30 Days of Thankfulness – November 8th & 9th

Well…I did it again. I skipped a day and will end up posting two days in one. In my defense, yesterday was an absolutely hectic day. Noah has been a bit grouchy the past couple of days, and Wednesday night, he woke up 3-4 times during the night. That all usually means one thing…ear infection. We quickly got ready Thursday morning, and I called the doctor’s office as soon as they opened to get him an appointment. About 30 minutes later we were headed to our pediatrician’s office and were able to confirm that my suspicion was correct. After that, we ran a few errands, met Brian for lunch, and headed home to quickly get ready for a nap. I used the hour and a half I had before teaching to clean house and pack for our weekend away. (And if you have packed for a toddler…or any age of child…for a 4 hour car ride and 3 days in a hotel, you know it takes a little time to get things ready…snacks, clothes, diapers, entertainment for the car, things to play with in the hotel, etc.) Noah woke up early from his nap and just cried and cried. I held him and he drifted back to sleep. I am always more than grateful to hold my sweet, sleeping boy, but I still was not completely packed or dressed to teach! Our wonderful nanny showed up soon after and took the unhappy little boy (bless her for her patience!!) from me so I could finish getting ready. I taught for almost 3 hours and then we loaded the car and left town. We got in around 11:15 and got to work setting up our hotel room to make it sort of feel like home. This gave Noah a little time to run off some energy from sleeping in the car, and he was ready for bed about midnight. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like writing anything at that point!

All that being said, I am grateful for a mother’s intuition. What an awesome gift God has given us as mothers! I’m absolutely not trying to brag, but I think I have only been wrong once in regards to Noah being sick. (And he doesn’t ever run fever with an ear infection…) I am thankful that God has blessed mommies with the gift to sense when something is wrong with our children so we can get the care they need quickly. I’m grateful that Brian and I both sensed he was sick so we could get him started on medicine to help him get back to feeling like himself quicker. It’s no fun traveling with a sick child! Fortunately, he doesn’t act too sick during the days, just first thing in the morning and around bed time!

It’s a mommy post sort of day. Today I watched my son run and play in leaves. I am so grateful for the carefree spirit of a toddler. He doesn’t care if he looks silly. He doesn’t care if people are looking…actually, sometimes it is so people will look! He laid down in a pile of leaves in the middle of a sidewalk today. I just had to laugh. Some days I wish I could be that way too…just carefree and silly. Fortunately, I have a 2 year old who helps bring that out in me! (…although I didn’t lay down in the leaves on the sidewalk. However, I might have if it was in my own backyard!) I’m thankful also for the gift of lightheartedness. I’m thankful that I’m not a mom who immediately made their child “get up off the ground and out of those leaves…now!” I wasn’t sure what kind of a mom I would be. I am typically kind of an uptight person, so I have been surprised that I am a little bit of a laid back mom…but not too laid back of course! I am thankful that I am able to allow my child just to have fun, even if he is laying in a pile of leaves in the middle of the sidewalk!

Pure Joy!!

Too Quiet

We had a wonderful weekend visiting family and decided very last minute to let Noah spend a little extra time with grandparents and great-grandparents. My mom asked if they could keep Noah and bring him back on Wednesday. He’s stayed away from home without us once before when I attended a women’s retreat, and he did great, so I had no problems leaving him for a few days. I knew I would be sad without him but also knew it would be a good chance to get a few extra things done around the house. Plus, he will have a blast because he loves playing both at Grammy & Bop’s (or Pop…we can’t decide which he is saying!) and Grandma & Da’s, and my family will all enjoy the extra time with him! I checked in yesterday, and he had eaten pancakes, gone to church, played outside, napped, played with his great-aunt, and devoured Da’s “homemade” popcorn. 

Things were a bit different here for us. We went to church as usual, but I didn’t have to rush around to get myself and a toddler ready for church. After church we had lunch out, which is rare because we are usually rushing home to quickly eat lunch and get Noah in bed for a nap. Then, I took an hour and a half nap (also not typical!). Brian woke me up to get ready, and we headed to the movies to watch The Avengers. (I know…we are a little behind.) The movie was fantastic! We splurged and bought popcorn and I wasn’t very hungry for dinner out after the movie, so we just went home. Our evening was very uneventful. I think I took off my nail polish, watched some Olympic trials, and started laundry while Brian finished some work, and that was about it. It was a lovely day.

But…

…it’s too quiet here.

It is crazy how quickly your life changes after becoming a parent. It has been over 20 months (which really isn’t that long…) since my house has been this quiet during the day, and it just feels so odd. It’s not normal. It’s funny how fast your “normal” can change. I’m sort of lost. Like, I have not been able to keep track of what time it is. I haven’t had a toddler to put in bed for naps and “night-night” at particular times. I’m sure it will be a little different when I have some lessons to teach tomorrow.

My day today has been a blur and hasn’t quite been as productive as anticipated. I slept in some (until 7), did a few things around the house, and sat down to do a little Bible study around 8:30 this morning. I decided after I had some breakfast that I was going to write a new blog post and change some things on my blog. Well…that led to accidentally deleting my blog background/design which apparently no longer exists because I couldn’t find it anywhere! So, I looked and looked for something new. I’m indecisive and had a lot of trouble picking something and ended up very frustrated because I spent time making a new header and it didn’t work like I wanted it to. I also had some weird problem with a background that I had tried out and removed…it kept coming back on it’s own. And then there’s the whole “new interface” on blogger. I was ready to do something drastic like move to Wordpress and create a whole new blog or completely give up. Then, somehow, I solved my weird problem and quickly uploaded a new template I found that I just kind of liked. I’m still don’t know that I’m crazy about it so it will probably all change again soon. Plus it’s all “pre-made” which is nice but I can only edit certain things. I kind of like to have more control than that. And, I’m OCD so I had to go back and change something on every single one of my posts. It’s almost 4:00. I have managed to do a little laundry, drink coffee, eat two meals, change out of pjs, talk to my sister, and have a quiet time (not necessarily in that order!). And, I’m finally writing the blog post that was supposed to be done around 10:00 or 11:00 this morning.

I think I’m slightly more productive when I have a toddler around, and it’s not so quiet!

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!”)

The Many Faces of Joy

Nothing is more joyful than the expressions of a happy child. 

What a wonderful example of pure joy for us!

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 12

I’m thankful that my precious little guy is content and ultra flexible. I think back on the major events of the past couple of months….sister’s wedding, other sister’s art show, first birthday party, lots of family visitors. He is so flexible and easy going. At the art show, he was the life of the party and stayed up way past his bedtime, but never was fussy or upset. Same with the wedding. He even napped in his pack ‘n play in a back hallway. I’m grateful that he’s always happy to just go with the flow! 

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 5

I’m thankful that I was blessed with a silly little boy. He’s the goofiest little guy that I know. He makes me laugh much, and I can’t wait to see how much more laughter and joy he’ll bring in the future!