So I go to the washer to remove my last load of the night, open the lid and to my surprise and kenfewshen, I see white, shiny crystals all over the fleece blankets and everything else. I'm like what in the ……. world is this? I removed part of the load and there we have it, most of the innards of a Huggies brand pull-up stuck to the side of the washer. The rest was intertwined into the fabric of every item in the washer. Now, after doing tons of housework ALL day, I have to take everything out, dig out the remains of the demoslished toddler training pants, and rewash everything.... everything!
That means another 30 minutes for it to finish washing, then and only then put it in the dryer. Why me! Why didn't it work out the way I planned? Aaaaaarrrrggghhh!
How did I make it through? Humor and Grafefulness
I had to laugh at how funny the "stuff" looked in the washer. And it made me think of all the times (just a few right?) when I saw those "crystals" on my boy's bottom because the pull-up was left there a tad bit too long. And I was grateful that all of the other GOOD things had happened throughout the day and the weekend, to make up for frustrating ones like these.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Whistle while you work - July 31 Part II
The naps for the three mouseketeers were out of sync today but two of them did sleep simultaneously. More R - E - L - I - E - F. While Monte and Ja'el slept, we watched Moriah build some sort of machine with her blogs and listened as she described to us exactly how it works and how she came up with the idea using her imagination. That was really nice to see.
After their naps when everyone was awake we tuned into some internet old school "jams" and cranked up the external speakers on the computer. We remeinisced, laughed, and danced while we worked in the family room and kitchen. That was fun!
Then it was back to work, cleaning the tub, kids bath time, dryoffs, dressing in bed clothes, cleaning up toys AGAIN, bedtime routine, then our final Kiss, Hug, and Love (in that order) for the night. They wouldn't have it any other way.
The last load to wash for the night was the kids blankets for naptime at school. After that I could quickly toss them into the dryer, kiss the kids goodnight, go through my cooling down routine (More R - E - L - I - E - F) quietly drift off to sleep and wake up at 5:30 after having a full eight hours of sleep.
After their naps when everyone was awake we tuned into some internet old school "jams" and cranked up the external speakers on the computer. We remeinisced, laughed, and danced while we worked in the family room and kitchen. That was fun!
Then it was back to work, cleaning the tub, kids bath time, dryoffs, dressing in bed clothes, cleaning up toys AGAIN, bedtime routine, then our final Kiss, Hug, and Love (in that order) for the night. They wouldn't have it any other way.
The last load to wash for the night was the kids blankets for naptime at school. After that I could quickly toss them into the dryer, kiss the kids goodnight, go through my cooling down routine (More R - E - L - I - E - F) quietly drift off to sleep and wake up at 5:30 after having a full eight hours of sleep.
Long Weekend - July 31 Part I
We had a very long weekend. Good, but long. Friday night we hung out at my parents' place for a couple of hours. The kids always love to hang out with either of their grandparents. It's free entertainmnet! Plus we get to share with them, stories of funny things that have happened throughout the week. And it's just good to spend time with parents, since we're so fortunate to have them.
When we returned home, the kids were all sleep! They went to bed and Jeoff and I watched a movie. Cool! It had been a while. R - E - L - I - E - F
Saturday, we attended an end of summery party at the Montessori school where the kids now attend (I love the things they're learning there). There were tons of parents and family members there and dishes from lots of different cultures (Indian, American, Soul Food, Mexican,..)
The Pre-K Four and Kindergarten classes danced on stage to a couple of Elvis tunes and Moriah impressed us doing The Twist with her partner, spinning and twirling. It was entirely cute.
That evening was Saturday night service, and after getting all the kids checked into their classes I was able to go in and relax and let go of all of my burdens from the day and the week! R - E - L - I - E - F
We spent most of the day on Sunday cleaning up, washing pounds and pounds of clothes, folding and "starting" the put away. How many clothes do these people wear in one week?? Goodness!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Sometimes do you miss being by yourself?
Part 4 of 4 in a dialogue I recently had with a friend.
Question: Sometimes do I miss being by myself?
