Playing Catch-Up

I find myself putting off so many things with the excuse that I will get around to them when I'm "caught up". Maybe I'll blog when all the boxes are unpacked. Maybe I'll get around to scrapbooking when the office is done. Maybe I'll start that book after all this cleaning is done. I realize this theory is flawed. I realize now that it will never be done. I keep anxiously awaiting the day that I will be caught up. The day when I can climb in bed, having completed every unfinished project and wake up the next morning and start fresh, will never come. There will always be something I didn't do, something else I could have done. So today I choose to blog, no matter what else there is to do around me :)

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Sorry dear blog, it seems that Facebook is just all I have the time for lately! Life with two kids doesn't leave much time for writing! But, I had a thought for a post, so regardless of how late it is (and it IS late!) I am going to do this thing!

For the whole month of November I made an effort to post a status every day on Facebook of something I am thankful for. It was easy, being as blessed as I am, to come up with different things I am grateful for. But as Thanksgiving approached, I couldn't help but notice that everything I had mentioned being thankful for was something I considered a blessing. Positive things. Wonderful things. Happy things. And all those things are worth thanking God for, absolutely. But I got to thinking, those are not the only things I am thankful for.

The things in my life that have brought me the closest to God, taught me the most, matured me the most, changed me the most, have been difficult things. Challenging things. Things I didn't necessarily enjoy. And in the end, if I am honest with myself, I know I am most thankful for those things. I am thankful that God thinks enough of me to take my hand and walk me through these times in my life, the good, the bad AND the ugly, and see that I come out on the other side, better for having pressed on with Him. I couldn't be more thankful for that.

Okay God, I Get It

It's been a long time, comin', I know. Transitioning from being a mother of one to a mother of two was more difficult than I imagined. I thought the difficulty would be in going from none to one, but boy was I wrong! I absolutely love it, don't get me wrong, and I wouldn't change a thing. But finding time to blog has been beyond challenging. In fact, I had given up on it altogether until very recently.

This fall I joined a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group with some friends from church. We meet twice a month, the kids get to participate in awesome kids programs, and us moms get some time to listen to a speaker, make a craft, eat yummy food, and spend time in small discussion groups. Last Friday, the speaker spoke on the topic of self care. She emphasized how mothers of young children need to take time to do something for themselves, besides maybe taking a shower, each day. The thing that came to mind for me was blogging. I used to love putting this blog together, posting pics, and writing to clear my head and organize my thoughts. Then when we broke off into our discussion groups, the mentor in my group mentioned what she called "sacred echoes" which is when God keeps bringing the same thing to your attention through various means, just to drive the point home. So I thought of my Grandma, and how she had told me she missed reading my blog. Then I thought of my father-in-law Tony who was giving me a hard time just the other day because he keeps checking it and seeing the same old post. And then I thought about how blogging was the first thing I thought of when the speaker was speaking. So I made a mental note that day to see about blogging again, but I proceeded to get too busy, like always. Today, though, was the icing on the cake. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that she was going to start blogging again, so I followed the link to her blog because I had never read it before. And what I found there was my story! She wrote about how she was going to MOPS and she felt God was telling her to get back to blogging, etc, etc. How's that for an echo from God? So... God, I am sorry for making you repeat yourself so many times. I get it. And a-blogging I will go! :)

Happy Easter from Santa Clause

Yes, Santa Clause. Just watch the video!

Egg Oops

This year the Easter Bunny almost got herself in trouble. She decided that she would bring Julia her Easter basket after Julia was in bed and before she hit the sack herself, that way she wouldn't have to be up before Julia to do it in the morning. So she waited until it had been quiet in Julia's room for a while and then set up the basket. She then decided that she would leave a trail of plastic eggs from the basket in the living room and down the hall to Julia's room. She started at the basket, setting down one egg at a time, moving toward Julia's room. As she set the last egg down right in front of the door she heard an excited little voice proclaim loudly, "EGG! I SEE A EGG!" The bunny snatched up the egg and jumped back from the door (trying not to die laughing!) and called mommy so she could go in and put Julia back in her bed.

Honestly, Julia was laying on the floor in her room, peering under the door. I can only assume this was an effort to see the Bunny that Mommy made the mistake of mentioning before bed! Too smart for her own good, my child!

Surprises

Little surprises round every corner! I love the little things I come across every day. But if you happen to take your shoes off in our house, beware! That is Julia's favorite place to hide things!

Mama princess duck and baby princess duck, two of Julia's favorites.

Kissing cows!

Three Cheers for Park Weather!

Having a baby in December was good in a lot of ways. It's difficult to leave the house with a newborn, especially when you have a toddler to get ready and out the door as well. So while Christmas was more than a little crazy, it worked out that those couple months that I was homebound with Jenna were January and February. Those winter months can be depressing, but not so when you have a fast-growing newborn to entertain and delight you! Learning how to adjust to being a mother of two helped pass the time. But as March dragged along, we all came down with a bad case of cabin fever! We couldn't have been more happy to be treated with gorgeous spring weather in April! Jenna is older now, and we are happy and grateful to be out of the house more!

On April 2, Kristen came over and we took the girls to the park.

"One... two... three... I come!"

(You'd better hide fast, because that's all you get when Julia counts!)

Tay tay is tricky, she hid on top of the rock wall. Julia wandered all around the playground calling for her, it was adorable.

"There she is!"

Julia was terrified of the swings that day. Even sitting on Kristen's lap, she was hanging on for dear life!

Thanks for playing with us Kristen, Julia loves you so much!