My girls at 6 months

 

Can you tell who is who?

Do they even look related? 

Change Ahead

Dear Life,

We got official word that Jordan leaves for Officer Training (to start the process of becoming a pilot) at the end of March. And it just hit me like a ton of bricks. He is in fact leaving. 

His application to get an officer slot was accepted almost a year and a half ago. We found out we were pregnant the day before we got the news. We were living in a different house, with a family of 3. And it felt like such a crazy decision, but we just had this crazy peace that this is what the Lord intended for our family, not knowing one bit that we'd be living in a different house, have a 2.5 year old and 7 month old when it actually happened, that officer training would be extended, or anything else. But God asked my over-controlling, ducks in a row, hate it when my husband leaves for a weekend, type-A personality to trust Him and that he held the unknown in His hand.

It's good to remind myself of that... because right now I don't feel the crazy peace that I did when we made the decision. I just feel kind of crazy. I feel emotional that my girls will be without a daddy for 14ish weeks and emotional that I will be without the support, encouragement, and just general awesomeness of my best friend for that long too. Already I'm playing the "what if the power goes out and I can't find a flashlight?" or "what if the dryer quits and I need to decide if we need to fix it or buy a new one?" or "what if one of the girls gets sick in the night and we need to go to the doctor?" game. {Why are my scenarios so silly? I have no idea. But seriously... I keep dreaming about these things. Last night I had a dream that Emberly's nightlight needed new batteries and I couldn't figure it out...}

I have written and rewritten multiple calendar pages of things we are going to do while he's gone to pass the time, countdowns of how many days he'll be gone the first time, (it's 51 days in case you were curious... with very minimal contact) and when I'm supposed to pay the bills, take out the trash, and all that jazz.

This is not proving that I am letting Christ give me peace that surpasses all understanding.

I'm not entirely sure how to do that, to be honest... to let Christ rule in my heart and take away the fear of the unknown. But I do know how to pray, and when I pray, my fears calm. And I do know what the Lord promises in scripture, that when I trust in Him with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding, but instead acknowledge Him, and He will make our paths straight.

I think I need some new post-its to stick reminders all over my house. Plus, who doesn't love new post-its?  Lemonade from lemons, right?

SO... do you have any favorite scriptures for times when your life gets rocky? Or that have greatly impacted you during tough times? I'd love it if you shared... :)

And if you are a praying person, I'd love it if you prayed too. 

Piper 6 months

My sweet Baby Piper at 6 months old...

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. 

Just because I love my people.

 

Oh and Jordan got me a Keurig.  It's red.  I love red appliances. 

And I've maybe had 3 cups of tea today. 

But hey... I'm well hydrated.

 

 

 

  

Pro-Sleep



Dear People that like sleep,

We were having some major sleep issues in our house with our two year old.  Two and three hours into nap-time without having a nap... bedtime stalling and craziness like none other... playing, getting out of bed, spankings... the whole works.  It was all kinds of frustrating and super exhausting.

But now?  Now bedtime is seriously one of the least stressful times of our day.  It is insanely peaceful and lovely.  And she falls asleep beautifully. 

So what changed?  Well... not much, to be honest.  A friend of mine recommended a book to us called "The Sleep Easy Solution" when we were lamenting Piper's newborn sleep habits.  I bought it, but then she started sleeping through the night and I never even read it.  But out of frustration I picked it up again about a week ago, and I am so thankful that I did. 

I just browsed a few chapters, but it reminded me that we needed a routine.  We were so so very good at this before Piper was born, but it gradually got shorter and shorter post Piper and suddenly we had no routine at all.  It was just like, "Ok Em, it's bedtime.  Say goodnight, we're going to brush your teeth."  The end.  (Ok it wasn't that dramatic... but you get my point.)

So now we do exactly the same thing every. single. night.  It is almost painfully the same.  We nearly have the same conversations.  But there is no more calling mom back into her room 8,000 times.  There is no "one more drink" or "just need this" or "one more song" or "lay by me."  Those things never worked anyway... they just made us both frustrated. 

Instead when I introduced the new routine I told her exactly what was going to happen next through the whole thing.  "Mom is going to lay by you in your bed and read you two books.  When I finish this next book, I am going to pray with you and then I am going to turn your lamp off.  Now I will sing you one song and then I am going to walk to your door.  When I'm at the door I am going to blow you a kiss and say goodnight.  Then I am going to close the door and leave.  When you are trying to fall asleep you may lay down and you may sing songs." 

People.  It is insanely revolutionary.

I wish you could watch it happen.  It makes me so very happy.

Now... to work on Piper.  She's next.  Because we need to purge two things:

1) the swaddle
2) the pacifier replacement in the middle of the night

The only thing I hate about swaddling is needing to get rid of it.  It is not fun at all.  But it is time.  And that darn pacifier.  I have a love/hate relationship with it.  It is so easy to just plunk it back in her mouth in the middle of the night instead of other sorts of soothing (namely, the boob)... but I am just absolutely not going to go in there and give it to her 5 times a night.  Nope.  Not gonna doing it. 

