Pregnancy #2: Weeks 8 - 12

Week 8 was a little better on the fatigue front, and I actually did not take a nap every single day.  However, the nausea was much worse.  I spent a lot of time crouching, gagging, trying to eat simple foods and whatever sounded good.  I love the taste and feel of drinking water, and John usually calls me a camel, but the first trimester of pregnancy is very difficult for me to drink water because it hits my stomach and makes me feel sloshy and sick. I struggled to drink a bottle or two a day. Also, thankfully, my face was not breaking out much, as I recalled some acne with my last pregnancy, unfortunately, it's like the extra oil was rerouted to my scalp instead.  Hello, dandruff, my old enemy from high-school...

Week 9 was spent getting ready for our "family trip"(it is NOT a vacation when you bring 5 children).  Packing, laundry, and cleaning was not fun as I fought nausea, but I was excited to be going home to see family.  I managed to make it to my Monday night ladies workout class at church "Team Bob" where we usually do a Bob Harper DVD together.  I felt slow on the moves and definitely couldn't drink much water, but I only felt nauseous twice! That gave me hope that soon I would soon be back to regular workouts.  I so missed walks and workouts during those yucky feeling weeks.  Contrary to some sayings though, the exercise did not help the nausea at all.  It didn't make it much worse though, so I thought it was fine to probably continue my Monday class until I could add back in more.

Week 10 was spent mostly at my mom's house.  It was fun to tell my parents with the same picture I had showed John, however, it took them much longer for the message to sink in! The nausea and fatigue both seemed a little better that week, and I decided that they're both partially connected to stress.  I think I was less stressed with my mom able to help out a lot, and splitting the kids up (babies/little kids with me, big kids with John at his mom's house).  Here are some sweet but serious pictures of my handsome little outdoor man in my mom's back yard:

Then John got to be the guest speaker at a little church in Flintville, TN, and we so enjoyed that worship service!  I was reminded again of how well my husband preaches, and how much I enjoy listening to him and supporting him in that role.  It felt so wonderful to be able to encourage him and enjoy his message.  As I mentioned in this post, John is now feeling called to Pastor, and it would be so neat if it could be that church! We had such peace there.  Please continue to pray that God will lead and direct our steps as we move on from here. If that is where God wants us, please pray that the doors would open quickly and the search committee and congregation would have total peace in knowing John is the man God wants to be there.  For now, we just have to trust!

Week 11 was spent at John's mom's house, and then going back to Waynesboro.  The dandruff issue got worse, and itchy, and my occipital lymph nodes (on the back of head, behind the ear) actually became very sore and swollen.  Suddenly having two small knots on the back of my head was alarming at first, but after extensive internet self-diagnoses, I decided it was probably just due to general inflammation on my scalp and the dandruff.  It only lasted about 6 days, and then they stopped hurting and slowly went back down as I tried to treat the dandruff a little more aggressively and scratch less.

The biggest break through on Week 11 was *drum roll please*: Nausea and fatigue BOTH got immensely better!!! The nausea only seemed to strike at night and when I was very hungry, and I think I only took 2 naps that week!  I was so surprised and thankful, because I distinctly remember with Jonah that everyone kept telling me "When the first trimester is over, you'll feel so much better!" and being disappointed because I didn't really start to feel better until around week 16. So PRAISE GOD! This pregnancy already seems a little easier just because the extreme nausea and fatigue is ending a full month before it did last time!  I am very thankful the worst seems to be over, and I'm definitely starting to show.  I didn't have a real "bump" with Jonah until almost 18 weeks.  Hello little tummy popping out so much faster for round two! Still just in the starting-to-look-chubby, can't-button-half-of-my-jeans phase though, not really baby bumpish just yet.

I also got to visit our good friends, Nathan and Kimberly Neely, who had just gotten back from Africa with their new adopted twin babies!  It was such a blessing to see them parenting together, learning their new children, and figuring out how life works with three kids instead of one.  They probably won't post anything on their blog for a bit because they are super busy with these babies, but you should check out their neat adoption story over at their blog: Bringing the Nations Home.  I got to do little Jewel's hair, but I didn't have any little ballies, so it's just in the tiny rubber bands.

 Judah and Jewel are so cute!  I am loving being pregnant again, and enjoying this season of our lives, but we still feel called to adopt someday as God leads us.  Seeing them with their new babies made my heart happy.

Week 11, day 6 was also my second doctor's appointment and I got to see the precious new baby looking like this:

Cartoon Version :) 

Baby was so cute and wiggly and had these long skinny arms and legs, and was dancing and flipping all over the place!  It measured 5.11 cm from crown to rump, heart rate 170 bpm, and I really loved watching it move on the screen.

