Thursday, February 25, 2010

Busy Week

Wow...has it really been a week already? Busy-ness sure makes time pass quickly, and we've been so busy! Monday, Evan went for his 6 month checkup. It went really well. He's growing taller, but not gaining a whole lot of weight. He's sure not built like his brother! After the appointment, we went to Brentwood to meet Av for lunch. I'm definitely going to have to do that more often. I love spending time with that man! ;) Tuesday was Mom's birthday, so we went to celebrate a little with her. I'm so thankful for her! She's helped me so much to understand how to be a loving, kind, long-suffering, servant-hearted (etc...) Mom myself. One of the biggest things I hope I've learned from her though, is how to be a friend to my children as they grow up. It's so cool having my mom as my best friend (after my husband of course). So, in case I haven't told you enough, I love you Mom!
let's see....Wednesday I was home, but it was a pretty hard day for me because I was overwhelmed with things to catch up on, and didn't really know where to start. I ended up finishing most of my list, but I saw so many other things that needed to go on the list. Quite discouraging! After talking to Av about it, I've decided to write down everything I can think of that I need to do, so I can look at it when I'm planning what to do each day. I'm still working on it, but I've already come up with A LOT. Basically, I wrote down (with categories and columns), all of the things I can think of that I want to spend any time on in the near future. It actually makes me feel better to have it all down on paper, because I don't have a gnawing feeling that I'm forgetting something important. Now I just need to spend some more time thinking and prioritizing. All I know is, I've got to do something differently. As it is now, I just end up putting off anything that isn't urgent, until it gets to be urgent, so I end up with a day here and there where everything is urgent AT THE SAME TIME. Not fun. If I could break that pattern, I think I might get back on the right track. Anyway, I think today's been a bit better, but I still have lots of progress to make.
Oh yeah, and Evan's eating solid food now! (Maybe he'll start sleeping again!)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Happy half-birthday to Evan Micah!

My baby is 6 months old today! Wow, ready or not, they're growing up. I decided that it was about time for Evan to start trying to sleep in a bed (he's been sleeping in his car seat since he was born, because his reflux bothered him when he was laying down.), so this morning I put him down for a nap in a playpen. Joel went in there with him to "read" to him and talk to him, and the we left and he went to sleep. We'll keep working on that, I think. He's actually got a bit of a cold, so he's been pretty fussy today :(. A couple of days ago, we put him on his tummy and he started digging his toes into the carpet and pushing with his legs. Unfortunately, his arms weren't doing anything, so he was scooting on his face. Well, it's a good try anyway.
Last night, I was driving home with Joel in the back seat, and talking to Av on the phone. I was talking about some things God's been teaching me through some books I've been reading, and I made a comment that one thing fit right into the message on Sunday about trying to see the log in our own eye before seeing the speck in someone else's eye. I'm talking along when I hear a little voice in the backseat say "Mommy, I heard Pastor Donny say that...in the nursery....I heard him say that, Mommy." I was absolutely blow away. He was listening!...in the nursery, and he remembered! This is just to encourage anyone reading that you never know when your children are listening, or what they might remember; so keep exposing them to good stuff...they just might be listening:)

Monday, February 15, 2010

typical Monday (and I love it!)

Unlike most people, I like Mondays. For some reason, I typically seem to get more done on Mondays (maybe because there's just more to do). I enjoy the beginning of a new week, and a return to the normal routine after the weekend. There were quite a few things to catch up on today, but I'm always happier when there is something to do. I don't like being bored and feeling unproductive (just ask Av...he had to hear about it all the time when I was on bed rest). I'm so thankful today for tasks to accomplish (especially ones that I mostly enjoy). I usually structure my day so that I do the things that I enjoy the least (i.e. dishes, bathrooms, etc.) first, so by the time I'm out of energy, I only have the things I enjoy left (like sitting here at the computer, or reading, or practicing piano). We had company last night, so I spent a little longer on dishes than normal, but Joel was patient, so that made it easier. After that it was a nice(?) game of aggravation. We only played about half of the game (playing it with Joel is aggravating for different reasons). Then we went up to exercise (i jump on the trampoline, and Joel plays duplos, or basketball). While I was doing crunches Joel said "Mommy, are you ready for this? I'm doing push-ups". it was pretty funny to watch. After Joel went down for a nap, I made bread and granola. It was enjoyable in a nice clean kitchen (but then, of course, I had to clean it up all over again.) I guess the title of this post isn't quite accurate, since there was one thing that made today pretty unusual. Av ended up working from home for half the day. He tried to get to work this morning, but because of the icy roads there were too many accidents holding him up, so he finally came back. We sure didn't mind ;). Well, it sounds like Joel is up (and maybe had an accident :( so I'd better get going...

