Sometimes

Sometimes I forget how old she is. She seems so much older. We hold such grown up conversations. She is growing up so fast. She is so smart and funny. She always surprises me.

But then on nights like tonight when:
~She climbs up unto the dresser and gets into her big sisters lip gloss and uses it as lotion...and makes herself look like the joker.
~Drags a Rubbermaid container out of the closet (when I'm in the other room nursing) and uses it as a stool so she can squeeze/eat a tube of tooth paste.
~Closes her bedroom door, locks it and turns on the fan to poop in her pants. When I try to enter she tells me to go away because she isn't finished yet.
~Finds poop on her blanket because she put it there. (so nasty)
~Cries because I need to wash her blankie.
~Gets out of bed fifty times (Oh why, oh why, can't she be like the other kids and just GO TO SLEEP...Oh and yes I just had to stop typing because Claire got out of bed again. She told me that she wanted to "watch Ice Age the Dinosaurs." What in the world!)
~Has one hundred excuses at bedtime, "I'm thirsty." "I need my tissue." "I need to go potty." and the list goes on.
~Tells me that she wants diapers for Christmas.

And then I remember...

She is still only two! It's a good thing she is so cute. :) When she looks at me with those pretty blue eyes and says, "mommy hold you." I pick her up and she folds herself in my arms and I sigh! Oh I love you sweet girl...even if I am wondering if you are too old to put back into a crib. {grin!}

Play-Doh

(One of Anna's Play-Doh creations)

Play-Doh and I have a love-hate relationship. I love how it keeps my children entertained for extended periods of time, and cultivates creativity. But, I hate that I find it's little snibblets all over the table, kitchen floor and living room carpet (despite my best efforts to have it kept at the table).

I'm just say'n. :)

Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

Don't try this at home

Apparently Go-Gurt is not for adults (or at least not this one). This is what it looked like when I tried to eat one of the kids treats...I'm not really sure how it happened but it ended up all over my face. (The pic was after I had scraped some of it off.) :) The kids were very amused and thought it would be funny to take my picture. So being the self respecting mom that I am... I obliged. :)

Seriously?

After my last post on my sleep deprivation antics, I am beginning to think that lack of sleep is really an issue with me! :) I have yet another thing to blog.

I have been sick the last few days with a nasty cold that included chills, body aches, runny stuffy nose, etc. I still feel pretty crummy tonight but I have things that need to be accomplished. I have to say being sick as a mommy is one of the hardest things. It's hard to get the extra rest you need. Anyway, I set everything up to make granola bars for tomorrow. We are out and I usually pack them in Bill's lunch. I discovered when I went into the pantry that we are out of oats. Ugh! I certainly didn't feel like running to the store at 9:30 for oats, but since we did run out of tissues (I would just go without tissues except that a few of us have runny noses. We could just use toilet paper but we are running low of that too, and I would rather not run out of that and have to drag 4 kiddos to the store tomorrow while I'm not feeling well), I figured I might as well go.

I managed to get in and out of Wal-mart in record time. I actually remembered everything I needed, which is amazing because I didn't have a list (maybe it helped that I kept repeating the things I needed over and over in my mind until I got to Wal-mart), and half the time I forget something even when I do have a list. However, Wal-mart didn't have the kind of oats I needed, so I had to run to Pick-N-Save. I was in a hurry because I just wanted to get home. I parked the car locked the door like I always do, and headed in to my next destination. I was almost to the door when I heard someone yelling, "Mam, Mam," I turned around and see a man calling to me. He then says, "You left your car door open." I look across the parking lot and sure enough he was right. "Thank you." I called back. (At least I think I said that. I don't now maybe I didn't. I was thinking it. But I was feeling pretty dumb, and I'm not sure if any words really came out or not.) I went back to my car and shut the door.

Ok, so ran in picked up what I needed and headed back to my car. When I got to the car I see that the interior light is still on. How in the world? Yeah, I shut the door when I had gone back to it, but it didn't latch tightly (Our car is tricky that way. If you don't close it tight enough the light doesn't shut off.) because I left the seat belt hanging out. Seriously?

