Mama is so easily charmed by her boys . . .

Me:  I think that Simon must think the words "no, no" mean, "smile charmingly and irresistably."  

That is what he does every time I say those words to him.  If he's going for the electrical outlet and hears me say "no, no" to him, he slowly turns his head around to look at me, all the while his eyes are twinkling with his precious smile.

Chris:  I think that Simon knows exactly what the words "no, no" mean, and that is why he smiles charmingly and irresistably.

I'm Here to Make you Feel Better

Well, not really, but that's what I felt like one morning last week.  I felt like if some of you friends of mine out there - who are moms of little children like I am - saw me and my offspring, you would feel much, much better about yourself. :)

I actually wasn't doing too poorly Thursday morning - compared to the previous mornings.  I was up and showered by 8:00 (Earlier in the week, Simon had me up so much and for so long during the night that Chris let me sleep in till 9 or later.  Keeping that kind of schedule makes one feel rather groggy all day long).  I also had made a new resolution to eliminate 95% of Luke's tv viewing, and he was doing really well - playing camp-out in the corner of the living room.  Simon was taking his morning nap, and I was getting all kinds of little things done around the house; things weren't looking great and all put together, but if you had given me 20 minutes, I could have busted a move and things would've looked spick and span.  But they didn't.  

I also hadn't gotten Luke dressed for the day yet, so he was in his favorite outfit - underwear and his jammie shirt.  Well, as I was walking through the living room, Luke pointed out to me that our neighbor Gimja was standing outside our patio wanting to talk to me.  Gimja is our friendliest neighbor.  She has two grown sons who live with her, and always loves to chat and sweet talk with Simon when we see her.  Turns out, she just wanted to have a neighborly chat, and I even invited her inside (warning her that things were a little disheveled).  She turned down my offer, promising to come in another time.  Luke came outside and putzed around while we talked.  I wondered what she was thinking to herself of my son in his undies since it was coming up to lunchtime.  She probably thinks I'm such a lazy mom! I thought.  Then, to my amusement (it probably should have been to my horror, but it wasn't), I looked down at Luke and realized there was a smushed blueberry, smeared and dried in his hair.  Nice.  I didn't say anything and hoped Gimja didn't notice.  I thought it was pretty funny and called Chris to share the chuckle.  

Sadly, my good humor ended when I realized that there was a nice size blueberry stain on the smack-dab middle of the quilt on my bed.  Ooh, now I was mad.  And it was entirely Chris' fault, since he had given Luke the snack involving blueberries the night before.  I called him right back and told him how his negligence had resulted in our bedspread getting big ugly stain on it. Quilts are not cheap! I groaned to him.  I think I even hung up on him.  Never mind that I too let Luke have snacks around the house, and that I myself have even given him frozen blueberries mixed with cereal and not required him to stay at the table.  :)  Well, thankfully, my new laundry friend, Lestoil, got that stain right out - no problem!  And even if it hadn't, I knew it wasn't really Chris' fault.  Poor guy. :)

So, here are some pictures showing you Luke at his finest. :)  You can see Luke's campsite in the background, along with some of the dirtiest windows to be seen! (They got a washing that day though and stayed smudge-free for about two seconds.)

Where I Am

STOP! If you don't have a lot of time today, don't bother reading my blabbing here.  Just scroll down and read the words in italics.  They are much more helpful than my own. :)

I am living in some of the most desperate times of my life.  Other times seem just peachy.  A friend or my mom will call, and I'll sound (and feel) like things are just grand.  But, maybe just five minutes after I get off of the phone, I am bawling and feel like I'm on the brink of sanity and just plain miserable.  The truth is, I don't know when I've been more tired in my life.  (Sorry to keep complaining to you about this.)  I realize that this contributes to my general mental health.  But, it also can be no excuse for sin in my life; and honestly, I just do not want it to control my days any more.  I don't want to merely survive.  I want to thrive.

