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...