I am beginning to think there may be more posts like this to come...

Can I blame it on sleep deprivatin?

This is what happens when I don't get enough sleep. At least I am hoping I can blame my stupidity on lack of sleep. Let me explain what it is and what happened. :)I bought a rotisserie chicken from the store for Ryan's birthday. I always give the kiddos their favorite supper for their birthday. Since I bought it early in the day I just stuck it in the Refrigerator, planning to heat it back up before supper time. About a half hour before supper I pulled the chicken out of the fridge and read the instructions. It said, "Place chicken on a cookie sheet, in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes." So that's exactly what I did. When the timer went off I pulled the cookie sheet out. To my horror, the chicken was surrounded by a mass of melted PLASTIC!! Yes that's right, I never removed the plastic container that the chicken was in in. I just placed the whole thing on the cookie sheet.

I cried! Really, who forgets to take the plastic off? Actually, I wish I could say that I forgot. I think it's worse that I didn't forget, I just didn't even think about it. Besides, the instructions didn't say to take the chicken out of the plastic container. Although, I am guessing that is just common sense...apparently I no longer have any! :)

With a little hesitation, we ate the chicken anyway. It tasted just fine. No one got sick from it, so I guess it all ended ok. :) It makes for good laugh now!

Oh, by the way, I snapped the picture AFTER we took the chicken out. :)

Cravings

I am totally craving something right now...but not what you probably think. It's not the kind of cravings I had when I was pregnant...not the food type. I am craving my BED!! Having a newborn and not getting as much sleep as my body would like makes me crave my bed...literally. I can feel it, it's like an ache...my body longs to curl up and go to sleep! :) My bed has never been so comfy as it is now (even though our mattress has got to be over 20 years old and desperately needs to be replaced.) When I do finally get to lay down, sleep is sweet and comes fast. I think I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Psalm 127:2 says, "...for he grants sleep to those he loves." I really feel that is true for me right now!

I am not complaining. I just think it's kinda funny how much I think about my bed these days. :) Claire actually does pretty good at night. For example, if I feed her at 11:00 p.m. She doesn't usually wake until 3 or 4 a.m. So, I can get about 3 hours of sleep. And then I spend an hour feeding her in the mid morning hours and go back to sleep for maybe another 2 hours. So, on average I get about 5 hours of sleep a night. I think that's pretty good for having a newborn. Although, I would LOVE to get 8 straight hours of sleep...I will take what I can get right now.

I really think it is God's grace that I get such deep sleep when I do lay down. I feel a little more refreshed then I normally would after only getting 5 hours of sleep. God is good because He gives me the strength I need to take care of my little ones during the day!

Speaking of cravings, my soul has been craving time alone with the Lord. I have not had the time I desire to be in His Word. I miss it. Hopefully soon we can get into the groove of things, and find a new normal. Spending time in the Word needs to be a part of that normal. I know that I can not be the wife and mommy that the Lord wants me to be if I am not clinging to the life source. Not only is sleep essential to feeling refreshed, so is God's Word.

Waiting...

Saturday was a rough day for some reason. I was SOOO emotional. I spent most of the day in tears for no reason. I know my time is drawing near, and I think that is why I have felt so emotional. It's so frustrating, I really don't like to cry for no reason. I totally felt as though I had lost control of myself. Anything anyone said to me, or any thought I had pretty much made me cry.

Bill stayed home with the kids Sat. night so I could just go out for a little bit and be by myself. As much as our family time has been needed lately...I think I also just needed a little time to myself. I spent 2 hours just walking around different stores (My Dr. said walking could help put me in labor...and since we have SOOOO much snow...and it's been so cold, walking around stores was the only thing I could think to do.) Even though it wasn't a "productive" shopping trip, I think I really needed it mentally.

I came home in time to bathe and put the kiddos to bed. I started feeling really icky...and then the contractions started coming. They were coming pretty consistently, and they were getting more painful. Bill and I sat down to watch LOST together (we didn't get a chance to the other day). I really thought for sure I was going to go into labor that night. After we finished watching LOST I picked up around the house (between contractions) and made sure everything was ready to go just in case this turned out to be it. But alas, the contractions subsided in the middle of the night. :( Sigh! It will happen soon...it's just starting like I am going to be pregnant forever. I totally trust God's timing though. We ended up getting so much freezing rain last night that the roads would have been dangerous to drive on had we need to go to the hospital.

