Imperfect Advent

...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it...

-Isaiah 55:11

This verse has been on my mind a lot lately.

I'm the type of gal who likes things just so.  Everything in its place.  All my ducks in a row.
I'm the type of mom who has all the toys organized, tries to stick to a schedule and loves a clean house and a clean kid.

I'm not naturally the "fun-let's-make-a-mess-and-play-in-the-mud-mom".  I know that it's important to step out of my comfort zone for my kids' sake and do those things once in a while.  And I do.  See...

This was fun for Sam.  Did I have to breathe deeply the whole time to control my heart rate as the cloud dough went flying all over the kitchen?  Yes.  Did I have to control my urge to immediately clean it all and not yell at him to "keep it on the trash bag!!"  Yes.  Was it worth it?  No.

Just kidding.  Sam had fun and that made it worth it. 

The point is that I have to constantly fight an internal struggle to want to control each situation.  Whether it's the toys strewn about the floor or the way a certain situation or event is going to go.  I have a specific idea of how I want my children (even my 4 month old) to react and respond and when that doesn't happen, I can get bent out of shape.

This Christmas season has been no different.  Do you see that hand up there trying to decorate my child's foam Christmas tree?

I heard myself saying "Why don't we put that one here?  It would look a lot better...more festive!"

Anywhoo...I've wanted to elicit a certain response from my child about Christmas.  One that shows recognition of the real reason we celebrate.  So we talked about it every day.  And every day he got excited about it.

The response wasn't always the way I hoped it would be.

There were rude comments about the wise men's "funky hair" (hats) while slurping cereal...

There were looks of disgust at the angel and her yellow hair and declarations of "I don't like the way she is looking at me!"

And then there were irrational threats by mommy to cancel Christmas if someone didn't remove his bib from his head while we read about Jesus.

But through our advent process, even when Sam was paying more attention to the candle than the lesson, the words were sinking in.

Is that an open flame next to my son's face you ask?  Why, yes it is.  Because nothing says Merry Christmas like charred lips.  He likes to blow the candle out, m'kay?  

And when Sam would request for me to light the candle and read the stories for the fifth time that day...
And when I was trying to hide a bad attitude about reading the same story for the fifth time that day...

He would recite to me that Jesus is God's son and he came to save us.  And then he would remind me that Jesus was born in a manger in the city of Bethlehem.  Oh...and by the way mom...David fought Goliath and won because God helped him to.

And Isaiah 55:11 sunk in.  His word will never return void.  Even when I don't think Sam is listening or the lessons aren't getting through...they are.  Thank God :)

By My Side

Holding my babies tightly by my side...
thanking God for every precious moment with them

Every photo bomb 

Every hug and kiss

Every nap in my arms

Every dinosaur fight

Thanking God for my two precious gifts...

And praying for those who have lost theirs  

in Newtown, CT

Baby Love

So sweet...

Love this little sissy

Big Bro

I have to say...

 

I am SO proud of this guy!

From day one, he's been so loving toward his baby sister.

 Loving, accepting, protective and gentle.  He refers to her as "my baby."

We prepared him as best we could.  Talking about her over and over.  Reading special books about being a new big brother.  But you never really know how they'll react until the baby gets here.

Does anyone really know how it's going to go with a new baby?  Including mom and dad!  I mean, really...these pretty much sum up our family those first few weeks...

I expected some tantrums, some reverting back to his baby days, some rejection of his new sister.  But none of that happened.  Well...tantrums happened...but not because of his new sister.  Well...maybe indirectly because of his new sister, but that's neither here nor there.  The point is, he accepted his new role as a big brother with grace and joy.  And he takes it very seriously:

"Baby sissy, I will never let monsters get you and I will never push you down the stairs."

"Baby sissy, I will teach you to walk and talk and then you can play with my cars."

"Baby sissy, you can hold my lion."

And if anyone knows Sam, that last one is huge.

Doesn't she look like "The Grumpy Cat" in that last pic?  :)

image via

 Anywhoo...sometimes Sam takes the protection gig a little too far.  I've overheard him telling both sets of grandparents a time or two "you can't touch my baby."  OK secret service Sam...take it down a notch.

But I'd much rather hear that than repetitive requests to take her back to the hospital.  

And she is fixated on him.  She watches his every move and listens intently when he talks to her.  He can get her to smile at times when Andy and I can't.  She loves him dearly, it seems!

I know that there will be times ahead when they aren't this sweet to each other.  I know that there will be times that they annoy each other, tease each other and bicker.  But it is my hope and prayer that these times are few and far between and that there would be a mutual love and respect between them their whole lives.

Sam is off to a great start on that end!  Anna is so blessed to have him as a big brother.

And they're already sharing clothes...

 

Wait...that could get weird in the future.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.   

Catch Up

It's been awhile.  I've wanted to write...thought about writing...thought about taking pictures...but we've been busy.  Busy adjusting, growing, celebrating a special 3 year old birthday, trick or treating, potty training, breastfeeding, working late, giving thanks, Christmas decorating, etc, etc.