This article that I read at Girl Talk this morning (camped out on the couch at 5am, so I could be sure that Simon stopped crying before I fall back into a deep sleep) put words to many of my feelings and offered me great encouragement and a helpful challenge.  I am ashamed to say that it has taken far too many months for my daily afflictions to draw me near to God.  

Take a quick minute to read this.  I am sure you will appreciate it too.

Every Day Providence

Recently, my sweet 2-year-old misplaced her desire to sleep through the night. Mommy has been hard at work helping her to find that desire again. But it’s meant little sleep for Mommy at night and long days of wanting to crawl into the nearest bed. Mix in a rather nasty cold for the two-year-old and some pregnancy hormones for Mommy and I will leave the rest to your imagination.

But you know what? This tiny trial has forced me to draw near to God. And just as it tells me in His Word, He has been faithful to draw near to me (James 4:8). He has been reminding me of His sovereignty and love. This situation didn’t catch Him by surprise and it is the BEST for my girl and me. Sweet comfort!

So no matter where you find yourself today—in a trial big or tiny. Remember, the Lord isn’t surprised and He has PROMISED to work for your good in all things (Rom. 8:28).

These words from J. C. Ryle have brought me much encouragement:

“Reader, if God has given you His only begotten Son, beware of doubting His kindness and love, in any painful providence of your daily life! Never allow yourself to think hard thoughts of God. Never suppose that He can give you anything which is not really for your good. Remember the words of Paul: ‘He who spared not His own Son—but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things’ (Romans 8:32).

See in every sorrow and trouble of your earthly pilgrimage the hand of Him who gave Christ to die for your sins! That hand can never smite you except in love! He who gave His only begotten Son for you, will never withhold anything from you which is really for your good. Lean back on this thought and be content. Say to yourself in the darkest hour of trial, ‘This also is ordered by Him who gave Christ to die for my sins. It cannot be wrong. It is done in love. It must be well.’"

You can read the original article here.  If you haven't already, you really need to subscribe to this blog.

Bye-Bye Summer

I haven't posted in forever!  I'm too tired to give you a lengthy update, but we've had a good summer and traveled a lot!  Currently, Simon is giving me a run for my money with ridiculous behavior in the middle of the night.   Last night, I couldn't fall asleep myself, until Simon woke up some time after midnight.  I didn't manage to get him back into bed until 2 (after Tylenol and a bottle), and he woke up at 4!  I thought I was going to crack.  Chris helped out for an hour, but Simon was pretty uncontrollable.  I was starting to worry if he was hurting in some way, but then he would start babbling.  After another bottle (is he growing and teething?), I laid him in bed at 6, shut his door, and turned the fan on by my ear.  I wouldn't have heard him if he screamed my full name!   Dear Chris let me sleep until almost ten, when Luke came in and asked me to do something for him.  I have given up on sleeping well.  I haven't slept well at night (on a regular basis) since we moved here in July of 2007, thanks to being pregnant, Luke and his craziness, and now Simon.  I'm getting over it.  I used to think if a mom didn't get good sleep, she wasn't "training" her kids properly (other than the newborn months).  (Then Luke turned 3, and I had Simon.)  What a load of you-know-what.  How could I have been so arrogant?

So, here's what we did this summer:

• Late May: We went to MI for a week over Chris' birthday; Chris took actual vacation and did not study during the days!  (He worked every other time we were away from home.)
  
• June:  We were home for the entire month!  It was a nice month, including VBS at our church and lots of different happenings with friends and summer-time fun
• First 2 weeks of July: Luke turned 4 on July 2!  We spent time with almost my entire family up at my parents' house.  I got to meet Malachi for the first time, and see my sweet Katie, Paul, Preston & Anna for the first time in well over a year.   We desperately missed Daniel, Molly, Grace, Buddy, Elijah and Barnabas (who I still haven't met:()
• We were home for one week in the middle of July.  
• Last two weeks of July: The boys and I went to Michigan; Chris joined us the second week.  The weather was hot and sunny the entire time, and Luke and I went swimming once or twice every day.  We didn't want to come home because we were having such a good time, but once home, we were all happy to be here.  Other than Simon's middle-of-the-night shenanigans, we're doing really well.

girltalk

Don't ask my why it's taken me this long to finally subscribe to girltalk. You should too. Tonight, this quote posted there really encouraged me.

