Pardon the absence

I have to say, I love motherhood. It sure isn't boring, and it is never the same thing. It is full of constantly changing seasons. Right when you get it down, it changes again and there is something new to tackle. Some seasons are easy and you think you are the best parent in the world, and some seasons make you question the type of parent you are. I feel like a parent can only be judged by the height of the crisis they face. I have also learned that whatever you are going through is a phase and it will pass.

Both of these things have been on the forefront of my mind recently because I am going through one of those tough seasons. I just feel all discombobulated. I never feel like I have enough time to do anything and it always takes me at least an hour to get out of the house, which leaves me all flustered. Then, there are the kids... Olivia has been such a crier since she was born. She has never really known how to play by herself. She wants to be held all the time, but sometimes a mom has to get some things done around the house, so she ends up crying at my feet, or crawling around the house after me while crying. Add to the situation a toddler who now likes to say "mommy" 5 times every minute (not even joking), even for the most mundane things, and you have a very stressed out person. I have never been so mentally exhausted before. Not to scare anyone off without 2+ children. I guarantee you that this is just a phase that is so worth it for the joy every extra child brings to your life. Like everything else, this too will pass.

Parenting has definitely made me grow like nothing else before. I honestly don't know how I would get through this without my faith, though, because sometimes, that is the only thing that gets my heart in the right place when confronted with two challenging kiddos. Motherhood has been such a refining experience. I'm not drowning right now, but my head is barely above water. Please forgive me as I take some time to try to get things together. I think I need to pull out my organizational binder (it is sorta scary) and get back on top of things. I love New Year's resolutions, so I need to get that list together, as well. Everything has sort of fallen by the wayside recently. For someone who loves to cook, I have scrambled for a meal every night the past couple of months. If you know me, you know something is very wrong. The one thing I did start for this new year is reading through the Bible in 90 days. As you can imagine, it is a huge challenge, so between that and this crazy life, it might be a while until I am back.

Hope you had a stupendous start to the new year. I know I did!

Experiencing the good life

I cannot even begin to tell you how much food Olivia eats. I quickly realized that baby food was not enough for her, so she recently moved to table food. I had been feeding her easy things, but the other night, she finally participated in her first family dinner. It was so crazy to look around the table and see everyone eating the same meal. I love seeing this family grow!

They are here!

She sure is growing up fast!

Quiet time

I love when the Lord places things I need along my path.

I have really been thinking a lot lately about how I need to be more intentional with my quiet time. Geez, things were so easy in college. No responsibilities and nobody to answer to. I had all the time in the world to read my Bible, Christian-based literature, and just pray. I could easily spend a couple of hours immersed in that kind of quality quiet time with the Lord. Not that I want to be back in college, or anything. I love all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon my life in the past four and a half years. Life has just gotten busier and finding time to commune with the Lord alone sometimes feels non-existent. I get to a new phase in my life and then when I finally figure out how to schedule time alone, things get turned upside down and I am in a new phase. Not to blame anything on my Lamaze instructor, but I was doing so well until she said that you will start getting really tired the end of your pregnancy and that is just your body's way of preparing you for childbirth. I was having my quiet time while Emily took her nap, but after she made this comment, I felt like I needed to sleep during that time to rest up. Because of course, sleep is the most important thing I could give to my children versus a stronger relationship with the Lord. Oh, the lies that Satan feeds us...

I have realized recently that the only way to schedule my quiet time is to do it before the children wake up. With two kids napping on various schedules during the day, many days are spent with one kid awake at all times. The only way I can be intentional and consistent with my quiet time is to plan it when both kids are guaranteed (okay, not necessarily) to be asleep -- in the morning. I have been thinking hard about this for the past couple of weeks while I have been squeezing in my time alone with the Lord at various points in the day. Then as I was blog hopping in attempts to waste valuable sleep time (something I am a pro at) I came across a plan for me to get out of bed in the morning. It is nice to know I am not the only ridiculous person who needs a plan to wake up and have quiet time. Do you know how amazing that feels? Actually, it has been a common realization recently. It appears that many mothers have walked in my shoes in all aspects of my life. (Who would have thought?)

Anyways, I am now finding encouragement to get out of bed and start my day off right with the Lord. It is good to know that others who can't wake up have changed their ways. It gives me hope. We will see how this goes...

Partying like it's 1999

I am reminded daily of many of the reasons why I married my husband. Very rarely I forgot one of the many reasons, but when something reminds me, I fall in love with Daniel all over again. I was reminded recently of Daniel's passion for themed parties. He couldn't cut up a pair of his old jeans fast enough when he found out about a friends 80s themed birthday party. I guarantee you, they would have been WAY shorter if I hadn't been there to monitor.

Oh, and his dance moves! I forgot how great they were. I honestly stood in the corner for the first 30 minutes of the dance party thinking, "I can't believe he is mine!"

Daniel's hand is in an awkward place -- he is not groping me. Definitely not a picture to put up on the living room wall, yet the only one taken of just the two of us in a long time.

So glad we convinced Chris to come with us. He is such a great friend and he, also, comes along with amazing dance moves.

Houston = Civilization

The army wife I met when I moved to Houston came to me via a mother's group in SW Houston. The group is an online community of stay-at-home parents that plan all kinds of activities. I had been hanging out with her for a while, but had yet to attend and actual event. A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I met up with the other parents at Hermann Park to ride the train, have a picnic lunch, and play on the playground. It was really a wonderful day and we met some great people! Emily knew exactly where we were (right next to the zoo) and was talking about elephants the entire time. My military ID has yet to expire, so I figured we might as well stop in and say hello to the animals while we were in the area since it was free. It was a perfect way to spend the day, but after all the activities, I did not want to leave the house for a couple of days. I really need to start taking advantage of the zoo. We live so close, and with it being free still, it would be a shame to pass up amazing trips there.

It took quite a bit of coaxing, but Emily eventually crawled through the tunnel at the fish exhibit. She loves fish. I wonder where she gets it from.

Emily was very insistent on keeping the tickets in her pocket. She would pull them out about every minute, wave them around, then ask me to tuck them back in. Kids are funny.

Note to self: Noon to 1pm is the perfect time to hit up the zoo. All the animals were talking their naps right by the viewing areas. I have never seen so many zoo animals in plain sight before.

We had to stop and take a picture for Uncle Lucas who hates snakes about as much as Daddy hates spiders.

Multitude Mondays - Week Fifteen

266. Books that renew me, especially motherhood books

267. Coming to the realization that I can't think I can control things with kids in my life

268. Understanding that a perfect house may not be in the best interest of my family right now

269. How my past experiences have shaped me

270. A simple morning of getting things done around the house while a cousin plays with the girls

271. Being in a bigger house

272. Starting up my new journal. It's so pretty!

273. Daniel's love for dressing up in costume

274. Cooler weather after Houston's horrible heat

275. Kindle for Mac (see blessing #266)

276. Moms groups that get your connected

277. Getting in free at the zoo (thanks military id that has yet to expire!)

278. Tahoe dying in driveway (versus somewhere in town)

279. our dear friend Chris Berg who is full of wisdom

280. Christian music and how it nourishes my soul

281. blog hopping which led to a great needed resource

282. deer meat being processed

283. that Daniel can provide for our family more than monetarily

284. How accessible our Macbook is

285. The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

286. Not having to wake up for Black Friday unlike last year

287. the peace that comes with being on top of Christmas shopping

288. finding the perfect play kitchen for the girls

289. hearing Cathy Garcia-Pratts speak -- mother of 10 boys ranging from 35 to 17

So close to posting on a Monday!