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Blessed

so, Evan started saying "Dadada..." on Monday. It's just occurred to me that he's not going to be a little baby for much longer :( , but I'm excited to watch him grow up. Yesterday, I think I decided that Joel is about the sweetest big brother, ever. First, he was sharing his toys with Evan and trying to help him play with them. then, when Evan was in his car seat crying (because he wouldn't sleep because his gums were hurting), Joel went in there and spent about 20 min. with him, just talking to him, and giving him his toys to try to make him happy. I was busy working on taxes, but I could hear them in the bedroom, and it just made me so happy. Later, Joel prayed that Evan wouldn't be sad, and sang him "I'll love you forever" (which is our special song). Pretty frequently I hear Joel say "Evan's growing up so he can play baseball with me." I hope they can be best friends. I am feeling very blessed today (which I should feel every day). I got to spend more time with Joel teaching him writing (we practiced writing letters in salt with a straw), and working on his memory verses. It makes me wish I could spend less time on house-work and more time just enjoying my boys (I'm not very good at multi-tasking). hmmm...I'll have to think more on that one. Speaking of which, I better get off of here...so much to do!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Fun at work

well, we sure had a different sort of weekend, but as I look back on it, I'm glad it worked out the way it did. Friday was starting out to be a normal day. We have to go out on Fridays for a little Montessori class and since we drive right by, I decided we'd start stopping at the nursing home to visit a few people there. I explained this to Joel and he seemed excited, but of course when we got there he was pretty shy. I was glad by the end though, that he warmed up to one lady and even gave her a hug. Yay! The rest of the day went well, until we got home in the late afternoon. Joel was over-tired and wasn't able to figure out that what he needed was a nap, so a battle ensued. Sometimes I feel like I really don't know what to do in a certain situation, and this was one of those times. I knew he was just too tired and needed to go to bed, but because he was so tired, he was fighting me through all the necessary steps to get him there. I don't like spanking him when he's in that state, but I honestly don't know what to do. Of course, after the fact I always think of what I shouldn't have done...very frustrating. Anyway, I had a long talk with God that afternoon, and He really helped me to trust him and to have a good attitude, which as it turned out, I needed to get through the evening. Av ended up having to work really late, so we were on our own all night. Normally I really struggle to stay positive when something like that happens, but I'm so thankful that this time was different. I really can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Joel and I ate leftovers and watched Up. I actually enjoyed spending a little bit of extra time with my buddy (even though I was missing my best buddy). Av also had to go into work on Saturday (this was a unique set of circumstances) and he invited us to come along. First, we went out to breakfast to try to spend a little time together before he had to work. I brought lots of toys for Joel, and we bounced his ball down a hallway, colored, played with silly putty, and he even took a nap under a desk. I don't think I'd want to do it every day, but it definitely made me feel closer to Av, knowing a little more about where he works. It was a long day, but I was glad we could make it a little nicer for him.
On a completely different note, I discovered a few months ago that if I play Bible songs in the car, it makes a huge difference in Joel's attitude. Instead of complaining, he sings along, and I usually get them stuck in my head, which can be annoying, but they're probably a good thing to have stuck in one's head I think. I was thinking about this because we went grocery shopping today, and I think those songs made it a little better for both of us.

Monday, February 1, 2010

snow, and fun stories

We had a great weekend snowed-in. Fresh cinnamon rolls, games, good music, and Joanna being with us, made it quite bearable. Saturday we took Joel out for his first snow experience. He had a lot of fun, and didn't seem terribly bothered by the cold. The snow was not wet enough to make snow balls, but we built a sort of igloo by breaking it in pieces. I was very thankful for our wonderful warm house after that. Evan has been very sweet the last few days, even though I'm still pretty sure he's teething. I just love that baby! Joel said a couple of pretty funny things (surprise:) that I want to try to write down. It's just not the same without hearing his voice, but here goes:
We were sitting at the table eating and talking as usual. I don't even remember what we were talking about, but I used the phrase "speaking of which...", and before I could finish, Joel jumps in with "speaking of sand-which (he was eating a sandwich)...ha ha ha." Silly I know, but there it is. I think he has his father's sense of humor. The other thing was at bedtime. I said "Okay, time to get ready for bed". Joel picks up my cell phone, pushes the button on the front, and says, "No, it's not time for bed yet, it's only 6:30." Nice try, but it was really 10:00, so to bed he went. I guess he must see me looking at the phone to check the time a lot. That reminded me of when I was on bed rest and my cell phone and I had to take a pill every 6 hours, so I set an alarm on my phone. One day it went off, and I was about to ask someone to hand me my medicine when Joel comes dashing (and I really mean dashing!) into the room, hands me the bottle of pills, and says "you need this mommy." I was pretty much shocked. Not only did he make the connection between the alarm and the pills, but he actually paid attention to where they were (which happened to be in my purse that time). He keeps us quite entertained. I am very blessed indeed.