A Full Thank”full” Tree

What a blessing it has been for us to take the time to list a specific thing each day we are thankful for! Noah was excited to choose something each day to put on the thankful tree (or the “family tree” as he sometimes called it!) and then to pray and thank God for those things each night. I anticipated hearing what Noah chose each day! Even a few days out of November after our thankful tree has been replaced with Christmas trees, he still asks me, “what are you thankful for today, mom?”

 

11/1

Mom – Fridays Off!

Dad – Days off with family!

Noah – Library and the books in it

 

11/2

Mom – An extra hour of sleep

Dad – Father/Son Time 

Noah – Nana, Pawpaw, and Mamaw

 

11/3

Mom – Opportunity to serve Him with my talents through praise band (and for the talents and gift of music!) 

Dad – Having fun at bath time with Noah & Kate

Noah – My house

 

11/4

Mom – Privilege of watching my baby grow into a little boy

Noah – My train table

 

11/5

Mom – Technology, especially FaceTime!

Dad – Learning

Noah – Mimi & Bop

 

11/6

Mom – Helpful friends and strangers

Dad – Being able to worship God through music

Noah – My Bible

 

11/7

Mom – BSF

Dad – Getting to see Steven Curtis Chapman

Noah – Bible (aka BSF)

 

11/8

Mom – Healthy 5 month old baby girl

Dad – A surprise visit with Mom, Dad, & Mamaw

Noah – Emily & Cody

 

11/9

Mom – A great relationship with my sisters and parents

Dad – Getting to see family

Noah – My bed

 

11/10

Mom – All of us back at home together

Dad – Sabbath

Noah – My room and my toys and my bath

 

11/11

Mom – My patient and helpful “tech support” (aka Brian)

Dad – Food to eat

Noah – Tow Mater picture drawn by Miss Kathryn

 

11/12 

Mom – Teaching Noah about God and having spiritual conversations (even at bath time!)

Dad – My silly boy

Noah – My bookshelf and my books

 

11/13

Mom – Precious, sweet easy going baby girl

Dad – Noah’s singing

Noah – My baby (sister)

 

11/14

Mom – Praise band practice – fellowship with friends and time to do one of my favorite things!

Dad – Prayer

Noah – My pretend car (cozy coupe)

 

11/15

Mom – Movie nights

Dad – My guitar

Noah – Book and the kitchen cabinet with snacks

 

11/16 

Mom – Having enough to give to others

Dad – Reading books with Noah

Noah – My firetruck and my school bus

 

11/17

Mom – Seeing friends we haven’t seen in awhile and a good time at family photos

Dad – Noah

Noah – My legos

 

11/18

Mom – Sweet snuggles with a precious baby girl

Dad – Friends at work

Noah – My best buddy Will

 

11/19

Mom – My parents and grandparents (and getting to talk to them!)

Dad – Time with friends

Noah – My books from Mimi

 

11/20

Mom – Time off of work (Thanksgiving Break!) 

Dad – Having dinner together

Noah – Da & Gigi

 

11/21

Mom – Time spend with good friends 

Dad – My jacket (brrr!) 

Noah – Mommy and my bed

 

11/22

Mom – Sweatpants and time at home! 

Dad – Playing with Noah

Noah – My lamp and my kleenex box

 

11/23

Mom – Snow

Noah – Reading books with Mommy

 

11/24 

Mom – Brian/Daddy (Happy Birthday!)

Noah – Putting up my Christmas tree with Daddy

 

11/25

Mom – A FABULOUS car ride with 2 kids!

Noah – My “Dusty” and “Chug” 

 

11/26 

Mom – Cousins (mine & Noah’s) 

Noah – Mommy, Daddy, and Sister

 

11/27

Mom – Having a good relationship with Brian’s family

Noah – My cousin Emma

 

11/28

Mom – My relationship with God

Noah – Thanksgiving with my family 

 

11/29 

Mom – Wonderful day with family at Sea World

Noah – Brad and Kelly’s house and a trip to San Antonio

 

11/30

Mom – Watching my grandparents (and parents!) interact with my kids!

