Recently in Mommy Life Category

...so little time. I feel so overwhelmed these days. Wake up...take a shower...feed the Sam...feed the family...change diapers...do the laundry...wash the diapers (I really do love my cloth diapers)...change diapers...feed lunch...nurse the baby...put Sam down for 3 naps...put Joanna down for a nap 3 times before falling asleep...drink tea...change diapers...make dinner...clean up the house...drink more tea...have my devotions...change diapers...send Joanna out to welcome Daddy home...change diapers...re-heat tea...eat dinner...do chores...relax with my luv...eat ice cream...sleep. There are some things that you may noticed don't get done like dressing the children, doing the dishes, exercising. We're stressed out a lot these days about our house-buying process. But this anxiety forces us to humbly turn to God for peace and wisdom. And God, as always, is faithful to lead and to guide and to give peace. And to give joy. Though my life may seem mundane sometimes or frantic, I love my family, I love my job as mommy, I love my job as cook. I don't love my job as house-keeper but such is life.

Which brings me to the original purpose of this blog...I love my job as craftser (sp). I plan on going to visit my parents in London next spring and have enough money saved for my ticket...Sam will be free...my mom will pay for Joanna...and your orders will pay for Kirk. :) Above is a picture of our beautiful daughter and my new hat design of the season. This hat is selling for $25, pick your own colors. I'm still making my design from last year with the earflaps, which is especially good for babies who like to take off their hats. And of course onsies...

Which brings me back to the real original purpose of this rambling blog...I did a tutorial for my onsies and you can now view it on Whip Up. Give me lots of great comments. :)

I was reading Joanna the book If You Give a Pig a Pancake the other day. This is another book by Laura Joffe Numeroff with a similar story line to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. As I read the book I began to realize that I was the little girl in the book...and Joanna was the pig. Much of the day, for the mother of a toddler, is spent trying to keep up with the energy, passion, sporadic, destructive nature of her toddler. Some days I feel like all I do is clean up messes: alphabet magnets on the kitchen floor, poopy diapers on the changing table, potty-training accident on the couch, toys and beads and stuffed animals in Joanna's room, spit-up on my clothes, blocks and puzzle pieces on the living room floor, dirty dishes and counters in the kitchen, TONS of laundry.

But in the midst of all of that...Samuel smiles and laughs when you make faces at him. Joanna and I crawl around pretending to be monkeys, hide behind the chair eating kangaroo food, sword fight with various Mr. Potato head parts. We sing made-up songs and use silly words. And I watch Joanna run out to meet Daddy coming home from work (no matter how fully clothed she is) and smile, with such a deep joy in my heart.

Discipline is hard for me these days. I am often quick to correct, beg, and plead, but can be slow to spank. Thus Joanna continues to say "no," speak disrespectfully, and not obey the first time. Good discipline is SO hard!!! I've got to pray more for God's long-suffering, patient, love to flow through me.

So we rearranged Joanna's room. Her bed used to be in the corner and she would often sleep up on the top of the bed with her feet against the wall. Now the wall is gone but she hasn't get conformed her sleeping habit.

Our family has been going through a lot of change lately...and change is hard! Some changes are wonderful: the birth of Samuel, the move from diapers to panties, less involvement with the South City worship site, having two children. Some changes are hard: the birth of Samuel, the move from diapers to panties, less involvement with the South City worship site, having two children. Samuel is a wonderful little, tiny person...but it's been hard to adjust to caring for two kids instead of one. Even harder than that adjustment has been figuring out how to still be a wife, a good wife, while also mothering two kids. Joanna's move from diapers to panties (yes, I have already made this change) with be AWESOME! But it's a lot of extra work right now. Life is all about change though. And God is all about change.

Romans 8:28+ says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
Yes, sanctification is a long and hard process, but what a wonderful trip it can be if we grow and learn and allow change along the way.

So my blog format has changed which is good because things were getting messed up anyhow. But now I have to refigur some stuff out. Right now I am working on getting my little bios of my family on the left sidebar. Next I need to try to put up my LittleKnots and Etsy shop links. So I uploaded this photo for my profile shot and now just have to figure out how to get it where I want it. Can anyone guess what children's book the title of this entry is from? I'll give $5 off any onsie/shirt/hat/jinggle ball you want. :)

We're getting a nice new flow to life. I'm up to two cups of tea a day which is why I'm allowing myself to sit down rather than clean the house or do dishes. It's hard to do those tasks while drinking (and enjoying) a cup of PG Tips. Both kids are asleep. Joanna said as I laid her down, "No hugs, no kisses, no songs." And I heard no peep out of her. We're wiped out these days. So here are some pictures of our lives.

