Planting roots, raising souls...

Tonight I was washing my hands at the sink. They were covered in dirt from working outside. Isn't it funny how it's often simple little moments and mundane activities that can spur grand realizations?

I was just washing my hands. But as I rinsed my hands in the cool water, I realized that I was so grateful for this big blue kitchen sink. I had scrubbed and scrubbed it when we moved in. I had struggled to reach it with a 9 month pregnant belly. I had stood at it and watched from the window as the clouds rolled in and the pine trees swayed through winter storms. And now, after a long, hot, muggy summer day working in the yard, I washed the dirt from under fingernails.
Standing there- it felt familiar. It felt like home.

Some days it feels like we just moved into this house.
We have been here for nearly 9 months.

Maybe it's that we haven't let the gratefulness die. There isn't a week that goes by that we don't point out how much we love being able to live here.

But my thoughts spiraled from there (as they often do) to how much this home is just a tiny fraction of what I am so thankful for.

This weekend we planted 3 blueberry bushes.  We're planting 3 raspberry bushes next.  And a small little patch of strawberries. We've planted roots. Literally. But it's the roots you don't see that I am most grateful for. It's the invisible shoots that are tying our little family together, bringing us closer and knitting us into something that God wants from us that took me and my little thought world by surprise tonight.

I thought about how God is molding our family with the little functions and traditions and routines that we go through day by day.

We've sown grass seed in our yard, and one memory verse at a time we are doing our very best to sow God's word into our little girls.
We've attended BBQs and picnics and have fed our family in the blissful sunshine a lot lately, and every night before bed, we also feed little souls with cuddles and Bible time.
We've dug holes and filled holes and pulled weeds in the yard, and we've labored in prayer for our children, asking that He might fill in the holes of our parenting and the weeds of sin in each one of us.
In these little things, we're planting roots and raising souls.

I am grateful for the cool water that flows freely from the faucet and for the Father who's Living Water used a big blue sink to encourage my heart tonight.

She's Somebody's Hero

She knew me before I took my first breath.

She knew what foods I craved and what made me kick.

She nourished me every second since she learned of my conception and every second since I took my first gulp of air in this world.

Nourished my body with hers.

Nourished my character by speaking strong words-love words, to build me up and make me believe I was courageous and beautiful.

Nourished my heart by hiding it in hers.

Nourished my soul by introducing me to Him.

Nourished my deep hurts and pains and guided me safely through the turbulent waters of adolescence.

Nourished my wearied and worried and wonder-filled first-time mommy mind.

She doesn't mind my bad moods. Or my arrogance. Or my naivety.
She overlooks my bad habits and my annoying idiosyncrasies.

She sees only good and loveliness and hope and potential and she convinces me, if only for a few moments at a time, to see it in myself, too.

She rocks my babies now. And whispers good things to them. Building them up as she built up their mother before them.

She knew them. She knew them before they took their first breaths.

She's worn many hats and she's tied many shoes and she does it all with alarming beauty and grace and selflessness.

She's my children's grandma.
She's my hero.

I just call her Mom.

Ah, nuts!

Ah, nuts...Nutella that is.

Nutella sure has gotten a lot of attention lately, huh?

Exploding on Pinterest.

Blowing up in the news.

Um, just FYI, HOT coffee from McDonalds is HOT and a CHOCOLATE spread where the first ingredient listed is SUGAR is NOT HEALTHY. I know. Mind.Blowing.
(If you don't know what I'm talking about, search any news site for Nutella.)

Anyhoo, Nutella also got some attention in our house today.

Keith's not home tonight. And our supposed-to-be-sunny and warm day was not sunny. Or warm. Which was actually a blessing.
Before you fellow Portlanders start throwing things at me, let me clarify. I am not one of those un-Godly fascinating people who prefer rain and clouds to beautiful, blissful sunshine. I LOVE sunny days. Particularly warm, sunny days. But I was operating on very little sleep today. Not because of angel baby. She slept (unlike) a baby all night from 10pm until 7:30 this morning. Have I mentioned how adorable she is?

Yup, I know. Cuteness with baby cheeks.