Being so isolated down here in Wabo is very difficult sometimes, and our only babysitter is our dear sweet pastor's wife.  We love her so much!  Sadly, an important WWII vet from our church passed away, and she needed to attend the funeral and services, so John had to stay home with the kids while I went to the doctor alone.  He has never missed an ultrasound before, and frequently went to appointments when I was pregnant with Jonah so he could hear the heartbeat, too.  I love how involved he is our kids' lives!  John and I were both disappointed he wasn't able to see this little baby's cool moves.  This may sound trivial to some, but for us, it was kind of a big deal.  It felt like another indicator that our time here needs to draw to a close so that we can focus on our own family more.

Week 12 seemed like a recurrence of Week 9.  Nausea and fatigue came back 5 out of 7 days. I was so bummed.  I decided then that the nausea is definitely connected to stress, and coming back to Wabo didn't help.  John also fought off a terrible head cold the first few days we were back and although I didn't catch it, I was worn out from dealing with the other kids without him for about 24 hours, and then he still didn't feel good for about 4 days.  I decided to weigh myself for some reason, and was disappointed to discover I'd already gained 10 pounds.  I know it's from having to eat all the time to keep the nausea away, and eating mostly carbs at that.  I like being pregnant, but I don't like gaining weight, and the laws of healthy medicine say "Well you can't have both if you start out healthy!" I'll get over it when I start to look more pregnant.  I didn't mind the weight once it was in the shape of a cute baby bump.  I just don't like it creeping up like a tire around my waist, ya know?  Oh well! The baby is healthy, and so am I, so I am thankful for that.

We told our boss and he was very gracious and understanding.  He fully agreed with us that it would not be a good idea to stay here with a newborn and toddler (as both babies ran around the table screaming).  I can't share any personal information with you about our kids here, but please pray with us that the transition would go smoothly for them, too. It is looking like it may be possible for them be reunited with family before we have to go!  That would be so neat! It would be like we were placed here just for them, and then when we were ready to leave so were they.  It would have to be a God thing though, so please do remember them in your prayers.

Pregnancy #2: Weeks 4 - 7

     The First Trimester has been quite a roller coaster ride.  It's very similar but also different from being pregnant with Jonah.  With Jonah I found out I was pregnant at 6 weeks because I was having common signs (nausea, fatigue, tender top half, missed period), and took the test and voila, suspicions confirmed!  This time, I wanted to know earlier so I began taking the tests before the signs arrived, and found out at exactly 4 weeks, which is very early!  The test line just barely crept up and I was uncertain at first, but it darkened in a few minutes.  I prayed, "God is this for real?" and I felt perfect peace like He was saying, "Oh yeah, you're pregnant!" I was so excited but really wanted to surprise my husband better this time, instead of just showing him the test saying, "Look!" (the way I did last time).

Southern Made Photography by Ashlea Chance

It was actually the morning of May 10th, when we were going to do Jonah's birthday party in Alabama with our families, and it occurred to me that my neat-O photographer, mommy of 3 little boys, Ashlea Chance over at Southern Made Photography, may have just the prop I needed to make a really cool surprise picture!  Of course, she did, and we snuck off with Jonah during picture taking, saying we were doing something for "Father's Day" and she got the great picture above.
     I couldn't stand not telling John and so 4 days later she sent me a few more "sneak peek" pictures with that one at the end. It was one really stressful day of doubting ourselves and this whole job, and feeling totally useless, just one of those "spinning your wheels" kind of weary days, and I knew John needed good news.  I sat down with him on the couch, and said casually, "Hey look, she sent us a few more pictures." Then I scrolled through them very slowly, looking long and detailed with him at the first 3 just of us and Jonah, and then as soon as I went to the above picture, John read the shirt and gasped then said, "Really!?" and teared up and hugged me with one arm and kept staring at the screen.  It was great, such a special sweet moment for us.  Kudos to me for thinking of a better way of giving him the news this time, and then not spoiling it even though it was SO HARD to not tell him for 5 whole days!!

     Once I told him, it really began to sink in as real.  I found myself just as nervous and scared as when I found out I was pregnant with Jonah.  God, please don't let me have a miscarriage.  I know a lot of women go through that, please don't let me be one of them.  Please let this baby be healthy and go full term. I know now how fantastic it is to have a precious little baby, so I will be even more sad to lose one than if I never had one. Please let this baby make it!

     Then, I went through weeks 4 and 5 feeling absolutely fine, with my only non-normal feeling being some considerable lower abdominal cramps that slightly alarmed me. When I read more up on it, I discovered a lot of second-time moms had more cramping with the second pregnancy than the first, and it's probably just that cantankerous ole' uterus trying to grow again.  I read that as long as there was no bleeding it was probably not anything to worry about, so I didn't.  I decided that while I felt good I should take advantage of it, and so I did a big freezer cooking day and froze 13 bagged meals, and exercised and cleaned a lot.  I also noticed I was beginning to feel the extreme emotions when we watched the movie about the 2004 Tsunami called "The Impossible" and I just kept imagining not being able to find my baby or my husband and being so beat up, and I literally cried the entire movie.

