Monday, September 24, 2007

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Well, four years ago today Tom and I embarked on this exciting and challenging journey of parenthood--it has been an adventure! Today Zachary celebrated his fourth birthday and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. He is such a sweet, caring and thoughtful little boy! When I asked him today how it felt to be four he said, "Well now I am big and I can help you cook and do laundry!" Such aspirations! I promise I did not put those ideas in his head! I don't know what prompted those thoughts but we sure laughed! We celebrated his special day yesterday with a party that included lunch, games, cake (he had been asking for a CARS cake all last year and was quite excited with this one!) and gifts. I know it meant a lot to him to have his very own party and so many loving birthday wishes. Ellie and Ethan love their big brother and had fun celebrating his big day as well. Thank you to all, both here and those far away, for making his day so special! We are excited to see what this next year holds and cannot believe how fast the time has gone! Happy birthday little man, we love you and are so thankful for you!

















Tuesday, September 18, 2007

More Toddler Talk...






Here's few good ones from this past week...

Zachary: "If Ethan keeps being mean at me I'm not going to be his brother anymore! Ethan, I'm not your brother anymore because you won't stop being mean at me." Ethan, pouting, replies,"But why? Me want to be your brother."

Zachary: "Ethan, pretend you are old because if you are old you don't need money anymore." (Not sure where he got this idea from)

Ethan: "Bye-bye. Thank you for using the alligator (referring to the toy he was pretending was an elevator)."

As I was nursing Ellie this afternoon, Ethan looked at me and said,"Mommy when me little like Ellie, me eat you too."

Ethan: "Mommy when you get little you can take bath like Zatry and Ellie and Ethan and daddy can wash you hair."

As Ethan was playing with his little plastic vegetable toys, his little make-believe dialogue went like this, "Hello corn, me carrot. Hello carrot, me corn." So cute!

More next week!

Andrea


Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Solace of Home

Hello All,
Well I have say on this post that I am so thankful to all of you who responded and encouraged me to persevere in the blogging world. I have taken your exhortations to heart and I will keep this blog and post when I can :-)

Today was an intense day to say the least. I am learning everyday the humility that is wrought through parenting. I remember when Tom and I first were married, imagining what life would be like with children and resolving that there were just certain things that I would not allow my children to do. Now some of those things remain in tact and are honorable aspirations; however, many of my ideals have since passed by the wayside and I am seeing more and more that there are certain aspects of life with children that just happen, despite your best efforts to be a faithful, responsible and loving parent. This was our day...

We began the morning early as usual. The boys were excited because we had told them last night that we were going to a new church this morning that was far away (New Life Presbyterian in Philly). I had ironed all our clothes the night before so as to offset some of the chaos that always accompanies Sunday mornings in our house. Nevertheless, the morning was still a little stressful as Ethan was tired and refused to eat his breakfast.

We managed to get out the door mostly on time and arrived at a local church parking lot where we were meeting up with others also going to this church. Upon our arrival, we told the kiddos that we were going to stay in the van while Daddy went to see when we were planning to head out. It didn't take long before we realized that we would not be leaving right away, so Tom told the kids they could get out. They began running around the parking lot and eventually climbed back in the van to play. While all this was going on, Tom and I were trying to watch the kids and maintain conversations with people we had just met for the first time. Out of the corner of my eye I saw our van move slightly and thought for a split second that the kids were jumping around inside. It did not take long before I realized the van was moving in reverse!!! I yelled and ran over to the van immediately shouting at Tom to help. He quickly ran to the front seat where Ethan was seated and "driving" the van! AHHHHH! Tom, recognizing that he had left the keys in the van, was not too hard Ethan but reprimanded him... and thus began our day. Praising God for his mercy and protection, we headed out to Philly and I could feel the growing nervousness in my stomach as to what the day would be like with three little ones, no naps and a rough beginning to our little excursion.

To my surprise the kids did okay...until lunch. At lunch Ellie was quite tired and finally fell asleep. I carefully placed her into her infant seat not wanting to buckle her in so as not to wake her. Bad choice. I kept a careful eye on her but when both of the boys accidentally spilled their lemonade all over the table and I was cleaning it up, Ellie decided to wake up, wiggled her way out of the infant seat and landed on the floor under the bench that her seat was next to (her infant seat was already on the ground so she did not slip far--but still!!!). As I was trying to clean up lemonade, I see several people run over to where Ellie's car seat is to rescue her and at this point am feeling like a complete failure as a parent. Overwhelmed with my kids and annoyed at my husband (which was not his fault because he was trying to help), I smiled and thanked those around me for their assistance and tried to display some level of composure while inwardly feeling quite unraveled. We wrapped up with lunch, said our goodbyes and left for home. The ride was quiet as all the kids were quite tired from their misadventures and Tom and I were likewise quite exasperated.