Homemaking—being a full-time wife and mother—is not a destructive drought of usefulness but an overflowing oasis of opportunity; it is not a dreary cell to contain one’s talents and skills but a brilliant catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work; it is not a rope for binding one's productivity in the marketplace, but reins for guiding one's posterity in the home; it is not oppressive restraint of intellectual prowess for the community, but a release of wise instruction to your own household; it is not the bitter assignment of inferiority to your person, but the bright assurance of of the ingenuity of God's plan for the complementarity of the sexes, especially as worked out in God's plan for marriage; it is neither limitation of gifts available nor stinginess in distributing the benefits of those gifts, but rather the multiplication of a mother's legacy to the generations to come and the generous bestowal of all God meant a mother to give to those He entrusted to her care.

Dorothy Patterson

Perspective

Many a young mom sacrifices numerous brain cells trying to figure out how to get her little baby to sleep well at night. Some aren't so concerned, but I was not such a mom when Luke was born. (Nor when Simon was born, for that matter!) Luke turned out to be a champion night-time sleeper at the fragile age of 7 weeks! I patted myself on the back on many occasions. But alas, alack, shortly after he turned 3 years old and we had moved (once again) to our cozy little condo in Carol Stream, Illinois, Luke entered a "phase" that he has yet to exit. Sometimes he cries in the night and wants someone to lie in bed with him; other nights he creeps into our bed unnoticed until morning time (or until Simon gets me up). But, I might be able to count on two hands the number of nights in the last year that Luke has slept in his bed alone. uninterrupted. all night. Imagine my horror - me, the mom whose baby slept like an angel at 7 weeks old. I have slowly begun to let go of this need for Luke to sleep perfectly still for 12 hours at night. I tell myself that he will not be needing (or wanting) to sleep with Mommy or Daddy forever. And tonight, I was reminded again. And it actually made me sad.

I was snuggling in bed with Luke after reading him bedtime stories. I prayed with him, and he begged me to tell him the story of when I was five and rode on the high swings at the carnival. For some reason, I was holding my hand up in the air, and he wanted to put his against mine. My short, stubby fingers are still much longer than Luke's precious 4-year-old hands. But One day, I told him, before you know it, your hands are going to be even bigger than Mommy's. And by that time, I thought to myself with a very long sigh, we won't be lying together at bedtime, measuring fingers. They tell me that this time will come before I know it. It doesn't seem possible, but I'm afraid it's true all the same.

full head of hair

Bye Bye curls! (They'll be back, since we only cut his hair about twice a year.)

I always love looking at the back of Simon's head. I think his neck is so cute. :)

This is what Simon looks like when he's not smiling. Still adorable.

High Hopes for Summer

We are SO excited to finally welcome summer! It was a long winter with several rounds of sickness, not to mention those murky and foggy early months with a new baby. We have emerged from the past 6 months all intact though and are looking forward to having a great summer! We already enjoyed a week together in Michigan with Chris' family. One of the best parts is that Chris took the week off himself and did no major studying! We enjoyed two dinner dates with friends (one without the kids!), a Tiger's game (thankfully, they won!), getting family pictures taken and a birthday party for Chris with his family. Last Tuesday, Chris, Simon and I headed home while Luke got to stay and have a big-boy stay with his Grandma and Papa. After having two kids - one of which is an almost-4 crazy boy, our precious little Simon practically felt like NO kids. :) He's such a doll and very compliant. Well, he could be a TEENSY bit more compliant and sleep straight through the night, but he usually gives me at least a 7-8 hour stretch. And sometimes he does go 10-11 hours. I guess I tend to compare him with Luke who was an amazing night-time sleeper since the age of 7 weeks. (Now he's a different story.) But Si is much more laid back than Luke every other hour of the day. Anyway, I digress.