    Week 6 hit me like a ton of bricks with the nausea and fatigue, and I began taking 2 naps a day and eating crackers and vanilla wafers all the time.  I also began having cravings and wanted Lucky Charms cereal most nights and then hamburgers a few nights in a row.  Lucky for me, my husband is a grill-master and he made me some delicious burgers.  I had 2 at dinner and one a few hours later.  I don't remember eating 3 burgers in a matter of hours before, but hey, a little person the size of lentil apparently gets very hungry!

     Week 7 brought on the easily triggered gag reflex, and the strong awareness of odors, that makes every little bad smell feel like it's crawling up your nose and down your throat to try to make you puke.  The sense of smell that knows there is a dirty diaper across the room even though the person playing with said baby has not noticed it yet.  The sense of smell that finds all the odors in the kitchen to be just obnoxious - the combination of runny baby peach mango food, with the whiff of the leftover spaghetti in the fridge, and then the brewing coffee, made me almost lose it one day.  Fortunately, dropping down into a squat and ducking my head down and hiding my nose in the collar of my T-shirt is my go-to move for fighting those nausea attacks where the front of my throat gets hot and the back of my neck feels cold and I just refuse to throw up because I hate it more than almost anything. The fatigue didn't get better, but I decided it was going to have to take a back seat to life and I would only surrender to ONE nap per day and just go to bed earlier if it became an issue.  Somehow, we managed to hide most of this from the kids, although they may have noticed I was sleeping more, was no longer addicted to exercise (because really, who wants to go run when you're working so hard to not puke?), and John was cooking more. John was having to help a lot more with baby diaper changes, and general household stuff.  He is a total trooper though, and treats me like a pregnant queen.

     During Week 7, I also began reading up on more baby/mommy blogs/websites and found some unnerving articles on pregnancy spacing.  Some people believe the earliest you should space pregnancies is a year and half to give your body time to recover and rebuild nutrition stores to have a healthy baby.  I thought oh well, I'm just 6 months short of that, and I eat super healthy and work out, so no big deal.  Then I read another "expert" saying you should wait 3 years between babies for the uterus to be fully healed and for your emotions to adequately recover not "belonging to yourself anymore."  Well, I think and pray my uterus is in a healthy position because when my periods began again on Christmas Eve, they stayed on a perfectly regular 28 day cycle again until we thought, "Hey let's go ahead and start trying again!" I also believe that I got over the whole "not belonging to yourself" business when we started being foster parents, in which case, I have done that for almost 3 years now, so I'm in the clear.  I also realized that I know several mommies who have children even closer in age than the 20 months apart that mine will be, and their younger kids are just fine!

     I also believe that the Lord does open and close the womb.   As soon as we surrendered and declared ourselves "Open" again, He saw fit to hang the "Occupied" sign up, so I should trust that His will is always perfect, and this baby will be the little person He so desires.  It's His will for us to trust, to have complete faith, and worry is not trusting Him, so I again was forced to conquer that nagging self-sufficiency desire to worry because I became pregnant again only 11 months after giving birth to Jonah.  I had to remind myself "His will, His way, for His glory...He must become greater, I must become less."  Fear is not from the Lord. God increase my faith, help me to trust you, help me to lean on you. Please make this baby healthy and strong. 

This became a very helpful verse for me to go back to when doubt or fear crept in:

I had to come to the point of saying "God, whatever happens, you are good.  Your ways are best.  You are sovereign.  This baby belongs to you. Thank you for letting me have it for now.  Please let me meet it and raise it and love it and teach it about you."

The song "Give Me Faith" (you can watch the authors of the song sing it here Give Me Faith You Tube) also began playing in my head a lot.  I heard a sermon once that described the best way to fight battles with fear was through prayer and praise, and I totally agree! You can read about pregnancy Weeks 8-12 here.

 Lyrics to the song:

"Give Me Faith"

I need you to soften my heart
to break me apart
I need you to open my eyes
to see that you're shaping my life

All I am
I surrender

Give me faith to trust what you say
that you're good and your love is great
I'm broken inside, I give you my life
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com

I need you to soften my heart
to break me apart
I need you to pierce through the dark
and cleanse every part of me

I may be weak
but Your spirit's strong in me
My flesh may fail
My God you never will

Jonah Turned One!

Jonah's birthday was May 18, so this post may seem a little late.  However, life has been very busy down here the last few weeks.  The kids got out of school in May, then we went on a 2 week "Family Trip" in June, got some personal exciting news, and we are just now settling back into some sort of normalcy.  I want to go back and pay homage to my unique little first born.

We celebrated Jonah's birthday a week early while we were at home on our last break, on May 10th.  We had a party at John's mom's house with lots of family over.  Jonah had a cute cake with a whale on it, but he was not interested in eating it at all.  He didn't even want to smash it.  We kind of force fed him a little and he threw up.  It was not cute.  Oh well, it didn't hurt my feelings.  I'd much rather have my kid tear into an avocado (which he does, daily) than a cake any day of the year!