I've realized that I need to spend more quality time with Joanna, to show her love, to make her feel special, to help her be sleepy at nap time. We've gone to this stream at Forest Park several times to throw rocks in the water, wade, and float things down the stream. It's a wonderful little spot for a picnic.

Joanna has her moments of being frustrated with Sam...usually when she wants me at the same time as he needs me. But she loves to help change his diaper, sing him to sleep, and hold his hand.

I've really been wanting to get back into exercising after not having the energy during Sam's pregnancy. Sadly I realized the only way to fit it in is to get up at 6:00 in the morning (this is SUPER) early for me. Kirk keeps the kids so I not only get to exercise but I get to be by myself which is a wonderful way to start the day. I'm alternating between pilates and running.

I've had a lot of fun working on my business. I got an e-mail from one of my best friends from middle/high school the other day and she ordered two onsies for her daughter. It was fun to connect with her again...and to make some money. These onsies aren't being made for anyone in particular but to put on my LittleKnots shop. I'm trying to build up my inventory when I have down time. It's great for someone to order something I already have made and all I have to do is mail it! I ordered new business cards which I will give to anyone interested when they arrive. I'm not good at promoting myself so you can promote for me if you'd like a stack of them.

As long promised...a personal blog entry. I'd like to say that life in the fast lane is slowing down. Last week was my last week of watching Maddie Eisenbraun one day a week. Next week will be my last week of Monday night girls' Bible study (anyone interested in taking my place?). Although with these things coming to a close I have increased my OBGYN appointments to once a week. Kirk's life is also slowing down. His responsibilities in South City are slowing down and choir season is slowing down.

Today I went to my doctor and she said that I'm 2 cm dilated (that's 2 of the 10 you have to be when you begin the "pushing" phase of labor). So that was a good shock to get me moving to get ready for the birth of this baby. He's not due for another 4 weeks but will be considered full term on Friday. I'm trying not to get my hopes up for an early delivery, I could be dilated at 2 cm for 5 more weeks before going into labor. But it's definitely given me a kick in the maternity pants to register myself at the hospital and figure out exactly what we'll do with Joanna when I go to the hospital...who would like to be called in the middle of the night for "Joanna duty?" My labor was induced with Joanna so I have this fear that I won't have any idea when I'm going into labor. Any tips from fellow moms?

I'd also like to write some more about things I've been thinking through: What should worship look like for me with a toddler? What should I expect Joanna to behave like in church? What's acceptable and what's not? When Joanna gets older, what are the pros and cons to children's church? I hope to write more on this later and would love some feedback.

The house is quiet, Joanna's napping, Kirk's at work, and all of our company has left. I've put off writing an update for long enough. I'm just starting month 5 of my pregnancy and God has graciously taken away most of my morning sickness. I'm still weary and like to take a nap or at least head for bed no later than 9:30. My belly has begun to "pop" out and in two more weeks we'll find out the gender of our baby.

Two weeks ago we spent about 5 days down in the Chattanooga area so that Kirk could play with his dad in his James Ward Homecoming Concert at Covenant College. It was a wonderfully crazy time of being with family, seeing old friends, and attending homecoming events.

The following week Auntie Anna came to stay with us while she attended CCDA. She was gone a lot but had extra days before and after the conference to hang out with me and run around with Joanna. It was great to have her here over the weekend while Kirk drove back down to Chattanooga for his grandfather's memorial service.

Anna left on Monday, Kirk returned on Monday, and my parents arrived on Monday. There were here for about 3 days of crazy fun. Joanna has been on such a high from all the company. She finally said "Granny," though she usually called my mom "Grandma." We shopped, we sat around chatting, we helped "Baba" build a cover for his truck, and we watched "Pride and Prejudice." It was such a refreshing time with my mom to talk about stuff going on in my life, I'm so thankful for such a wise and godly mother. So, I'm pretty wiped out now and miss time alone with my hubby. I'm glad it's the weekend and we'll get to catch up.