Why we LOVE Sundays

One of Daniel's family traditions, that dates back almost 20 years, is a huge family dinner every Sunday. During their peak, it included Daniel's family (5 total), his grandparents (2), and his Aunt Mary Jo, Uncle Chris, and their 7 kids. Can you imagine? I was lucky enough to get in a whole year of action before we got married when I was living in Houston. We have lost some members since then, but now that we live in Houston, we are able to partake again. Unfortunately, our beloved cousins will be moving at the beginning of the summer, so I am thrilled our two girls get to make some memories before these huge functions come to an end. Not that Sunday dinners will stop, but with the Kenny's gone, it definitely won't be the same.

These Sunday dinners definitely make Sunday everything it should be -- worship, resting, and spending quality time with family. I can only hope my girls (or at least Emily) will have some memories to take away from them. Inevitably, something funny always happens. Whether it is banter at the dinner table or Emily attempting to breastfeed her duck at inopportune times, we always go to bed with a huge smile on our face. Here is a glimpse of the joy Sunday dinners bring to Emily. Despite the horrible phone quality and low lighting, the squeals should speak for themselves as Emily is pulled around on a sled.

Multitude Mondays - Week Sixteen

I am slowly feeling like I am getting on top of things around here. You should see my organizational binder. It's a little crazy, but when I am organized, life seems to run smoother, you know. So much to share, including Emily's first day at Mother's Day Out. I will tell more about that later, but she couldn't have had a more wonderful time. They said she is a natural, which is not surprising because I loved school (and still do... I wish I could be a professional student) more than most people.

Multitude Mondays on an actual Monday? CRAZY!

290. how festive the house feels with Christmas decorations (which are now down, but where up when I noted this)

291. a plus to Daniel working nights - catching up on quiet time/things around the house

292. seeing a Camp Lejeune friend in Houston -- it warmed my soul

293. our Christmas tree

294. first year putting lights outside the house

295. getting in the habit of waking up early (this has been on ongoing battle since I wrote this blessing a month ago... prayers)

296. lunch with good friends

297. heaters (a new heater, as a matter of fact, that the old homeowner purchased for us!)

298. seeing Christmas presents under our tree (a first, since we have always spent Christmas in Texas while living in NC)

299. watching Emily cultivate friendships with other little kids

300. Emily wrapping her body around mine as she crawls in bed

301. Hearing, "Thank you, Mommy" without prompting

302. getting our dream house for this stage in life

303. seeing how much Olivia loves Emily

304. eating leftovers -- one less things for me to do

305. co-coloring with Emily (a common request of hers)

306. being close to cousins -- Emily going to their Nutcracker performance

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.