Noah – Visiting Grandma Dorothy and Papa Brady

 

 

 

The “Thankful Tree”

Much to my avail, I have tried the past two years to do a “30 Days of Thanksgiving” post series and have not been successful. As little as I would like to admit it, I fear that I would have the same lack of success this year. Although I was never very consistent at it, I enjoyed doing it because it made me take the time to count my blessings. I was recently reminded in a Bible study that thankfulness causes us to focus on our blessings and as a result, be less anxious. I believe thanksgiving also results in joy. As Noah becomes more and more aware of things, I want him to view this time of year as a time to be thankful for all we have been blessed with.

So, I decided we would do a family “thankful” tree throughout the month of November. Of course, I decided this on November 1st. So, Noah and I went outside and trimmed some branches off of one of our backyard trees, pulled the leaves off, put them in a vase and made, as he calls it, our “family tree!” I used my wonderful cricut to cut out circles (didn’t have a leaf) from scrapbook paper. Each day, each of us writes something we are thankful for put on the tree. We also make sure to thank God for these things during our daily prayer times. The tree doesn’t look like much now but will hopefully continue to quickly fill up with our “leaves.” I had to prompt Noah a little on the first day by reminding him of things we had done that day, but so far, each day he has found his own thing to add to the thankful tree. I love hearing what he is (and the rest of us are!) thankful for on a daily basis! (And I can’t wait to add Kate’s thoughts after a couple of years!)

I would like to keep a “record” of our blessings, and I’m not one to keep lots of paper, so periodically, I will list them in a blog post so we can come back and look at them from time to time. 

 

11/1

Noah – the library & the books in it

Mom – Fridays off

Dad – days off with family

 

11/2

Noah – Nana, Pawpaw, & Mamaw

Mom – an extra hour of sleep

Dad – father/son time

 

11/3

Noah – my house

Mom – opportunity to serve Him with my talents through praise band (and for the talents!) 

Dad – having fun at bath time with Noah & Kate

 

11/4

Noah – my train table

Mom – the privilege of watching my baby grow into a little boy

Dad – safe travels to Kentucky

 

11/5

Noah – Mimi

Mom – technology, especially FaceTime

Dad – (haven’t heard from him yet today! will update later!) 

 

 

Lessons from Noah – Prayer

Wow. I didn’t realize it had been so long since I had written something. March to June (almost July!)…that’s a long time! I’ve always wanted to blog, but I didn’t ever say I’d be good at doing it regularly! 🙂 

A lot has happened in our lives in the past months. Nothing too dramatic or no exciting news, just a lot of things. We are in the midst of full-blown toddlerhood. It seemed like it was maybe April when Noah stopped being a “baby” and really became a toddler, even though he had been walking and developing independence for a couple of months. He started seeking more and more independence and testing boundaries and limits. At first, I just wanted to hide and pray that it would all magically go away and my very agreeable little baby would be back. After a month or two, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case, so I decided to start learning a bit more about toddlers. I kept telling Brian how unfortunate it was that childcare classes teach you how to take care of a newborn, but that’s where they stop. I’m quickly learning that toddlers are an EXTREMELY different kind of little people! They are the most nerve-wracking and frustrating people in the world but at the same time, they have to be the silliest, most joyful and fun-loving of all of God’s creatures! (At least that’s the case with mine!) 

I’ve always heard it said that as adults, we have a lot we can learn from children. I find I’m learning so much from Noah…both things about our innate human natures and tendencies as well as things about myself. I thought it would be fun to collect and record my “Lessons from Noah” over the next several months (or longer!) (or knowing me and that I haven’t been too great at posting “series” in the past, this might be the only one! So, enjoy while it lasts!) 