However, I've been feeling a huge need to start documenting again, so here's a big catch-up post! 

The arrival of fall meant picking out the perfect pumpkin...

To go with our beautifully decorated front porch...

Can you sense the sarcasm?  Those are weeds surrounding the pumpkins, people!  At least the dead flowers from the summer made it out of the pot.  That's the effect a newborn has on your urge to decorate.

But she is no longer a newborn.  Anna is about 4 months old now and growing, growing, growing!!  Seriously.  Could she get any cuter?  I mean, even the blurry and grainy phone pics are cute!

She's already in 6 month clothes :(  Sadface.  We have been blessed with another good sleeper.  She started sleeping about 8pm to 6am at around 10 weeks and she's holding strong!  Stinker WILL NOT take a bottle, so until we can figure that out, she is attached to mommy.  Literally!  But, I'm taking it all in and enjoying it.

Sambo turned the big 3 on October 23rd. 
It was a low-key celebration this year, but celebrate we did.  Birthday cake was involved, of course...

And a birthday scooter with a cool new helmet. 

Unfortunately, I did not foresee the loathing Sam would have for his new safety headgear.  So this is the first and last time he has ridden his scooter.  And that's the end of that!

And it wouldn't be a birthday without cars and dinosaurs (his new obsession)...

Halloween was interesting.  Sam picked out a Hulk costume and then absolutely refused to wear it.  I mean REFUSED!  He may or may not have thrown a tantrum and stomped his costume to the ground.  To be fair, I made him try on his costume and didn't realize there was a "scratchy tag" on the inside, so that ruined it for him.  Even with the promise of a complete tag amputation...it was a no go.

So what do you do when your child won't wear a costume and is not interested in trick or treating?  You go to the church fall festival and slide down a giant inflatable slide.  Over and over.  And over.

Sissy was much more cooperative about the costume.  She went as a ladybug with big, fat baby cheekers.  And a double chin.  And, like her brother, she was completely unamused.

Her hat is supposed to have little lady bug antennae on it, but it just looks like a beret.  So she's a French lady bug.  So chic.

Thanksgiving was great even though Andy had to work.  I took the kiddos to my sissy's with my family and then the next night we went over to Andy's parent's.  Shane and Jackie came in town with their baby boy, Luke, and it was so good to spend time with them...it went too fast!  We also got to see our friend Steve.  It was like an OEHS class of '99 reunion.  Good times.  And how cute is this picture?  If we were down with arranged marriages...I'm just sayin'...

Then we decorated the house and lit up our front tree.  Word of advice: while you rush to finish putting up the lights while your baby naps, be sure to ignore your 3 year old while he shoves envelopes in the CD player of your vehicle.

You know...just let him play in the front of the truck while you try to break your neck putting the lights up.  The phrases "wonky", "sketchy" and "cracked skull" come to mind when I see this picture.  It was definitely wonky and sketchy, but thankfully the "cracked skull" part didn't come to fruition.

We waited til dark and then we lit her up.  Sam's reaction was priceless.  It was one of those times where I wished so badly that I had recorded the moment, but didn't want to miss anything running to get my camera.  So I just soaked it in instead.  This sounds really cheesy and cliche...but the joy and wonder that he expressed when he saw the tree light up was so neat to experience.  He just stood staring at the tree then started gleefully screaming "This is AMAZING!! This is so AMAZING!!  That light is AMAZING and that light is AMAZING and that one is SO AMAZING!!  It's just SO AMAZING!!  Look, Lion!!  There's green and blue and red and yellow and orange and it's AMAAAAAZIIINNNG!!!!"

I'm pretty sure he said "amazing" at least 50 times.  It was super cute.  He was so loud excited that our next door neighbors peeked out of their window wondering what the screaming child was all about.  So funny!  I wish I had gotten more pictures or video of the reaction, but I'm also glad I wasn't fumbling with my phone and was taking it all in instead.  There's something to be said for experiencing Christmas through your child's eyes.  Cheesy, but so true.  I'll remember that moment forever :)  Love that boy! 

So that sums up our last few months in a nutshell.  I really need to get back to blogging regularly because I know that we'll look back on these posts and be so glad we have these memories recorded.  I'll probably make the blog public again, too.  Mainly because no one in my family reads it when it's private and when people look forward to reading it, there's an accountability factor there for me.  And by accountability, I mean my sister nagging me by text or voice mail to post something else.  But that's a good thing...it keeps me caught up!

So that's it.  Now that we're catching our breathe...more pictures and more blogging to come.  Hey-at least it will make for a cheap blog book this year :)  I'll wrap it up with a few random pics of my beautiful kiddos:

Grumpy baby...won't be the last time you're annoyed with your brother!

Trip to the zoo in the rain with daddy.  He talks about this all the time!

Presh!

His dinos have to go everywhere with him...they watch him bathe, go potty, go to sleep...everywhere!

Ohmygoodness!!!