Thankful Thursday!

we had a really busy week!

it was also a very very fun week :)

this week i am thankful for:

-the "big mess run" with great work friends and miss Meggie!

(we actually did the Run or Dye)

-small crafty art projects inspired by a Hallmark bag

-Annie! who helped me shuffle our upper cabinets around for a more open feel

(even the ridiculously gigantic square shaped hole made me laugh when we found it!)

-funny "to do" lists

-dinner with faraway friends

Thankful Thursday

this week i am thankful for:

-camping with friends who love our kids (and our kids lu-urve!)

-watching my uber-cautious daughter becoming more brave than i was at her age

-s'mores and this girl (even when she wakes up at 4:45 am!!)

-this dad and his small girls

-sunny summer days and sunsuits

-early morning time spent with Isla and in the Word

-love this girl so so much!!

today we also had a goodbye party for my friend Kerry.

she is a lovely co-worker/co-nurse of mine who initially replaced me on my first mat-leave.

she is moving to the states in a few weeks and we are all very sad.

i am so thankful to know her and to have worked with her.

i am also thankful that we were able to bless her with a lovely surprise present.

a little Pandora bracelet with some meaningful charms.

it has been a lovely week indeed.

and i am super thankful to be off to the spa with my girl Becky tomorrow!

woop!

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

-being back at blogging :)

-Isla attending a morning of Junior Kindergarten (how did that happen?!?!)

-voting with these ladies

-these lovely Toms from a thrift store! Holla!

-morning runs in sunshine

-and cutie cute tiny boots

Thankful Thursday

this week:

-watching Isla fall in love with puzzles!! girl after my own heart!

{all by herself!}

-having my mom visit this past weekend

-talking to Auntie Rozzy on speakerphone and having Megan shouting "HI! HI! HI! HI! HI!"

       (we love our Auntie Rozzy!)

-family day pyjama day dance parties!

-my job

-having my lovely friend and co-worker Becky babysit last night... and i totally forgot to leave any kind of putting Isla to bed instructions... whoops! she feels like such an old friend that somehow i just assumed she knew the bedtime routine... even though it was her first time at our house! Sorry Becky!

-date night that turned into free meal date night because they forgot our order in the kitchen! i have no problem spending an hour chatting with my husband and get a free meal for it!!!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for:

-friends celebrating Thom turning 30 this past week :)

-Sunday mornings with rowdy worship and dancing and fun fun fun!

-seeing Isla run over and sit with Isaac and Auntie Mary on Sunday morning

-cuddles on the couch later in the day with my girlies

-getting out running after an almost 3 month hiatus! 

-also thankful for no longer blistering frostbiting-ly cold temperatures! sheesh!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

-a great retreat with the young adults last weekend--Megan and I joined them and had an amazing time, we laughed, we cried, we ate some good food!

-Megan doing awesome on the drive! Our first trip with someone other than Thom... Thanks to Uncle Noah for braving the drive with us!

-the school we chose for Isla to attend in the fall-- and the way God confirms decisions by having pt's rave about the school... total divine appointment!

-Breakfast date with Isla before going to check out her school

-New friends

-dinner out with my co-RNs-- love working with those ladies!

-and last but certainly not least! that my nephew is awesome.

yup, that's an 18 month old on skis.

no big deal.

Thankful Thursday

ahem.

excuse my little absence. no real reasons. just life ;)

thankful this day for family, a lovely Christmas, a new year and good friends.

thankful for this past year:

-old friends with renewed friendships (or first "real" friendships)
-watching Meggie and Isla become closer and enjoy their sisterhood and friendship
-growing closer to Thom, seeing our friendship and love get stronger and tackle more
-my wonderful job and co-workers
-new friendship with a "destined-to-be-friends" friend
-becoming a runner
-losing 30 lbs (say what!?!)


life is grand!

Thankful Thursday

so very thankful this week for:

-date night! (and baby sitting swaps with friends who also have littles)-

-strong legs to take me running-

-Megan learning to say thank you all by herself-

-brunch on Saturday with the "Ladies and the Babies" (this is what Isla called it)-

-finding some cute pair of velvet skinny jeans and a polka-dot dress 

for Isla for a total of $5.23 at Value Village-

-Isla's first day of Sunday School *sniff*, she's in the 3-5 year old class, 

graduated from the nursery, where oh where did the time go?-

resolution update

back in January i resolved a few things to happen over this year.

here is the updated list:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
update: well, they aren't being bitten, it's been about 2 months i think, but i go back to work next week, so we'll see if they last til then!!

2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a 
tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
update: we went out a bit. proof: 

on this day Isla refused to let Megan sit on her lap

so she sat on Megan, then as we were coming home, the sled tipped, Isla barely fell out but cried like she was dying, and poor little Meggie basically did a starfish face plant into the snow, a poor little old man walking down the street jumped over about 3 snow banks and almost fell down to try and pick her up, small babies stuck face down in the snow i guess are a little alarming! anyway, when i picked Megan up she just blinked at me. This is a pretty accurate demonstration of first-born vs. second-born. 

just a little snow this winter

3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
update: after a few fits and starts, we've been back on full time with Megan when she's not at daycare and with Isla during naps.  Yay!

4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all. 
update: sewed some amazing bunting for a friend's little nursery, and started a quilt! oh, and made some little face or bum cloths, hurray!