Several months ago, we starting praying with Noah as a part of his bedtime routine. We have always prayed for him at bedtime but not necessarily with him. So at nights now, he and I (or his daddy) sit in the rocking chair, fold our hands, and I say a brief prayer thanking God for a day of playing and doing whatever else we might have done and for friends and family we have seen during the day, and pray for a good night of sleep. It was not long before I saw how much of “creatures of habit” we really are. After we would finish stories and turn off the light to finish milk, sing songs, and have snuggle time, Noah would put his two little hands together to remind me to pray. Only after a couple of weeks, prayer had become a regular part of his routine, and he didn’t want to miss out on it!

We have recently starting including him in meal-time prayers as well. (I know that sort of sounds funny because we haven’t ever “excluded” him from our prayers… Basically, we’ve always prayed before our meals together but haven’t always said, “Noah, let’s pray for our food…” or something similar.) As he is growing in his understanding of things, we’re now trying to encourage him to participate witn n˜ h us and trying to explain what we are doing. All that said, he quickly picked up on this “habit” as well. It has now become such a habit that we often laugh about it because if one of us leaves the table to bring something else to the table (i.e. cooking only 3-4 pancakes at a time and getting up to bring the new, hot ones back to the table and sitting back down), Noah will fold his hands and ask to pray to “bob”/God. There have been several recent meals where we have “blessed our food” 5-6 times before we are finished eating! Just thinking of it makes me smile! 

These instances came to my mind on Sunday when we were discussing prayer in our small group. Prayer is our study/discussion topic for the summer, and this past Sunday we were specifically talking about daily prayer. Now, being completely honest, I am not a great “pray-er” by any means. I have let myself “off the hook” and lately have been lazy about having a quiet time regularly each day, and I have never been very good about praying at various “unscheduled” times of the day (times that aren’t meal times, bed times, quiet times, etc.). I always feel very convicted when I read about or hear a lesson on prayer because it is something that I desperately want to be better about doing. 

It’s such a simple thing to do. It’s not complicated. It’s something we can do anytime and anywhere. While we do have models and examples in scripture and there are different types of prayer, overall, there’s not a right or wrong way pray. All we have to do is make it a priority and develop it as a “habit.” 

Although he might not fully understand it and sometimes we joke about it, through Noah’s innate need of routine, he has developed a desire to pray continually and without ceasing.  In fact, there have been times we have sat down for a meal together after rushing to get food on the table when we forget to stop and pray before the meal. However, our faithful little guy will always put his hands together to remind us to stop and be thankful for what we have. He views it as a fun thing to do. He enjoys putting his little hands together and watching mom and dad close their eyes to talk to “bob”/God. What an awesome thing to start to understand at such a young age. How much more would we all benefit from adding/keeping prayer as a part of our daily routine and at the same time, viewing it also as a fun privilege! 

(If I was really good, I would have a photo of Noah praying at the top of this post. However, the little stinker doesn’t sit still long enough to take a posed photo, and I haven’t seemed to be able to “catch him in the act!”)

Such a "God-Thing"

So I last posted about my word of the year, “joy.” While I have been focusing on ridding myself of bitterness and living the abundant life I should be living, I sort of almost forgot about the joy part of it all…until Sunday. 

(I know I haven’t written much about the little man in awhile, who has basically been my blogging focus. He’s doing wonderful, and I promise (mostly to grandparents!) that I’ll fill you in more on him in the next couple of weeks!)

Backing up a bit…I debated with myself for a long time whether or not to join in on the new Beth Moore study on James at church. I’ve done her studies before, and I absolutely love her insight into Scripture and her style of writing. However, I was pretty worried about doing all the “homework” each week. I barely fit in the things I need to get done each day, much less adding in 30-45 extra minutes of in-depth Bible study 5 days a week. Plus, I’m serving in our AWANA ministry by playing with two-year-olds (“Puggles”) which just happens to meet at the same time. But, after prayer and thought, I decided it was time for me to do another in-depth, group Bible study outside of my reading through the Bible during the year and Sunday morning small group study. I decided that since there were 3 other Puggles leaders, I could be out for several weeks, and the others all seemed fine with my decision. I was definitely convinced that I needed to do the study when I realized it was only 8 weeks and a little shorter than the other studies I have done. I started the study a week ago and was immediately hooked. I have always loved the book of James, and am excited about diving in and learning more about it. So, I did all my weekly homework…even though the last one I was semi-frantically trying to finish up on Sunday afternoon! 

