On my 30th birthday...

Today I've been trying to take some time to reflect on my 20's and to try to get a vision for my 30's. I've been amazed (once again) to see how God has worked in the past 10 years.
When I turned 20, I was just starting my junior year of college. (Wow! Was it that long ago?) I was excited about getting ready to teach, excited about a developing relationship with a guy named Josh, and traveling all around with the basketball team.
Then came the senior year...
Student teaching, Dad's sudden death, getting engaged, graduating, heading off to the CZ for a year..
Then came marriage. It's interesting. There are so many things we take for granted now. When Josh and I headed to NY a month before our wedding, we didn't have a car (Josh's had just died), didn't have a job (though I had applied to many districts), and didn't have a place to stay. But God was faithful. He provided all these and so much more!
Six years of teaching followed...along with buying a house, getting a dog, settling into a sweet (and ever-deepening) relationship with my hubby.
God is faithful! He has provided abundantly more than we have ever asked for.
Then came the long-awaited baby. He's such a bundle of joy and ENERGY! I've had to redefine myself as I became a stay at home mom, but it has been good. I'm thankful for the opportunity.
Now what? What does God have in store for the next 10 years? How will He use me? In whatever way it may be, I pray that my heart will be available and attentive to His call!

It has been a while...

Wow! Time flies by. It's amazing to think about all that was accomplished this summer. Visiting with family and friends, two weeks of basketball camp, many hours volunteering that the Downtown Pregnancy center... It has been fun!

Now we find ourselves in a "holding" pattern. Elijah may have been exposed to the chicken pox virus during Sunday School on the 8th. We are being very cautious, not wanting to spread it to someone else if he's infectious. This has meant keeping him out of the nursery, stores, the nursing home we visit. I must admit that cabin fever is starting to set in. I tend to take for granted the times when I can just grab him and head out to the store or to the playground at the mall. He's been pretty fussy with teething and a cold, too. God is using this time to work on my patience and perseverance! God is good.

Pruning...

As I was outside trimming the ever-growing trumpet vine and wisteria this morning, I noticed just how quickly it had grown wild. The wisteria vine had shoots coming out from all over the place- even on the very bottom of the "trunk". This left it looking scraggly and unkempt. Not a good thing. However, I came along with my pruning sheers to cut back the "bad" vines, encouraging it to grow in the others by guiding it to the right place. This was a healthy thing to do for the plant.
This made me think of the little one I was carrying on my left hip. He has areas in his little life that need to be "trimmed back" and other areas that need to be encouraged. For example, he's got this bad habit of throwing food on the floor. As parents, we have to teach him the culturally-acceptable way of eating at the table. (It wouldn't be cute for him to throw food on the floor at age 3.) This is an area that needs to be cut out.
However, he has a great fascination with all things mechanical. The reason why I was carrying him on my hip as I was trimming the vines was because he loves the lawn mower. He wants to be right up next to it as Josh cuts the grass. (He does the same thing with the vacuum cleaner.) Obviously, it's not safe for him to be near the lawn mower. But, if we're able to find ways to engage his mind in healthy electronics now, it's better for him in the long run!
This isn't an easy job for parents. But it is one that will make a world of a difference in the long run!
Ahhhh...the ramblings and connections of a "new" mom!

New Adventures

This past weekend was a lot of fun for the family. After working on taking out the bushes on the side of the house, we took off to the park for some kite flying. Elijah and Scout sat happily by watching as Daddy and Mommy tried to get it flying successfully. We finally decided that it wasn't balanced enough because of some missing tails.

After the kite flying fun, we headed to the playground so that Daddy and Elijah could go down the slide.

We've had a few other adventures recently. Elijah's crawling now. Enough said? Hee-hee

The other day, he had some fun playing in the pets' water dish. He loves water...so in his mind, why not? Needless to say, we moved that inside the crate.

Another crawling adventure included going into the pantry and dragging out the 10 lb. bag of potatoes. And where does everything go? In the mouth! (Don't worry...I washed it!)

With crawling, there are many challenges as Elijah learns his new boundaries. I am so thankful to have a loving Heavenly Father who gives us the wisdom we need to make good decisions!

Zoo Fun!

Elijah and I took off today to meet Ms. Noelle and her gang. We had the most fun at the children's zoo area where kids can splash in a "creek" running down the middle. Today was a warm, humid day, so the water really helped!

Later on, we took our first ride on the monorail. Elijah was fascinated by the zebras, storks, bongos, and the ostrich. What fun!

Everytime I go to the zoo I'm reminded of the amazing Creator that we have! He had to have lots of creativity to come up with all of the different types of creatures in the animal kingdom. I thank God for the ability to go see just a small portion of them at the zoo. :)

Living Life in Reverse

Elijah has entered that funny stage of motion where he moves backwards. The look on his face as he does this across the floor is hilarious! You can see those little wheels turning as he thinks, "Hey wait! This isn't the way I want to go! I'm getting farther away from what I wanted!". Priceless!