So, we had four nights here at home before Luke came home with his Grandma and Maw Maw on Saturday (yesterday). The first day home - Wednesday - was sort of a loss because I had a little 24 hour stomach bug. I was able to just lay low and keep a slow pace since my energizer bunny was in Michigan going to petting farms, carnivals and swimming pools with his Grandma. Thursday I had a bit of a hangover from my sickness, but managed to get my Lea fix :) and wash some windows. But on Friday I was a MACHINE of productivity! I did so many little organizing projects that were dying to be done, one of which was beginning to organize Luke's toys in clear plastic totes instead of various baskets or containers that they came in. This streamlines the size of everything and provides more room while looking neat and contained. YIPPEE!!! I took a "before" picture and will take an "after" shot in a few weeks when I finish buying all of the totes that I need. (I gotta take it slow on this budget!)

My main objective while Luke was gone was to get all bills paid, paperwork filed, donations donated (I cheated b/c they're still in my trunk), extra "stuff" stored and finally full cupboards and a full fridge. Up until now I have felt pretty disorganized and "behind" since Simon was born. I am so tired of living in a reactive manner, and I want to be more proactive! Six months sounds terribly long to have just gotten over the hump, and it's not that we've been in survival mode until now, but we just hadn't gotten into a good groove, and I didn't feel like myself.

So, here are my summer times hopes, wishes and goals.

1. Go to bed EARLIER (by 10pm). This will help me achieve no. 2.
2. Wake up by 7 (if Si lets me sleep that late) and get showered and dressed right away. (I have a horrible habit of sporting my pjs for an hour two. Sometimes that's fun, but mostly it just makes me feel gross.)
3. Read my Bible and spend time in prayer as soon as I can. I will not set an amount of time or length of passage, because some mornings I might start knowing I'll only have 10 minutes, but that's ok. It's better than nothing at all.
4. Spend time reading the Bible with Luke before he watches any tv that day.
5. Focus on responding and reacting calmly and prayerfully with my sweet Lukie. This has become one of my biggest struggles and frustrations.
   
6. I am in dire need of regular exercise, and I recently bought a new sit-n-stand stroller (which I love!). Going on 3 walks a week doesn't seen unreasonable.

So, here's to a GREAT summer!

Happy Mother's Day - Beware: Motherload of Pictures!!!

My First Mothers Day: Luke was about 10 months old.

My Fourth Mother's Day: May 11, 2008
Luke is 3 years/10months and Simon is 5 months old


Simon loves his brother. Luke can always make him smile.

Luke's shenanigans crack Si up too.
Luke bought me a card that had pictures for him to color. He is well on the way to writing his name. (See the top of the card.) He can write each letter, but doesn't quite understand that they have to be in order. :)


Simon is really starting to love playing in the Exersaucer. He was chillin' out this morning while we all got ready.


This morning we had a baby dedication at our church and Simon was dedicated! It was so special. Here he is with our pastor. (Sorry this shot is grainy. A friend took some other pictures with her better camera, so maybe you'll see those soon.)


My great friend Lea and her sweet daughter Cecily. Isn't she a dollbaby? (Our families ate lunch at Qdoba together. It was so fun! It wasn't crowded at all and we stayed for 2 hours!)


Me with my baby at Qdoba.

Family picture!

Luke and Claira's first date. Chaperoned, of course. (We parentals were at the next table.)


My boys tonight before bedtime.

I posted all three shots because I wanted you to see how incredible easy it is to get a smile out of Simon. He is one of the happiest babies ever!


And the third smile was the biggest!

Beautiful blue eyes - and though you can't really see them here, he has amazing eyelashes! (Sometimes he still scratches himself crazy with his fingernails though. See his scratchy forehead?)

A rare photo shoot with the brothers. Luke's usually too busy to sit and hold his brother. Si soaks up any attention Luke will give him.

So cuddly!

Simon always has kisses for mama. :)