OK - moral of this post:

If you have children with sleep issues... read this book.  (Or if you are having children in the future... read this now.)  It isn't about making them cry it out.  But it also isn't about coddling them until they are 15.  It is practical and wonderful and sleep is awesome.

The end. 


Oh and if you are curious... here is our crazy bedtime routine:

7:00pm - Emberly sit on potty chair then get in bath (wash hair)
7:05pm - Feed Piper solid food while Emberly plays in bath... then Piper gets in bath (wash hair), girls play
7:30pm - Piper out of bath and dressed
7:35pm - Emberly out of bath, sit on potty chair, and dressed
7:40pm - Emberly bedtime snack
7:50pm - Brush teeth, Emberly in bed reading books alone, Feed piper and tuck in bed
8:00pm - Read two books with Emberly, pray, sing song, and say goodnight

Date with Emberlina

I got to take my sweet Emberlina on a date this morning.  Just mommy and Emmy.  And we had a blast.  We went to American Gold Gymnastics with my Exhale church group and got to play on all of the equipment and run around and just have good quality time.  Then we went to Dairy Queen and picked up lunch, brought it home, and read a million library books (per her request).  We snuggled up in her bed before naptime and she fell asleep just 5 or so minutes after I walked out her door.  She was one played out little girl.  I just love that busy two-year old.

 

 

Relief

Piper's second tooth popped through yesterday.  We celebrated with an amazingly chill baby and a long night of sleep.  That is my kind of party.

And Emberly went to Exhale with me this morning with only a small meltdown in preparation and on the way... and was happy and excited by the time she got to the door and saw her friends.  Yay for this social anxiety to maybe be lifting!!

Emberly is still so jazzed up from the morning that she is still talking (loudly with lots of animation) in her bed and not napping.  I hear things like, "no kicking or you'll need to sit in timeout!"  "You are not a good listener!" "Talk nicely or no talking!"

... it must have been a rough morning for the children in the 2-year-old room...

Neighborhood

Emberly criteria for a quality outfit: must have pockets and a "neighborhood."

(AKA a sweatshirt with a hood.)



It's just too cute to correct her. Does that make me a bad parent?

Even the best laid plans...

Last night Piper was up a million times in the night.  Boooo teething.  And somewhere in the middle of the night I made the (not so wise) decision to turn off my alarm for church.  Sigh.  And then when my children woke up at 8am anyway, I was not ready and we did not get out the door for 9:00 church.  I'm kicking myself.

But then Jordan swooped in and took both girls to the grocery store, and I got to sit and listen to one of the most impactful sermons I've heard in awhile.  (Most likely because when we are at church I am thinking about Emberly and her melting down at Sunday School and wondering whether or not she is still crying and trying to keep Piper quiet and happy... all while attempting to listen to the sermon.) 

Now... don't get me wrong.  I believe corporate worship is incredibly important.  Vital even.  I believe that God intends us to work through the messiness of getting to church and works in spite of the distractions. 

But this morning was a nice change of pace.  And Christ worked in spite of my decision to sleep in.  And I just feel humbled and grateful.

And now here I sit, with just maybe a moment or two before my people come walking through the door... with food in the oven smelling delicious and feeling quite content.

:)  That's all. 

Sleep, Routines, and Stuff

Sometimes, after I am positive my children are deeply asleep... I creep into their bedrooms and make sure they are covered up and just listen to them breathe.  They are so quiet and peaceful and I sincerely think it makes me melt with love in a way that I physically cannot when they are awake and moving (and disobedient and crying...) and stuff.  Don't get me wrong... those moments during the day aren't filled with any less love.  It's just a messier more exhausting version.  No less beautiful.

Tonight we started a new sleep routine.  It was time.  Our bedtime and nap routine was awesome pre-Piper, but got trickier once she popped into the picture.  We've tried lots of different things, but this week it all kind of came to a crazy out of control breaking point with a non-napping, over-tired, sleep-needing two year old.  I'm not positive that Emberly noticed much of a difference in the routine tonight... but I sure did.  It was peaceful.  I didn't feel like I needed a big glass of wine when I was finished.  Emberly didn't call me back into her room eight-thousand times after I left.  And she actually fell asleep in a timely manner.  I know better than to hope this will be true of every night, but I can hope that it would be true of many nights.  Oh how children thrive on routine.  I forget this.  This was a great reminder.

We've also been reevaluating the rest of our days and trying to create routines in the midst of a non-routine-work schedule.  And for me this means making our life easier by not having to reinvent the wheel each week and planning ahead.  Like eating meatloaf that is in our oven on time bake every Sunday after church.  So meatloaf is made and the diaper bag is packed and the children's clothes are picked out and my alarm is set for a terribly early time... and we will make it to 9:00am church tomorrow all still smiling and married and in love and all that jazz.  (Lord willing.)

You just wait and see.

Now I better sleep... quick.