We came home and I experienced a solace that can only be felt when one feels as unsettled as I did today. I wonder if that is just a glimpse of what it will feel like when the Lord calls me Home. The sensation was one of relief, security and familiarity. It was great to be home again. The kids were wonderful the rest of the evening and now here I am typing, anticipating crawling into bed and getting some rest.
Overall, the day was not a complete failure. We were tremendously blessed by the worship service at the church we attended. We got to spend the day fellowshipping with faithful saints and we had several meaningful conversations along the way. God certainly gave us grace today and reminded me that the goal of raising children is not to demonstrate to the world that I have it altogether. I clearly do not. Still, by His mercy, I know He will be faithful to give me the patience and strength that I need for tomorrow to love my children and teach them to obey and fear God.
In closing, it is days like today that remind me of the constant ache we all feel for our heavenly Home. We search for comfort, security and rest in the familiarity of our earthly homes but in reality this is only a glimpse of the repose of the soul that we will experience when we are united with Christ in Heaven. As I end this day, I am reminded of Isaiah 40:11 where Isaiah writes, "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."

As I begin this week, I look ahead to the gentle and sustaining care of my God. Goodnight and more posts to come...




Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Ellie's Debut

The Meaningful in the Mundane...


Hello. I am debating whether or not I should keep this blog since it is sorely neglected and I feel like there is never enough time to keep up on my posts...I guess it is what it is for now. Anyway, this one's for you Abby (she gently chided me for not posting more often :-))

Today was one of those days where very few thoughts of significance ran through my mind (although my morning started with Psalms reading at a friend's which was very significant and convicting). I came home to Zachary and Ethan requesting breakfast every other minute. First it was eggs, then it was oatmeal and then Zachary decided it should be pancakes. I decided to go with eggs, much to his dismay. Then Ethan had an accident and stomped in the puddle of pee he made on the floor. Then we did preschool. Then Ethan had an accident. Then we went to the store. We came home, the kids played so nicely and I reminded Ethan to go to the bathroom. Five minutes later, Ethan peed on the floor. Can you catch the reoccurring theme of my day? Hmmm...I think potty-training is overrated. Nevertheless, I will persevere because last week he did so well!

I am also thinking that the abundance of shallow thoughts that have been swimming around in my foggy head is the result of 4 1/2 months of no sleep. Will Ellie ever sleep through the night? I should do a poll on that! Maybe tonight will be better...but I doubt it!

Still, at the end of the day, I love being a mom and I love being a part of all the little mundane things that occupy our days...even if I don't always feel like I love it! Zachary said to me today, "Mommy, every day Daddy has to go to work but you have to stay here with us. I want you stay here with us because I love you!" And that reminds me of the importance of the ordinary events that comprise this season of our lives.

So, last but not least, Ellie requested that she be able to make a personal appearance on this blog and I agreed. Sorry this came out so dark but I hope you enjoy (gotta love the Mohawk and her cute little tongue!)...

Ummm...nevermind it didn't work so check out my next post!


Saturday, September 8, 2007

Toddler Talk-- Part 2

So once a week I will post on silly things the kids have said or done for that week. Here are some of the conversations that took place this week...


Zachary: Did Daddy and Ethan drive to the doctor? Well, they should walk because walking is better because then you can run and go really really fast. It's better than riding a bike cause a bike is hard up hills but when you run you can go really really fast.

Zachary: Hey Ethan, Lightning McQueen won because he is gooder."
Zachary: In the morning Zachary said to me,"Mommy, I went upstairs in my room and Ethan is sleeping. His two hot blankets are on the floor (what Zachary calls Ethan's two warm fuzzy blankets he likes to sleep with) and his feet are freezing so I covered his toes for him but I will finish covering him this afternoon. "

Zachary: "Mommy, I am better now because you took my temperature."

Zachary: While in toy aisle at Target Zachary says, "Mommy, did God make these toys?"

Ethan: "My baby hungry (referring to his Glo Worm which he affectionately calls his baby), me need to feed baby like mommy (as he lifts up his shirt and pretends to breastfeed his Glo Worm out of his tummy). He then proclaims, 'Me not like mommy, me Ethan!"



Ethan: "Where'd your new 'PBS' toy go Daddy?" (Referring to Tom's new Magellan GPS)

Ethan: In response to the question, "What did you like best at the park today?" Ethan responds, "Me like going to the potty and go pee-pee." (Just an aside, this park was so cool! It had this giant web-like thing for the kids to climb, big rock formations, a zip line and all sorts of great things to play on. And what does Ethan like best--the outhouse! Hmm...)

Well, more to come later...I think next time I may put a little video clip of Ellie, just so she can make her debut on this blog.






Have a great Saturday!