The little guy celebrated his first birthday a week or two ago. (Yes, one day I'll post about that too... maybe it will be the same "one day" when I finally upload all the pictures that are sitting, worthless, in my camera, on my memory card where nobody can see them.) Now when people ask how old he is, I respond "one year old." And you know what happens? They ask me one (or both) of these things: "Is he walking yet?" Ok, normal milestone kind of question. I'll accept that. But by far the more popular (and, to me, shocking!) question is "How many kids are you going to have? Are you going to stop at three, or go for more?", or, more bluntly put "So when are you going to have another one?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! He is the third baby! Some very respectful families are completely content with three (or possibly even less) children. And secondly, since when is it so prevalent in our society for everyone to have babies less than two years apart?! Goodness. Give me a break, please.
Have you gotten questions like this, too? Does anyone else find this line of questioning somewhat disturbing? Is it ok to ask a stranger, or someone that you don't know well, about their family size/desire to have more children/TTC and/or conception plans? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Adoption: Be a Prayer Warrior
Adoption is something that I feel strongly about. It's a cause very dear to my heart. Although we are not in a position to adopt right now, I often pray for those around the world who are orphans, or living in sad/abusive situations and need a loving home. Last month I found a very worthy organization who is fighting that battle and advocating for children with disabilities or medical conditions, children who are harder to place. Some of them have Downs syndrome, some have mild conditions that would easily be corrected with medication or surgery that is not available in their country, and some do not have a clear diagnosis. But all of them are parentless and destined to life in an institution, unless someone steps in to help them. Go to http://reecesrainbow.org/ to learn more about their ministry and specific ways that you can help. You can also click here to become a prayer warrior for a very special girl or boy who needs a home and a family. It's completely free; all it takes is a donation of your time. Maybe you will be the difference that child needs, in order to gain a better quality of life.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Praying for Hannah
Today I am praying for Hannah. She is not happy right now. We thought that sending her to public school for first grade would help her social skills, bring her out of her shy little shell, help her learn from someone other than her mother. And it has.... but at a cost. She has a nasty attitude about everything. She fights and argues with me every chance she gets. She's overly tired and cranky. She puts on her best face at school, then comes home and acts horribly disobedient, defiant, and downright disrespectful. My sweet sweet girl morphs into a Jekyll/Hyde monster.
It breaks my heart to see her this way. I met with her teacher on Friday to talk about her behavior, and Mrs R was genuinely shocked (as in, mouth-hanging-open shocked) to hear how Hannah's been acting at home. She doesn't display any negative behavior at school. We talked about challenging her a little more during class and engaging her with more hands-on activities. All of that is fine and good, and Mrs R is very willing to work with us. She wants the best for Hannah too. But to sum it up, the current school environment is not ideal. Nevertheless I feel that God is telling me to "wait" and "be patient." If you know me, you know I am NOT a patient person. We'll wait and see for another month. I am also considering a different local school, some charter schools, and homeschooling. This whole school decision is weighing heavily on me. I've been praying about it quite often and still don't know the right thing to do.
Life can be exhausting. Thank you God for sustaining me through the tiring times.
It breaks my heart to see her this way. I met with her teacher on Friday to talk about her behavior, and Mrs R was genuinely shocked (as in, mouth-hanging-open shocked) to hear how Hannah's been acting at home. She doesn't display any negative behavior at school. We talked about challenging her a little more during class and engaging her with more hands-on activities. All of that is fine and good, and Mrs R is very willing to work with us. She wants the best for Hannah too. But to sum it up, the current school environment is not ideal. Nevertheless I feel that God is telling me to "wait" and "be patient." If you know me, you know I am NOT a patient person. We'll wait and see for another month. I am also considering a different local school, some charter schools, and homeschooling. This whole school decision is weighing heavily on me. I've been praying about it quite often and still don't know the right thing to do.
Life can be exhausting. Thank you God for sustaining me through the tiring times.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Eleven months old
I feel like I've been saying that the little guy is "ten months old" for quite awhile,
but now I've got to start calling him "eleven months old."
In the past month he has gone from slowly scooting and army-crawling around in circles...
to practically running on his hands and knees. Believe me, he is FAST!
He can get across the living room, down the hallway,
into the bathroom, and unroll half of the toilet paper
before you even have the chance to say "Where's Noah?"
He is still an incredibly happy baby. He is very easy-going
and accepts just about any situation that his older sisters place him in
...Like this laundry basket.
And yes, of course he is still wearing cloth diapers.
The cow print is one of our favorites.
Sometimes Aliah gets jealous when he wears it.
By nine months old he had perfected his Bumbo escape maneuver.
He kicks his legs and rolls his body in such a way that he can pop out of the seat,
landing on his hands & knees, thus ready to crawl anywhere he wants. The little stinker :)
Here's a sneak-peek at his Halloween costume:
He'll be spending his first Halloween in a stroller, and he won't get to eat any candy... but I'm sure he'll have fun tagging along nonetheless.
but now I've got to start calling him "eleven months old."
In the past month he has gone from slowly scooting and army-crawling around in circles...
to practically running on his hands and knees. Believe me, he is FAST!
He can get across the living room, down the hallway,
into the bathroom, and unroll half of the toilet paper
before you even have the chance to say "Where's Noah?"