Answer: NEVER
ABSOLUTELY NEVER
Not because I was lonely, but because now that we're in this union, I need him and I wouldn't be right without him. The time window, before we were married, I DIDN'T NEED HIM, nor does a single person NEED SOMEONE in that sense. Because during that window - GOD FILLS THAT VOID when you let him. And when you move into the window of being married, the spouse as well as GOD fills the void. When you're single, He provides what you need through his Holy Spirit, the comforter, through someone else, .....within his will of course. (I was rambling here. It's a paste from an IM discussion I had with my cousin)
Note: I do understand that there's another way to look at this question my friend asked (thanks for pointing that out Pam).
To rephrase it...... Do I ever wish I had more quiet time for myself? Yes. But I understand that will take some effort on my part (to plan it ahead of time i.e. coordinate with my husband's schedule, get a babysitter, etc.) so I can have more quiet time for myself.
I still wouldn't say that I miss being by myself though. To miss something means to long for it. That I do not. (I know that may seem anal. My husband says something like 'I'm always breaking down sentences and questions to the literal meanings of words and stuff'. Maybe it's just because I just like words!) :-)
We all see through different glasses and filters though, based on our temperament and life language. That (what I have written here) is my perspective at this season in life.
Question: Sometimes do I miss being by myself?
Answer: NEVER
ABSOLUTELY NEVER
Not because I was lonely, but because now that we're in this union, I need him and I wouldn't be right without him. The time window, before we were married, I DIDN'T NEED HIM, nor does a single person NEED SOMEONE in that sense. Because during that window - GOD FILLS THAT VOID when you let him. And when you move into the window of being married, the spouse as well as GOD fills the void. When you're single, He provides what you need through his Holy Spirit, the comforter, through someone else, .....within his will of course. (I was rambling here. It's a paste from an IM discussion I had with my cousin)
Note: I do understand that there's another way to look at this question my friend asked (thanks for pointing that out Pam).
To rephrase it...... Do I ever wish I had more quiet time for myself? Yes. But I understand that will take some effort on my part (to plan it ahead of time i.e. coordinate with my husband's schedule, get a babysitter, etc.) so I can have more quiet time for myself.
I still wouldn't say that I miss being by myself though. To miss something means to long for it. That I do not. (I know that may seem anal. My husband says something like 'I'm always breaking down sentences and questions to the literal meanings of words and stuff'. Maybe it's just because I just like words!) :-)
We all see through different glasses and filters though, based on our temperament and life language. That (what I have written here) is my perspective at this season in life.
Does your husband ever get on your nerves?
Part 3 of 4 in a dialogue I recently had with a friend.
Does he get on my nerves?
Yes but you do too, and I still love you right? - just kidding -
It just happens. It's the human part of us. You might relate to the fact that some of the very things you LOVED about your spouse when you fell in love are the same things that get under your skin later. But we have to understand that that's love. If it all stayed "perfect" that would be fantasy. The fact is we are emotional beings. As I learn how to submit my negative, ungodly emotions to Christ, it becomes much much easier to love the way Christ loves.
Does he get on my nerves?
Yes but you do too, and I still love you right? - just kidding -
It just happens. It's the human part of us. You might relate to the fact that some of the very things you LOVED about your spouse when you fell in love are the same things that get under your skin later. But we have to understand that that's love. If it all stayed "perfect" that would be fantasy. The fact is we are emotional beings. As I learn how to submit my negative, ungodly emotions to Christ, it becomes much much easier to love the way Christ loves.
Do you and your husband argue?
Part 2 of 4 in a dialogue I recently had with a friend.
Do my husband and I argue?
Of course yes!!
It be HEATED sometimes!!!
But just as we argue passionately, we love and support each other passionately and we come out of whatever storm we were into!
Cuz we know it's the FLESH! and we know (and realize later) that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood!'
He's not my enemy! Satan is.
But Satan tries to convince men and women that we're each other's enemy. He hates marriage and any other union that is created by God.
Note: Don't get me wrong. We're not crazy people yelling and cursing at each other. But we do have highly passionate discussions sometimes when we are trying to get our points across. No we don't let the sun go down on our wrath! Most of the time we end up laughing about it right after! Or soon after. Did I tell you abou the car trip to Houston about 5 years ago, that we will NEVER forget???? It was up down up down up down LOL
The most important part is that it ends. And how it ends. My husband does a very good job of taking an aerial view and pointing us back to our true Peacemaker, to resolve the issues.
