HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, LILY!

It's true what they say.  The years absolutely fly by at this stage of life.  Our oldest child, our precious Lily, is five years old today.  (To read last year's birthday post, click here!)  That is one whole hand's worth of fingers.  I cherish every one of my children for their uniqueness, but there is always something about the child that makes you a parent.  She is our guinea pig.  She is our trail-blazer.  She gives us hope that many things get better and more enjoyable as your children age.

Five year old Lily is about as darling as it comes, truly.  These are ages that I want to freeze and bottle up.  Lily is funny and incredibly quick to pick things up.  She is always listening and can often regurgitate random conversations that I didn't know she was aware of.  She is a thoughtful older sister who cares for her three younger siblings with lots of love and care for their needs.  I am always amazed at how she notices what they might need.

This morning has not gone at all how I thought it would.  Due to the weather, our Mother's Day Out was canceled.  John graciously saved the day and hung out with us all morning, so it turned out to be a win.  We went for Krispy Kreme for a birthday breakfast.  John brought candles, and we all sang her Happy Birthday.

She has inexplicable trouble blowing out candles, but with John's help, all were extinguished.

It's crazy to think that at this time last year, we had no idea that William and Violet were going to join our family within a matter of months.  I still marvel at the fact that we have four kids.





Getting a photo with a reluctant birthday girl turned out to be about as hard as it sounds.



We've had lunch with friends, and this afternoon we are heading to see Frozen again in the theatre.  What excitement lies ahead!  Her princess party is this weekend, and we are excited about that too!  Happy birthday to our dear, wonderful Lily-girl.  We love you more than words and are so thankful that God put us together.

MY DIETS IN 2014

It's time for some truth telling on myself around here.  You see, I have a slightly addictive personality type.  Here are a couple of examples.  When the Lord of the Rings movies came out in the theaters, I was in college, and I was obsessed.  (Clearly, I was also a super-nerd.)  I had read all the books, and I went to all the midnight showings, and then I saw two of the movies five times each in the theater.  By the time the third one rolled around, I was working and could only make time to see it three times in the theater.  Please take note that movies were cheaper (I know it was only a tiny bit) back in 2001, 2002 and 2003.  And, apparently, I had little regard for time, because there was just so much of it to spare.

Another example: during my freshman year of college, I decided that all calories were equal and that I could live on mostly breads and desserts and Dr. Pepper.  I did not gain the freshman 15, because I wasn't overeating.  I was just eating very poorly.  I did become sick by Thanksgiving, probably due to the extremely late nights and complete lack of nutrition, and I learned first hand how bad bronchitis with a sinus infection and exhaustion can be.  Ahh, college.  Those were the days.  My nutrition did improve significantly after that.

So, it's a new year and time for the onslaught of resolutions and goals and words for 2014.  I've never much been into resolutions.  I figure that I should always be trying to be the best version of myself, and I sort of hate jumping onto a bandwagon and doing what everyone else is doing.  We all have our problems.  Maybe one of my resolutions should be to get over myself and recognize that sometimes, other people have really great ideas that I could benefit from.

But, there is something about starting a new year that makes me evaluate how things are going.  Over the last several months, I've had a growing conviction that some of my diets are not as they should be.  And yes, I intended "diets" to be plural.  Here's what I am talking about.

I am working on changing some of the ways that I eat.  I really eat pretty well, but the problem is that I often eat more than I should.  And I don't say "No" to myself very often.  I still like dessert an awful lot, and I drink more Diet Dr. Pepper than I should.  The Lord is showing me that he does care what I eat, because it is a reflection of what I think about my body.  Do I believe it is only mine and meant to serve me?  Or, do I believe that he created it for his purposes, and it is my job to steward that gift so that it can be ready to serve as needed?

The other component of this is self-control.  It is a fruit of the Spirit, and I know that only by abiding in the Spirit can I have self-control.  I don't need that 3rd cookie.  I don't need another Diet Dr. Pepper.  I don't need more Smarties.  I do need more water.  I need more broccoli.  I need more light protein.  These choices are things that I can do, but I have to be intentional and asking the Lord to help me to submit all my desires to him.

The other diet that I am referring to is all of the social media that I consume in a day.  How often am I guilty of not reading my Bible, but instead, spending time numbing out on Facebook?  It is easy.  It is mindless, and I feel entitled to not having to think after battling with parenting decisions all day long.  It is so easy to click into Instagram and slide through the pictures.

I am very guilty of doing the easy thing.  But, God clearly tells us that his way is not easy.  "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."  Matthew 7:14.  It's easier to eat the dessert than to think about the big picture of what my body is for.  It's easier to read another Facebook link about something mildly interesting than to dig into God's word and look for truth.

So, in 2014, I am asking the Lord for his help in changing my diets and my desires.  I know that is the only chance I have, because I am a weakling without his strength.  I know that God desires for me to live a life that is abundant and pleasing to him, and I am hoping and praying that this year will be better than the last!

BOUNCING BACK TO LIFE

It's January 3, and we are getting back to the swing of things.  Sort of.  We are swinging without any of our normal stuff, so it still feels a little haywire, but we are managing.  Obviously.

Here's our big news this week.

-  Violet is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad sleeper.  Every night around 11:45, our baby dinosaur begins squeaking.  I feed her and try to put her back down.  But, most nights - she's awake, and she wants to party.  In an attempt to shut down this horrendous pattern that often wakes William, we are starting to move her into a pack n play in the office in our house so she can cry it out a bit, after we have addressed all of her needs.  Since she has hardly ever had to cry at night, we decided it was time.  No one wants a baby dinosaur in charge of their sleep, especially me.  We're hoping she responds well to sleep training - after crying just a bit (but much more than we've ever let her while in the nursery with William), she slept the rest of the night without a problem.  I'm hoping this brings good tidings of great sleep that will be for all parents in this house.