He is still an incredibly happy baby. He is very easy-going
and accepts just about any situation that his older sisters place him in
...Like this laundry basket.
And yes, of course he is still wearing cloth diapers.
The cow print is one of our favorites.
Sometimes Aliah gets jealous when he wears it.
By nine months old he had perfected his Bumbo escape maneuver.
He kicks his legs and rolls his body in such a way that he can pop out of the seat,
landing on his hands & knees, thus ready to crawl anywhere he wants. The little stinker :)
Here's a sneak-peek at his Halloween costume:
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Playing catch-up
I have to apologize for not updating more often. I feel like I should apologize most of all to my children, because I have truly been awful at documenting their young lives. I guess our thousands and thousands of pictures will have to serve as Noah's baby book. The grandparents would be appalled to see that it is nearly blank after month two.
Hannah just got her very first report card and is excelling in 1st grade. No surprise there, since she'd already learned almost half of it beforehand through homeschooling. I am continuing to question how and where she can learn best. If it were up to me, I'd probably pull her out of public school in December (but Mike won't go for that idea). I think it would be really neat to simultaneously teach all of our kids... in the future, that is. Although, Aliah is almost ready for some basic lessons. She recognizes colors and shapes, can almost count to 20, and tries to spell her name, which goes something like this: "A-L-H. A-I-L-H. L-A-H." She really does try! She's had a bizarre rash/skin infection lately, that we've been treating without any change. Another trip to the ped on Friday. Thank You Jesus for health insurance, or else we'd be bankrupt!
Noah just hit ten months old and is the happiest baby in the house. He started to crawl towards the end of September and he is now confidently cruising around tables/chairs and other furniture. He can easily walk behind a toy and push it across the room. He had a doctor's visit last week and gained 2 lbs over the last month (take THAT, growth chart!), so he's about 20 lbs. I was secretly terrified that he had RSV, but it turned out to be croup instead. After 5 days of sleeping with a humidifier he is doing much better, but still has a lingering cough. I love this little guy so much! He is always so joyful. Noah, it is amazing that God has given you to us.
I am doing pretty well. Just trying to keep juggling all the chores and responsibilities. Our church is doing some neat things, like ChurchAtTheBallpark.com. Our pastor is a great teacher. He's really been convicting me of my sin these days. I started attending a new small group/Bible study that I really like. And I'll start babysitting again very soon. The kids always keep me busy. But I love my mommy friends, especially my MOPS girls! They help me to put things into perspective.
Mike and I haven't been sleeping very well this last month. We are saving up money to buy a new bed. He's having a lot of back pain and often wakes up at 3am and can't go back to sleep. It's affecting him all over: at work, at home, with moods, diet and exercise. He has no energy or patience (but plenty of patients ::sarcastic laugh::). We've both gained some weight in the last couple months... but it is hard change.
Maybe next time I'll share some pictures. Goodnight!
Hannah just got her very first report card and is excelling in 1st grade. No surprise there, since she'd already learned almost half of it beforehand through homeschooling. I am continuing to question how and where she can learn best. If it were up to me, I'd probably pull her out of public school in December (but Mike won't go for that idea). I think it would be really neat to simultaneously teach all of our kids... in the future, that is. Although, Aliah is almost ready for some basic lessons. She recognizes colors and shapes, can almost count to 20, and tries to spell her name, which goes something like this: "A-L-H. A-I-L-H. L-A-H." She really does try! She's had a bizarre rash/skin infection lately, that we've been treating without any change. Another trip to the ped on Friday. Thank You Jesus for health insurance, or else we'd be bankrupt!
Noah just hit ten months old and is the happiest baby in the house. He started to crawl towards the end of September and he is now confidently cruising around tables/chairs and other furniture. He can easily walk behind a toy and push it across the room. He had a doctor's visit last week and gained 2 lbs over the last month (take THAT, growth chart!), so he's about 20 lbs. I was secretly terrified that he had RSV, but it turned out to be croup instead. After 5 days of sleeping with a humidifier he is doing much better, but still has a lingering cough. I love this little guy so much! He is always so joyful. Noah, it is amazing that God has given you to us.
I am doing pretty well. Just trying to keep juggling all the chores and responsibilities. Our church is doing some neat things, like ChurchAtTheBallpark.com. Our pastor is a great teacher. He's really been convicting me of my sin these days. I started attending a new small group/Bible study that I really like. And I'll start babysitting again very soon. The kids always keep me busy. But I love my mommy friends, especially my MOPS girls! They help me to put things into perspective.
Mike and I haven't been sleeping very well this last month. We are saving up money to buy a new bed. He's having a lot of back pain and often wakes up at 3am and can't go back to sleep. It's affecting him all over: at work, at home, with moods, diet and exercise. He has no energy or patience (but plenty of patients ::sarcastic laugh::). We've both gained some weight in the last couple months... but it is hard change.
Maybe next time I'll share some pictures. Goodnight!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Prayer Works!
Yesterday, while shopping at Target, I lost my nursing cover. This might not seem like a big deal to some. But I use this as a sunshade/burp cloth/security blanket for Noah as well. It's also a sweet memento for me because I've been using it almost daily for the past three years. So I said a quick prayer, hoping to find it. Miraculously, it had fallen out about three parking spaces away from where we had parked. I spotted it just before we pulled out of the parking lot. Thank You, God! Now I can feed Noah in public and feel modest too.
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