How ironic the title of this post. I had a video uploading on youtube when I typed the title. And I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes waiting for it to finish. It was down to a couple minutes left and I just went back and now it says ERROR.

Oh so close.

The video was of Caleb almost walking. He’s so close. Tonight he took about four steps and he’s so stinking proud of himself I can’t stand it. But for some reason when he falls down he’s started falling onto his stomach and banging his head on the floor. And then laughing.

Weird kid. He takes after his father I assure you.

It’s past 11:30 pm, I’ve been up since 3:00 am this morning and I have neither the patience nor the brain cells left to try to upload the video again.  So tonight you get some random pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 75:1

And I’m a pouty little snot.  Sorry, almost forget that second part.

Ok, now that I’ve got your attention please take a few minutes to read this: My Husband Is an Overbearing Jerk … and I’m a Pouty Little Snot

Good stuff.

Another good website I found that encourages specifially women in their marriages is Women’s Marriage Ministry.

More good stuff.

With love from one pouty little snot to another (and maybe to a few overbearing jerks),

~Friday night was family night and we’ve kinda gotten overloaded on pizza after having it 6 weeks in a row. So Friday night we decided to try out a new Chinese restaurant close to our house.  And so begins the stage of having two very loud, obnoxious children that make you wonder what in the world you were thinking bringing them out to a restaurant and why didn’t we just order pizza?

But really. It was a fun time. The food was excellent and after practically every bite Angel would say, “MMMM YUM YUM!”. This girl likes her food. Like mother like daughter, I guess.

After telling Angel to use her inside voice 400 times we finally finished dinner and stopped to pick up a few movies. By the time we got home it was close to bedtime so we just played a little and then sent the kids off to bed. It was kind of a bummer because it doesn’t really feel like a family night (miss you Princess!) when all it consisted of was eating dinner together – which we normally do anyway. I’m looking forward to when the kids get a little older and we can play board games.  Wait. Please disregard that last line. I do not want my babies to grow up. But yet I do. But yet I don’t.

~Well I went to bed contemplating the feelings in my soul of my kids growing up and of course woke up at 4 am to Angel’s screaming. Because that’s what we do now. We wake up at 3 or 4 am. Every single night. And again – it’s bittersweetness. I cannot wait for the day when I can get a good nights sleep three nights in a row. But I cannot imagine the day when our babies won’t wake up in the middle of the night crying for us.

~On a wonderful amazing note, both kids slept in until 8:00 am Saturday. That is like the parting of the Red Sea variety of miracles. It was so wonderful. Well except for the fact that when Angel woke up at 4 am Pat went down to get her back to sleep but I woke up too and couldn’t go back to sleep. So finally at 5:30 am I got out of bed and went downstairs and accidentally rented a cheesy chick flick on pay per view. Accidentally because I thought we didn’t have pay per view movies anymore and I was playing around the remote and it came up and so I just thought I’d try it and see what happened. Thankfully I didn’t pick a really dumb movie to try it out on. Instead I picked 17 Again. I guess just a little bit of a dumb movie.

~Saturday we did nothing much at all. I attempted to do laundry and clean but wasn’t very successful. I did get my menu done for the month. Oh yes.  You heard correctly. For the month.  We’re on a new budget plan and it’s been going really good. And surprisingly it hasn’t been too hard to come up with meals for a month at a time. Pat is very helpful and gives me ideas for at least 1/2 the meals. So anyway, I got that done and my shopping list done but then decided to take a nap when the kids when down for a nap instead of going grocery shopping. Because I’m real ambitious like that.

~Pat had asked me earlier in the week if I wanted to go on a date this weekend. Well, yes my wonderful husband I think that would be fabulous. We had to run errands also so all of us ran and bought our tickets for a movie – The Blind Side – because it was selling out every showing. We then ran to the store and dropped the kids off at Grama’s at 5:30 pm. The show was at 7:10 and we wanted to get there early to get good seats so just ran and got a quick bite to eat at Qdoba. The movie was amazing. It was even more amazing to spend some time with my hubby. Especially when it involves popcorn, holding hands and watching a great movie.

~Sunday morning brought church. And then I decided to go to our niece’s musical and thought Angel would really enjoy it too. It was kind of a gamble because she only had about 30 minute nap right after church.  But it went well and she loved it. There was only one time towards the end that she started to talk really loud – thankfully it wasn’t in the middle of a song – just the introduction to a song. Ok, maybe it was bad no matter what. But she settled down quickly and made it through the rest of the show.  And our niece did a fabulous job too.