Do my husband and I argue?
Of course yes!!
It be HEATED sometimes!!!
But just as we argue passionately, we love and support each other passionately and we come out of whatever storm we were into!
Cuz we know it's the FLESH! and we know (and realize later) that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood!'
He's not my enemy! Satan is.
But Satan tries to convince men and women that we're each other's enemy. He hates marriage and any other union that is created by God.
Note: Don't get me wrong. We're not crazy people yelling and cursing at each other. But we do have highly passionate discussions sometimes when we are trying to get our points across. No we don't let the sun go down on our wrath! Most of the time we end up laughing about it right after! Or soon after. Did I tell you abou the car trip to Houston about 5 years ago, that we will NEVER forget???? It was up down up down up down LOL
The most important part is that it ends. And how it ends. My husband does a very good job of taking an aerial view and pointing us back to our true Peacemaker, to resolve the issues.
What's it really like being married?
Part 1 of 4 in a dialogue I recently had with a friend.
Question: What's it really like being married? A lot of my friends have dysfunctional relationships and sometimes i wonder if i want to get married...i do, but its easy being single.
Answer: Regarding the friends with dysfunctional relationships....we have friends like that too and without the Holy Spirit, ours would be!
That's not so say the couples whose marriage ends up suffering do not know the Lord. I'm only sharing what I believe has helped us and still does. Practical things that we have been encouraged to do...and we share that with others in hopes that it would help them as well.
Since we've been married, we've tried to place ourselves around other Christian couples -- for accountability, to give to and receive counsel, and to see that we're not the only ones who have challenges.
Unfortunately, the friends who I've seen that end up REALLY going through and getting separated, or divorced are the ones who did not have that kind of accountability in their lives or had it and lost it (or moved away from it). That's one thing that I have valued about Covenant because they stress that soooo much even the pastors are part of a small group (we call them Life Teams at Covenant).
Disclaimer: For anyone reading this and you are going through a difficult time in your marriage, there is hope. Regardless of what has gone on in the past, the Lord is able to restore. There have been times in our relationship where I felt the situation was impossible (in the natural) to resolve. But when we both surrendered the situation to him, and humbled ourselves before him, He truly became the strength we needed and turned things completely around. He can do the impossible! To the wife who is in a situation that seems to be hopeless, you feel you've surrendered but he has not, I'm not a specialist in that but those who I have know who have faced it --- found great comfort, wisdom, and direction in a good Bible based counselor who walked them through this difficult season of their life. I've seen miracles even in those situations!! Don't give up.
When I said, without the Holy Spirit, our marriage would be dysfunctional.... I said that because we are two stubborn, spoiled, youngest children who like things their way, want to have attention, want to be catered to, don't particulary like correction or people giving advice when we think we have the better answer, aren't QUICK to serve one another, .... the list goes on.
But at the same time, we both Love God, fear God, and honor marriage and our commitment to Him above ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING ELSE. We know that without the Holy Spirit we would have hit or shot each other many times in the past, left and never came back, you name it. (I know that's a little extreme but you get my point.) So to prevent that LOL, we decided at the beginning (with advice given at a premarital session at Preston Wood *highly recommended), --- that we wouldn't let a year go by with out going to some type of marriage conference, retreat, workshop,etc. And we haven't let a year go by without that.
Sometimes we go to three or four. You don't go when you start having major problems, you go to prevent them and learn how to deal with conflicts. One of the conferences we attended, the minister (Jimmy Evans) talked about the importance of depending on the Holy Spirit and how without doing so, we would be the total opposite of what were are called to be.
That's who we give credit to.... the Holy Spirit of God!!
So what's it like? It's tough. But each day we die to ourselves, we add another day of life to our marriage!
Question: What's it really like being married? A lot of my friends have dysfunctional relationships and sometimes i wonder if i want to get married...i do, but its easy being single.
Answer: Regarding the friends with dysfunctional relationships....we have friends like that too and without the Holy Spirit, ours would be!
