Growing Up is Hard to Do

On Sunday was Josie's graduation. I can't believe it is here (it makes me feel old!). I am feeling way more sad about this than I expected. It has been so much fun being closer to home these last two years. I have enjoyed getting to see her every week when she came for youth group, attending her volleyball games, and doing her hair for dances. I am kind of dreading not getting to see her as often! But so thankful God blessed us with this special time to make memories. I tried to talk Josie into HLG. Hello, how fun would that have been? But she is going to Western. Which I am actually very exicted for her about. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for her as she is living in the Campus House. (In Kristina's old apartment-how funny!) I can't wait to see her experience college because college was an awesome time for me. At college I figured out who I was, met my husband, and met my closest girlfriends of all time. Seeing Josie prepare for this transition has reminded me that sometimes growing up is hard to do, at first. (I don't need to be reminded I didn't meet my husband on the first try)

Now to my two year old, Grace. GROWING UP IS HARD TO DO! We are really struggling right now with being two. I was going to post something yesterday but I was really frustrated so I let my thoughts marinade for 24 hours. My thoughts yesterday-If this is parenting sign me up for something else! (I know not so grown up at all) She has decided she doesn't have to listen at all. She has her own ideas about the way things should go, and they often happen to be different than my idea about how thing will go. So, I'm caught between wanting to set clear boundaries so she can learn submission and wanting to model patience & self-control. I confess yesterday afternoon I found myself half way through an entire bag of chocolate chips before I broke down and went and kneeled at her bed to pray for her while she slept. So now you know my dark secret!

While confessing my parenting weeknesses isn't easy I know its necessary. I am hoping someday Grace and I will read this together and laugh at both of us. I hope we are best friends and I can remind her she was her own little person (Like my mom and I do now). And finally I am thankful. Because these challenges have made me feel weak, and I've been reminded to dig deep in Scripture letting God fill me up for the "battles" ahead. My children are truly teaching me how much more I need to allow the Lord to refine me, because growing up is hard to do, even for me.

My "Big" Girl

Normally I refer to Grace as my big girl. But this week I found myself saying to Faith, "You are such a big girl." Oh, dear when did she become big? She is supposed to be my baby. Faith has had a lot of milestones this week. On Sunday (Mother's Day) Faith had her baby dedication ceremony. It was just as special getting to experience this with her as it was with Grace. The girls wore coordinating pink polka dot dresses (See new family pic). On Monday, Faith slept in her room with her sister for the first time. Due to the girls sharing a room Faith had still been in our room up until this point. I was excited for Jeremy and I to reclaim our bedroom but also sad that she no longer needed to be near us. Both girls have done great adjusting to the transition. They really love each other right now. Faith also had her first stinky diaper. (Moms, you know what I'm talking about the diapers get way smellier when you start baby food!) Also, she tried out a sippy cup and "puffs." I just put some in front of her to see what she would do. She picked it right up and popped it in her mouth. She thought it was fun practicing getting them in her mouth. She is deffinitely getting more enthusiastic about baby food. So far she has tried green beans, peas, squash, apples, peaches, & pears.

Faith,
You are such a happy and content baby. You are so content to just be with our family and experience life around you. I have started praying that you will always feel that kind of contentment through your relationship with Jesus. I tend to be a doer. Sometime I struggle to just be with Jesus. I pray you will find enjoyment throughout your life, simply being in the presence of God. Your smiles are a true blessing to your mama. I love you.

I knew I stopped wearing earings for a reason!

So yesterday I was getting ready to go to Quincy to run some errands and meet my aunt for lunch. So I was trying to acutally get ready (aka put on some makeup, actually fix my hair, and wear something other than a t-shirt). And I had this thought- I haven't worn earings in forever! I think the last time seriously might have been when I was pregnant with Grace. I guess I just cut that step out of my routine to save time. So I thought, "that sounds fun- how about some earrings." So I had to go dig around in my bathroom to actually find some. Oh, I forgot to mention before I walked into my room and the whole earring thing popped in my head I told Grace to find her shoes it was almost time to go. Okay, back to the digging for earrings. About 5-10 minutes into the process of choosing earrings for my five different holes in my ears and trying to acutally locate the long lost holes I had a warning alarm go off in my brain. It was super quiet-not good. I thought Grace had gone downstairs to her play room but I realized I hadn't heard anything as I got swept away with my whole earring hunt. So I went looking. Guess where I found my child?

In my backyard!!!! Yep, there she was. Her Dora bag packed (complete with diaper & pjs) and set by the van and her shoes on. Apparently she thought we were going to Papa and Grammy's house. She had been playing unsupervised in our backyard for about ten minutes. Did I mention our backyard is not entirely fenced in? Wow, I felt like mom of the year!

So, in conclusion today I will be hunting through my Christmas decorations for a jingle bell to attach to my back door. I knew I stopped wearing earings for a reason!