Conversations with Claire

A conversation with Claire today,

Claire (looking at me) "Ewww, I don't like that shirt." referring to what I am wearing.

Me  "That's okay you don't have to like it. What's wrong with it?"

Claire "I have no idea I just don't like it.  Change it."


Hahahaha.  That's our little fashionista who attempts to change her clothes multiple times a day (although we have put a stop to that). She definitely already has her own sense of style. It makes me wonder what she will be like when she is older. :)

(I think I should make this a regular section in my blog. Claire says the funniest things.  I need to write them down so I don't forget.)

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!}

In love?

Ryan announced after dinner tonight, "I'm in love with Trina!"

Me- "In love? With who?"

Ryan- "Trina, she's my girlfriend."

Me- "Girlfriend?"

Ryan- "Ya. I have two girlfriends now.  Ella and Trina. I guess I'm going to have to decide who I want to marry."


Me- "What?"

Ryan- "Yeah and Riley is mad at me."

Me- "Why? Who is Riley."

Ryan- "A girl in my class.  She's mad because I said I love Trina. But Trent loves Riley."

(apparently there is some sort of love triangle going on here)

Me- "When did this happen?"

Ryan- "At the beginning of the school in Writer's workshop."

Oh  my word!!! I wasn't planning on having a conversation like this until MANY years to come.  My 1st grader thinks he is in love? Needless to say we had a chat about the fact that we don't need to have a girlfriend in 1st grade. {smile} I asked Ryan if he was old enough to get married, he laughed, "No."he replied like he thought I was silly. We talked about the purpose of having a girlfriend and we all agreed that it was to find a wife or husband. There seems to be some confusion in his mind as to what a girlfriend is.  I had a hard time not laughing during this conversation because of his innocence and matter of fact attitude about it all. With that being said, seriously I was not expecting that! I am simply amazed at the things my kids come home saying (and amazed in not a good way). This just makes me all the more excited to start homeschooling again in December. Anyway...

I just love that boy and the things he says and does! He is such a sweet guy.  I can see why all the little girls at his school like him so much! {grin}

Worship with gladness

picture taken on 6-29-2010

After lunch today I sat down to feed Kaitlyn. Being that she was over tired and hungry she was really upset and crying pretty hard. In the midst of trying to calm her down and get her to nurse Claire climbed up onto the couch next to us. Claire had been singing sweetly and suddenly stopped and looked at Kaitlyn and said,

"Katy, what's the matter? Worship with gladness! I worship with gladness!"

I had to laugh. What a sweet thing to say. I pray that all my children will worship the Lord with gladness.

31

I woke up on Friday to this card (and a lovely birthday sign). What a great way to start the day! Not sure if she is implying that I am getting old...but it's good to know I would be missed. :)

Numbering the days

Anna started reading a girls devotional that she picked up from the church library recently. After each chapter there is an assignment. One evening she asked me to help her read a few words that she couldn't figure out. I quickly helped her and was about to turn back to what I was doing when she got to the assignment part. I stopped and listened as she verbally listed the things that are a priority to her. It gave her a list of choices. I was a surprised and pleased when she listed her most important thing as spending time with her family. She said, "I just love spending time with my parents." My heart melted. I thought she would have listed spending time with friends as higher then spending it with her parents. So many things went through my mind in that instant, and I felt the Lord whisper to me, "Seize the day. Take hold of each moment that you have with her...enjoy them...treasure them." They are numbered...

It was no coincidence that I had just read a chapter in "Feminine Appeal" on loving your children. In one section Carolyn Mahaney talks about about Psalm 90,

In Psalm 90 Moses depicted the reality of the brevity of life. He compared our lives to a watch in the night, a dream, grass that flourishes-all brief and fleeting images. Then he prayed this way: "So teach us to number our days." Have you numbered your days lately? If we pause to count the remaining days we have with our children, we will realize how few they are.

It is so true. They do grow up so fast. I stand amazed that I have a 7 year old. How did that happen? And yet knowing this I can still sometimes loose perspective. A few months ago Anna said to me, "Just a minute...that's all I hear" Conviction hit like a rock. The reality is sometimes that "just a minute" never comes. How many times do I say things like, "I can't right now", "Let me just finish this up.", Hold on", "Just a minute." Sometimes those times are justified. Like I truly DO have to finish what I am doing (example: something overflowing or burning on the stove top. :-) ). But there are times when I am simply not making my little ones a priority. Sometimes because of my own selfish desires to do what I want, or all the overwhelming demands of motherhood, I tune them out or say no their requests.