That's not so say the couples whose marriage ends up suffering do not know the Lord. I'm only sharing what I believe has helped us and still does. Practical things that we have been encouraged to do...and we share that with others in hopes that it would help them as well.
Since we've been married, we've tried to place ourselves around other Christian couples -- for accountability, to give to and receive counsel, and to see that we're not the only ones who have challenges.
Unfortunately, the friends who I've seen that end up REALLY going through and getting separated, or divorced are the ones who did not have that kind of accountability in their lives or had it and lost it (or moved away from it). That's one thing that I have valued about Covenant because they stress that soooo much even the pastors are part of a small group (we call them Life Teams at Covenant).
Disclaimer: For anyone reading this and you are going through a difficult time in your marriage, there is hope. Regardless of what has gone on in the past, the Lord is able to restore. There have been times in our relationship where I felt the situation was impossible (in the natural) to resolve. But when we both surrendered the situation to him, and humbled ourselves before him, He truly became the strength we needed and turned things completely around. He can do the impossible! To the wife who is in a situation that seems to be hopeless, you feel you've surrendered but he has not, I'm not a specialist in that but those who I have know who have faced it --- found great comfort, wisdom, and direction in a good Bible based counselor who walked them through this difficult season of their life. I've seen miracles even in those situations!! Don't give up.
When I said, without the Holy Spirit, our marriage would be dysfunctional.... I said that because we are two stubborn, spoiled, youngest children who like things their way, want to have attention, want to be catered to, don't particulary like correction or people giving advice when we think we have the better answer, aren't QUICK to serve one another, .... the list goes on.
But at the same time, we both Love God, fear God, and honor marriage and our commitment to Him above ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING ELSE. We know that without the Holy Spirit we would have hit or shot each other many times in the past, left and never came back, you name it. (I know that's a little extreme but you get my point.) So to prevent that LOL, we decided at the beginning (with advice given at a premarital session at Preston Wood *highly recommended), --- that we wouldn't let a year go by with out going to some type of marriage conference, retreat, workshop,etc. And we haven't let a year go by without that.
Sometimes we go to three or four. You don't go when you start having major problems, you go to prevent them and learn how to deal with conflicts. One of the conferences we attended, the minister (Jimmy Evans) talked about the importance of depending on the Holy Spirit and how without doing so, we would be the total opposite of what were are called to be.
That's who we give credit to.... the Holy Spirit of God!!
So what's it like? It's tough. But each day we die to ourselves, we add another day of life to our marriage!
Do you think you all will have more children?
It may be too soon, but are ya thinkin’ about rounding it out to four? …maybe get another little boy?
Remember I mentioned earlier I met a lady recently who has nine children?. I would love to keep going after three and have even more, we just have to get to the place where we know for sure we're going to move forward.
This part might sound lofty or something but it's really how I feel -
The Lord gives us children to be a heritage and for us to teach them the ways of God so they can grow up and impact his kingdom. When I think about having more children to increase my contribution to that, it's very exciting. There are two types of people in the world.... those who have accepted Christ and are children of God and those who have not yet done so. Those of us who have are called to share Christ with those who don't know him. So the more people who know him, the more there are who can go out and share him with others.
So the real part of that of course is wondering how hard it would be to manage them all, will they get lost in a big family and not get enough individual attention, how much money it would cost to raise them and live "comfortably," and yes how much it would cost to put them through college. Those are lots of things to consider but in my mind they are only temporal things. When I'm thinking very spiritual, my thought is this - I should never make the decision on whether or not to have another child based on anything in the natural. Regarding managing a bunch of little ones, ..that time passes, they grow up and before you know it those little ankle biters turn into stable mature individuals who bring you rewarding grandchildren and big family reunions! Regarding all of the financial aspects, the fact to the matter when I think spiritually, is that God will provide for every need we have. The mother who I met who has 9 children told me that everytime they had a child they received a financial increase. It got to the point that they would get excited when they found out they were pregnant because they knew God was going to give them a raise in some way!
Having said that, I still don't know.
Remember I mentioned earlier I met a lady recently who has nine children?. I would love to keep going after three and have even more, we just have to get to the place where we know for sure we're going to move forward.