No, unfortunately, my sleep deprivation state was completely the fault of numero uno. To steal a quote from a friend, when it comes to bedtime, I have the self-control of a puppy. Lately it has been worse than usual because my "late" nights have been fewer and farther between. Which also equals to I stay up later to make up for lost "me" time. As in, around 2:45am, I look at the clock, wince, and head to bed. Where I consequently get into bed and realize that I am absolutely FREEZING and feel really guilty about cuddling up to Keith to use him as a human-heater, but do it anyways. I digress.

Today I just wasn't on my game and I knew it. I woke up with a terrible headache. I decided I would WILL it to be a good day despite my exhaustion and the dull throb in my head. I was not about to ruin a perfectly good, sunny day or take out my poor choice on these little faces.

But after dressing us all in shorts and t-shirts and a onesie, the weather turned cloudy and cold. So around 10:30 I up and changed my expectations for our day. Translation: I decided that it was an EXCELLENT day to be a slacker more-flexible-and-laid-back mom.

So we played on the floor. A lot.
I sat and rocked Madi, scrolled through news feeds, and pretended to throw things for my retriever "kitten." Yes, by the way, kittens are excellent retrievers.
I fed them.
I folded a load of laundry while Natalie piled stuffed animals in a semi-circle around Madilyn's head. And then magically 3 hours had gone by and it was naptime. Oh glorious naptime!
After putting Natalie to bed, I took angel baby into my bed where I let her nurse for as long as she wanted while I read. She dozed off and I read. My babies slept for 3 blissful hours while I, yes you guessed it, read.
It.was.marvelous.
Baby asleep laying on my chest and three hours of uninterrupted reading time pretty much sums up a perfect lazy afternoon to me. Despite the persisting headache, I felt SO refreshed after this.

So I decided to make an incredibly nutritious and nourishing dinner.

Or I chatted on the phone with the hubby (who's at a work event tonight) and decided that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sounded pretty perfect.

Any guesses at which one of those is true?

But then, I took my parenting to the next level and decided why stop with peanut butter and jelly? Why not eat peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches for dinner?!
I'm pretty sure this is what Keith heard as I rustled together our gourmet meal..."Hmmm...I wonder which has less sugar- jelly or Nutella? Let's take a look. One tablespoon.....12 grams......Two tablespoons 21 grams.....Ha! I knew it would be less than jelly. AND it has protein. Double score! Chocolate sandwiches for dinner here we come!"

Can I just stop and say that I love my husband for not judging me after witnessing this via telephone? Not only did he not judge me, I think he was actually a little jealous that I got to tell our two-year-old that I made her a CHOCOLATE sandwich for DINNER!

You should have seen her face. Seriously. Many "dank you Mommy, dank you!" comments were involved. It was pretty awesome.

See the wet wipe? What's wrong with my kid? She had to wipe her face and hands after every bite because she's that much of a clean freak. It eventually got so distressing that I just fed her bites.

And this is how I so graciously ate mine.

Yes, right off the cutting board. Look away Judith Martin.

Okay, so before you start linking up a gazillion studies on the effects of poor nutrition and long-term health problems and inspirational quotes on staying organized amidst the daily chaos of homemaking, please know that this isn't exactly a common occurrence.
Laying around all day is not a typical day for me.
I have a to-do list app on my phone that has a systematically scheduled list of everything I do from the daily laundry to the once-every-six-month-smoke-alarm-check. If I could color code it, I would.
I also didn't let anything that wasn't organic or healthy pass by that cute two-year-olds lips until she was nearly 14 months old. We are far, far from where we should be when it comes to healthy eating, but I do KNOW that eating good foods is, well, good. Kinda like I know that hot coffee is, well, hot.

But doesn't everyone need a Nutella sandwich for dinner kind of day once in a while?

P.S.- Crescent rolls + dollop of Nutella: Roll up and bake=a little piece of Parisian HEAVEN. Okay, maybe not truly Parisian. Just put your children in berets and squint your eyes really tight and imagine that tower of laundry is the Eiffel Tower and you'll totally be with me on this one.

Blessed Witnesses

*Meant to post this weeks ago!

The weekend before February 13th was a very normal one.

