laundry time

A couple of weeks ago, I was sorting the laundry in front of little Henry.  "Dark, Light, Dark, Light, Dark, Light."  He caught on really fast, and now whenever he finds a piece of laundry, he calls it "da" for "dark."  I also made the quasi-mistake of letting him "help" me throw the laundry into the washing machine, which he thinks is fabulous.  He loves it.  Only there's a problem.

Now, pretty much EVERY TIME we change him, he gets his hands on a piece of clothing, and he starts saying, "Da, da, daaaaaaa," while pointing towards the laundry room.  And mom don't you DARE try to put those clothes back on me!  How do you explain to a 14 month old that we can't always put all clothes in the washer?  You can't.

Another funny thing.  He recently learned the word "baby."  And now he LOVES to say baby.  Only he thinks that all kids are babies.  He doesn't know the name for "kid" or "big kid" so a lot of times we will be out and he'll point to a kid that's older than him and say, "BABY!"  Most of the time he actually is pointing at babies, but I know that there's probably some 4-5 yr olds out there who haven't appreciated this sweet little 1 yr old calling them "baby."

He's SUCH a sweetie!  The ladies who watch him every Thursday during my Bible Study told me today that he has a really sweet, tender heart.  They said that he is really independent and plays by himself well... and that a lot of times other kids will come up and steal his toys from him, and he'll just smile at them or laugh.  Love that baby!

This was taken probably a month or so ago... he climbed up on Matt's briefcase so he could stand next to Daddy while he worked!  Precious!

silly kiddo

Enjoy!

giving thanks

So, I have started a new habit.  Being thankful... I have started to say out loud the things that I am thankful for.  Or I write them down...  So, even when I don't FEEL thankful, I am practicing the discipline of giving thanks.

Here's some reasons why... (in relation to "material things.")

1- I've noticed there's a tendency of mine and of people in the church (maybe just my church, who knows) to feel guilty about their stuff, their blessings.  Almost like it's bad to have stuff.  So we give things away and sell things because we feel like we are spoiled or something.  (I'm all for radical generosity.)  The problem is that I don't think God wants us to give out of guilt... or walk around feeling spoiled and bad about the fact that we own a car and a house...  Plus, what does our sacrifice of stuff even mean if we are only sacrificing so that we don't have to feel bad about being blessed?  If we are thankful, our giving is much more enjoyable and meaningful.  So, instead of feeling like I don't deserve anything I have... or feeling like I "should" just (legalistically) give it ALL away... I'm starting with the "sacrifice of thanksgiving." (That's quoted bc it's somewhere in the Psalms.)  I think God will take it from there.

2-  Next.  The other tendency of mine (yes, at the very same time as #1) is to wish that I had better stuff, ie a bigger house, a different car, my pre-mom body.  (If you want to use an ugly word, it's "coveting.") But of course because of what I previously mentioned up in #1 I wouldn't necessarily feel the freedom to just go chase after that stuff... get what I mean?  Plus, I am commanded to be content.  So, my solution when I start to think about how convenient a minivan would be and how convenient it would be if we lived in a different neighborhood, I stop dead in my tracks and start finding things about my current car and current house to be thankful for.  I say thanks to God, in faith, believing that he will give me a thankful heart as I continue to choose to be thankful.

So, the end result of all of this in my life right now feels like FREEDOM.  The freedom to enjoy the things that God has blessed me with, the freedom to give them away in a second for the sake of the gospel, the freedom to ask God for more while being content with what I have.


Of course, my stuff is the least important to me, and the things I am most thankful for cannot be bought or sold.  But this is just one aspect of thanksgiving that is really impacting my life right now.

my kid has food allergies

Not gonna lie... Before I became a mom, I kind of thought kids who had food allergies were... well (don't hate me for saying this)... wimpy.  As if they could help it.  Of course I was an idiot.

And of course, it turns out, my kiddo has got some food allergies of his own.  I would be lying if I told you that I'd never expect any of my children to have food allergies - mainly bc I didn't have them, and neither did Matt.

Back in January, I was eating some Nutella (hazelnut spread), and H seemed to have a pretty intense reaction to it.  Note, he didn't even eat it.  So that was episode one.  I'll spare you the details.

Episode 2 was Sunday.  He got some mild-looking hives during breakfast, and the only thing new that he was eating was cantaloupe. Really?  An allergy to cantaloupe?  We'll see.  It could also have been strawberries, but he eats strawberries a lot.

The part of this story that I shouldn't admit to is the fact that I was supposed to take him to get blood drawn like two months ago so we could figure out what he was allergic to... oops.  I FINALLY did it yesterday.

My little man was a champ.  He sat there still and quiet as they poked him w/ that needle and took out 3 tubes of blood.  Didn't even cry!!  (He also did 10000 times better than back in August when we were prepping for surgery.)  You better believe he earned himself a blueberry muffin from Starbucks afterward.

a whole new mom level

So, I'm not really a storytime, library, gymboree, play-date type of mom.  Like, up until now, our "play dates" are really for me because I want to hang out w/ the other moms.  This is why H and I spend a good majority of our time at Target... because I like it, and because it has a Starbucks.

But, I've realized that I no longer have the capacity to entertain H all day long on my own.  So, for my sanity and for his benefit, I've started to do some more mommy-ish activities.  Like... story time at the Library and Barnes & Noble. And we've thrown in some play dates here and there.  And we've even gone to the park EVERY DAY since the weather's gotten nicer.

I'm not really an outdoor person, if you haven't noticed.  (I'd run on a treadmill every day of the week.) So, going to the park isn't my idea of a good time.  And neither is walking outside for a long time. But, like I mentioned, there comes a point in your child's life, when going outside to the park is more than necessary - and we have reached that point. Let me tell you, it's been so worth it - makes the days go by faster, Henry is happier, and I actually have started to enjoy it.  And I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but his nap is a lot longer now too. ;)

Like I said - whole new level.  And also, can I just throw this out there - I might take it back, but so far with the first kid, I'm thinking year 2 is much easier than year 1.  Just sayin.