This part might sound lofty or something but it's really how I feel -
The Lord gives us children to be a heritage and for us to teach them the ways of God so they can grow up and impact his kingdom. When I think about having more children to increase my contribution to that, it's very exciting. There are two types of people in the world.... those who have accepted Christ and are children of God and those who have not yet done so. Those of us who have are called to share Christ with those who don't know him. So the more people who know him, the more there are who can go out and share him with others.
So the real part of that of course is wondering how hard it would be to manage them all, will they get lost in a big family and not get enough individual attention, how much money it would cost to raise them and live "comfortably," and yes how much it would cost to put them through college. Those are lots of things to consider but in my mind they are only temporal things. When I'm thinking very spiritual, my thought is this - I should never make the decision on whether or not to have another child based on anything in the natural. Regarding managing a bunch of little ones, ..that time passes, they grow up and before you know it those little ankle biters turn into stable mature individuals who bring you rewarding grandchildren and big family reunions! Regarding all of the financial aspects, the fact to the matter when I think spiritually, is that God will provide for every need we have. The mother who I met who has 9 children told me that everytime they had a child they received a financial increase. It got to the point that they would get excited when they found out they were pregnant because they knew God was going to give them a raise in some way!
Having said that, I still don't know.
How do I feel physically? After the childbirth?
I feel fat! I had started gaining wait even before I became pregnant with Ja'el and at that point I like the way I looked in my jeans! Finally I had some hips. But after she was born, I weighed even more than I did before which itself was more than what I was used to. So I'm having to try to figure out how to work into my schedule, time for walking, running, ab exercises, swimming going to the gym or something.
I need to give up cokes and sweets again which I had successfully done before (during the beginning of pregnancy) but I haven't been able to shake it this time. At least not yet!
I have more energy when I drink more water, take my vitamins, and when I pray at night and in the morning. So that's really up to me and disciplining myself to do so.
Like in the last 24 hours, Jeoff had to work 7p-7a so I took the kids to church and volunteered in Monte's class, bathed them, got clothes and bottles ready for the next day, read a devotional, sent some e-mails, woke up at 6, read a devotional, bathed them again, gave them cereal, did their lotion and skin cream, dropped them off at school and got to work by 8am.
But I can tell you that IS ABSOLUTELY NOT what happens every day. I can also tell you though, that the days that I pray and read from the word or a devotional that includes his word, I feel like I can do 10x more than without it. Does that make sense? My problem for a while has been that my prayer and devotional time ebbs and flows. There are things in our lives that should be allowed to do so, but not our prayer and devotional time. I'm speaking to myself here.... How else should I expect to get through each day and all of the frustrations that come and go, if I don't submit to him everyday and give him my problems...... not try to take them on in my own strength.
For now I'm just rejoicing in the days that I do surrender it all to him and he MOST DEFINITELY comes through and is faithful to provide the strength I need when I'm weak.
I need to give up cokes and sweets again which I had successfully done before (during the beginning of pregnancy) but I haven't been able to shake it this time. At least not yet!
I have more energy when I drink more water, take my vitamins, and when I pray at night and in the morning. So that's really up to me and disciplining myself to do so.
Like in the last 24 hours, Jeoff had to work 7p-7a so I took the kids to church and volunteered in Monte's class, bathed them, got clothes and bottles ready for the next day, read a devotional, sent some e-mails, woke up at 6, read a devotional, bathed them again, gave them cereal, did their lotion and skin cream, dropped them off at school and got to work by 8am.
But I can tell you that IS ABSOLUTELY NOT what happens every day. I can also tell you though, that the days that I pray and read from the word or a devotional that includes his word, I feel like I can do 10x more than without it. Does that make sense? My problem for a while has been that my prayer and devotional time ebbs and flows. There are things in our lives that should be allowed to do so, but not our prayer and devotional time. I'm speaking to myself here.... How else should I expect to get through each day and all of the frustrations that come and go, if I don't submit to him everyday and give him my problems...... not try to take them on in my own strength.
For now I'm just rejoicing in the days that I do surrender it all to him and he MOST DEFINITELY comes through and is faithful to provide the strength I need when I'm weak.
How’s it going with three children?