And so, we continue to wait...and rest in God's perfect timing. I am trying to enjoy these last days I have with my baby growing inside me.

*Pictures taken today.

Valentine's and fun day with mommy

We had a really nice valentines day on Thursday. Bill and I gave the kids each a little gift in the morning; a heart shaped box of chocolates (you know the .99 cent ones from Target) and they each got a play cell phone. Anna said it was the "Best day ever!" Bill gave me chocolate...yummo! :) What a perfect gift for a prego mama (not that I need to gain any more weight...HA!) But I loved it, and have been enjoying it! :)

For supper I ran to Little Ceasears and picked up pizza as a special treat. I fed the kiddos before Bill got home (he was running late because we got yet another snow storm, and the roads were bad). When Bill got home I sent the kids up stairs to their rooms for 20 minutes so Bill and I could enjoy a nice quiet meal together. It was really nice. It was the perfect day.

On Friday, I decided that the kids and I needed a fun day together. Like I've said before, I have been so tired lately and sadly I had been crabby too. I really wanted to spend a day doing fun things with the kids before the baby comes. So, I took them to Target and let them each pick out a (50% off) stuffed animal. Then we went to McDonald's play land. We ate lunch and then played. It was a lot of fun. Then we headed to the Library to pick up a movie. We got home and I put James to bed, and Anna, Ryan and I watched a movie together. It was such a fun day...something we all needed to do. I really enjoyed spending quality time with them. Buying them toys for no reason is something I never do, and eating at McDonald's is not a common occurrence here...so the kids really thought they were in Heaven! :) Two "best day ever" in a row...wow! :)

I am so thankful for my sweet husband and my three little ones (soon to be 4). This week has definitely had it's low points, but was also full of treasured moments. Thank you God for precious memories and quality time with my family!

Question

Ok, so I'm going to mention something here that maybe I shouldn't....I don't know. Hopefully it doesn't come out as sounding ungracious. I don't mean it that way. Maybe it's because I AM hugely pregnant, or maybe a tad emotional. Whatever the reason is, I am wondering why people feel the need to point out the fact that I am so big...or to put it in the words of most, "That baby is getting really big"? Now, if you are reading this and you have said something like that too me, please understand I am NOT offended. I find if somewhat amusing. Although I have to say I am starting to feel a little self conscious, and not wanting to leave the house until the baby is born because of the attention I tend to draw to myself! :) I don't mind talking about the baby or my pregnancy, but please don't bring up how BIG I am! :)

It's mostly older woman who say something to me. I am wondering if maybe you forget over the years that that is not really what you want to hear just days or weeks before you are supposed to give birth. :)

Note to self...choose your words wisely around pregnant woman. :)

A Fall Day

Before the weather decided to be more like summer, we did have a day that gave us a taste of fall to come. Anna, Ryan and I enjoyed some time in the backyard jumping in leaves, while James napped. It's moments like this that make the hard days so worth it!

Getting Dirty

This past weekend Anna went over to Bill's parents house for the afternoon. Ryan was a little sad at first at having to stay home. But, I made it worth his while to be home! We watched a movie, had a snack, and made brownies together.

I realized something as Ryan and I were having fun in the kitchen, I don't like my kids getting dirty. It really sounds silly writing it out on here. Usually I have them help me as carefully and mess free as possible. But it struck me that maybe I need to relax a little. I let Ryan have fun...and fun he did have! He was one happy little boy...and I was one happy mama! It gave me such joy to allow him to be a boy and make a mess. Good thing it was bath night though, he got stuff everywhere, under his neck and in his hair. :)

Lord, please help me to relax and allow my kids to be kids; to make a mess when it is appropriate. Help me to take joy in being the mommy. Thank you for the time alone with Ryan the other day and for opening my eyes to an area that I need to grow in. Thank you for blessing me with each one of my children, they are true gifts from you.