We decided while at home that it was time to actually pay for good professional pictures instead of just taking our own with the iPhones.  It was a great investment!  You can check out some of our photographer's pictures from the day before the party at the railroad depot, and day of at her website here. These were the sneak peeks she put on facebook:

I want to make sure I remember what my little guy is like at this point in his life.  If I had to sum him up in a short sentence, it would be this: He is a MESS!  This toddling little boy is silly, funny, stubborn, fearless, loving, playful, hungry, and seriously loves to make messes and loud noises.

However, this is my blog, my own little corner of the internet as some put it, and I don't have to leave it at that short sentence. So, if you'd like to get to know him better, feel free to continue reading. =)

Jonah is cheerful most of the time and smiles and laughs easily. We found out the other day that if I make what I call my "silly monkey face," then he will laugh like crazy and think I am a super cool mom.

He loves all sort of tickling, being thrown around in the air, being upside down, being thrown on a pile of pillows, or anything else in the category of "rough-housing." His daddy encourages this by doing things like this with him:

Jonah loves all animals.  He finds farm animals fascinating, and will mimic us saying "Moo" as we pass cows on our running road.  He will say "Moo" so loudly and often that by the time we are past the herd of cows, they are all staring at us.  He giggles while chasing dogs and cats and likes to try to reach out and touch them.

He is very independent and already wants to walk alone.  He does not like to hold hands unless he feels like he may fall.  If he is on remotely stable ground, he jerks his little hand away and grunts as if offended that you even tried to take the lead.  This does not bode well for parking lots in the future, but we aren't huge fans of the child-on-a-leash technique, so we will be strong-arming him until he obeys. However, usually he will walk right next to our legs, and stop when we stop, as if to say, "I can keep up, you don't need to hold onto me.  I won't go far without you." He already is that "strong-willed child" who has the potential to be a leader or a menace.   If you are a parent of a child like this, what do/did you do to help them learn to obey but also encourage their independence? Please Lord let us lead him down the right path!

He has finally learned to give kisses with a closed mouth and leans in going, "Mmmmmm" when he is about to kiss you.  It's the sweetest thing ever, and makes my heart melt every time.  Kisses generally only happen when he first wakes up or is getting sleepy but hasn't reached sleepy-grouchy-crazy baby stage yet (as described here).

Jonah is content to play alone or with other babies or adults.  He gets along well with others unless they take something he was playing with first.  The "sharing" concept hasn't quite sunk in yet. He has realized he will get a little slap if he bites though, so his new tactic is pinching.  We are working on breaking him of that one, too.  He does stop when we tell him "No," but if he thinks we aren't looking, he tries again.  He also tackles, and will wrestle for what he believes is rightfully his.  I'm going to say this is persistence in the making!

He rolled over at 4 months, crawled at 8 months, walked at 11 months, and is now climbing anything he can, including any and all furniture.

His vocabulary includes verbally: Dada, Mama, Dog, Cat, Uh-Oh, something that he thinks is Peek-a-Boo but really is more like "Eeek - Oooo", and the name of Other Baby.

His sign language vocabulary includes: eat, drink, more, and all done. We began signing when he was around 8 months old, and he really took off with using it between 11-12 months.  This is a great article by a speech and language pathologist mommy, if you haven't heard of the value of signing to hearing toddlers. We are now trying to add the words: please, thank you, and outside.

He weighed in for his one year check up at 26 pounds, and was 32 inches tall.  He didn't cry a bit getting his finger pricked, but for some reason he hated the paper on the exam table and did not want to sit or lay on it.  He has grown 11 inches and gained 18 pounds since the day he was born. That is a lot of growth! At exactly age one he had 8 teeth (4 top/4 bottom) and was cutting his first molar.  He is now cutting 2 more molars and a canine.  I think in a week or so he will have 12 teeth! It's a good thing he really enjoys having his teeth brushed!

In the hospital, one day old.

April, 2013

He seems totally fine and healthy, other than recurring eczema all over his legs and sometimes other body parts.  We use Aquaphor ointment to help with this once or twice a day, and Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy Soothing Bath Treatments (which are mostly oatmeal powder and make the water look dirty, but his skin feels better afterward). {Later edit: we have found that coconut oil on damp skin works better than any other product previously mentioned.} The only link we have found is in wheat products, which seem to make it worse, so he is on a fairly strict gluten-free diet of mostly organic or preservative-free foods.  He eats a Lot.  His favorite food is probably Greek yogurt or avocado.  He seriously eats one yogurt and at least half an avocado every. single. day. Here is that post-avocado face:

He loves taking baths and playing in the pool or washing his hands, or playing in any sort of water.

He would never come inside if we didn't make him. He wants to be outside all night and day, regardless of weather conditions and how hot he gets.

Hot and Sweaty

But happy outside!

He likes to dance by doing little squats and more recently has added arm waving to this cuteness.

He has a little angry streak and is more likely to scream or holler than actually cry.