Another response to a question from a friend:
"
With three with three with three. Let me first say that I met a lady a few weeks ago who has nine kids! I used to feel like I really had it tough with three, until I heard how many she had. That made me feel like "quit trippin' about your three!" Like "you need to just 'man up'. It's not that bad.
But I have to realize that because they're doing it with 9, doesn't mean 3 is not still hard. And just because I'm doing it with 3 doesn't mean 2 is not hard for someone else and 1 is not hard, etc. etc. I could go on.... Just being married with no kids ...... being engaged ... being single!!!
So let's see, aside from the fact that it's fun, it's rewarding, it's wonderful to see how much they look alike and how many things in their looks are unique from each other...and so on......
It's tough going places with the three of them when it's just me. When I have to go to the grocery store, or God-forbid the mall. Grocery store is okay if I'm not there for long and they have a basket that seats Monte and Moriah. Then I can put Ja'el in the basket part and get a few groceries and pile them around her or have Monte and Moriah hold the overflow :-)
Discipline is the other hurdle that we're working on. Monte is going through his two year old challenging stage. It seems like he's coming to the latter part of it though thank God. For a while he used to take off running whenever we would go out side of the house, out in the foyer at church, going in and out of their school, ...almost everywhere. One time I went to the mall and I had to get one of those backpack things with a strap so I could hold onto him while I pushed the stroller with Ja'el and also watch Moriah. (I didn't have the double stroller available at the time because I didnt' get it out of storage in time for the trip I was taking to the mall. Poor planning on my part. But the backpack thing worked pretty well.)
Oh and there was the first trip to the doctor's office with all three of them. Bad decision. But I learned a lot from it. It was Ja'el's two week visit. Moriah and Monte stayed home with me for a few weeks to save money from paying day care. Getting out of the car and going into the doctor's office was fine. The waiting room wasn't even bad. It was walking down the hallway to the "patient room" and chasing down "the boy" and keeping him from getting into stuff. Once we got into the room and he and Ja'el had been weighed and measured, I had to sit down in the patient room with Ja'el in my arms and try to keep him and Moriah under control with only one hand. I had not done enough prepping with them to instruct them on how they should behave in such a situation. And what really made me mad was when the nurse practitioner or whatever her title was came in and started talking with us and doing their exams,and after seeing him be all over the place and not listen, she would call his name and look in his eye and follow the "text book rules" for speaking to a toddler get him to say "ok" It made me feel like she was trying to prove that this is the way you talk to them, what you're doing is not working. Whatever. She was partly right though. The reason I didn't do what I would have normally done in private was because I felt I would look and sound like a crazy woman. I'm learning now to speak differently to them when disciplining them. In a way that will be acceptable in public and also in private. I still fail sometimes but I'm working on it!
I could go on... "
"
With three with three with three. Let me first say that I met a lady a few weeks ago who has nine kids! I used to feel like I really had it tough with three, until I heard how many she had. That made me feel like "quit trippin' about your three!" Like "you need to just 'man up'. It's not that bad.
But I have to realize that because they're doing it with 9, doesn't mean 3 is not still hard. And just because I'm doing it with 3 doesn't mean 2 is not hard for someone else and 1 is not hard, etc. etc. I could go on.... Just being married with no kids ...... being engaged ... being single!!!
So let's see, aside from the fact that it's fun, it's rewarding, it's wonderful to see how much they look alike and how many things in their looks are unique from each other...and so on......
It's tough going places with the three of them when it's just me. When I have to go to the grocery store, or God-forbid the mall. Grocery store is okay if I'm not there for long and they have a basket that seats Monte and Moriah. Then I can put Ja'el in the basket part and get a few groceries and pile them around her or have Monte and Moriah hold the overflow :-)
Discipline is the other hurdle that we're working on. Monte is going through his two year old challenging stage. It seems like he's coming to the latter part of it though thank God. For a while he used to take off running whenever we would go out side of the house, out in the foyer at church, going in and out of their school, ...almost everywhere. One time I went to the mall and I had to get one of those backpack things with a strap so I could hold onto him while I pushed the stroller with Ja'el and also watch Moriah. (I didn't have the double stroller available at the time because I didnt' get it out of storage in time for the trip I was taking to the mall. Poor planning on my part. But the backpack thing worked pretty well.)