~We got home around 4:00 pm and Caleb was sleeping so me, Angel and Pat also took naps. I love Sunday afternoon naps!

~Because of Angel’s middle of the night wake up calls we decided to move her upstairs and see if that would make a difference. So while I gave the kids baths Pat switched Angel’s bed and Caleb’s crib. Angel was SO excited to see her bed in the upstairs bedroom when we got done with baths. She started screaming and jumping on her bed and was sure to tell Caleb that his bedroom was now downstairs!  We’ll see how it goes tonight.

Enjoy your week!

This is a devotion from my friend Elise. It was a great encouragement to me and I’m sure will be to you too.

Gaining an Eternal Perspective

My dad doesn’t give much advice.  And when he does give advice, it’s usually in the form of one of two phrases.  At times, particularly during my teenage years, when some “tragedy” would occur (like so-and-so broke up with so-and-so and now she was mad at me because she thought I said such-and-such) and my world as I knew it was crashing down, Dad would gently remind me that though life seemed hopeless and our differences irreconcilable – “Life’s a long time.”

And other times when I came home all in a tizzy because, for instance, I was pretty sure that I had heard so-and-so say such-and-such about something that sort of sounded like it was about me, and therefore I was never talking to her again, Dad would listen and then gently remind me – “Life’s too short.”

As I’ve gotten older and reflected on his wisdom, I’ve learned several things.  First, I’ve realized how ironic those two pieces of advice are.  Second, despite how incompatible they seem at first blush, they’re really two sides of the same coin.  Each phrase speaks of gaining perspective.  Both have been used to remind me of my limited perspective on life.  The first, “life’s a long time,” reminds me that I don’t have a clue what God is going to do during the course of a lifetime, or a day for that matter, and things may look differently sometime later on.  The second, “life’s too short,” reminds me that life is too precious and too uncertain to waste time fretting about things that really don’t matter in the scheme of things.

And so, as it turns out, as usual, Dad is right (boy am I going to hear about that comment when he reads this – he may not give much advice, but that is not to say that my quick-witted dad is ever at a loss of words).  Putting the two phrases together, Dad is encouraging me to gain an eternal perspective.  He’s really saying, “Think about things that matter.  Don’t waste time worrying about unimportant things.” Or, in other words, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:33-34.  Or, put another way, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”  Colossians 3:2.

As I’ve gained wisdom, and dare I say, perspective, in my old age of thirty, I so appreciate Dad’s nuggets of advice.  “Life is a long time” to witness God’s miracles, and “life is too short” not to focus on those miracles every day.

Me! Me! Me! Pick me!

Tuesday night I was a single mom as Pat had to work late. While we miss daddy alot there’s usually nothing major that happens when I’m by myself with the kiddos. Well other than multiple meltdowns, injuries and Angel asking every ten minutes, “Where’s Daddy?”.

On Tuesday night right before bedtime Caleb decided to fill his pants. Angel was playing and so I grabbed Caleb and went to quickly change him. We often change them on our bed because it’s the perfect height. Me, being the idiot that I am, put Caleb on our bed. Not realizing that he not only had a poopy diaper but he had a blowout poopy diaper.

I should also mention that our bed has a white down comforter.

I take his diaper off and realize he’s got poop going all the way up his back and since I had layed him on the bed, poop is now all over the bed. Did I mention he’s laying on a white down comforter? Since he has a new found love of his you know what, the first thing he does is put his hands there getting them all poopy too.

At this point wouldn’t the sane, smart and good mommy just put the kid in the tub? Well not this mommy. I was being lazy and didn’t want to give them baths – they’d had them earlier that day at Grama’s house – and so I decided I’d just clean up Caleb with wipes. Unfortunately every time I would try to wipe I’d smear it all over, get it on my hand or smear more on our white down comforter.

I eventually decided that I would have to hold Caleb upside down by his ankles to get everything clean. And so that is what I did. Oh yes, I did. Never mind that he was screaming and probably asking God what He was thinking when He made me the mommy.

I persevered through the poop (and poor screaming Caleb) and got him all cleaned up. It only took me 14 wipes and will cost me 20 some dollars to get my comforter cleaned.  But I guess every kid needs a poop story so that’s gotta count for something.