He likes to open all cabinet doors and drawers he can reach and either pull out the contents of said cabinet or drawer, or just bang the door shut as loudly as he can, repeatedly, until we make him stop. He's really into loud noises.  One day while waiting for John while he was inside a store, I had to take Jonah out of his car seat to change his diaper, so I let him play around in the front seat until John came back.  The little guy immediately put his hands on the steering wheel and acted like he was driving, and then reached for the volume on the radio and turned it waaaaaaaay up and started dancing.  It was so funny!

He likes to walk through any open door, and then close it behind him.  He does this as fast as possible, as if it will slow us down from following him.  Sometimes we open the door and he laughs and makes his "Peek-a-Boo!" sound at us, like it was just a game all along.  He is very active, and only sits still when he's tired or sick.

Most recent changes in our parenting have been to try to begin these great "Early Potty Training Tips" I found on Pinterest.  As a teacher they make complete sense!  In real life this translates mostly to us saying "Poo poo. You are going poo poo," instead of just laughing at his funny little red face and grunts.

We have changed his sleeping habits once again and are finally teaching him to fall asleep in his own crib instead of rocking him.  YES! (Hasn't regularly happened since he was 6 months old in the cradle/rocker/bassinet thing). This is easy when he's very tired.  If he has an ounce of energy left he fights it, stands up in his crib, and tries to talk to us, like he can convince us to get him out and let him play.  I think he's trying to say, "Look, I just wanted the bottle and a little cuddle time.  I'm not crazy tired yet, so just let me play with toys a little longer."  We stay in there and just keep saying "Night, night! Shhhhhh!" We have left the room and let him cry it out a few times, when he's tired enough to cry and fall asleep within about ten minutes.  Sometimes though, it sounds like he's getting so worked up he may puke (which he has done before), and then we go back in and stay on the bed until he's asleep, because nobody wants to clean up vomit.  I think he will be past this stage soon though and we will just lay him down and leave and he may cry a little or talk himself to sleep.

People say time flies, and it does, but this first year has felt like a whole. entire. 365 day. year.  We've done a lot of things as a family of three in just a year.  He has already moved from Memphis, to Huntsville, to Waynesboro, with a brief vacation in Boston, and several 5 hour drives from Huntsville to Wabo and vice versa.  He is a rather well-traveled baby.

Looking so much like his daddy here.

We love him more than we ever believed possible.  

We are so thankful to be Jonah's parents!

We are excited to see what God has planned for his life,

and grateful for every day we are given as a part of that beautiful, crazy life.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

(or happy almost 14 months, anyway, hahaha).

Rest for the Weary

1 Week Old

I've been learning from my baby again.  Jonah has had many different sleeping patterns already in his short little 13 month lifetime.  As an infant he slept often throughout the day.  We tried to follow the "Babywise" plan as closely as possible, and he liked his little incline rocker bed and slept pretty well.

About 3 Weeks

Chillin!

Transitioning to the crib was a huge ordeal and he did not like it at all.  We then began a phase of giving him a bottle and rocking him to sleep, then laying him in the crib on his belly.  Most recently, he squirms and wiggles and won't just relax and be rocked, so we lay him in the crib and then sit on our bed (which is right next to the crib - the joy of being a House Parent and sharing a room with your child) until he falls asleep.  He sometimes cries and looks up at us and we say "Nite nite. Shhhh!"  He then goes to sleep, happy as long as he thinks we are there with him.

Sometimes he naps with Daddy

Long car rides put him to sleep, too.

Before he falls asleep though, he clearly lets us know that he is tired.  He rubs his eyes with his little fists.  He cries for no apparent reason.  He wants to be held (for this little active, self-driven, independent boy, wanting to be held is rare). He goes from this happy little guy:

To this very angry, upset whiner:

 If I am busy trying to get his bottle ready, he follows me around the kitchen crying and trying to catch my legs.  When he succeeds at catching me, he holds on tightly then arches his back and looks up at me, loudly wailing.  It's like he's trying to say, "Mommy! I'm so freakin' tired! Put me to bed already! I can't get in there by myself!" Poor little man.  Sometimes I am kind and rely on the Holy Spirit, and respond with quiet, calm words, "It's okay, baby.  I'm sorry it's not ready yet.  Just a minute." Other times I am all too human and my answer is irritated, "Hush! I know you're tired! I'm trying to get your bottle ready! Chill out!"  Neither answer seems to help him, but I feel like a better mommy when I stay calm.

Then as I hold him and give him the bottle, I take deep breaths and enjoy looking at how beautifully God created him, and I pray about different things.

It was during one of those quiet moments of enjoying my baby, and thanking my Creator for him, that I was led to think of this verse:

joshuarice @ tumblr

I realized God wants us to come to Him when we are tired, too.  When we are not just tired, but weary. Weary means to me the kind of mental and physical exhaustion that seems to settle down in your bones and you can't shake off.  Weary seems like the front hallway of a house called called depression and anxiety.  The longer you hang out in a weary hallway, the more likely you are to end up inside the depressed, anxious house.  I thought about how to leave weary.  

