Gentleness

Last week I read a wonderful article on what God wants for moms of young children. It was a wonderful article, and such a good reminder.

Here is the link:
http://www.thebettermom.com/blog/2015/2/22/what-god-wants-for-mom-with-young-children

Please read the article, you won't regret it.

The bottom line is this: Gentleness

We are to be gentle. When all else fails, remember to be gentle.

This is my reminder to continue to "Grow in Grace".

Grace. Gentleness.

Potty Training

Oh. My. Word.

Potty Training.....

I never thought I would dread potty training as much as I do right now, and I have potty trained before!

I have tried just about every trick I have ever heard of with this girl to no avail. People say girls are easier to potty train than boys are. That's a big fat NOPE! John was a breeze, AND there was a new baby in the house. I would potty train him over and over and over again. He was completely potty trained when he was barely two. Ella is past barely two. She will be honing in on 2 1/2 soon and I have decided it will be easier to train her how to clean her own diapers than it will be to potty train. She has no interest in it, treats and bribery mean nothing to her. If she doesn't want to do it, she isn't going to do it. Of course, she is like that with everything, so I don't know why I thought this would be any different.

I am sure of a few things: all children are different, siblings are still different. girls are NOT easier to potty train than boys, and every single able-bodied person should be able to use a toilet!!!!!

I am also completely unsure of a few things as well: how to get my child to properly use a toilet, am I even going about this the right way, and why does this have to be so hard?!?!?!

I have been rather quiet on the blogging front for a little while now, mainly because we have been so busy living life. In January, I began watching my precious niece and nephew (twins, 6 weeks old, now 4 months old) 3 days a week. 4 kids is so busy!!!! But I have had so much fun being with my two and the twins. It has been more than I could have ever hoped for and busier than I ever thought it would be. And though I am still working on finding ways to spend quality time with each individual child every day while maintaining  my sanity, I am happy to say that all of them are still alive and well ;)

Through all this, potty training has reared its ugly head again and again. I will find a new tip and stick to it until it nearly drives me crazy. Nothing has worked, and believe me I have tried it all. I am sure one of these days something will stick or I will simply stumble upon her one day using the toilet all on her own. While we have made minor improvements in the potty training world (she no longer kicks and screams her way to the bathroom), I don't think she is any closer to being "trained".

There really is no way to end this post as the story has not yet ended. So I suppose I will end with a request: please send some good potty training thoughts our way, This child may well be the death of me....sigh

Homemaking Fail

I experienced a rather dramatic homemaking fail today....it was very sad for me.

I am a beginning seamstress. I have always enjoyed it and tackled a number of projects and had fairly good success. Not today though, not today.

I recently had the brilliant idea to make myself a maxi skirt. I am too tall for the ones in the stores and I figured it would be easy enough to make one. I found a simple tutorial on pinterest, and purchased so super cute fabric from JoAnn's. The fabric was purple and black with sparkles and a little bit of zebra print. I loved it. It was perfect.

I followed the instructions exactly, measured myself correctly (I think), and wrote everything down. I sewed the proper sides together and bustled happily on my way. The skirt was taking shape! I got it all done in less than an hour.

I decided to try on the skirt before I hemmed it so I could make sure to get the length right. Here is where things went wrong...

The blasted skirt didn't fit! I couldn't get it up much past my knees! I had had a dreaded suspicion that it might be small as I was inspecting it, but I never thought it would be THAT small. Good grief.

I am positive I messed up somehow. Maybe I measured wrong. Maybe I cut it the wrong way. Maybe the stretch was supposed to go the other way. I dunno....I may never know.

I will not let this be my last sewing effort, but I am slightly discouraged. However, I choose to see this on the funny side. All that effort for such horrible outcomes. It is a little funny and I am sure a fly on the wall would have had a good laugh.

Maybe I will make the horrible skirt into a skirt for Ella. Maybe I will keep it as a reminder that sometimes, fails happen. Maybe I will someday be skinny enough to fit into it, but I doubt that. Today though, I just sigh a little and giggle to myself.

I don't even want to take a picture to remember it by...

Saying Goodbye, Saying Hello

2014, what a year. I can honestly say this year has been one of the most life-changing, eventful years my little family has ever had. We had great loss, we had great gain, we had great change. Through all the events this year has brought, love has remained.

In love, family took us in and we were practically homeless (no, it wasn't THAT bad, but it was not good)

In love, we said goodbye to family members this year that we didn't think we would have to. Hearts ache with their absence, and we think of where they would be now and what they would be doing.

In love, we accomplished goals and passed milestones.

In love, we said more goodbyes as we packed up everything(almost) we had and started a new journey in a new place. Friends and family bid us well and sent us off; people we had never planned to say goodbye to.

In love, we made drastic changes to our circumstances, our family, our home.

In love we welcomed more family members we had longed for, prayed for, and hoped for.

Even though not everything that happened this year was easy, I can look back and see the good. Family came together and clung to each other in heartache. We will forever be closer to each other because of it. We have seen and felt more support from loved ones this year than we could have ever hoped for. We have had a fresh start in a wonderful place. My husband has an amazing job that he loves and worked so hard for. I have a job I always dreamed of and hoped I could have. I have big plans to return to my previous career choice of course, but in this time and this place, my dream is this and this is where I am called to be.

