Cecelia

Today, I had lunch with my dear friend, Debbie, who was my doula for Cecelia’s birth. Things have been so crazy that this is the first we could meet since then! She gave me a cd of the pictures she took during my labor and delivery. Ohhh! Be still my heart! Child birth is so glorious and amazing and hard and messy and beautiful.

I was so excited after looking through the pictures that I had to post them. I won’t post every shot, but these were ones that I feel comfortable posting and that you’ll probably feel most comfortable seeing. There are more beautiful pictures but uh,…they’re close to risque. Not actually, but too close for me.

Three cheers for babies!

Paving the Way and Learning the Ropes

This morning I was chatting with a friend about our first born kids and their entry into the new world of full-day school. Yes, Cooper did that last year, but her daughter just started this year at the same school. We were commenting on how rough that adjustment is for their little bodies and hearts. It’s not a bad thing; it’s just a “growing up” thing. Our children learn so much as they venture into a world where we are not physically present for a long period of time. Their little bodies are so tired, their little brains are worked out, their attitudes are stretched thin because of the energy they’ve exerted for the day, their tummies are hungry and they are full, full, full of wiggles.

I still feel like a “newbie” in the world of kids in school. I’m learning so much about what to expect, when to speak and when to remain silent, when to wait and when to act, when to say yes and when to say no (and maybe when to head for the hills!). We’ve already learned that sleep and food are essential. Laugh if you want to but really, it’s like the same information that was so enlightening to us when we had him as a baby is still enlightening us: give him plenty of sleep, maybe even more than usual and feed that tummy with good things that last.

Even as I learn how to help my child adjust to a taste of life outside our home and outside our family, I find that I too am going to school in a sense. How much do I say yes to? How busy do I allow and encourage or discourage our family to be? Do I err on the side of more? Do I err on the side of less?

It is especially challenging when my personality and personal bent is not necessarily matching up with my children’s. In fact, I often feel like I’m ready for more just when he is ready for less and vice versa. I’m trying to pay attention, I’m still learning how to have “eyes to see and ears to hear” even in this. And there is so, so much for me to learn.

For now I know that organization and planning are important. That’s lesson one; check. Lesson two is probably “sign up early”. I’m still working on that one; no check.

I love these little people. Can’t wait to see all that God has in store for them.

I sure hope that by the time Cecelia is ready to join the ranks of her elder siblings that I’ll feel a little more confidant. I should know that road and those ropes by then, right?

 

Chase Hit a Milestone This Weekend!

I do not claim to be any sort of potty training guru. So don’t attribute too much to what I’m about to tell you, ok?

Chase is fully potty-trained; day AND NIGHT!

This past week I noticed he was consistently dry. I’ve been having him take naps without a pull up for about 2 weeks now (and off/on throughout the summer). He has had zero issue. So Friday night, we tried having him sleep in big boy underpants. He woke up dry! And he did it again Saturday night and again Sunday night! This morning, we officially deemed Chase completely potty trained!

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Know what this means?

I only have one child in diapers.

WHEW!

I’m so happy. The child who made me so afraid, the child who I was petrified to potty train, the child who drove me nuts whilst being potty trained…he is potty trained. It is finished.

Finis.

Sigh.

I love this boy so much

Wait and See

When I read through the Gospels, something always grabs my attention: Jesus prayed a lot that the people would have “eyes to see and ears to hear”. This is pretty profound to me. Jesus spoke in parables, little mysterious stories that had greater meaning than the surface story told. And each time he spoke a parable, he challenged his hearers at the end of it to have eyes to see and ears to hear. The more I think of that request, the deeper it challenges me to wake up and look around at all that is happening not just to me or my family, but what is happening in each moment. To “stop and consider the lilies of the field”.

Am I seeing?

Am I hearing?

I’m reading an amazing and life changing book right now by Ann Voskamp entitled, “1000 Gifts”.  Her thoughts in the book on gratefulness, a heart that is thankful to God for all things (yes…even things that are gut-wrenchingly painful) coupled with this prayer of Jesus is doing a work in my heart. It’s a wrestling that is causing me to limp a bit, challenging me to hang on for the blessing. Not to let go, not until the blessing. I told my prayer friends it feels like scraping the edges of a jar sometimes. There are those bits that just cling to the glass. The only way to loosen them is to scrape.

This song is part of it too.

Brandon Heath

“Wait and See”

I was born in Tennessee, late July humidity,
Doctors said I was lucky to be alive
I’ve been troubled since the day that I got here,
Troubled to the day I disappear
That’ll be the day that I finally get it right

There is hope, for me yet,
Because God won’t forget,
All the plans HE’s made for me
I have to wait and see,
HE’s not finished with me yet,
HE’s not finished with me yet

I never really was that good in school;
Talked too much, broke the rules
My teachers thought I was a hopeless fool, all right.
I don’t know how but I made it through,
It’s one of those things you gotta do
I always had a knack for telling the truth.

There is hope, for me yet,
Because God won’t forget,
All the plans HE’s made for me
I have to wait and see,
HE’s not finished with me yet,
HE’s not finished with me yet

Still wonderin’ why I’m here.
Still wrestling with my fear
But oh… HE’s up to something,
And the farther out I go,
I’ve seen enough to know
That I’m not here for nothin’…
He’s up to somethin’.

So now’s my time to be a man,
Follow my heart as far as I can
No tellin’ where I’m ending up tonight
I never slow down (or so it seems),
But singing my heart is one of my dreams
All I gotta do is hold on tight.

There is hope, for me yet,
Because God won’t forget,
All the plans HE’s made for me
I have to wait and see,
HE’s not finished with me yet,
HE’s not finished with me yet
HE’s not finished with me yet,
HE’s not finished with me yet