It starts with turning to Jesus.  However, when we come to Him weary, he never gets frustrated or answers harshly.  Instead, He only wants to hold us, to help us, to give us the rest we need.  I began to think of how I like to rest.  I love sleeping in our Tempur-pedic bed.  However, rest doesn't always look like sleep for us.  Rest for adults sometimes looks like a Saturday with no plans at all.  Sometimes it looks like a bubble bath, or a long walk by myself or with a friend.  Sometimes I find rest on a long run, or in a good conversation or letter with a friend. Rest from the Lord sometimes comes in the form of retreats. It can also be found in breaks from work where you really take time off from your job and don't answer the phone or e-mails related to your job (I look forward to those very much).

Then I looked up the context for the verse and found this in the New Living Translation:

I found this even more encouraging because it is saying that we don't have to always create our rest.  Simply by finding our identity in who Christ is, and what He has already done for us, letting him teach us, should provide some rest for our weary souls.  Letting the Holy Spirit lead us provides a measure of rest, because when we chase after God instead of the world, we find peace and joy, and rest in our soul, not just our body. You see, most of those things I listed above give our bodies time to rest, to recover, to recharge, but God is more interested in our soul.  I'm not saying that we don't need physical rest, oh no, sleep and rest are very necessary for health. I am saying that I believe God is infinitely more concerned with the state of our soul than the temple in which it resides. 

We don't get many breaks from our job.  Some days it's very hard to make the time to take a quick shower, let alone a bubble bath.  Verse 29 is telling me that shouldn't always matter.  I don't have to create my restful situation.  The more I remember to rely on God, let Him speak to me through his word, let Him teach me through the quiet moments, the more my soul will find the rest it needs for the moment, until I am able to get to that restful situation my body needs later.  

Jesus says "Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart." 

He is saying, "Let me help you carry that yoke, stop doing it all alone."

12 Things I Learned in June

I haven't done a "Link Up" before, but I've been reading over at Chatting at the Sky for a few months now, and I really enjoy her perspective.  So I'm joining in the community of bloggers!  Here's a few things I learned in June:

1. After visiting the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama (where I lived from 10th grade- age 24, and had somehow not visited before),

I learned that many of the schools in this town are named after astronauts and other contributors to space exploration.  That makes so much sense, but I really had no idea.  For example, Mr. Ed White, Mr. Grissom, and Mr. Chaffee were the three men who were the astronauts in the test simulation who died on earth during a practice run when their pod caught on fire and they were unable to escape before smoke inhalation killed all three.  Sad, but true.



2. Amy Grant and Natalie Grant (Christian female singers), are unfortunately not related at all. But how cool would that have been?! For some reason I used to think they were mother/daughter, although they don't really look alike... for me it was a major disappointment.

3. Even old men like receiving cards with their picture on them.  Walgreens has several super cheap deals on cards and other photo items that you can give as gifts. For mother's day our moms loved our homemade cards, and I got my mom 4 recycled shopping bags with big pictures on them, and John got his mom and I big blankets with a picture collage of Jonah's first year.  I knew we ladies loved the pictures and personalized cards, but on Father's Day, even our dads loved them! Now I'm not saying the pictures are high-quality or anything, and the paper looks grainy and recycled, but they're cheaper than a Hallmark card in the store, with personalized photos and messages.

4. No matter how often I type it, the word "from" always ends up "form" and I have to go back and correct it.  "Morning" is also often "Monring" according to my fingers.

5.  When you plan a "Family Trip" you think it will be so nice to get out of your little southern Mississippi town.  However, when you bring the house full of kids with you, it's not nearly as great as it sounded before you left.  It's definitely NOT a vacation, anyway.

6.  Eventually, five months of constant baby sign language will pay off and at least one of the babies will suddenly start signing and talking back to you! Yay for 18 month Other Baby finally signing and trying to say: "More," "All Done," "Nite Nite," "Yes," and learn the "ABC's" (A-G anyway...).  However, noticing Other Baby signing seems to make our 13 month old Jonah stubbornly refuse to do so.  He used to do "More" and "All Done" and he has suddenly started whining like a little pig instead for all wants. It's almost like he's thinking, "I canNOT believe you taught that other kid our Secret Code, Mom!" He'll get over it and start signing again, eventually...I hope.

7. My helpful mother reminded me of this one: Sometimes God calls us to push immovable rocks for a while.  We may keep asking God, "Why are you making me push this big rock when it hasn't moved an inch?"  He answers, "Look how strong your body has become from pushing against this rock! Look how much patience you have developed.  I see how strong your prayers have become from the times you cried out and asked me to help you push that rock!" We sure do feel like we've been pushing some boulders lately!

