day in the life of Bug

Oh, how I love my sweet little Bug!  So much of her personality is coming out more and more.  I love it!  She is determined, a tad strong-willed, but so full of life, humor and spunk.  She is sweet and thoughtful, adores her brothers and is full of snuggles.  There are tough days of testing the limits, but the good times far ought-weigh the bad!

So one of Bug's new favorite things is to pick out and change her clothes.  She will sneak up to her room and re-apear in a whole new outfit.

So, my mom told me about a girl just like Bug, who's favorite thing to do was to change clothes at least a dozen times a day.  There are many ways in which Bug is a little mirror image of me... 

like mother, like daughter

Golden Rule

We have been working... and working ... and needing to work some more... on helping H understand and live out the Golden Rule.  It really is such a hard calling!  I am not making excuses for my kids... but really do any of us always treat each other how we would want to be treated?  Or when you take it to the next level with scripture, are we putting others needs above our own?

Back in July I saw this downward spiral for H of putting his needs first and neglecting to even consider what others may or may not like.  I wrote about it here.  Here are a few training ideas that we did.

1.  Started making TV an earned privilege, one of the areas where he earned TV time was when he showed extra grace toward Bug.  I have a heightened awareness of how easily the bad attitudes and habits of characters on TV rub off on my kids.  So all TV watching is being highly scrutinized around here.

2.  Put together a Mommy/ Daddy CD/ playlist for him of verses and stories related to the Golden Rule or putting other's needs first.

3.  Talked lots and lots about how he would like to be treated.

4.  Asked him often, "Was that looking out for your needs or the needs of others?

5.  I started talking out-loud as I was making decisions to show H what it looks like to really consider and think about the needs of others.  "Daddy, will be home soon and he sure likes the house clean.  I am going to spend the next 15 minutes picking up because I know that will really make Daddy happy."

6.  Memorized together Philippians 2:3 "in humility, consider others better than yourself."  To really help this idea soak in we added hand motions.  My hope is that at the playground or from across the room, that I won't have to verbally remind H to consider others, but that I can do 4 quick hand motions and remind him. (idea stolen from Hally, who learned it from Rebecca)

 Consider

 Others

 Better Than

Yourself

7. We started praying specifically that H could be aware of the needs {and preferences} of others, and that he will have the humility to put their needs first. (Okay, so need to echo this prayer for myself)

We are still working on this, and probably will be for years to come!

Blog Facelift

I am just putting this out there... I want a blog facelift...  Anyone know of a good designer that is reasonable?  Would love any recommendations : )

Thanks!

start of day

Baby Bro is sleeping through the night!!!  Yay  : )  Loving a full night sleep.  I have been waking up around 6:00am, wide awake and fully rested.  Did you hear that I said RESTED.  Ahh, it is glorious!

When I was pregos with Baby Bro, I was in the habit of getting up between 6 and 6:30 to do my quiet time.  It was so good to start my day in a quiet house, with a clear head ready to read my Bible and pray.  When B was first born and I was sleep deprived, overwhelmed and if I am honest, feeling a bit LAZY.  Even once he started sleeping through the night I was still not getting up on time.

It is so easy to talk myself into "just 5 more minutes" of sleep, then it ends up being 5 minutes and 5 more until 7am and H comes in to tell me it is time to get up. When I wait until 7am to get up, I have to jump out of bed and start sprinting for my marathon of a day.  If I get my quiet hour in the morning my marathon starts with a steady jog, which is a pace I can maintain for the day.  I need this time for me... so why do I so often let my lazy body get the best of me??   In order to get up by 6am, I have to be more disciplined to get into bed by 10:30.  Why is that so hard?

I have needed to get back into this discipline of starting my day an hour before the kids are up focused on what really matters. Oh, how much better the day seems to go when Mama has started the day with God.  I have been so blessed this year to be a part of Biblestudy that is really challenging me.  It is causing me to examine what different passages really say, verses that I have read (or skimmed) for years.  I am finally digging in, really trying to understand more.  Oh, how I long for growth in my walk, in my understanding of unconditional grace, growth in compassion and love for others.  Growth, grace, love and compassion not only in my walk, but as a mom.  I can't fully pour these virtues out until I let God pour into me, and how can that happen if I am not intentionally in the Word in prayer!

So where are you at? How do you find/ make the time to spend with God?  Are you intentionally spending time learning about your Creator?  Do you understand unconditional grace?  I challenge you that if you are struggling finding the time... get up early to MAKE the time!  It is a discipline you won't regret!

