Every single week I tell myself that I’m going to start blogging again, and (obviously) I don’t. Sometimes it’s late and I’d rather have a tea and read a book. Lately, Keona has me reading her teenager books. But yeah, now that I have kids in the house up as late (or later) than me… I don’t necessarily feel like using my half an hour of alone time to blog. Then I read an old story from when Ella was a baby. Or look at my 365 from when she was a toddler… and it makes me want to blog again. It reminds me that I don’t have to write about something inspiring or ground breaking. Just a journal. And if it happens to make you smile or encourage someone else along the way- great!
Little Addy is going to be 4 months old this weekend. The last four months of pregnancy went so SLOWLY and yet the first 4 months of her life have flown by. She can now roll from tummy to back (she’s a tummy sleeper), she giggles when you poke her belly, she weighs over 12lbs, and she sleeps about 6-7 hours straight every night.
She is a happy baby for the most part. Though that could be because she is always in someone’s arms. She likes her routine. We recently spent the weekend in North Bay and she was absolutely miserable! She missed her crib and didn’t sleep as well in bed with me. She pretty much just punched me over and over again all night long. No crying. No whining. She just hits.
Lily is turning 3 soon. She reminds us that her birthday is next and she wants “a yellow cake, a Tiana, and a Belle!” She says, “willn’t” instead of won’t and spends her mornings playing with her Little People and watching “Super Why”. At least it’s educational. Right? The highlight of her day, is eating Scott’s breakfast with him. Every afternoon when Scott comes downstairs, Charity makes him a breakfast sandwich. And every afternoon Lily asks him to save her some. So he always saves the last quarter of his sandwich for her. It’s pretty cute.
She also likes me to “save her some tea.”
I am really working on slowing down this year. Being present every day, and not rushing the kids. We’re making time for nature walks during the fall, trips to the library during the school day, art tutorials, sewing lessons, kids helping me grocery shop each week, and cook dinner every night…
It is not always easy for me to go at their pace. My natural urge is to want to get things done quickly and properly. (Confession: I’m a perfectionist!) So letting Ella grate the cheese, or Jeddy help cut up veggies, or Lily roll out pitas… Well, it can try my patience and urge to takeover. However, the more that I do it, and see that it’s ok if dinner is 20 minutes later than planned, or none of the pitas are round, or we didn’t get to science today… because my girls learned how to make another meal, Lily was so proud of helping mom make the pitas, and Jeddy is finally enjoying books… the more I see that it’s a good trade off. A good investment of time.
Almost every time I go out alone with the kids I have someone ask me, “How do you do it?” Or if we talk about homeschooling or my photography, “How do you have time for everything?”
The truth is… I don’t.
I wish there were more hours in the day -most days. If we get extra school work done, I didn’t get to spend time with Scott that afternoon. If my business is doing well, the housework is piling up. If we went to the library and park, we’re eating pizza for dinner. If the house is spotless, we probably didn’t spend as much time on our devotions. If the laundry is caught up, I haven’t slept… ha! But seriously… It’s a constant juggling act of priorities. There is never a day when I don’t have to decide what I’m going to sacrifice for something that’s more important at the moment.
I think it’s that way for everyone.
You decide what’s most important to you, and you make time for it.
On a lighter note, I was leaving a store with the kids when a man pulled up beside the van after I had gotten everyone in and motioned for me to roll down the window. He just wanted to ask if they were all my kids… but as he left one of the kids asked, “Why did he do that thing with his hand?” Referring to the “roll down the window” motion. Apparently, my kids have never had to *roll* down a window.
One more quick story for the books… as we were on a walk through a ravine Elijah shouted, “Look! There’s a bat!”
It was still light out and we were in a pretty open area, so I was questioned, “Are you sure it isn’t just a bird?”
Still staring into the trees, he said, “Um.. not unless it’s hanging upside down sleeping!”
I walked over and looked about 10 feet away to see a little black bag stuck in the tree. I laughed and said, “Hun, that’s a bag!”
Not joking at all- he says, “What? But it’s furry!”
I’m thinking that it’s a good thing we have eye appointments booked for next week…
I asked each of the kids to name something that they were thankful for and Elijah said, “I’m thankful that I have at least one brother.”