8.  "If God doesn't rule your mundane, then He doesn't rule you, because that's where you live." This quote from Paul Tripp in this great article by Gloria Furman really helped to change my perspective on all the "Mundane" things in life right now.  From constant laundry and dishes and cleaning, to struggling to reach two teenagers who don't really want to let us in, I needed to read and re-read and ponder this article several times to let it sink in and ask God to transform me.  I am still very much in process of trying to become more grateful, compassionate, and loving through every task, but it's a real mindset/soul altering change that takes a while to finish.  Another blog I read said that changing diapers is the modern day equivalent of washing feet.  I'd rather wash feet though. Ah, this pursuit of holiness!

9. Exercise is not only good for your body - but so very good for your mind as well! I really learned why exercise is so positively addicting and great for your mind and body in this neatO article!

10.  Becoming a mother has made me appreciate my body more, and care less about make up.  I love the way my one year old generously gives cuddles and kisses only first thing in the morning, when we both have bad breath, and I have done absolutely nothing to my hair or face. I'm mommy, and that's enough for him.

11. Speaking of bad breath - apparently all cute baby smells DISAPPEAR when said child is around age one.  Jonah smells like a wet puppy if he's outside for more than 5.7891 seconds.  He has bad breath in the morning.  Long gone are the mild breast-milk diapers, and in their place we have the most disgusting solids and teething loose stool combination diapers ever.  Oh for the sweet baby smells again...

12. I am happiest in my marriage when my husband and I are actively, regularly, praying together.

http://www.southernmadephotography.com/

Prep Work - Just Do It!

 I have noticed and learned lately that the better I, or my husband, or anyone for that matter, prepares for something ( a task, a meal, a sermon, a lesson, a trip, etc), the better the outcome usually is.

As a teacher, most of the good lessons I taught came from being prepared.  When I had all the materials ready, the technology ready with a single 'click', the script in my head, and the objectives on the wall and explained to the students, I taught a better lesson, the students LEARNED more, and I was less stressed.  Now, as a parent, I am learning the same principle applies.

When I take the time to prepare meals in advance (mostly consisting of cutting all veggies and making sure I have all ingredients needed), it really helps me to accomplish more and be less stressed during cooking and at meal times.

When I read my Bible and have quiet time in the morning, I am preparing myself to be a kinder, more loving wife and mother with the influence of my Savior.  When I prepare our household for big events the night before - making sure everyone bathes and picks out clothes, and the diaper bag is packed - we are much less stressed in the morning trying to leave the house. I have watched my husband prepare for a message or sermon for 3 weeks and totally nail it, or throw something together the day before and blow it.

When I was pregnant with Jonah, I wanted to have a natural labor and delivery, so I had to prepare mentally and physically for it.  I walked a LOT, did some yoga and pilates, and read several books and articles about it. I wrote down encouraging scriptures, had my husband write me encouraging notes, and we hired a doula to help.  It was totally worth all that prep work!  (You can read about his birth story here Jonah's birth) I wanted to breast feed, so I took a parenting class, read articles, and talked to other women who knew about nursing.  Jonah wasn't the greatest nurser because he was so easily distracted, but other than that, it went pretty well, for the first solid seven months, anyway.

When I taught exercise classes (mostly Les Mills), I had to know the choreography well to teach each class.  On days when I didn't have to think so hard about what came next, because I was well-prepared, I could lighten up, have fun, joke a little, sing, dance, encourage, and give better instructions for how to do the exercises.  I knew I had to prepare to be a good instructor.

I am viewing exercise now as preparation for our future.  We are preparing ourselves to be healthy parents, to age well, to be able play with our kids for many years to come by staying active now.

I'm not saying I'm an expert at this by any means.  We still have plenty of stressful, rushed, hectic days where I sit back and say, "Why did I not prepare better for this?" We often miss Sunday School because it's just that difficult to get 5 kids and 2 adults out the door in time.  So don't think we live in this pristine preparation bubble.  Oh No, I want to be real and honest and tell you that we don't.  However, I can tell you 100% of the time that we prepare ahead for things, they go exceedingly better than the times we do not.

This week, we are preparing to go on a big trip, bringing all the kids to Alabama for sort of "Summer Vacation."  I am about to be entrenched in laundry, cleaning, and packing, so that the day we leave, we will be less stressed and it will all go smoother.  Prep work isn't easy, but I have learned in numerous situations that it is completely worth the effort.

Jesus prepared his whole life for his ministry, and continued to pray and meet with the Lord to prepare himself daily.  Our pastor preached a phenomenal sermon around Easter on how Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane was a preparation time for him to be fully surrendered and ready to go to the cross.  He sweat blood during those prayers - he did the preparation to get himself ready to be the sacrifice, so that during the trial, the beatings, the mockings, the torture, and agony, he could continually draw on that strength and peace he had established in the Garden.

What do you need to prepare for today, so that you will be better tomorrow? It's worth it my friend!

Funny Moments

Yes, that's my baby!

Trying to remember/capture some of the funny times amidst the more difficult ones...