7 Months

B is 7 months old already!  And this boy is on the go!  Yep, he is mobile... It started with rolling to wherever he wanted to go and now it is a full on army crawl.  And he is getting faster by the day... the big kids have to pay extra attention to any toys they don't want B to get : )

Other new things for this month...
- Wanting finger-foods starting to refuse being spoon fed (sometimes not always)
-  Starting to get very distracted while nursing, almost impossible to do if Bug is in the same room
- When he wakes up in the morning he turns his mobile on and listens to some tunes
-  Puts EVERYTHING in his mouth
- Weighing in at 15 lbs, 15 oz according to the scale at the doctors... slowing down on weight gain, doctor thinks it is because if B is awake he is constantly on the go... burning so many calories : )
- Loves, loves, loves his bro and sis, can't take his eyes off of them
-  Happy as always
-  Sleeping 12 hours straight at night!
-  Starting to show a bit of stubbornness... yikes!
-  His smile just melts my heart! 

What we eat

I know there are so many schools of thought about what we eat, how it effects us... but in the last few months I have a heightened awareness of how what we eat effects not only us, but our nursing baby.  With my first 2 babies I was pretty diligent about avoiding the "common" causes of gas for newborns, chocolate, broccoli, beans, onions and peppers were the top offenders on my list.  However, with sweet little B, there was a new one that was even harder for me... DAIRY!

You see I LOVE dairy.  Yogurt every morning for breakfast, lunch always involved cheese (grilled cheese, quesadilla, mac and cheese, cheese stick...) then dinner was complimented with a tall glass of milk and then my day ended often with more yogurt.  I know any of you that are lactose intolerant are feeling sick to your stomach even thinking about that much dairy.  But it is true that is how I used to eat.

When little man was 2 weeks old he kept spitting up a ton, I was starting to get concerned that he wasn't keeping anything down.  After a few weeks of trying to figure out if anything I was eating was the culprit I decided to try to give up (or at least severely limit) my dairy.  I was skeptical at first, but within 2 days he stopped spitting up.  I stayed off of it for a week then tried a little, which caused him to spit up again.  Now that he is 7 months I allow myself to have a little bit of dairy, usually in the form of cheese (cause who whats a Double Double without any cheese!!)  But even now when his digestive tract should be "more mature" he still struggles if I have more than just a little cheese.

I know that spit-up seems manageable to deal with, how about a really fussy, inconsolable baby.  Would you give up dairy then?  My friend Rachel had a sweet baby boy a week after B was born.  He cried a lot, didn't sleep well and was just really hard.  So with the recommendation from her neighbor, Rachel did Dr. Sears Elimination Diet.  She said that it was so incredibly difficult, she was down to 8 things that she could eat, yet it was worth it because her baby stopped crying all of the time.  It took her 3 days on the diet to notice a difference.  She stayed on the limited diet for a couple of weeks before she slowly added back in most food groups.  Even now that her baby is 6 months old she is limiting her dairy.

Since hearing Rachel's story, and my own experience with B,  I have been able to encourage other moms with fussy babies to give up dairy and so far it has worked for 2 of the 2 moms that I was able to pass the info on to.  If your baby is fussy or if they are labeled as having Colic, give it a try.  Adjust your diet and see if what you are eating is effecting your sweet little one.   Yes it is hard, but no harder than hearing a little one that you love so so much, screaming because their little tummy hurts.

When B was just a few weeks old and I was talking to another mom she reminded me that this is just another example of putting someone elses needs above our own.  Uggh, not what I wanted to hear, but oh so true!

"In humility, consider others above yourself." Philippians 2:3

Lego Land

Today was such a fun family day!  Mr. Steady had the day off so we decided to spend the day out enjoying this BEAUTIFUL day.  It was 80 degrees today!  CRAZY January weather, but amazing!  We met up with our dear friends for a day at Lego Land.  It felt like we met them for a day for summer... sunburned shoulders and all : )

Sweet Bug even got a nap!

What a great day!  Anyone from Utah want to come and join us for some fun in the sun???