I have been wanting to start making little dates with Anna. It doesn't need to be anything extravagant. Things like taking her out for hot coco, or staying up a little later so that we can chat uninterrupted, or maybe starting a mother/daughter devotional together. I think now would be a good time to start doing this..I only wish had started sooner. I know there is going to come a day when spending time with us is maybe not ranked first on her list. I only get one shot at motherhood and I don't want to miss out on any tender moments.

Teach me to number the days Lord. Help me to stop and enjoy the time I have with my children while they are still little.

A future date

Conversation from this morning:

Ryan- "Mommy? When I grow up can I take you out on a date? And we can go out to eat or something? And Daddy can go to Grandma's house like a little kid."

Me- "I think that sounds like a great plan Ryan. We can do that someday."

A few minutes later he excitedly tells Anna and Bill his plan to take me out on a date. :)

Oh my little man! You always find a way to melt my heart and make me feel special. Throughout each day you tell me how much you love me and that I am the best mommy ever, and how beautiful I am. I praise God for you. You are gift that I do not deserve but am so thankful for. I pray that you always stay soft. I pray that you will grow to be a man after God's own heart. I know you are going to make some woman a wonderful husband someday. For now I'll just cherish each moment I have being the love of your life until that day comes. :)

Oh the insanity!

On Monday I decided to take James in to the Doctor to have his foot looked at. He has bad dry skin, and the patches on his foot had gotten WAY out of control (turns out he had an infection on the back of his foot because he keeps picking at it). Anyway...

I'm pretty sure that my least favorite thing to do right now is taking all 4 of my kids to the Doctor. :) Why is it that they always call you back to the smallest room possible, and make you wait for another 20-30 minutes? I start feeling claustrophobic, while all of my children decide to act like wild (should be caged) animals. James tries jumping off everything and tries puling things off the walls. We have a bus of a stroller that takes up 50% of the room, and the other 50% is taken up by the suitcase of a diaper bag, and the shoes that all of my sweet children decided to randomly place all over. Oh, and then there is the orange cracker crumbs everywhere, because while I was taking care of one child, James got the crackers out of the diaper bag and started gnawing through the package and then proceeded to spill it.

During the "waiting in the small room" period, we first see the nurse who asks me a billion questions. I am trying to remember the answers to her questions but it's hard to concentrate when my children start unrolling all the paper on the exam table, and I have to keep asking them to stop. I also had to practically wrestle one of my kids (apparently the scale seemed like a good place to practice new diving board skills) off the scale because the nurse wanted to weigh James (who wasn't too willing to get on the scale). At that point I was sure someone was going to call Super Nanny on me, and that was only the beginning!

Then, In walks a very sweet (Innocent looking) med student. Are you kidding me? I am totally ok with that normally, but this means that our appointment will take longer, and my children are already bouncing off the walls. She asks me a bunch of questions about James, then has him get up on the table. When she tries to look in his mouth, he just sits there growling at her (see I told you...wild animal :) ) Finally our Dr. enters the room. She begins to examine James. Just when I thought this visit couldn't get any worse it does....

Now normally James just speaks some form of Chinese, but today he decided to pronounce a very ugly English word...rhymes with truck...but only starts with an F...I'm sure you can get the picture....just out of nowhere. Both the Dr. and I said, "What?" at the same time. I was like, "Umm, I'm sure that wasn't what it sounded like. He has never heard that word. We don't use language like that." The Dr said, "Oh he was probably trying to say frog or something." Then I proceeded to babble because I was so embarrassed, making things worse for myself. This was not my most embarrassing moment by far, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

I wanted to ran out of there when the visit was over, but instead I calmly gathered my children (who had run off to get stickers), and walked to the nearest exit without looking back! I couldn't wait to get home and hopefully take a nap. What a crazy morning! But hey, I wouldn't have any funny stories to share if it had never happened. Good thing I love to laugh! :)

Why Mom?

Ryan is now getting to the age where he is starting to notice that things are different between boys and girls. Because of this I have tried to be discreet when he is in the room and I a nursing Claire.

The other day however, I must not have been discreet enough because he started chanting, "I saw your boo boos ", over and over. I grabbed a blanket that was sitting nearby and covered up with it. Ryan says to me,

"Mom why did you cover up?"

I replied, "Because you don't need to see mommy's boo boos."

He looks at me seriously and responds, "Why mom? They are so pretty."

Oh my word! I think I may have ruined my son! I am hoping this is one memory he DOESN'T retain. :)

Maybe I need to invest in a better nursing cover...like one of these. :)