This little man has also reach the milestone of sitting up all by himself! Hurray! He has been able to be in the sitting position for about five months now. Put him up and he would stay there for a long time, but now he can get there. He loves being able to do that. When he does it, he usually looks around with a smile on his face looking for the coming applause. :)

In all of this movement, I've been able to get a small taste of what it'll be like when he's crawling/walking- and it's scary! This morning I left him on the floor in the middle of his room to go get something. As I came back upstairs I heard a crash. He had pulled the pole lamp in his room right down. No more leaving him alone mommy! :)

A trip to City Lake Park

What a gorgeous day it is today! To enjoy it, Elijah, Scout and I set out to feed the ducks at City Lake Park. The ducks weren't very interested in eating, but Elijah and Scout were! They gladly gobbled up our bread. :) (It was the thought that counted, right?)

While there, we saw a man getting attacked by two huge geese (what is the plural of goose anyways?). Thankfully, they were going for his shoes! We also saw a pregnant woman trying to catch one of the many snapping turtles sunning themselves on the side of the pond. (Silly woman!) On the positive side, we did see a mama duck with her twelve ducklings! What a brood of ducklings!
Spring brings out such beauty and growth. We are thankful to be able to enjoy it!

Be careful little mouth what you say...

Recently, I've caught myself with my mouth wide open saying, "Did I just hear that?" more than once. Elijah has begun copying words here and there! At first, I was wondering if I was just going crazy and imagining it because I lack hearing intelligible words through out the day. It also happens that E-man doesn't repeat these words over and over again for others to hear (of course!). But, I'm pretty sure of what I've heard...
His favorite word of all is 'da-da'. A few smatterings of 'ma-ma' and 'ba-ba' can be found. He's also said 'kitty' several times when the cat is walking towards him. (Da-da and kitty are the only two words we're sure that he knows what they mean, by the way.) He's also copied 'Jesus' (when I was singing "Jesus loves me"), fish, and water. It's quite fun... but also humbling. As I wrote in the title- be careful little mouth what you say! He'll be copying more and more. I need to think about what I say and how it'll impact him.
May my words be uplifting and encouraging!

Just figuring out...

During the past couple of months, I've been learning more about personality styles based on several different theories. First, I read "The Birth Order Book" by Kevin Leman. Great book...it helped me to understand more about myself as a first born with perfectionist tendencies.
More recently, I've had the opportunity to sit in on two different training sessions based on four different personalities (sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, melancholy). Based on the descriptions, I'm definitely a phlegmatic (people-pleasing "Golden Retriever") with a bit of sanguine on the side. Through this training, I've realized that some of the things I beat myself up about are really just the way God made me. (This doesn't excuse my faults, just helps take the burden off my shoulders when I think that I have something seriously wrong with me.) I've had several AHA!!! moments that have provided much relief. :)
I filled you in on these things to point out that it's helpful to know the personalities of our children. I've already identified Elijah as a sanguine (fun-loving, easy going, bubbly...). Knowing this helps me try to prove what he needs (lots of affection and attention) and anticipate what I'll need to work hard to help him reach his full potential (like lots of help in organization skills!).
I hope to look into more personality types, too. I don't think that there's any "right" one. People are too complicated for that. :)
Now...where is that book so I can figure out more about myself? :)

Moving, Moving, Moving

Since my last post, Elijah's on the move! It's amazing how quickly it happens! He isn't crawling yet, but is enjoying the freedom of rolling and scooting. I've already begun to appreciate packing the bottom two shelves of our office bookshelves tightly!
He had his first taste of ice cream last night. After a concert at our church, we went with Josh's parents to Mc Donald's for an ice cream cone. Frugal as we are, Josh and I shared a cone. Elijah kept his eye on it. After all, what Mommy and Daddy eat must be good! Finally his tasting time came. How I wish I would have had the camera! He definitely did NOT expect COLD! After that initial taste, he got used to the cold and tried to hoard the cone. (He loves to hold bananas and strawberries to his mouth and just suck on them. He was trying to do the same with this one.) I'd say his first experience with ice cream was a positive one!
Before the concert yesterday, Elijah and I were hanging out at Josh's parents' house. Elijah was happily playing on the floor while I looked at the newspaper right next to him. Joy, Josh's mom, commented that Elijah does well playing by himself as long as someone is there close to him. Alison (who is staying at Arden and Joy's house until June) said, "If only we were like that with God." How true that is. If only we could be content in knowing that God is near and "play well".
I hope you "play well" today knowing that God is right by your side if you have trusted in Him...

Defining ourselves...

I'm going to start out by "going deep" in my very first blog. On Saturday, we got together with the other parents from our Bradley birthing class. We had a great time seeing all of the babies and their current antics. One thing I realize,though, was my tendancy to compare Elijah with the other babies. You see, Elijah's not crawling yet. He absolutely hates being on his tummy. Josh and I hadn't thought anything of it, considering he's only eight months old. When we got to the party, though, we saw that all the other babies- except for one that is a month younger than him- were crawling all over the place. Wow...I found myself begining to wonder if I had done something wrong. Had I not forced tummy time enough? Had I forced it too much? I began to think of my baby as "lacking".
This has me thinking about how we define ourselves. We tend to look at what we do as who we are. I find my identity now wrapped up in this bundle of joy that I care for each day and the long list of things to accomplish. If I don't get them done, I beat myself up.
Yet, God's Word says that we are His. That's what we need to be defined by. As the song says, "Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done. Not because of what we've done, but because of who You are." My identity is found in Christ and isn't changed by anything I can or can't do.
May Elijah's identity be found in that, too...