Monthly Archives: January 2017

mommyhood

Things Toddlers Say

Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday, all! Glad to bring you a few funnies! EK has been spending a lot of time with her grandmother – since her grandfather has been out of town this week, she’s been good company, so I have less funnies from her, but she’s been fulfilling her familial duties! Enjoy the humor I do have, and hopefully I’ll have some more next week!

EK to Hubby: I love you as much as Jesus loves you!
Hubby: I try to love like Jesus does, babe.

Me: How was your day, bud?
J: Great, my darling poop!
Me: *giant eyeroll*

EK, holding the note I put in her lunchbox: Did you make this for me?!
Me: I sure did!
EK: Well, that is just the sweetest!

EK: Let’s go home and have hot chocolate! Except the baby can’t have it cause it’s too hot.
J: What if we could put an ice cube in it?
EK: That’s a great ideer, J!
A minute later…
EK: Ice is twenty thick, mom.
Cue the rabbit trails.

J, after he turned a toy onto the Spanish mode: Fantastico! Fantastico!

As our friends pulled out of the driveway…
J: I already miss our family.

J to our friend with a week-old baby: Did you put your baby back in your belly? Let me check if you did.

At zero dark thirty, J stumbles into my bed, crying and wailing: I want my mittens! I can’t find them! Give me my mittens!
I go downstairs to find out he has indeed been searching for mittens in the middle of the night.

Getting up from their naps…
J: *yawn* Good to see you, EK.

EK singing the second verse of Away in a Manger: The kwattle are lowing, the baby awakes…. and stay by my cradle till morning last night.

J has been throwing mini-tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants. They’re short, but quite intense, flinging himself to the ground and kicking his legs, etc. Some things he tantrums about: candy canes, snow, mittens, boots, brothers, moms, jelly beans, gummy vitamins, shopping carts, naps, you get the idea. Then today (yep, toddler Tuesday) he threw the biggest tantrum I’ve ever seen. It lasted 30+ minutes, began in the grocery store check out line (where all the employees know us and see us several times a week) and finally calmed down as we pulled into the driveway. His grandmother drug him out kicking and screaming to the car so that I could pay for the groceries. Y’all, it was ugly. More on that later.

Hope you’ve enjoyed your Tuesday! I’ll just be over here, wishing we weren’t out of school again tomorrow. Yikes!

faith, mommyhood, pregnancy, siblings, women

A Letter to My Third Child 

Leave a comment

This is a post I wrote a few weeks before D was born. It was up on Mom Babble for a while, and I only just remembered I hadn’t ever published it here. It’s such a sweet memory for me, especially now that he’s 16 months old, running around, beginning to talk, and generally being more self-sufficient than my other two were at this point in their lives. It’s sweet to think of the anticipation I was feeling when he wasn’t quite here yet. I hope you enjoy it.

My sweet little D,

I’m getting really excited for you to get here. There are just nine weeks left until you’re due to arrive, and I already wish I could just see you next week. Mostly, I’m excited to meet you, see what you look like, and introduce you to your crazy siblings. Also I’m getting uncomfortable, peeing all the time, and sleeping less than ever. But mostly I want to meet you.

I know you’ve been in my womb, hearing the squeals and shouts and cries and songs of your family. We may be a loud bunch, but we’re a good one, too. We love big, and we show it often. When you get out here, you’re going to feel the love from all the kisses and hugs you get from all of us. You might also get a love tap or seven from J, but it’s just because he can’t wait for you to be big enough to wrestle him. EK will probably want to choose your outfits and give you bottles and push you in the stroller. I promise to help you look like the boy that you are instead of a princess, and only let her push you fast once you can handle it.

You gave us a scare, when you were just the size of a lime. I took some tests that made us think you weren’t healthy, that you might not make it. Well, you sure showed us! We should have had faith in you and in God, and known that you would be fine. But we had a couple of hard, sad weeks, praying for your safety. You were loved, prayed for, and longed for, even then. We can’t describe how much more you are right now, and how much more you will be once you’re in our arms.

I am sure you will be every bit as amazing as your dad and your siblings. Strong, smart, handsome, musical, hilarious, snuggly, and compassionate… those are things you’ve got going for you. I know it must seem like a tall order to such a little dude, but you’ve got a little while to grow into it.

I hope you don’t mind sharing all those things (and all the other things ever) with your siblings. You’ve got quite a bit of third-hand clothing and toys, in various stages of worn-in. But you know what? There is one thing that you get brand new, just for you, that you never have to share with anyone:

My love.

