Girlymama

I just went into her room to get Little Sister and found her without a diaper. She was holding her diaper in her hand, saying “Poop.”

Now why would she say that? Maybe because she had pooped, then taken off her diaper and there was now poop everywhere!! In her crib, on the floor… so, so, so, so, so gross. And Big Sister was helpfully pointing out, “Look, Mom, there’s some poop over here!” and “Eeeewwwwwwww!! That is so gross!! Why did she do that?”  I actually laughed when I realized what she had done. If I hadn’t, I probably would have said something Motherly like, “What the &$@# do you think you’re doing!?!?!?!!?” (please feel free to substitute your favorite four-letter word)

I think this parenting business is harder than I thought. Well, I’m off to Lysol the crib. And do more laundry. ^#$%#&^$(&#@

We took loads of pictures this weekend, so I’ll just use those to show you what we did! (I’m just so darn clever!!)

Friday night we went to Chanticleer in an attempt to get an adorable picture of both of the girls.  Little Sister was incredibly grumpy and kept refusing to get out of the stroller unless water was involved.

Okay – I realize that these are cute, but so that you understand our frustration, these are three of a gazillion pictures.

Saturday morning, Husband went mountain biking and was immensely proud to come home muddy and bleeding:

Then we went to “downtown” Wayne to wander around the shops and stuff.  We used to rent a house in this adorable town, and loved it, but since the average house costs at least $500,000 (seriously) we had to move. Its really cute.

 and went out for a pizza for lunch 

 some afternoon art projects

Then on Sunday, we had a last-minute birthday party at our house for a friend’s daughter

 Happy 6th Birthday, ACF!!
 

Okay – lots of fun, but busy. TIme for a nap.

Yesterday, while at Target, I was looking for a toothbrush holder for the kids bathroom. Surprise, surprise, I found something not on my list.  I don’t know about you, but that never happens to me at Target. snicker.

Anywho, the bathroom on the kid’s floor is painted “Everyday Blue” (by my hero, Martha Stewart). Love, love, LOVE the color. But, after painting it, I have discovered that nothing goes with it. (its called blue? why does it look green? or grey? humm….) So I have very creatively accessorized with white.

So it currently looks like this:

But I want to decorate a bit more. Make it look like what it is, a kid’s bathroom. But nothing toooooo cutesy. No rubber ducks or jungle animals, thank you. It still needs to look classy, since this is also the bath that guests often use. So I found these:

I really like these.  I thought they would add a bit of whimsy without being cutesy.  The dilemma is the towels:

I don’t think I like them. Does purple even go with blue? Maybe will hold out for white butterfly towels? Or skip the towels? What do you all think?

Got this of a friends blog. Thought it was cute and I’m completely uninspired to write anything clever today, so here goes:

1. A nap

2. A date with Husband, since we discovered last night we couldn’t remember our last one and we really need to make up for spending our anniversary at Sesame Place.

3. Actually, while I’m dreaming, make that a getaway with Husband. We’ve had exactly one since becoming parents, and it was almost exactly 2 years ago and I was 8 months pregnant. I think we’re about due for another….

3. An organized house. Esp. an organized 4th “bedroom” which is where I’ve been throwing everything I don’t know what else to do with. It would be great to go upstairs and find it clean and tastefully decorated.

4. A really nice dinner out. Tasty appetizers, warm crusty rolls with butter, filet mignon, fancy potatoes and glass of shiraz (my current fav), ooo – maybe even dessert. something… chocolate…..

5. A fairy godcontractor to come fix our water problems… for free with just the wave of his wand.

6. A day at the ocean with my family.

7. Decorating inspiration for the master bedroom. I have no ideas.

8. A “mommy’s day out” at the spa with a girlfriend – manis and pedis, facial, massage…. pamper me, please!!

 I just finished this book this morning. It was good. Not great. But worth a read. I have been wanting to read a book about marriage, since I haven’t read one in awhile. I usually find them challenging and invigorating. About 2 years ago, I read Reforming Marriage, (written by the husband of this author) and I really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d give this a whirl. Here’s the first paragraph:

“American women today are indeed gullible.They have been captivated by the lies promulgated by the modern world and have succumbed in many ways to the humanistic mindset.  Who are the deceivers? They are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure.  The modern woman has been deceived, like Eve, and led away by her own lusts from her God-given domain and her God-given responsibilities.  Loaded down with sin – discontent and envy – she is promised freedom and happiness if she will just forsake her domain – her home – and neglect her responsibilities – her husband and children.”

Woah. What does she really think, huh?  Still, I found this book mildly helpful. I thought that the author was a bit too militant in some of her views, referring to “government schools” instead of public schools and condemning the working mother as irresponsible and sinful. (Ironic, as she is also encouraging women not to judge one another’s choices in childrearing and education.) Personally I know several wonderful Christian women who work outside the home (with the blessing of their husbands) and, somehow, still manage to have amazing families.  In fact, I know one woman who worked while homeschooling her 5 children. So I don’t buy into this theory that all working families are impossible and sinful.

I was very challenged by the idea that the home is my duty. Taking care of my home, children and husband is my God-given responsibility and I need to work hard at it. Being a homemaker is not for slackers — it takes a lot of time and hard work too keep a household running. And even more work to keep it thriving.  We need to work diligently, not waste time and work joyfully, not while grumbling. My work is pleasing to God. This is my ministry. This is my offering to Him.  I found that very encouraging, as I face the monotony of loads of laundry, cooking and cleaning, and picking up after small children.  I also liked her suggestion that women should not downplay their role at home. We like to look like we’re perfect. We like to look like we’ve got it all together (at least I do!) So when someone compliments us, saying “Wow, you’re home is always so clean and neat! How do you do it?”, we downplay it, wanting it to seem effortless when its not. Instead of saying, “Oh, its nothing!” we should be honest and say, “Thanks. I work really hard to keep it like this!”