And the award for the dumbest person goes to…

~Caleb says “mama” and “baba” (for bottle). Um, ya, I’m going to list that first because it’s AWESOME! Pat gets a little jealous but will get his turn in a few months when Caleb starts to realize, like Angel did, that their dad is way more cooler than their mom.

~Caleb loves taking a bath (most of the time) but still stands up in the tub. Drives me completely insane. Needless to say his baths are very short.

~Within the last month he has discovered, well, um, you know. Oh my word. Stop with the touching all ready.

~He’s almost walking. He’ll walk along everything and will stand for quite a long time without hanging on. He’ll then try to take a few steps and get in about 2-3 before getting really excited – he’ll start to bounce and fall down!

~He’s the weirdest eater. Some times he’s really picky and won’t eat anything but instead throw everything on the floor. Sometimes he’ll eat whatever we give him. I have no idea what his favorites are – well besides chocolate – it totally depends on the day. He does seem to consistently like noodles, cantaloupe, ham, beans, corn, bananas and banana bread and cheese.

~Caleb is a great sleeper. Takes two naps a day (usually 1-2 hours each). By about 8:00 pm he’s ready for bed and sleeps until 6:00 am.  He’s still taking 5-6 bottles a day.

~He loves to chase Angel around. It’s the cutest thing, he follows after her wherever she goes. He also loves to steal whatever she’s playing with. While I think it’s kinda funny, Angel certainly does not – it ticks her off pretty bad and usually ends up turning into a meltdown.

~He loves to read books. He’ll sit and listen to us read a book to him for the longest time. He prefers that over actually looking at the book himself but he’s been doing that more and more too. He also loves to have a bucket or some kind of container and put stuff in and then take it out and repeat about 476 times.

~He wears a size 5 diaper and mostly 12-18 month clothes.

~He grunts alot. And makes animal noises. Well one animal… “roarrrrrr” or some type of growl that I can’t really spell.  I’m pretty sure he learned that from sister Angel.

~He points with both pointer fingers. He’ll point at the dogs mostly. But he’s also pointed at the picture of Gloria (one of his baby-sitters) on the fridge and then I say, “Is that Gloria?” and he’ll start laughing. He’ll also point at random things like trees and grunt.

~He’s mostly outgrown watching tv for any period of time. Although earlier tonight he was pointing at Dora on the tv.  Usually though he’ll watch Mickey Mouse in the morning for a few minutes and then want to get into stuff.

~He loves music and likes to clap. To the beat. Definitely a future Pride of the Dakotas freak like his mom.

~While Angel has for the most part outgrown her “terrible twos”, Caleb has begun to discover his temper and stubbornness. I’m pretty sure he learned that from his dad. He’s usually a pretty happy, content little guy but more and more he’s starting to get mad when he doesn’t get his way or doesn’t get what he wants.

~He’s got 4 teeth completely in – 2 up and 2 down. And then 2 more on the top that are half way through and I think 2 more right next to them that are just about to break through.

~He’s a cuddly cuddly bear. Especially in the morning he loves to cuddle and hug.

~He hardly uses a sippy cup. It’s not for lack of trying. Little stinker would just rather pound it on the table or throw it across the room.

~He’s very ticklish. And he’s got the cutest laugh. He’s just so scrumptious it about kills me.

This last weekend we went to my parent’s house. Just to get away and spend some good quality time with my family. But also to help them with a luncheon they put on for the teachers in their town.

They’ve done this luncheon for the past three years. The teachers have an inservice and my parent’s church provides a lunch free for the teachers. It’s a pretty awesome example of the body of Christ reaching out and being the hands and feet of Jesus.

The thing that I loved most was that they cared about every little detail. From the color of the napkins to the decorations to having an awesome menu. They served a baked potato bar, a taco bar, soup and dessert.

The line of teachers and staff…

Pat and my brother Jim working hard in the kitchen. Actually it looks like Jim is working hard and Pat is goofing off.

Cooking, serving and doing dishes…

It was a great day. We served about 100 teachers and staff and there were just enough leftovers for everyone to take something home. 

The most amazing thing about this lunch is that there are only about 20 people in my parent’s church (but growing!). They’ve had some real struggles the past year and people have left. But about 20 people have perservered through it all and continue to serve and love and reach out to their community. And be the hands and feet of Jesus.