You see, I have a lot of love. There is plenty to go around. I’ve got a special love for your Dad, that only he knows about. I’ve got a love for EK that’s just for her, shared between this Mommy and her daughter. I’ve got a love for J that will also be different than my love for you; he is a special guy. The love that I have for you will be a special thing that you and I will share. The love I have for exactly you will be special between us, and it will never run out or grow weary. I get all my love from the most inexhaustible source imaginable; I get all my love from Jesus. One day, you will know Him too. You can already have His love – everyone has it. He loves us all with a big, awesome love that we can hardly understand.

Always remember: you’re brave, smart and kind, you can do anything you set your mind to, and I will always love you.

Love,
Mama

books, faith, home, mommyhood

Currently – The New Year’s Edition!

4 Comments

I can’t believe it’s 2017! We are here already, friends, and this year is waiting for no one. After a year of what many are calling “bad luck” (or something worse), I’m ready for a fresh start… and that means the first Currently update of the year! Since it’s the first of the month as well, I’m linking up with Anne In Residence, and Jessica at An Immeasurable Joy. Here’s what I’m currently up to!

Gathering || storage devices and ideas. Every January, I’m overwhelmed at the stuff we accumulated at Christmas. Most of it was either needed (new clothes, for instance), or really wonderful things my kids are loving playing with (this year, it’s dress up clothes). But just making sure that the kids are able to (help) put it away, or that I’m able to keep it organized so I don’t lose my mind when someone asks, “Where is this item?” is imperative for their playtime and my sanity. I’m always looking for hacks on this topic, so fire away if you’ve got some!

Making || a routine and a schedule. I used to love planners when I was a student, but I let them fall by the wayside after college… and my first iPhone. However, EK picked one out for me for Christmas (it happens to be a Lilly one, yay!) and now I’m really excited about using it! I’m going to splurge on a set of nice colored pens, and get to scheduling!

Sipping || Hot, spiced apple cider with a splash of bourbon. It’s been my recent drink of choice, because I love warm drinks in the cold. My friend Mary Catherine introduced me to the phenomenon, and I can’t stop. The spiced cider at Trader Joe’s is yummy (and comes in a huge jug) but I’ve also been happy with the smaller jars I’ve found at Lowe’s Foods.

Resolving || to read more (for pleasure) in 2017, as well as get deeper into the Scriptures. I’ve long been making excuses about why I don’t have time to do these two things (small kids, mostly) but it’s time for me to plan in some quiet moments for both. I’ve always loved reading (I wrote a little about this resolution here) so I’m excited to add that in. And spending more time in the Word is something I always say I’m going to do, but the seasons of actually doing it ebb and flow for me. I have weeks where I am great about it, and weeks where I am not. So I’m praying that this year, I will be able to find a routine in which I can keep up with both.

mommyhood

Things Toddlers Say 

Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday, y’all! Hope you’re enjoying 2017 so far! Here are just a few highlights from the past week in the lives (and mispronunciations) of my kiddos… enjoy!

EK, 100x a day: J! You’re unnerrupting!

Going through the line at McDonald’s…
EK and J: Almond Donald’s had a farm! E I E I O! And on that farm he had a poop! E I E I O! With a poop poop here, and a poop poop there! Here a poop, there a poop! Every where where where where where!
Hubby and me: *silently dying of laughter*

Watching The Sound of Music, when Maria is conversing with the Reverend Mother…
J: What’s this part?
EK: Maria’s just talking to her grandma.

EK: Can you plug the tree lights in?
Me: Why don’t you do it?
EK: It’s too hard.
J: I’ll do it!
EK: Well, I got it started for you!

Me: Ahh! He almost spilled my wine!
EK: Well its right there if you need it.

Mid-argument, EK to J: Do you think I do not have eyes?!

J, in a high-pitched voice: May I pwease have a tiny, little bit of candy from my stocking, pwease? (He’s been working on his vocal inflection, specifically when asking a question.)

EK, holding a bouquet of flowers: Daddy, can you water these up?

J: *drops a piece of bread into his soup* Look! It turned into chicken!

At bedtime…
Hubby: All right, good night, J.
J: Daddy, wait!
Hubby: What’s up?
J: Happy new year, Daddy.

Hubby: How’s that bread EK?
EK: Well, I don’t like the taste of it. (Said in a way that implied nothing else was wrong with it.)

At the doctor’s office for a check up, and our doctor was just telling us he was all finished…
J: Doctor? You’re the best doctor.
Doctor: *chokes up a little* You just made my year! How about I give you a few tokens to get a prize? How many do you think you’d like?
J: One. Or two, so I can share with EK.
Me: *dies*

Well, there you have it. Adorable and hilarious children. What have your kids been talking about recently? Any Christmas or New Year’s funnies?