Monday with children, I am finding, is a recovery day from Sunday. We had a house full of teenagers, and a wound-up pair of babies on Sunday night. Consequently, Monday was a day of recouping. We did take pictures on this day... but they were primarily in the form of videos for the grandmas. Every Monday is "Movie Monday" and we send a clip to the long-distance women in Grant's life. (Bets is not yet interesting enough to star in one of these feature films, although she gets her fair share of pictures.)
I spent the day cleaning, doing laundry, and feeding a daughter who was incredibly voracious. Hardest thing about this stage of parenting? Being busy all day, and having "nothing" to show for it at the end of the day. Can anyone say, "treading water"? But we're not sinking, and we're having great fun in the pool!
March 11th
Went to snap pictures of my "chillin's" playing and realized that my camera was dead. But this precious jewel was snapped with the iPhone while the "real" camera charged and the babies played around my feet as I blogged.
 |
| Many people have asked me how Grant is "adapting" to his new sibling. I think they were programmed to love each other. Bets could stare at him for hours, while he is constantly giving her hugs, finding her pacifier, and checking on her every time she makes a noise or he enters a room where she is. |
March 12th
I have decided that the best way to get things done, is to do them with my children. A challenge while parenting two under two? Yes, but so much fun for the mommy/child bonding factor. Yes, it takes a million times longer to do something, but the memories are so much fun.
Today, Grant "helped" Mommy make some baked oatmeal (pre-made breakfasts make our mornings less chaotic, and we don't do boxed cereal for money/health reasons). Of course, his favorite brand of "helping" was snatching frozen raspberries while Mom wasn't looking...
 |
| So excited about his new perch on the counter. |
 |
| Learning to whisk. (Insert emotional mommy comment about how grown-up he looks!) |
 |
| Aside from stealing raspberries, whisking was the highlight of our adventure! |
 |
| Caught mid-raspberry steal. He's very aware when he shouldn't take something, so he always checked with Mommy until he was certain that it was okay to filch the raspberries. Praying his heart remains this tender. |
March 13th
 |
| Easter 2013 |
 |
| Christmas 2012 |
 |
| In other news... this is where Bets spends the majority of her days. She loves snuggling and sleeping, but can most often be found peeping out from the folds, staring in wide-eyed wonder at all the goings-on in her new world. |
March 14th
Friday Fun Day!
Each day, I try to spend a little extra time with Grant. He's at an age where meeting basic needs just isn't enough any more. I'm critically aware of the fact that he is a developing little soul with growing needs. Each night we read from "The Jesus Storybook Bible" and follow it with a prayer that our little baby will learn to love and follow the Savior mentioned in each chapter of this amazing "children's" Bible. (Seriously, if you don't own this, go out and buy it. I don't care if you have no children or if your children are in college... it's amazing.)
But, true parenting isn't like punching a time card and fulfilling a to-do list. It's an all-day, every day, constant pouring-into of joy, discipline, teaching, and love. I'm firmly convinced that one reason children stop talking to their parents is because things that were "big" deals to a three year old weren't discussed with the same gravity we would give to the "big" deals of a sixteen year old. It doesn't matter how old you are... if something is a "big" deal to you, you shut down if it is ignored, mocked, or belittled by someone who no longer thinks of that as a "big" deal.
So, in an effort to calm my Martha-like tendencies and focus on enjoying and learning where my baby boy is, I try to plan an extra-special playtime several times a week. Sometimes that's just turning bath time into a water-park-like experience... but other times it's like today: fun with shaving cream!
 |
| I clearly think this is fun. Grant, on the other hand, has some unholy terror of shaving cream. So, I had to help him smear it on his nose, my nose, his chest, put it in cups. By the end some of his distaste for it had dissipated, but my little sensory-man is still not a fan of chaos and mess. Good thing he was given me for a mommy--chaos and mess are my middle name! |
 |
| I love his little serious face. He had, by this point, "manned-up" and decided to deal with this horrible introduction of shaving cream. Looking out the kitchen window made it more enjoyable, too. |
 |
| To show that new experiences are really and truly FUN, we finished up shaving cream time with water time... something he already loves! And yes, he had great fun scrubbing everything down. We like to do our "sensory play" in the sink: cuts down on the mess, contains him so he can't run away from new things, and allows us to finish unpleasant experiences with the pleasant experience of water. |
March 15th
I love Saturdays. I love Saturdays because I can switch from "zone-defense" parenting to "man-to-man defense" parenting. Having Scott here makes a huge difference. Plus, I get to go to the grocery story: all.by.myself. Heaven. Pure heaven. Today we also went to the library (inner-city libraries are terrifyingly germy!), and met a pro-life group outside of Planned Parenthood. Yes, that's a good story, I promise you.
 |
| Grant has his own shelf on our downstairs bookshelf. The hope is that someday his joy of creating chaos by pulling every book off this shelf will be exchanged for the joy of reading... We hope... |
 |
| Bets and Mommy selfie. |
 |
| One selfie too many! This has been Bets' default setting this week. Poor baby girl has developed raging reflux. Her periods of peace are few and far between. But we both enjoy them when they happen. :) (P.S. Isn't her face a riot?! I love my little garden gnome... always good for a dramatic over-reaction. Just like her mama...) |
This was my first Sunday "solo." We tried to pick up Scott's car yesterday, but the shop was unexpectedly closed. So, Scott headed out at 7:30, while I fed and clothed the babies. Thanks to an afternoon of cleaning, baking, and prepping on Saturday, it went fairly smoothly. Then, Scott came back at 9:30 and picked us up and escorted us to church. It was like a "soft-open" for next week when I'll have to load (and unload) them both in my car by myself.
Sunday was such a joy. I still only see a bit of the service, because regardless of what I finagle, Bets always wants to eat during the sermon, but it was wonderful to talk to people before and after. I feel like I'm slowly rejoining the land of the living after months of sickness and sleeplessness.
In the evening our house filled up with teenagers and leaders... It was another Student Small Group Sunday. I enjoyed chatting with different teen-ladies before taking the babies up to bed. Bets was good enough to snooze so I could actually find out what was going on with several of the girlies. I haven't been able to do that, and I missed it so much! Having a house full of people is one of my happy times. I love the idea of creating a safe, refreshing haven for people to become re-energized and motivated to serve our Savior. I keep praying that our home will be that for many people...
 |
| Full living room... |
No comments:
Post a Comment