This past Sunday evening was our second video session. It was very, very technical. Beth spent an hour talking about James 1:1 – “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.” I won’t share all the details about the verse, but I will say that I had no idea that one seemingly simple verse could hold so much meaning and reveal so much about a person. Anyway, after making it through all the “technicalities” of the verse, the final point of the lesson was James’ salutation “Greetings” or “chairein” in Greek. Guess what it means…“Joy to you.” The  conclusion emphasized that “joy is our birthright,” and “through this study, we will take our joy back.” I was covered in goose bumps! Such a “God-thing.” He knew, of couse, exactly what I needed! All the sudden I remembered how much I want to focus on ridding myself of bitterness, seeking joy, and having my birthright of joy back. I cannot wait! I am looking forward to seeing how God works in my life through the study of James in the next 8 weeks! 

Word of the Year

As you probably noticed (or maybe didn’t notice), I didn’t quite make it through my 30 Days of Thanksgiving. I felt like I was doing so well, and then life happened. There was a big, huge misunderstanding between a new family I am teaching and myself. It’s always tough to teach “transfer” students – students who have transferred from another teacher – because teachers do things differently. It just takes time to get to know students and the ways they and their parents are used to doing things. Anyway, the issue was resolved, and I learned valuable lessons about communication! 

I sent out a little note in our Christmas cards to let family and friends know what we had been up to the past year. The note included the blog address and encouraged everyone to check it out for updates on our family. Realizing I hadn’t posted anything since November, I decided I better get busy. I don’t really make resolutions, so I’m not making a resolution to blog more, but I do feel a bit of responsibility to keep to my promise and share our stories with those who are curious! 

A lot has happened since November, which is typical. December is always a busy time of the year for us. But, for now, I’m going to skip past Thanksgiving and Christmas and even New Years to the present. I may catch back up later, but I may not….we’ll just see! 

I noticed several people choosing a word or theme for the new year rather than making resolutions. I liked that idea a lot. Those of you who know me know that I’m a bit of a perfectionist. So, I debated for days about what I wanted my word to be and worried and worried that I would choose the wrong word for my year or that my word wouldn’t be good enough. I had actually kind of given up on my idea of having a word for my year. However, a few days ago, I realized my word of the year couldn’t be clearer. 

The past year, I have felt that something is missing in my life. Sure, I have joy from the normal things that would cause joy…my wonderful husband, my fun and unpredictable little guy, my amazing family and all the fabulous events we have had…but I have been missing the abundant joy I should be experiencing. I think I have been holding a lot of bitterness in my heart over things that I just need to let go of. I came to the realization that I can’t have bitterness and joy at the same time. So, if I want my abundant joy back, I need to let go of all my bitter thoughts and feelings that have developed and stuck around for the past year. I’m sure it will be a process. It will take some work and continuous prayer to rid myself of these negative feelings and to achieve joy. 

This has all been very much a “God-thing.” I started reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts a week ago, not knowing exactly what to expect.  I’m only about a fourth of the way through the book, but, put very simply, it is her account of her discovery that thanksgiving leads to joy. She was challenged to record one thousand gifts….the little things in day to day life that she was thankful for. There was my answer, as clear as can be and right in front of me. To rid myself of my bitter feelings and regain my abundant joy, I need to find the gifts in my daily life. I decided to take Ann’s Joy Dare and count 1,000 gifts in 2012. I am still undecided about whether to share my list or keep it to myself. I may do a little of both! Stay tuned to see how it goes! 🙂 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 10

I’ve made it to day 10! I’m actually sort of impressed with myself that I have stuck with this. Guess I don’t want to disappoint the 4 or 5 people that read this who might be hanging on to the edges of their seats wondering what I am going to be thankful for the next day!! 🙂 I really should be doing something much more productive now, considering we are leaving town in, oh, about 10 hours, and that everything has to be ready to go so we can just get in the car as soon as I finish teaching at 9. And, this is the little guy’s nap time, so it should be my most productive time of the day. I am working on laundry right now….that’s something, right?

