First two days as a 30 year old

I have been so excited to turn 30. The first two days of this new decade of my life haven't quite set the tone I was looking for, but there's always a silver lining... Here are some pictures that tell the story. 

Asleep on the couch with high fevers.

asleep at the pediatrician - on mommy's birthday - and I remembered that I also had to take one of the boys to the pediatrician on my birthday LAST year. New tradition?

High fever.

The morning of my bday at about 5 AM- everyone in the family is awake on the couch. Fevers, vomit, headaches... (It was strep throat!)

And two days into antibiotics, we decided to let Henry swim in his swim meet because he said he still wanted to- until he didn't want to anymore...at the meet...drama from him, drama from me.  This is when we remind ourselves, "He is FOUR." 

The car ride home from the swim meet was so special that I just started laughing.

Silver lining- Jesus endured the cross and when I consider him and his exchanging my sin for his record, these things seem very small.

30 before 30 Slacker

Today is my 30th birthday.  First things first... here is what I accomplished from my 30 before 30 list.

1. Run a half marathon. YES
2. Memorize Romans 6-8 NO
3. Go to the dentist and leave without a single cavity. YES
4. Take a kid-free vacation. YES
5. Go one week without eating out at all. NOPE
6. Complete 50 consecutive push-ups. NOPE
7. Go to the Austin Children's Museum. YES
8. Learn to mow the lawn. NO
9. Take a day at the spa. NAH
10. Sponsor a Compassion International child. NO
11. Go to a concert at The Backyard. YES
12. Go to a concert at Stubbs. NO
13. Complete a "do it yourself" project that I would be glad to show off. YES
14. Complete the Austin Stone Institute's Women's Development Program. YES
15. Learn about a different culture. YES
16. Go to a Hill Country Vineyard. NOPE
17. Eat at Uchi. YES
18. Go stand up paddle-boarding on Town Lake. NOPE
19. Read a book that's classical fiction. YES
20. Read a book that's fiction, but not classical. YES
21. Take a vacation to Gulf Shores Alabama. YES
22. Go one week without any caffeine at all. NOPE - not even in pregnancy
23. Start my "dream" blog. yes and no
24. Disney World! NOPE
25. Eat at Gordough's. YES
26. Learn to garden (like flowers, not vegetables). NOPE, not really.
27. Write a Bible Study YES
28. Go to a workout class at my gym.  YES (slash why was this on my list, I have done it many times...)
29. Go rock climbing (like indoor). NO
30. Host a guest at my house who I don't already know.  Only if you count my college friend's kids.  So yes.  (Truth be told, that was not what I meant by hosting a guest, but it will do.)

So that's like 17 out of 30.  If you are interested in seeing my progression through the first 13 of these 17, they are all HERE.

For the last FOUR...

Write a Bible Study.  When I originally put this on my list, I had no clue that God in his loving-kindness would hand-deliver me an opportunity to serve the women at my church by writing a Bible Study tool for the book of Romans. 

Start my dream blog.  My dream blog when I wrote this (and maybe still) was one where I share what God is teaching me, in hopes that he might also speak to those who read - kinda deep and theologically oriented.  I actually did start this, but I stopped.  I'm not sure why.  It seems more natural to inter-twine what God teaches me with my "real life" blog.  I think.  Who knows.  Here's the link to the blogger version of my "dream" blog.  The fancier version is http://leahgibsonblog.com.

Host a guest at my house who I don't already know.  Literally had a couple friends from college come stay with us, and I had never met their kids before.  This counts.

Go to a workout class at my gym.  Thanks to my pal, Erika, I went to spin class about a week ago.  I completely forgot that was on my list... I think the reason being that I am typically a lone worker-outer.

The end.  There are so many things I've been meaning to share recently.  Hopefully I can write more soon.

one word

If I had to pick one word to describe my life right now, it would probably be "chaotic."  Chaotic in the sense that nothing feels organized. I don't feel like I have time to regroup, to sit down and plan (plan meals, facilitate schedules, plan date nights or play dates, plan my 30th birthday party -which is next week/shameless plug- or even go to the grocery store).  No doubt that taking the time to write this blog post will not help with that, but you know.  