Oh and there was the first trip to the doctor's office with all three of them. Bad decision. But I learned a lot from it. It was Ja'el's two week visit. Moriah and Monte stayed home with me for a few weeks to save money from paying day care. Getting out of the car and going into the doctor's office was fine. The waiting room wasn't even bad. It was walking down the hallway to the "patient room" and chasing down "the boy" and keeping him from getting into stuff. Once we got into the room and he and Ja'el had been weighed and measured, I had to sit down in the patient room with Ja'el in my arms and try to keep him and Moriah under control with only one hand. I had not done enough prepping with them to instruct them on how they should behave in such a situation. And what really made me mad was when the nurse practitioner or whatever her title was came in and started talking with us and doing their exams,and after seeing him be all over the place and not listen, she would call his name and look in his eye and follow the "text book rules" for speaking to a toddler get him to say "ok" It made me feel like she was trying to prove that this is the way you talk to them, what you're doing is not working. Whatever. She was partly right though. The reason I didn't do what I would have normally done in private was because I felt I would look and sound like a crazy woman. I'm learning now to speak differently to them when disciplining them. In a way that will be acceptable in public and also in private. I still fail sometimes but I'm working on it!
I could go on... "
How’s it going with the new baby?
A friend asked me this question yesterday and after sending her the e-mail response I decided to post part of it in the blog.
"It's going pretty good. The first couple of months were tough of course. I think the worst part of that time period was trying to make car trips with the three of them. You know how some babies (a lot of babies) get quiet when you get in the car and get going? Well much of the time she was just the opposite. Sometimes when I would get to the light and stop she would get quiet and then when it came time for me to go and get on the highway or whatever, she would start screaming. And sometimes scream until we got to where we were going.
When we're riding in the Camry, Moriah sits in the middle so she can be on pacifier duty and make sure she at least has that as an option, for calming down.
Sometimes I (or all five of us) had to stop at the service station or somewhere and get her out of the seat and hold her for a while so she'll calm down. Sometimes it was because she needed to burp again. Who knew?? Maybe I just wasn't as in tune with the needs of this stage as I was with Moriah and to a certain extent with Monte.
So how's it going now? The car rides are much much better. She coos a lot more now and she burps much more easily, so she's much happier.
At night she's sleeping for longer periods of time, but she's starting to suck her two middle fingers (next to the pinky) to get back to sleep. I would much rather her nurse during that time to keep up my milk supply and provide her with much better nutrients but sometimes I'm so tired or in the middle of trying to complete some chore that I let her continue. Or if it's in the middle of the night now, I don't realize that she woke up and did it. Before she would wake up and fidget and I would hear her and would get her and nurse her. I realize that she doesn't wake up because she's hungry but nursing at night gives her more closeness with me and gives her more nutrition, immune building, etc. So since she just started doing this in the last week it's frustrating."
Status Report - July 27, 2006
Here's my status report for this point in this season in life. Just a quick one. Hopefully the future ones will be in more detail.
Age: 34
Married 6 years, one month, and three days!
Three children: Ages 4, 2, and 3 1/2 months
Occupation: QA Analyst / Contractor
Industry: Financial Instituion
Ministry: Jeoff and I recently moved from a leadership role in the Young Marriage Ministry to focus more specifically on the path to the call that God has for us.
We are currently enrolled in Covenant Church's - Covenant Training Institute - in the School of Ministry. We completed the first year and are about to enter into our internship year. I will be interning in the Children's Ministry, with specific focus in the areas of Music - Drama and Dance, and Jeoff will be enterning in the Worship Arts Media Department of the ministry.
Age: 34
Married 6 years, one month, and three days!
Three children: Ages 4, 2, and 3 1/2 months
Occupation: QA Analyst / Contractor
Industry: Financial Instituion
Ministry: Jeoff and I recently moved from a leadership role in the Young Marriage Ministry to focus more specifically on the path to the call that God has for us.
We are currently enrolled in Covenant Church's - Covenant Training Institute - in the School of Ministry. We completed the first year and are about to enter into our internship year. I will be interning in the Children's Ministry, with specific focus in the areas of Music - Drama and Dance, and Jeoff will be enterning in the Worship Arts Media Department of the ministry.
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