Well…I’ve been thinking a lot how grateful I am for all we have…how rich we are. And, I’m not saying this to boast about my own possessions. In my mind, we are far, far, far from being “rich.” But, we don’t live in poverty. I am fascinated by the Compassion International movement and how much they do for impoverished children around the world. I very much want our family to sponsor a child (and eventually, several children!) through Compassion. I keep waiting, though, thinking that I really want a child the same age as Noah, and children can’t enter the program until they are 3 years old. Lame excuse, I know. We should just go for it…and maybe we will. I bring all of this up now because there are a group of bloggers, several of whom I read their posts on a regular basis, who are traveling to Ecuador with musician and Compassion representative Shaun Groves. They go because their blogs are well-read, and they want to provide all of us with a closer look at exactly what Compassion does and who Compassion serves. They meet up with Compassion leaders and have an opportunity to meet and spend time with children in the Compassion program. It just breaks my heart to read what they write, to see the conditions these children and their families live in. I look around at my own house and all we have and just think, why me? Why were we chosen to have all this stuff? Why does my son have a nicely painted bedroom with matching bedding and matching furniture? Why is his room and closet full of toys when there are children who sleep in the kitchen on a board without a mattress? Why is this their house? Yet, through these posts, I’ve read about how content these families are. What a testimony of hope! This really strikes me as we approach the holidays where the focus tends to be so much on how much or what kind of gifts we get. Oh how spoiled we are…. I pray that we won’t be content with material goods, that we wouldn’t find our happiness in how much we have, that we wouldn’t always seek to have more “temporary” things. What do we really consider our treasures? 

While I don’t really want to be thankful for all the “stuff” in my life, I am really thankful we don’t live in poverty. We don’t have to worry about our next meal or if we will survive a cold winter. We are so blessed. 

If you have some extra time, I encourage you to check out the Compassion Bloggers on their trip to Ecuador and read more about the Compassion program. Maybe we all (me and the 4 or 5 of you I mentioned above who might be reading!) can take a step of faith together and and give a gift to someone who really needs it by each sponsoring a child this holiday season.  

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 8

Getting back on track and all caught up…

Today I’m thankful especially for grace. I very much had a frantic morning and ended up not going to a meeting I was supposed to attend. I felt like I was failing at all I was supposed to do. It’s tough to run a household, take care of a one year old, manage my own business, and actually work at/for that business teaching lessons. It’s especially tough considering I typically have an hour and a half in the mornings and then maybe 30 minutes in the afternoons during nap time to get everything accomplished I have to have done. Now, I’m not saying I never get anything accomplished when the little man is awake and around, but I never know when he will have the type of day where he will happily play independently or where he needs me to hold him every minute. So, it’s just best to get it all done during nap time. Today, it seems like I hardly completed anything. It was, as one of my students would say, a “major failure.” After awhile, I kind of got over my sense of failure and thought about how nice it was that really, I am the only one who expects me to be perfect. I’m thankful for the grace and mercy of my Heavenly Father who loves me the way I am and for who I am. I am thankful that my husband is easy going and doesn’t complain about eating leftovers or sandwiches (again!) if I don’t get something made for lunch. He understands there’s a lot going on in the house during the day, and some days, not everything happens that is supposed to! My sweet little man just wants me there. He doesn’t care how I look or what I have been able to accomplish or even if I’ve showered or not! He just wants me near by to talk to and play with him. I’m thankful we are not called to be perfect and are accepted just as we are. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 4

I’m thankful today for our freedom. Tonight, I’ve been attending, and am still attending, the “Secret Church” simulcast with David Platt. (We’re on a break now…) Part of the “Secret Church” experience is prayer for the persecuted church. We are praying specifically for Egypt where Christians are abducted and physically abused for their faith. I’m thankful I can worship and serve God in public without persecution. I’m thankful that attending “Secret Church” is a choice for me, that I don’t have to keep it a secret, and that I’m not required to attend church in secret. 

