What a day!

Today was a good day!  I got a ton done and the day ended with most of my chores being checked off the house list, a sleeping baby AND a general feeling of accomplishment.

I went to the grocery with my mom.  She got to see first hand my child's new favorite activity - throwing an all out fit for no apparently reason.  We're walking along then BAM wailing, tears and everything else.  It is a little crazy.  Fortunately this too shall pass...and as long as my ear drums stay intact and I don't get kicked out of any stores we should be fine.  (Although at this rate Baby 2 and I will be doing a lot of shopping while Miss Grace says home with Dad!)

Then I came home, took a 15 minute nap made two boxes of muffins and had the house smelling awesome right before my friend Joie showed up!  (Yea for visits from the Washington DC area!)   And she brought a mocha - double win.  We got to hang out for awhile and she got to see Miss Grace.  After our much needed visit I made 6lbs of apples into 2.5 jars of applesauce then decided I didn't want to move for the rest of the night :)

Miss Grace got some dinner and a bath, I watched a Royal Wedding special (not sure why but oh well), and then got the dishes done, floors vac'd, dusted and considered cleaning my bathroom. 

Right now I'm debating going to sleep, answering emails or watching more mindless television. 

I am reminded though that tomorrow is the day that we should celebrate more than Christmas, more than Thanksgiving, more than any other day - the day our Savior rose from the dead.  He lived for me, He died for me...what a humbling thought.  Someone asked WHY God would bother creating us when He knew we would bring heartache, make poor choices and may live our lives seperate from Him.  For the same reason I have children - because despite the possibilities of it all going wrong I still delight in them and cannot imagine life without them.  How amazing He feels the same way about ME!

He is Risen!
    He is Risen Indeed!

I hope you have HOPE this Easter - knowing that the Lord will return.  And if you don't have that hope, I'd be glad to tell you about it!

Up From The Grave He Arose
Robert Lowery

1. Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, 
 waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord! 
Refrain:
 Up from the grave he arose; 
 with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; 
 he arose a victor from the dark domain, 
 and he lives forever, with his saints to reign. 
 He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

2. Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior, 
 vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord! 
 (Refrain) 

3. Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior; 
 he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! 
 (Refrain) 

This song always makes me think of my Grandfather who has demonstrated the love of the Lord to me since I was born (on his birthday!) and is a joyful reminder of what the Lord has done!

Funny Friday #1

Yes, I am using a friend's weekly themes because I need a format if I'm going to get into this blogging thing.  Eventually I'll branch out a bit more but for now this will work. 

This week's funnies include...

My daughter's new phrase: "Bye bye, see you!"  Where does she learn this stuff?

My mom: "I respect that you don't want to share the baby's name until she is born."  And then she spent 15 minutes texting me..."is it ____?"

My husband: "It is ok for you to do NOTHING sometimes.  Remember the flowers, remember the birds, screw the ant."

And of course my little one wearing mom's shoes is ALWAYS a good time! 

Wearing Mommy's Shoes

Riding The Horse at Meijer

This is a really old picture, but Aaron drew it and told people
"this is our family in 9 months" to tell people we were having another baby :)

This has been a little bit of a hormonal week for me - glad to see that at least a few things were funny. :)  I think next week if I eat better, sleep less and stay focused it'll be a better week!

Thankful Thursday Top Ten #3

I have a hard time writing these - not because I'm not thankful but because I always feel pressure to come up with 10 really awesome reasons to be thankful.  Ah well, here goes!

1) My not-so-little-anymore daughter fell asleep in my arms today.  I put her down for a nap and she was having none of it so we watched some Little House on the Prairie and she fell asleep.  Good sleep training? Nope.  Good bonding? Absolutely.

2) Pot roast for dinner!  This is one of my family's favorite meals and one I hardly ever make.  My husband is such a great guy he even did the dishes for me!

3) A lecture from my husband when I complained about how much I had to do "Remember the flowers, remember the birds, screw the ant."  Made me laugh really hard and was that bit of inspiration I needed.  (I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30...that NEVER happens!)

4) Game night with my girls on Monday.  I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard.  I am NOT that much older than them but when one of them asked who Jack Nicholson was and I said "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" and the girl looked at me blankly...the another teen said "Bucket List" and got ooooh, HIM!

5) Two nights in a row without a midnight peep from the daughter.  She is getting MUCH better at sleeping through the night and while I might only be able to enjoy it for 4 months until the new baby is here, I'll take it!