Her main point in the book (I think) was that wives are called to respect our husbands. It’s right there in Ephesians 5.  I should never bad-mouth my husband to my friends. I should keep private things private, not complaining about him to friends under the guise that I need to get something off my chest. My husband is not one of my kids or my little brother, so I should not treat him as such.  Interesting thoughts to ponder.

Overall, this was a good read. Even though she was a little hyper-reformed, it was all good, sound biblical advice about marriage. I would recommend it to all you married ladies out there who want to be challenged to really look at your marriage.

Now, any guy would totally not get this, but I just called the OB/GYN to make my annual appointment. And was told that my favorite doctor has left the practice (sob!) This guy was my main doctor, took good care of me during both pregnancies, delivered Big Sister, let me deliver Little Sister a month early to get out of bed-rest, has definitely seen me at my worst – and I still loved him. I am seriously bummed out.

Here’s the question. Should I still go to this practice? Or should I try to find favorite doctor? His practice was so convenient — we live less that one mile from both the office and the hospital they deliver at. So you can’t beat that. But his old practice has 5 or 6 doctors and I’m not crazy about 2 of them. Including the mean lady who stopped my labor for the third time and sent me home, where I only went into labor again a day later!! (not that I’m bitter about this or anything.)

I seriously don’t know what to do. Should I just stay for convenience sake? Should I try to find my old doctor? Or – to mix things up a bit – I’m also thinking of going natural next time (bad epidural experience, but we’ll save that for another post) so should I just go here for maintenance/perscription refills and look for a midwife when I’m preggers? Am I getting too granola in my old age?

So many things to think about…..

A guy in Canada started out with a red paper clip and, after 14 trades, had a house. And here I am paying a mortgage….

Who taught my adorable little angels to do this:

and this:

Oh, right. I did. Way to go, Mom.

So Husband and I were laying in bed last night, talking. (Yes, just talking.) It was around 11pm. And we had a thought. Why can’t we be as awake at 7am as we are at 11pm? Around 10 or 11 is when I get my second wind (or fifth wind. depends on how long my day was.) But thats when I’m usually needing to go to bed.

I have always found it sooo hard to fall asleep at night. College was the perfect life for me — up ’till 3, sleep in ’till 10. And, unfortunately, my internal clock has not changed despite that fact that my life is now dramatically different. Even having chased two toddlers around all day, done 3 loads of laundry, cooked 3 meals, cleaned the house, worked out, done the grocery shopping, played soccer, etc, etc, blah blah blah,  I’m often not tired enough to fall asleep.

Now, let me be clear that I am not one of those highly annoying people who only need 4 hours of sleep a night. And wake up perky, ready to take on the day. (shudder) Quite the opposite. Ideally, I’d like about 10 hours a night, I’ll settle for 8, but I regularly get about 6-7.  And I’m tired during the day. When my alarm is going off for the third time around 7am, I can barely open my eyes. But then when bedtime comes, I’m wide awake!! This does not make sense.  I think maybe my body thinks I am living in California or something. Is there such a thing as permanant jet lag?

This is probably all  contributing to my continuing battle with insomnia. (Although, the past 5 days have been great! Asleep before 1am and no waking at 3!! Yay!!)  Before children, sleeping was so simple. Tired? Just sleep in on Saturday! Sleepy? Take a nap! Rest awhile! Kids are like loud, little alarm clocks with no snooze buttons. They can sense exhaustion like dogs can smell fear. When you are the most tired, they have the most energy and demand the most attention. I am not imagining this. Ask any parent. Its really real. Really.

Well, since I can’t go back to bed, I guess I’ll go have my third cup of coffee. Humm… I wonder if all this is related to my severe caffeine addiction….

I heard an amazing sermon yesterday evening. It was about putting on the whole armor of God from Ephesians 6. And that was all excellent, but one point that was brought up struck me to my very core.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, suffering and dying, in unimaginable pain, soldiers were mocking Him saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:35) He was taunted by the criminal hanging next to Him: “Are you not the Christ?  Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39) The rulers “scoffed at Him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!” (Luke 23:35)

Jesus had the power to save himself. He had the power to come down off the cross, to end his suffering and show all those people exactly who he was. But he didn’t.  He chose to be obedient to the Father’s plan. He chose to bring glory to the Father, instead of to himself.  I can only imagine the temptation to reveal his full power to these mocking people. Surely, if he had come off that cross, some people would have believed. (Of course, he had already performed so many miracles and people still weren’t convinced, so once again I am reminded to look at the long term…)
As I was taking communion last night, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to Jesus for staying on that cross and suffering for my sin, for “becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8) Tears were pooling in my eyes as I pondered what was sacrificed so that I could approach the throne of God with confidence and assurance, as a dearly loved child.  It is overwhelming. God is so gracious, so merciful to have saved me. Upon becoming a parent, my understanding of God as our heavenly father is clearer to me than ever before. And, as a parent, God’s sacrifice of his own son has a significantly deeper meaning to me. I am truly overwhelmed by His love.

God is so, so good.

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-18