Changed. New. Loss. Family. Goodbye. Hello. BLESSED. Truly Blessed. This is what I will take away with me as this year closes. I am truly, deeply blessed

As I reflect on everything that has taken place, I do have a big ache in my heart. The loss experienced was great. I miss my niece that I never got to know. I miss my friends and coworkers desperately. I miss family we left behind. Sometimes I sit back and just ache with loss and the tears can overtake me. But I also look at all we have gained this year and still I settle with truly blessed. I could not ask for more.

We say goodbye to 2014 tonight. We say goodbye to adventures and trials. Even tough we say goodbye, we can carry on the memories and the love. This year moves into the past, and into our memories. Goodbye 2014.

Hello 2015. Who knows what this year will bring. We can guarantee there will be good and there will also be bad. We will make new memories and love will carry us. I have quite a few New Year's resolutions of course, and most are the usual, overused resolutions. but I make them all the same:
-lose weight (the baby weight plus more that I am 2 years overdue in losing)
-gain more patience
-enjoy every minute even more
-become better off financially
-eat better
-excercise more
-all in all become a better me
-read my Bible more and know Him more

I know that I will not accomplish all these things. We never do. But maybe, just maybe I will do a better job this year than I have in year's past. I wrote it down now. I cannot ignore it. So, welcome 2015, and please, please be good to us

Little Girl Hair Part 2

I love attempting to style this girl's hair. I have a looooooooooooooong ways to go before I can actually find myself successful at it, but it is fun nonetheless.

PS, that one in the middle, well sometimes a girl just needs a crown ;)

Christmastime Memories

There are certain moments I want to cherish and hold on to forever.

Today, after returning home completely wiped out and not feeling well, I collapsed onto the couch moments before my napping children woke up. They sleepily walked out and crawled into my lap.

We sat there, watching a Christmas Movie, enjoying the lights twinkling on our cute little Christmas Tree, and before we knew it we were playing dress up with our winter hats. It ended with John wearing his sisters hat and gloves because he "wanted to be a teddy bear" and Ella wore her brother's ginormous hat that kept slipping down over her eyes and she thought that was pretty cool.

Moments fly by and life goes so quickly. I treasure these small little moments that slip away. This right here is the reason for this blog. I want to attempt to capture as many of these tiny moments as possible and hold on to them forever.

He Makes All Things New

It's been one of those days....

For some reason, a lot of days recently have been one of those days.... The day usually starts off great. I wake up, have my coffee (yes, MUST ALWAYS have the coffee), and gear myself up for the day. Hubby goes off to work, kiddos stumble out of bed, and my favorite part of the day occurs. Snuggle time. I love snuggle time. My kids trip out to the couch one at a time, still full of sleep, and we spend the next 10-15 minutes just snuggling. It is quiet and peaceful. They are still little enough that I can still hold both of them in my lap at the same time if they happen to wake up together. I love this time of day the best. Nothing has gone wrong, fits have not yet been thrown, tempers not yet lost; we haven't been late for anything yet, made any messes, been too loud, or argued. I wish I could hang onto this part of the day and go back to it when something goes wrong, and believe me, something ALWAYS goes wrong.

We went to the zoo today and had a great time. Loved every minute. I was patient at all the right times, and completely focused on my family as it should be....then the rest of the day happened. My son wouldn't nap. We were out of milk and I had promised the kiddos macaroni and cheese for lunch. My husband was completely immersed in football the REST of the day (I have no patience for football). Fit after fit after fit was thrown. We were challenged with attitudes, whining, sneaking, and all around naughtiness. And I have to be honest. I failed on the patience and not overreacting front today. Major, major mom fail and I am dealing with a lot of guilt right now.

My son, the 4 year old, has been pushing the limits recently. My sweet, loving, snugly, energetic little boy has transformed into a whiny, moody, sneaky, impulsive turd. I love him. I love him soooooooooooooo much. It literally hurts when I think of the love I have for him. I am having a hard time with the newest of his phases he has been going through. When I think we have reached our limits, a whole new phase begins that even more scary. This parenting thing is HARD, and I'm not always very good at it. In fact, sometimes I think I downright suck. But I AM a parent, and I have been blessed with two precious lives that depend on me to be the best mom I can be.

It's scary. Parenting is scary. I am so afraid of failing my kids. I want them to grow up to be happy, whole, and not too terribly damaged. This is where the good part comes in. I know I am not alone. Not only do I have an amazing partner in this, but I have an amazing God that loves, forgives, guides, and completely makes up for all my failures. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I know it is a new day. All my failures and shortcomings have been washed away, and I have the chance yet again to be the very best mom , wife, daughter, sister, friend, and me that I can be. Don't get me wrong, I'm gonna mess it up again and again and again. But I also know, and need to remember, that I can start over in the middle of the day, or even the end. I can take a step back, spend some time in the Word, and know that I am once again forgiven and made clean.

Life is a gift. The people in our lives are gifts. I am so thankful for my many gifts. I know parenting will always be hard. But I also know it is so worth it. I love my kids with all that I am. The best thing I can do is to raise them to see Grace. They will see me mess up over and over, and they will mess up over and over. I can give them Grace through my Savior and they can see my need for Grace as well and the need to give Grace to others.

He makes all things new. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second. And we need it. We need Him. We need Grace. We will never measure up alone. God has us covered. His loves erases all our shortcomings, washes us in Grace, and makes us new.