6) An awesome momma!  I got two sets of Big/Little Sis shirts (including ones I was coveting but didn't want to spend the money on - $40 for two shirts? Ummm, no).

7) Date night with my husband.  I cannot tell you how much I look forward to Wednesdays.  It makes me VERY happy to spend time with my man and tell him my thoughts and fears and get some feedback.

8) My Dr.  I LOVE HER!  I have a new baby delivery doctor which makes me a little sad because I love the woman who delivered Grace.  However, they are friends and both Christians so that makes me thrilled!  (Grace has a well-baby tomorrow and it made me think of it!)

9) Quiet time.  I always forget how much I need to take a few minutes with God.  This morning I did my Beth Moore devo book while the munchkin was being silly.  Then after she went to bed I sat and chatted with Him for a bit - I needed that!  I love that He loves me enough to listen!

10) A new focus in my home on less TV and more Christian music.  Not all the time and I'm not even close to where I want to be but I feel like we are slowly getting our brains back :)

That's my girl :)

Overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed has been my word of the week.  There is an episode of Gilmore Girls where Michel says he has "ennui" - a metaphysical angst.  So now when I'm in a frustrated/down mood I tell my husband it is a metaphysical angst - I love that he gets me :)

This week my darling daughter has decided that temper tantrums and whining are good fun.  I do my best to ignore her as much as possible during these fits - occasionally throwing in "mommy needs you to use your words" or "can you show mommy what you want?"  But to no avail - the screaming/whining continues.  She also now likes to throw things when she gets frustrated while shouting "NO NO NO NO NO".  It is funny in a "I'm going to have to beat this out of her" kind of way.  Ugh - yesterday my darling husband let me escape the house for an hour.  I believe my exact words were "If I don't leave this is not going to end well."  Praise the Lord for understanding husbands.  I think my pregnancy hormones are getting the best of me as well.

Fortunately today she threw a fit and he dealt with it.  And now she is taking a REALLY long nap.  I love the peaceful quiet :)

Lately I have been reminded of garbage in, garbage out so have been making a conscience effort to be careful with the quality and quantity of television coming into our home as well as the music that is playing.  It's been interesting.  And my dear friend Stephanie is in my head so every time I sit down to "enjoy" some mindless television I feel guilty.  I love her!  My house looks great!  I also have my new family chore list done so everyone has clean clothes and the house gets picked up regularly.  I think people could drop by any day and I wouldn't be embarrassed (although I would recommend Thursdays - that is bathroom day!).  :D

Alrighty, time to go finish some work stuff, make a grocery list and get ready for a cookie making marathon (my traditional contribution to Easter and Thanksgiving meals...although I might give some to our neighbors down the street...we wave but haven't actually met).

Busy day in the neighborhood!

Today has been a day of work and fun.  I am always blessed when the kiddo is worn out at the end of the day because we've had quality time AND accomplished something!  Today my mom called me up to get together - and said she had a project to work on but wouldn't tell me what it was.  That is the LAST time I complain about my car needing to be cleaned out.  Fortunately she tackled it with me and all the milk, crumbs, toys, blankets, sunglasses, animal crackers and more are under control.  I complained but it was certainly a blessing and more fun to do it with her than alone!  Of course Grace ran around the whole time "helping". 

We also made a grocery store run with a then cranky baby in the pouring rain but made it through and got home before she completely lost it.  She took a nap, I took a nap and then I made pancakes and hung out a bit.  After nap time we put laundry away, got a snack (she is good about bringing me a bowl when she wants something to munch on!) and then ran to Target.  $50 later I got everything I "needed".  Ugh, that store is going to kill me.  I love their $1 kids books though!

After Target we ran around while more, ate some dinner, had a bath and watched Little House on the Prairie together.  I'm not completely sure all the subject matter is appropriate for my 1 year old but that's probably about as wholesome as it gets.  Now she is in bed and I'm getting ready to move laundry, make soup for church tomorrow and find some dinner.  Full, fun day!  Can't complain!

My goal for the evening is to get one room in my house cleaned up well before I go to bed.  We shall see how that works out!  I'm starting to get out of breath pretty easy with this kiddo but it's probably good practice for the craziness that will be two of them.  Oh, and while I'm at it - I know some moms complain about their kids underfoot while they're in the kitchen or trying to accomplish something.  And I know with multiple kiddos I may too, but right now I LOVE when I am working on something and I feel a tug on my pants or a hand on my leg.  What a joy to see that smiling face wanting to be involved!  Praise the Lord for my little munchkin!