Dave and I are leaving today (with Selah Grace too ;o) to attend a care group leader's retreat, hosted by our church. We are looking forward to a wonderful time to be with friends and to fellowship and be refreshed.
Thanks to Jeremy and Rachel Ellis and Ashley Taylor, who are taking time out of their busy schedules to care for Mckenna. We are so grateful for you all!
I'll try to take some pictures while we are gone and post an update on our trip when I return.
People often ask me if I am enjoying being a mom. I tell every one of them, it is the most wonderful thing I have ever done as well as the hardest. And it's so true! Nothing is more exhausting, draining and physically demanding with no sign of a break. It's a 24/7 job. But at the same time, nothing is more rewarding! Few joys can compare to the smiles I receive from my little girls or having my toddler run up to me and grab my neck in a huge embrace. Then there are the cute little things that Mckenna says that make me want to squeeze her...her little random sayings like, "I love you," or "whatcha doin' mom?" Yes, the midnight feedings are hard, but never does little Selah Grace cuddle into my neck like she does in the middle of the night. I love the smell of her baby skin as she drifts back to sleep on my shoulder. Sometime very soon she will be sleeping through the night, but then I will probably miss those quiet moments in the night to cuddle her. On those mornings when I am so tired and Mckenna is ball of energy, firing question after question after question, I sometimes am tempted to give up. BUT never will her voice be so high and sweet. And one day she won't need to ask all those questions and I will miss them.
There are moments when I am longing for 6 straight hours of sleep, or a few hours to casually run some errands, or even an hour to curl up and read a good book. But I would not trade the joy of being able to stay home with my children and having the privilege to transfer the gospel to them for any of those things. Yes, I love being a mom!
Today while waiting for my tuna melt in the oven to....well, melt, I picked up a little person who was asking, as she frequently does, "hold you, mom?" I asked Mckenna if she would always let me hold her and snuggle her, even when she was big. She responded with a big YES! So, I thought I should probably record this one!
Anyway, during our little snuggle time (still waiting for my tuna melt), I snapped a few shots to remember the moment.
Mckenna is always saying such cute and fun things! So, I decided I should probably start recording some of her little sayings.
Today is an especially windy day here in Maryland. And according to Mckenna we have some busy clouds! We were driving home today from a friend's house and Mckenna started shouting,
"Look Mom! Where are they going?" It took me a second, but I realized she was looking at the sky, so I asked,
"The clouds?" She said,
"Yea, where are they going so fast? I think they are going to work, mom. Yea, they are going to work!"
Hope you are enjoying this beautiful fall day!
It is amazing what laundry can reveal in me! I think the Lord is after something. Yesterday our only 1-year-old washer decided it didn't want to work anymore. It was in the middle of a cycle. I was getting a code on the front of it. So, I took out my handy troubleshooting guide to interpret the code. It meant something was wrong with the drain hose. It said to check and see if it's clogged, kinked or not mounted correctly...that's all it said...no more instructions or hints. So, I was able to find the hose, but it is completely attached to the washer. There were no instructions on how to TELL if it's clogged, and what in the world does "kinked" mean? And how do I know if it's mounted correctly? Little help was that. So, I then went to check when we purchased it last year, hoping that maybe our warranty was still in affect. Turns out, it just expired 2 weeks ago! So, with soaking wet laundry (white essentials!) and a puddle of water still in the washer, I called Dave who said to wait until he got home to do anything.
Up until this point I was doing ok with it, but after coming home and looking at it, Dave too could not fix it. Then I started to feel the anger rising inside and was not even appreciative of Dave wanting to help me wring out the wet laundry.
So, this morning this Scripture came to mind: "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." Ps. 16:5-6. Even if my "lot" for this week is laundry mishaps, well, it is a pleasant place because the Lord is at work in my heart in the midst of it all. So, I can rejoice at this!
I am so grateful that my sister is so close...tonight you could have found me at my sister's finishing up my white load in her washer and dryer. How often she comes to the rescue! I have much to be grateful for!!
Today we headed off to the pumpkin patch with our friends, the Sheffers. They spontaneously joined us as we searched the field for just the right pumpkins.
Mckenna had a great time being with her friend, Karis.
The two of them are only about 2 weeks apart in age.
My two girls with our pumpkins!
Well, Dave was right, as he usually is...but I guess I was just in a hurry as I tried to muli-task about 10 different things at the same time. I am sure all you moms can relate to this story and I have to say that I am already laughing about it...Ok, let me back up. Our day around here has been busy and a little crazy as usual. I got the girls up a little later this morning as they were both so quiet and I took the opportunity to have a little longer quiet time. Well, we then had to hurry a bit to get out the door to go grocery shopping. As today was also going to be laundry day, I dragged all the hampers to the basement, in between bites of yogurt. Then as the baby is screaming, I throw a load in and then feed her as I munch on a banana all while instructing Mckenna to get her shoes on so we can go. Last minute, Kel graciously offered to take Mckenna while I went (thanks kel!!!).
Once I got home with both girls, we unloaded the packages and Mckenna wanted something to eat. So, grabbed her some grapes and tried to just get the perishables in the fridge...baby starts crying again, oops, must be feeding time. We accomplish that and I again return to try to get the perishables in the fridge. Taking some items to the downstairs fridge, I see all the piles of laundry still there. "I can throw another load in before I go back upstairs," I think as Mckenna is in tow behind me. However, it's also almost time for her nap...but I think that it will only take a second to get a load in. Then I notice there are two white shirts sitting out from last week that probably need a touch of bleach to take out the spot on them.
Backing up again in time...over the past week I have been trying to pick up some clothes for the winter as I'm still in transition with sizes after having the baby. Haven't had much success as my shopping trips are a little hurried (only have a few hours before coming back to feed the baby). However, I did get one shirt this past weekend. I really love it. And it's what I am wearing today. So, back to my story. With my brand new JCrew shirt on, I think, "just a dab of bleach, no problem." However, at the same time I also remember how Dave is always telling me that I should change my clothes when working with bleach! But with my perishables not yet put away yet, Mckenna needing a nap, etc. etc....I drag out the bleach. Well, with little hands and fingers in the way and a clumsy mom, you probably already have guessed what happened. Yep, my brand new sea green shirt is now adorned with white spots. When it first happened I almost cried. But I know there are many lessons to be learned from this!!! Most importantly, my husband is a wise man and I should always change my clothes when working with bleach!
Often when Mckenna wakes up from her nap she likes to cuddle with her little sister. So, I'll lay Selah Grace down next to her. It's so cute!
Here is a clip of when Mckenna met Selah for the first time. It has only taken me 4 months to figure out how to get this on my blog. With much help from Dave, here it is for you to enjoy!
This was announced to me as Mckenna came downstairs decked out in her leopard pants, flower sun hat and purse in hand. She was quite the sight!
This little article came to me at a perfect time. I have not posted for some time because we have had a our fair share of sleepless nights lately. Little Selah has not been sleeping so well, so our days have been a little tough. But just when I was having thoughts of, "I'm not sure I can do this anymore" or "I knew it would be hard, but had no idea how tired my body can be"...this landed in my inbox. If you are a mom or even just know precious little ones, please read and be encouraged (here is the link):
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2006/09/dont_blink.html
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