The rest of the day Friday we rested and then Pat (finally gave in to my whining and) went and bought the movie UP. We had seen it in the movie theatre and I knew it was one we wanted to have in our DVD collection. We watched it 6 times this weekend. Angel loves it so much. There are a few spots with mean dogs that I thought would scare her but she even loved that part. It has a great message too and is a good movie for kids and adults.

In addition to watching the movie and watching it again and again, we also…

Looked at the fish…

Spent some time at Aunt Nellie’s salon…

Cuddled with the duck. Not sure what it is with my kids and ducks!?

Ate brownies. And more brownies. And then some more.

Ate cinnamon bears. Just like Papa (my dad). Or as Angel calls them “teddy bears”.

I also got to celebrate my 36th birthday with my family. I’ll have to share a little more later about how this was the first birthday that I actually felt old. Well, I guess I just did, huh.

Anyway, while I’m very thankful for the time spent with my family, it probably wasn’t the most ideal birthday. First of all Angel had horrible nights both Thursday and Friday nights. Up all night. So I was so tired from that. And then our van broke down Saturday morning (my birthday). My mom and Angel ran to the store and when they went to leave they couldn’t get it started. So we got them home and then Pat went to work trying to figure out what to do, how to fix it, how we’re going to get home, etc.

Oh ya, my parents also rent their house out and there were a bunch of hunters coming to rent the house at 3:00 on Saturday. So we were also busy cleaning and getting ready for them. Well my parent’s were cleaning, I was trying to keep the kids from messing up the house anymore than they had!

Turns out the switch on the van broke and we couldn’t get a part until Tuesday. Our insurance covered towing so we got it towed to my sister’s house and Pat took it all apart but unfortunately, even though he is quite amazing, couldn’t get it working.  This was going on late Saturday now and so my dad said we could take his pickup back to our house (two hours away). I’m not sure how we were going to get the van fixed or get him his vehicle back.  But that’s just like my family – to give the shirt off their back – or their pickup – for someone in need.

Right before we were going to leave Pat decided to try something else. And sure enough he was able to get it started. There’s still something wrong with it but we were able to make it home. It was late Saturday night – my birthday – the night my hubby was suppose to surpise me with an awesome birthday date – or something like that. Instead we rented a movie and picked up Mr Goodcents subs and hung out at home and that was good too.

Even though I’m a year older and feeling it, it was overall a great weekend and I’m thankful for each day the Lord gives me!  And hopefully each year I’m given I can strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus too (and wheels, if necessary).

Today I was able to get Angel’s hair into pony tails for the first time. She looked so cute – although it’s completely breaking my heart that she’s so grown up! But anyway, I tried to get a good picture of her and as usual she had other plans:

That’s my girl.

Today I’m thankful for…

~Soap. We ran out of bath soap at our house for two whole days. I thought it was some sort of tragedy and it felt pretty amazing to finally have soap again. But as I opened one of the 8 packages of soap that we had bought I thought of the millions of people around the world who don’t have soap. Not to mention the millions who don’t have running water or ANY water for that matter.  Sometimes I get so very sick of myself and the stuff I have and the things I take for granted.

~My husband. He’s such an amazing father. And he’s an even more amazing husband. Every day he strives to serve me and show me that he loves me. He does a load of dishes at least once a day. He’s solely responsible for feeding and watering the dogs and everything else that needs to be done for them! He runs to the store, without complaint, every single time I ask him too (and I ask alot). He sends me texts that say “I love you” and “hottie”.  Every day I see Christ in him more and more. Every day I am so thankful that God saw fit to redeem our lives and our marriage.

~Compassion bloggers. Molly. Kelly. Heather. Shaun (especially his post today). Keely.  I’ve cried alot of tears this week as I’ve read their posts. They are in El Salvador with Compassion. I’m thankful for the work of Compassion and for the many people that sacrifice to help change the life of a child.

~Meredith Andrew’s song You Are Not Alone.

~This video message from Beth Moore. EXACTLY what I needed to hear!

~My Angel. And all my kiddos. Every single minute of every single day I thank God for blessing me with my December blessings.

~The shut down feature on my computer. Pat and I are off work tomorrow and we’re heading to my parent’s house later today for a three-day weekend!  (I’m also thankful for work, for being off work, for my parents and for three-day weekends!) Woo hoo!

Stop over to Grace Alone for more Thankful Thursday.