So it sort of feels like I'm flying by the seat of my pants most days, which if you're that kind of person... well, I applaud you and I completely don't understand you.

I tend to like things more organized.  Maybe one of the hardest parts about adding a new family member is that we lose our old rhythms and have to regain new rhythms and schedules and a general sense of "this is how life is."  I had a hard time transitioning from 0 kids to 1 kid, from 1 kid to 2 kids, and so I reeeeeaally lower the expectations with #3.  I told myself it was going to be hard.  And while I feel like so far, this has been the smoothest transition, it is still hard.  My friend reminded me that adding Summer Break to a newborn doesn't help much with that transition, and I will agree.

So much of my sanity right now comes from intentionally choosing not to let certain things drive me CRAZY.  And believe me, it's a choice.  Like picking up toys, or staring at some random piece of mail that can't be filed away yet but has been sitting out on the counter for days, or the fact that LAUNDRY NEVER EVER EVER EVER ENDS.  Cleaning up 300 spills a day because my 2.5 yr old refuses to use a lid.  And putting the throw pillows back on the couch 600 times a day because my kids seem to think they ALL belong on the floor.  See, I can't even think about it now because I'm working myself into a tizzy.  Since I don't have time to take care of it ALL, I must choose to ignore.  Ignoring is powerful.

Just sitting here thinking... what would it take for me to feel like I have "control" of life?  What would it take for my life to not feel chaotic at this stage of the game - 6 weeks postpartum with my third kid?  I think I would have to have a babysitter for all three of my children more than half of the week, and I would need a maid, and I would need to stop breastfeeding, and I would need to turn down many more invitations to socialize, and someone would go to the grocery store for me if I could get the brainpower to just make a LIST!

Okay, so this was a verbal vomit post.  This is the reality of my life right now.  Chaotic.  Chaotic but still good and sweet... as long as I'm ignoring. :)  And speaking of, there's a 6 week old I need to stop ignoring now.  Here's a couple pictures... till next time.

Photo Dump and a little update

Let's see- I should let you know that my "non-negotiables" at week 2 are officially "what I'm shooting for" at week 5. Aka if you live in my city and I see you at target with no makeup and a ponytail then don't judge.

Jack had his 1 month checkup and he is a big kid.  So far he's at 90% for height and weight at 22.5 inches and 11lbs, 3oz.  He is mostly really content minus one 24 hour period (yesterday) where we were truly baffled by his constant fussiness... And man talk about a nightmare.  If I ever had/have a kid with true colic, I may need to hit up the psych ward.  But since about 10 AM today he's been his happy normal self, so whatever.

I will say being sleep deprived for a whole month has started to take its toll. Summer is officially underway... I think my mom motto will be "one day at a time." And that motto will be accompanied by a lot of scripture I will have to speak to myself.

Matt has been a huge help taking the boys at night and on the weekends to do fun things- but he did that when I was pregnant too, so nothing new there.

I feel like I had more to update but I needed to be asleep 30 minutes ago so I am done.  Laters.

My Swimming Star

Our neighborhood swim team is like a cult.  Everyone does it, and it is one of the main ways people meet each other and connect. Anyway, I had not even considered that Henry could be a part of the team this year until some friends started to inform me that as early as age 4, they can be on the "pre-team."  I had put him in lessons in January because I wanted at least one kid who could swim this summer when I was flying solo with three.  Henry progressed really well during his lessons so I decided to let him "try out" for the team.  Apart from being hesitant at first because of the new situation, he has really done great!  This past Friday he swam across the entire pool by himself!! I wasn't actually there to see it because Friday was chaotic, and by the time practice rolled around at 5:30 PM I was donesky. Matt said he didn't see it either (we are great parents), but Henry's coach was fortunately excited enough to find Matt after practice and tell him that it happened!  I am just so proud of my little guy! He really enjoys swimming, and this is totally night and day difference from last year when we had to get a refund on our swim lessons because he was so scared!