Three Little Letters

VBS…three little letters. They bring excitement, fear, stress, joy, fun, dread, and a little bit of every other possible emotion. Last year I directed our VBS. For some reason, something in me has always wanted to be in charge of VBS. I guess I have always just thought, “well, if I were in charge we would do it this way,” or, “I wouldn’t have done it like that,” etc. So, when our children’s minister retired in December, and we hadn’t called a new one yet, I saw that as the perfect opportunity to be in charge of my very own VBS. I volunteered probably sometime in November or December….we found out we were expecting Noah in January. Part of me wanted to back out. I also had the thought, “If I don’t do it, who else will?” I directed “my” VBS while I was 6 months pregnant. I really didn’t expect to end up doing it by myself. I had in the back of my mind that we would have a new children’s minister by then and that person would step into the director position and I would assist. We found our children’s minister before the summer began and sort of thought she would begin work at the church in May or June. She didn’t start until August. I really was on my own. And of course, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to delegate because I want to do it all myself so it’s done “my way.” Overall, it was a fairly successful week. We all survived, and I only had one meltdown (over using staples in the walls for decorations, nonetheless), which is pretty good for an overly-emotional pregnant person. After it was over,  I told Brian I would be okay if I never did VBS again. 

Fast forward 4-5 months….our new children’s minister (Traci) had been in the church a few months. We are having our Sunday night worship time for our kids, which I was leading. Traci asked me if I was going to do music for VBS. I informed her that someone else from our church has a major passion for leading VBS music and that I didn’t want to take that away from her, but I could probably help her if needed. Then she had the brilliant idea (I guess…) to ask me to help her direct. I kind of agreed because I don’t say no. Next thing I knew, we had plans to go to the LifeWay training event in Fort Worth. It was once again partly “my” VBS. After months of preparation and thoughts of backing out of my role, VBS week was upon us. I had a blast working with Traci and loved getting to know her better. We had a great week and everyone survived. We averaged 233, including faculty and students, and we had over 270 total enrolled for the week. “My” second VBS was a success. 

Just a side note (can’t have a post without new photos of Noah!)…Noah had a fabulous time at his first (well…technically his second since he attended in the womb last year) VBS. He was the youngest by at least a year, but he loved being around the 1 and 2 year olds. He napped well at the church every morning, and was just so great all week. We even made him his very own theme t-shirts: 

Continuing on…the fun and success of VBS are both of utmost importance. However, I think the most significant thing about this week of VBS has been my change of heart. Even after beginning our week, my heart was still not in it. I was there. I did what I needed to do. I served cheerfully. I had fun. I took pictures and answered questions. Then, Thursday morning came. I had a renewed energy when I woke up. I was excited about being there. I was passionate about reaching kids for Christ. I was already beginning to look forward to next year. Traci has an amazing passion for kids and for VBS, and I’m so thankful that spillied over to me. She was in tears midway through the morning as the thought came to her that so many of us don’t think that there will be children who have to suffer for an eternity in hell. I know that’s an awful thing to think about, but, oh wow, how true that is. We have this ideal image of all the children happily residing in heaven for eternity. How wrong we are…sadly. I just stop and praise God for this scary, yet truthful, reminder. It was exactly what my heart needed to hear. I get so caught up in the details that I tend to miss the big picture. We don’t do VBS to teach fun songs, play games, hear stories, or to eat cookies. We do this in order to “let the little children come to [Him]” (Matthew 19:14). 

This past week, it wasn’t important that I was helping direct VBS. What was important was hearing little girl share with me how excited she was that she had already become a Christian and was baptized. Counseling a couple of kids who came to me wanting to know more about how to live as a better follower of Christ. Speaking to a young lady who was just torn up by the fact that she wasn’t able to attend church each week because of a rough family situation and encouraging her by reminding her that Jesus was always with her and she could worship anywhere. Seeing the joy and excitement in kids who just accepted Christ. Praying with one of my sweet piano students after she accepted Christ as her Savior. Watching 3 precious girls proudly share their faith with others through baptism. Amazing what depth and meaning come with those three little letters…

We completed our week of VBS this morning. I’m exhausted but completely invigorated and cannot wait to see what is in store for us next year. Oh, and it won’t be “my” VBS…it will be “His” VBS. 