- Trampoline parks are awesome.  A new one opened up right by our house, and we checked it out yesterday to much fanfare and fun.






-  Being at a trampoline park that is newly opened over Christmas break has some major hazards.  There were a ton of people, and the lines were not at all organized.  This meant it felt like you were always waiting in a huge, fat line of people that kept growing instead of shrinking to get in.  At one point, I actually stopped a woman from using a computer in front of me, and she said she had been waiting in a separate line that did not, in fact, exist.  I told her that was not how it worked, and she stepped out of my way.  I think we both felt sort of huffy about it.

-  I became a massive hypocrite not 10 minutes later while waiting in another line.  I saw the same woman go up to a cashier and get her tickets quickly.  I followed her lead and had bracelets in about 2 minutes.  Then, after trying to wait in the line again with my friend, I told her to do the same thing.  This meant that our kids actually did get to jump during the "toddler time."  I am not proud of these actions, but I also cannot whole-heartedly say that if I were presented with the swelling lines again, I would not do it all over again.  I think I would.  Hopefully they will get a better line and cashiering system worked out.  It looked like this as we were leaving.



- You do need your baby's paci if you want her to fall asleep for nap time.  Violet is actually a great napper - she deserves credit where she can get it.  But, yesterday afternoon, I could not find her paci anywhere.  And, I knew I had just had it.  You know the feeling.  I retraced steps.  I gave her alternate pacis that she quickly discarded with angst.  At long last, I found it.

In the street.  Where it had somehow been pulled off while getting the mail.



I'm so glad I found it, because I realized that I have made a MOM 101 mistake and don't have any extras of her specific kind of paci.

-  Bella is now mostly potty-trained.  We realized recently that she could go potty whenever she felt like it in the toilet, and that mostly, she just didn't feel like doing it.  She has had a fondness for going into public restrooms, and I have nicknamed her my little "Bathroom Tourist."  So, this week of no schedule, I decided it was time to get serious and get this job done.  We just needed a little motivation.

Since the girls are fairly obsessed with all things Frozen,  (see picture below of Frozen puzzles being assembled on breakfast nook table)



when we came across Frozen princess dresses at Wal-Mart this week, the girls were smitten.  I told Bella that if she can wear undies and use the toilet for everything for a week, then she could have the Elsa dress that she was longing for.  I bought it last night and hung it in the kitchen as a reminder.

So, Bella has been almost perfect since then.  Amazing how far a little motivation will carry you.  And also marshmallows - they can carry you a long way too.

-  Right after this picture was taken, for reasons only known to her, Bella decided to go and wake up the sleeping twins.  I was able to get Violet back to sleep, but I have Mr. William out here with me.  While I love his sweet company, I really like nap time too.  Hurricane Bella strikes again.

-  Princess birthday preparations are well underway.  I obviously had help with the cookies this morning.



That pretty much sums up our big news.  I hope you are easing well into your 2014.

HOLIDAY WRAP UP

Are you over the holidays yet?  I'm a bit undecided.  There is that inevitable let down that follows Christmas and and New Year's celebrations.  I am no longer excited about the mail coming, because it will not be bringing smiling faces with it.  I don't exactly have a pressing to-do list of fun activities to cram in before December 25th.  I do have to be planning Lily's birthday party, and it always sneaks up on me.

So, this is the last post that will have holiday anything in it.  The last night of John's parents' visit, we decided to head downtown again.  We ate at one of our favorites - The Flying Fish.  I already miss having Grandma around - she was super quick to feed hungry babies.  They miss her too.  There has been more crying today than everyone is used to from the past week.

The girls had fun eating with Aunt Rachel.



After dinner, we headed to the Capitol to see it dressed in its holiday finery.



It really is a beautiful building, and I like the way they have decked the halls inside.

A stranger graciously offered to take this picture for us - I don't think they exactly knew what they were signing up for.  But it turned out really well, far better than I would have imagined given the factors (read: Kids) at play.



I have to share a few more holiday anecdotes from this Christmas with the girls.  John actually overheard this conversation between the girls.

Bella (to Lily, in a trash-talk sort of tone):  You're going to Bethlehem.
Lily:  Well, you're going to Nazareth.
Bella:  No, you're going to that place.

You can tell they heard the Christmas story once or twice this holiday season.  Also, when we were at the Capitol, I asked Bella who this was.

I fully expected her to say "Santa," but I think the brassiness and the staff threw her off.  She said, "Noah."  Ha!  So, if you are in Little Rock at Christmas time, be sure to stop by and see gold Noah in front of the giant Christmas tree at the state Capitol.

For New Year's Eve, we ended up having most of our Community Group at our house til just past 8.  With 17 kids in the mix, that was all we felt up for.  It was a lot of fun, since they are friends that are actually family.  This is what the basement looked like towards the end of the shindig.

Thankfully, everyone pitched in on the pick up, so it wasn't bad by the time everyone left.  So thankful for wonderful friends to celebrate with.

And now it's 2014.  I feel the way about a new year that Anne Shirley felt about each new day -

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

So the year stretches out before us as a blank canvas with no mistakes in it yet.  That's mostly true, but I've already made parenting mistakes on this January 1st.  Post-holiday, no-schedule life has its challenges after all.

I hope that our New Year holds fewer mistakes in it than 2013.  Either way, I know the God who is in the business of forgiveness and setting things right.  Let's hope to lean more into him in 2014 than ever before.