of my sin.
Anyway, I’m not feeling terribly inspired, beyond getting through the day with relatively healthy meals, and carrying out life with joy and intentionally loving and touching my children. And enjoying our unseasonably warm spring. Its bliss, really!! Green and SUNNY! Already more sunshine than there was ALL of last summer!!
Here’s a few pics…
This is a regular pose for Shand… kissing, leaning over to touch the baby’s head with hers, stuffing the pacifier in her mouth and talking REALLY close to her face.
Three weeks… growing and getting fat! 🙂
Thad’s birthday… we’ve never done the park thing before… its never been this nice and warm and sunny and DRY in May. the grass was still too wet for them to run in, but the playground was dry. Bryan was my hero. my HERO. He went shopping the morning of to get the gift. He made the cake, convincing Thad he wanted a dump truck cake (as in the dirt in the back of his toy truck) and not an excavator cake crafted and shaped and decorated by me. And then he made the cake. and crushed the oreos. I DID make the chocolate pudding though! And made a second cake when I decided one wasn’t enough. (We are eating the second one this week. One was MORE than enough!! ) All while I sat and cried and nursed and fought post partum depression and struggled through the pain of nursing and a bad back. It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast at the park, and my boy is SIX!!
Shand… singing Happy Birthday (her new favorite song… it found its way into her prayer the other night! 🙂 ) Bryan, again, speaking some sense into me and encouraging me to not go over the top for the birthday ideas!! I made the cake with PEANUT oil… oops… it was a party for a 2 yr old, with little ones there, who are allergy prone… so I made ANOTHER cake… the frosting couldn’t have butter in it, which is fine, but it is VERy hard to frost with non-buttercream icing. We were going to do a whole bunch of butterflies… but as each butterfly took about 15 minutes to frost and decorate, I shifted to cupcakes with a flower on top after we had enough for each of her friends. (or the little girls of mommy’s friends!)
Hugging a new stuffed toy from our DEAR FRIENDS in INDIANA!!! we miss you!! Every time I make wacky cake I think of Nolah!
Holding her baby doll in her new sling that my mom made her. Along with the sweetest little apron!!
Then that afternoon, after more cooking, we trekked out Wasilla, leaving a messy kitchen and the house a wreck, to go celebrate Mother’s Day and have more Shand celebration with family.
We are doing little bits of school here and there, and playing lots of games, and gardening a TINY bit… a little tiny bit of gardening takes up a LOT of time it seems!! Next week I start back leading worship. I’m not ready. But I won’t stress about it, because if you followed the link above, you’ll know, I am giving up fear, moment by moment… I can do all things He has asked of me.
I added a few of my own comments in italics… it’s funny how they get on a train of thought and can’t get off of it without some prompting… 🙂
My Mom by Keenan
I really love it when my mom does fun stuff with me.
My mom likes to wear dresses. When do I wear dresses? When I go to the opera…
My mom always tells me clean your room, (which is really boring).
The best thing she does is have fun.
It makes her happy when I make her laugh.
My mom loves to relax by feeding the new baby. He must have already forgotten the first two weeks of the excruciating pain written on my face…
I like it when she kisses me goodnight.
The best thing she cooks is spaghetti.
When my mom shops she likes to buy junk food. Check out the brother’s answer…
My mom’s favorite household chore is setting up parties. That is at least what I’ve been doing the last two weekends!!
My mom’s favorite TV show is Extreme Home Make-over it’s the only show they ever see me watch.
If she could go on a trip, she would go to Africa and hunt. ??
I love my mom because she is very, very, very, beautiful.
My Mom by Thaddeus
I really love it when my mom kisses and hugs.
My mom likes to wear clothes. But you can wear underwear. Excellent… unlike this little boy who loves to go commando…
My mom always tells me to do school.
The best thing she does is helps me do school and piano.
It makes her happy when I do it.
My mom loves to relax by being in bed.
I like it when she takes me to the beach. (in Homer)
The best thing she cooks is mac and cheese (home made)
When my mom shops she likes to buy healthy food. And this is true… healthy / junk / healthy / junk…
My mom’s favorite household chore is playing with Shand.
My mom’s favorite TV show is the show where the guy makes the new house (Extreme Home Makeover) – it’s the only show they ever see me watch…
If she could go on a trip, she would go to Australia.
I love my mom because she gives lots of cuddles.
Is there any explanation needed? I mean really… pure ecstasty!! And yes, I know we forgot about keeping the belly button dry. OOPS! You’d think it was my first baby… It just mean her belly button came off a little early… 🙂
Life is humming along… we are tired and happy! 🙂 Here’s some pics of the kids and Talia. She continues to be a sweet happy baby… she loves to be held… of course, all babies like to be held… she is a little more insistent on it. I’m REALLY enjoying my Moby Wrap!! It gives me two free hands with full range of motion for loving on and directing Shand while holding Talia. 1 week old… (in the pictures… she is now 2 1/2 weeks old… I”m just posting old pictures! 🙂 )
Would you look at Keenan’s face… he is so adoring. SUCH a great big brother… He is 9 and we are struggling in lots of areas with him. This is not one!! He is so much love to lavish on the little ones.
This how Shand holds out her hands in readiness for the baby… she loves to kiss Talia’s head EVER so gently… mauling her body while getting to her head! 🙂 She is very concerned when she cries and runs to find the ‘pice’ (pacifier) to shove into her mouth… not recognizing the gagging face of an infant 🙂 oh, the love… the messy kind… She’s pretty fascinated with whatever Talia does with her hands… cuteness!! Notice the last picture… they share the little baby seat / rocker thing. I don’t know if you cant tell, but when Shand is done holding Shand, ever so gently, just like she is told… WATCH OUT!! she just shifts her hands with no warning and starts shoving her off her lap!! 🙂
Tomorrow… or another day… 🙂 I’ll post the first bath pictures… oh she LOVED that!!
A Life of Balance 