Randomness

My thoughts & updates, to spare you the time, I won't make each one a post, just a quick one-liner...
Bug and I had the stomach flu last week- YUCKY
Mr Steady and I start a parenting class tonight based off of the book Shepherding a Child's Heart  We are really excited for the refresher!
Drove to the grocery store this week, with all 3 kids, only to realize I didn't have my wallet!
H helped me bake a cake yesterday afternoon.  I love baking with that little man.
            Me: "H, only 2 more chocolate chips."
            H: "Mama they are so good, I HAVE to have at least 3!"  (such a negotiator)
B-man has some new skills... I will post video soon
Today I let H feed B, it was so funny to see the two of them try to work together!
I am studying 1 John and loving it!
I have 2 errands to do at the mall I have been trying to go since last week, but haven't been able to make it.  Sometimes it makes me anxious that I can't get simple errands done.  What I would do for a grandma in town!
The sun is out and it should be in the low 70's this week.  Sure doesn't feel like January!
Going to Washington soon to see my grandmothers
Mr. Steady will be home with the big kids for 4 days!  What a great man!
H starts back to pre-K this week, it has been such a long break
I get antsy every January to simplify, purge and reorganize
H feels like such a big kid to me lately, the words he is using the thoughts he can track with.  Growing up too fast.
I have hardly done any school stuff with H in 2 months. Feeling like a slacker
Re-reading Created to be His Help Meet.  Convicting!
Loving Bug with her cute ponny-tails and mischievous smile
Trying to get up each morning at 6am... okay really it is 6:15
Life is flying by, how is already the middle of January

Lovely... lovable

"A wise woman doesn't take anything for granted.  She is thankful to be loved and seeks to make herself more lovely."- Debi Pearl

I have been thinking a lot about this quote lately... it is completely convicting!  For me the word lovely is often attributed to physical appearance.  For my heart I prefer to switch in the word lovable.  Sometimes my heart, attitude and actions are so ugly (opposite of lovely or lovable) yet, I still expect Mr. Steady to lavish love on me despite my selfishness, rudeness and over-arching un-lovable attitude.   My un-loveliness causes him to pull back which causes more ugly attitude on my part... Uggh!  I hate that ridiculous cycle.  

I am so thankful to be loved by my man!  He is incredible!  I desire to demonstrate my thankfulness for Mr. Steady's love, to truly appreciate how blessed I am!  I want to be lovely in my attitude, actions and in my heart!  I pray that you can say the same, that the desire of your heart may be to be more lovely and lovable to/ for your man!

A new start

Happy New Year!!  I really enjoy the start of a new year, whether that be a new "school year" or a new calendar year.  I love the opportunity to evaluate and really look at my life and to see the areas where changes need to happen.  Oh, there are so many areas where I want to grow, where I want my priorities to be right not only in my head, but lived out every day!  I know this desire to make a new start is not something I experience alone.  I am sure many of you already have, or fully intend to, write down goals, priorities and resolutions for they year ahead.  I guess for me I don't want to look at this as a resolution, but more of a reminder of where my priorities need to be.  Below is a list of one woman's declaration of who she wants to be. I hope that it encourages you and maybe even gives you ideas for new areas of growth, disciple and change in your life. 

Two years ago I came across this post on the blog of another Utah mama, (Wish I could say we are friends... we have lots of friends in common if that counts, but we have never met).  Anyway... here is her list, which I have adopted and refer to OFTEN!

"In 2009 and beyond I want to be reminded to stay focused on my priorities.

I want to be the wife:  
who remembers that marriage comes before mothering.
who is a refuge at the end of my husband's tough day.  
who knows what household items are important to my husband and gets them done.
who supports my husband's down time and expresses my appreciation for his hard work and provision for our family.

I want to be the mom:
that remembers that my son's heart is more important than my inconvenience.
that chooses playing and reading over mopping and vacuuming.
that encourages fort making.
that remembers the days are long but the years are short.
that recognizes the difference between childishness and foolishness.
that leaves a legacy that points to Jesus Christ as Lord, creator and sustainer.
that teaches her sons independence and when it is time, lets go.
that has sons who know beyond all else that their mom loves them.

I want to be the friend:  

that is genuine - what you see is what you get.
who helps another friend without being asked.
who keeps a secret without doubt.
who can be trusted not to gossip.
that is loyal through tough times.
who accepts differences without judgment.
who invites a visitor in without excuses for the state of my home.

I want to be the child of God:
that loves others even when the emotions aren't there.
that serves out of pure gratitude for the price Christ paid for me.
that savors His word each day.
who is not ashamed of my faith and the journey that led me to Him.

I want to remember that life is messy.  The journey doesn't always look pretty, but we get only one journey."