We took Natalie to Pump It Up on Friday night.

 We went to the zoo on Saturday.

We went to church on Sunday.
And then we witnessed a miracle on Monday.

Did you catch that?

Meet our little miracle:

No, there weren't any complications with labor or delivery.
No, she wasn't rushed to NICU upon her arrival.

She was simply born.

God took a tiny piece of imperfect me

  and a tiny piece of imperfect Keith

 and made this:

A beautiful, adorable, swollen-faced little miracle.

And people still need a sign that there is an all-powerful, awe-inspiring, endlessly-loving God?

Hello world. My name is Madilyn.

Driving Miss Drive-Me-Crazy

I love my kids. I love them like crazy. But sometimes, they drive me nuts.

Today I wanted to run one errand before lunchtime.

One.

If you have/had young kids you know that this isn't something you can just do. It takes pre-planned thought, extra effort, and about 40 extra minutes of what I (un)affectionately like to call "loading time."

So after everyone was fed, dressed, burped, changed, taken to the bathroom, cleaned up, hair done, toys picked up, chores done, pacis found, diapers and wipes reloaded, and I looked presentable enough to go in public without looking like a completely frazzled mess we make it to the door. Not out the door, mind you. To the door.
I am strapping in a screaming, tired infant into her car seat and repeatedly asking my two year old to "please put on your boots. No, don't touch that, that's yucky! Please get your boots on. Here's your coat- put your arms in. Please stop twirling so we can get your arms in. Please get your boots on. Don't give her the paci unless you ask me first please. Natalie Nicole get your boots on! Will you please just get your boots on?!

Deep breaths...

Out we all go into the driveway.
Baby in. Still screaming. Little Miss Natalie is admiring the neighbors flowers.

Deep breaths...

Everyone's loaded and buckled. Baby's sucking contentedly on her paci.

"Mommy my music?"
"Not right now baby."
"Why?"
"Because Mommy doesn't want any music right now baby."
(Translation: If I have to listen to silly songs right now something or someone may get chucked out the window.)
"Why?"
(Maybe if I just ignore the question...)

"Mommy where we go now?"
"The dollar store."
"Why?"
"To buy some things."
"Why?"
"Because we need squirt bottles and a small trash can."
"Why?"
"To clean with and to put dirty wipes in."
"Why?"
"So we can keep our house clean."
"Why?"

Deep breaths...

"No more why's today baby. You can ask why tomorrow."
"Why?"

"Ask your Daddy."

B is for Back on Track

Um, not sure how this didn't get posted...since I wrote it back in April...

Yes, after a nearly eight month hiatus, we are back on track with our alphabet scriptures. This week we've been learning all about the letter B. Our verse is "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 16:30
Today we read all about Barnabus and how he showed Jesus love by sharing with others. We've kept it pretty simple otherwise- coloring bears, butterflies, and balloons.

Besides singing our verse to a tune (this week's was to the tune of "Oh Be Careful Little Eyes") we've also been singing the alpha friends songs. This week's was Benny Bear.

I didn't do a great job at taking picture of our B crafts, but here is "Rapunzel" with a background shot of the fridge with a couple of our B activities.

Cute things I want to remember...

Cute things Natalie says right now...

Surprises-
Natalie: "Mommy, pize you..."
Translation: "Mommy, I have a surprise for you..."
Usually with her head cocked to one side and her hands behind her back holding her "pize"

Sharing the love-
Natalie: "ah too!"
Translation: "I love you too!"

Name Game:
Natalie's version/Translation
Belle/Belle
Rella/Cinderella
Mimi/Minnie
We-ah-wah/Mickey (there's a story behind that one...)
Ah-Why/Super Why
Jay/Jake
Bah-ee/Barbie
Pun/Rapunzel
ella or ey-ya/anyone whose name she can't say =)

Question Time-

Wat dat?

And another couple favorites-


When told she needs to do something she doesn't want to do sometimes instead of saying "NO!" She'll slump her shoulders and say "Whyyyyy, Mommy, Whyyyyyy?!

And when happily surprised to see something (no matter how big or small) she'll raise her eyebrows, smile, and say "What?! What?!"