One morning I gave Other Baby quite a big handful of cheerios on the high-chair tray.  When baby was full, baby started throwing them on the floor, and I kept saying, "No! No throwing food!"  John turned around and looked at the tray and said, "Whoa! How many did you put on there!?"  I paused, a little frustrated because I was also trying to feed Jonah at the same time, and so I sarcastically answered, "63. Exactly." He laughed and helped to pick up the ones baby had thrown.

Things we have said to the babies, more than once:

"NO! We don't bite our friends!"

"NO! Do NOT put your hand in poop!" (Mid-diaper change)

"Please don't pull my hair...NO! No hair for you!"

"Ouch! Don't poke me in the eye!"

"No, you can't put your fingers in my nose."

"NO! We ride the motorcycle, not stand on it!"

Standing on the motorcycle

"Stoooooooop Cryyyyyyyyyyyying!" (Not that it ever works, but in desperate moments you say it anyway)

"We don't eat socks."

"Get OUT of the toilet! Yucky!"

"Noooooo...Windex is not for babies."

"No, mommy is eating that, you cannot put your hand in it."

"Please don't do that while I'm trying to feed you." (Think "Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah" noise because mouth is open and hollering while the hand is hitting it over and over to create sound stops/starts, which creates great frustration for the parent trying to put food therein.)

"NO! Don't puke!" (This sometimes does work - the element of surprise can stop them if they're just gagging a little)


Then there are the things John and I say to each other:

"I call -Not It- on that diaper."

"If you're going to be in there a while, take a baby." (referring to restroom trips)

My partner in crime

Jonah already finds all bodily functions to be humorous.  When we laugh, or sneeze, or burp, or pass gas, he laughs like its a great joke.  He's ONE.  How much worse this is going to get with time, I can only imagine!

Then there's the little jokes we have with the teenagers, occasionally.  The oldest boy frequently lets us know how he feels "trapped" and like a "slave" although he really has a lot of freedom here. Their main issues are that they can't have cell phones, and they can't get on social media stuff (facebook, etc), and they can't just come and go as they please, so we often get this, "See, if I was at home..." story/complaining business.  I understand, I do, but it doesn't make it any Less annoying.  One day he announces at dinner, "I'm a slave. This place is just like a big plantation."
John - "Really? How is that, since you don't do hardly any work besides keeping your own room clean, you do get paid an allowance, we don't own you at all, and this place doesn't make any money.  This is a NON-PROFIT organization."
Kid - "OK, then I'm a sharecropper."
HAHAHAHA! Yeah.  We had to laugh so we wouldn't get mad and super annoyed at the ingrate.

Our most recent funny moment was tonight because we ran out of gas in the Ford Flex.  I have owned many vehicles.  I love and have fully respected all vehicles we've had that are Toyota and Nissan.  I'd like a Honda someday maybe.  I drove a Ford Contour in High School, and now one of the village vehicles is a Ford Flex.  I'm sorry if you're a Ford fan, but after these 2 vehicles, I AM NOT.  I really dislike Ford manufacturing.  The "Found On Road Dead" acronym seems to fit perfectly.  The Flex said "26 miles to empty" when we pulled out of the driveway to pick up the kids from VBS, less than 5 miles later, we had to pull over as the car ran out of gas.  Major bummer at 8:45pm, in the rain, with 2 babies and 2 teenagers.  It was super annoying, but looking back, it's kind of funny, because I had just told John, "We should just get like $2 of gas here to make it into town." and he was like, "No, it still says 10 miles, we'll make it." Not so, my darling.  Oh well.

A nice, but somewhat intoxicated country stranger stopped and drove John about 2 miles back to the house to get the other vehicle and the gas can.  There was some pushing of the vehicle to move it to a safer place off the road, and we left the flashers on, locked it, and left. We then had to drive into town to get gas in the little can, and buy a funnel from Wal-Mart because the gas tank spout on the Flex makes it impossible to pour gas in from anything remotely easy.  I was just thankful that we had literally just fed the babies and changed their diapers before we left, so they weren't bad at all, and the one time we leave the house without the diaper bag, it wasn't a big deal.  It was funny/hot to see John unhook the car seats and move the babies - still-strapped-in-to-their-car seats from one vehicle to the other and re-install the car seats in the other vehicle.  It was funny because it was so awkward looking with the babies still in their car seats looking around like, "What the heck?" and it was hot because I know those things are super heavy.  Jonah weighs almost 30 pounds now (yeah, he's a chunk!), so our little sumo man and his big-kid car seat is crazy large to just be pulling up and moving around like cake.  Go strong hubby!  Then John was so silly all the way from Wal-Mart back to the Flex, making goofy noises in the funnel like a teenager.  I sat in the back with the babies and kept kissing and tickling them to keep them awake so they would take their bottles and go to bed like normal when we finally got home.  Not a bad night. Ahhhhh, good times.

I know I'm not super funny, but Ilana, a working New York mama, is hilarious on her blog over at Mommy Shorts if you need a laugh, although she does use some profanity.  I'm going to try baby mugging very soon!