No Control

I think I should titled my blog “life lessons you learn as a first time mom,” because that seems to be what I spend most of the time writing about. Last week I learned that I just can’t do it all. This week I’m learning that I can’t control everything. I’m a perfectionist and a control-freak. In addition to that, I also am a scheduler. I like to make schedules and stick to them. So, imagine my struggle as I create a schedule for my darling baby boy, and he doesn’t stick to it. Now, don’t think that I am living in a dream world or something like that, thinking that my baby will always do exactly what I want him to do at a set time. But, I just had it in my mind that creating a schedule for him (and me!) would fix our problems. That it would cause him to nap longer and sleep better. That’s what all the books and online resources tell us after all…

Noah really is doing very well. I just love that little guy so much! He makes me laugh and smile like no one else, especially when he laughs and smiles! I am trying so hard to keep him in a routine because I have been told over and over by others, including our pediatrician, that babies are happiest when they have a set schedule and routine. I know there has to be a lot of room for flexibility. Every day will be different. I have seen a dramatic shift in his personality since we have been attempting to stick to a daily schedule. He is sleeping more often and is able to fall asleep on his own for naps, so I think he is more rested. He has always been a pretty content baby, but I dreaded the time I had to be away from him to teach piano lessons because he would just scream and cry the whole time. It didn’t matter who was taking care of him….he did the same thing for different baby sitters and even his own dad! The past two weeks, there has been a drastic improvement in that. Ever since I created a schedule that even includes activities to do at certain times in the day, I rarely hear him cry when I teach.

His night time schedule has gotten weird. For the past week or two, he would always wake up once a night, between 4:30 – 5:30 a.m. We have had his morning wake up time set for 7:30. He would sometimes wake up briefly before that but would always go back to sleep. However, the last few nights, he has started waking up at 3:30 then again at 6:30. He won’t go back to sleep after 6:30. I wish I just understood better what caused the shift in schedule. (Well…I have some ideas. He’s almost 6 months so maybe it’s time for a growth spurt. He also has had a bit of a cold or maybe allergies – just a runny nose and cough. Or, he’s doing extra chewing on everything so I’m wondering if his top teeth may be starting to come in. It could be one or all of those, or even none. Who knows!) I am not at all being selfish wanting him to sleep until 7:30 so I can sleep in. (I try to get up at 6:30 every morning anyway) I just know that the more sleep he gets the better, and I have read that the ideal wake up time for a baby is between 7 – 8 a.m. I think I may try moving it back to 7 and see how that goes. We got him out of bed this morning at 7:15 (after trying to get him to go back to sleep from waking up at 6:30). I put him in bed for a nap a little after 8:30 this morning, and he is now taking the longest nap he has taken in the past several days. It’s 9:45 and he is starting to wake up though. So, it hasn’t been much longer of a nap.

I feel like all I talk, post, and think about is my baby’s sleep. I guess I never thought I would spend so much time on focusing on sleep! I do have other things to say, but I think Noah’s ready to get out of bed. Maybe I’ll have a chance to write about our past few days (not sleep or schedule related!) later!

I would like to share something I read this morning that encouraged me. In the past couple of weeks, I have been doing my quiet times out of a book called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. They are short daily devotionals (think 2 paragraphs) and seem to be exactly what I need for each day! This is from today’s devotional: “As you go through this day, trust Me to provide the strength that you need moment by moment. Don’t waste energy wondering whether you are adequate for today’s journey. My Spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring. That is the basis for your confidence! In quietness (spending time along wiht Me) and confident trust (relying on My sufficiency) is your strength.” 

Have confidence in His strength today and remember that “…surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7b).