5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.
update: just finished my 13th, i would probably be further on if it weren't for the longest most disappointing finally give up JK Rowling book. 

thoughts on potty training

so.
we've been attempting potty training for about 3 and some months now.

it went awesome the first few days, than poorly then well for a month and a bit, then poorly and then very poorly.

what i mean by this is that Isla always did well when we asked her if she had to pee, but probably only told us she had to pee a handful of times.
she also has very rarely pooped on the potty.

this has been a frustrating time, lots of pees all over the place: our house, outside, and at friends's houses.

i found myself starting to be angry with her.

i was rethinking the whole potty thing when the last thing that happened was 2 visits in a row at the same friend's house she first pee'd on the couch and then the next time pee'd all over her friend's room... that was covered in toys. oy vey. (to be fair, the second time i told her not to pee on the couch, i wasn't specific enough...clearly)

i think the main thing was that i almost felt a social pressure to punish, and not that anyone was actually pressuring me... but, you know.

so i took a step back, and then this showed up in my facebook newsfeed.

toilet learning vs. toilet training.

i'm going to go ahead and say that i won't necessarily do all these things, but what stood out to me the most was this checklist

(source)

in reading this list i realized that she had not been doing a lot of these things, and in fact still wasn't.

i also needed to check myself, and if my reactions always seemed frustrated and angry, we had to change something.

so here's the thing i think, if she's not ready, she's not ready.

so starting Saturday we put her back in diapers (mostly cloth-yippee!)

and told her that she could use the potty if she wanted to, but she didn't have to.

we had a much more relaxing weekend, with a few trips to the toilet or potty,

and this morning she asked to wear a pull-up and has been pretty much using the potty on her own (go figure).

so we'll see how this week progresses, but i'm happy to not be stressed and very happy to not feel frustrated  or about something she can't control.

live and learn.

poor first born trial children ;)

I don't feel ready for this!

these two.

are off to daycare together this morning, for the first time.

Isla has continued for one day a week this past year, and today Baby Megan is joining her.

how did we get to this point? 

this year has been crazy and emotional and a little overwhelming at times,

but it's been an amazing journey to walk through and to see the bond these girls have already--i'm glad they are so close in age*

Thom is dropping them off, and i'll pick them up.

Isla did amazing on her trial days when she was 1, and i'm sure Meggie will do great as well.

i'm glad they are going to such a wonderful home daycare. 

i felt in my gut, when Isla was little, that this was the right place for them, 

and to this day i am so thankful to God for bringing Kattie into our lives.

*just to say, that i'm glad they are close, but if we have another one we will wait a weeeeeee bit longer in between.

it's been a week of needing an extra measure of grace.

for myself, for my girls.

we are dealing with teething and first tempers and tiredness.

it's been a week of reminding myself that i can use all my own strength,
                                                             but it probably will give out at some point.
my strength to be patient
my strength to be kind
my strength to choose my words carefully and
my strength to show love

  have all given out at some point over the past week.

today as the sun is shining through my window, i am reminded of this scripture:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, 
but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Isaiah 60:1-2 (NIV)

and this one:

This is My command: be strong and courageous. 

Never be afraid or discouraged because I am your God, the Eternal One, 

and I will remain with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (the Voice)

Thank you Lord. 

Thank you for your Holy Spirit and your strength in me. 

Thank you for second chances and new beginnings.

Thank you for your forgiveness and for your never-ever-ever ending love.

Thank you for being with me and
Thank you for choosing me to be the mother of these 2 little ladies.

Amen.

how little ones point us to Jesus

can i just say that i love being a mom?

an unexpected part of being a mom this time around was discovering again how much i need Jesus.

it's an amazing thing, this truth that i've always known...


but now.

now it seems even more evident.

little ones can test your patience, without meaning it, without doing anything other than what a little one is meant to do.

they ask a lot of questions, forget tasks, wander off, and make messes.
they take their time responding, and eat all the peanut butter.

it can be overwhelming, this take take take.

but this is what:

Jesus is bigger, he loves me, he loves my children and he matched us up.
I am learning what it means to not have control of my children, to give them grace, to let them grow.

just as God doesn't stand there, tapping (or stomping!--not that this ever happens in our house!) his foot as I am learning new things, he gives me guidance and patience and love.

another slightly more painful and a little gut wrenching is how God uses our toddlers to show our least becoming behaviours.

a few notes on that:
-we are teaching Isla to use nice manners, to speak nicely and ask nicely is a kind thing to do, and I've realized that I often forget to say please or thank you when I ask her to do something for me

-attitude! the other day Isla was asking for some juice, from the basement, while I was making dinner.
I asked her to come upstairs and ask nicely, which I'm going to hope she maybe didn't hear? a few minutes later this is what happened- she walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted: "I said, 'I want some juice!!'" and believe you me that 'I said' had some serious sass to it.
 almost like she was repeating a tone she had heard an adult say use before... strange that.  ;)


for me, God is gently pointing out the immediate reactions that I sometimes have when I don't get my way or when I feel misunderstood or unappreciated.

I am thankful so much for these moments in motherhood,
for the stretching and growing and light that it brings.

and the fun, oh the fun it brings!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

we have had a lovely little holiday

we spent time with family and friends

we gave

we received

we feel full

thank you Lord for family and friends and love and laughter and life.

thank you that you sent your Son for all of this.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross and that this is what you came to do:

to bring us into a relationship with you.

Amen.

Day 19: myself, a year ago

(can you believe how small this tiny is?)

wow.
a year ago seems like a crazy amount of time ago!
i probably either just found out, or was about to find out i was pregnant with Megan!
i had a fresh new one year old on my hands and I had been back to work for a couple of weeks.
what a difference a year makes!
now i have a 2 year old, an almost 4 month old and i have been on mat leave for 5 months
(seems weird considering i was just back at work at this time!)

we had just moved into the Dearing's basement
were getting used to life without Olivia and life with 5 other people ;)

Isla had just started walking more than crawling!

whenever i watch videos of Isla from a year ago, i'm almost uncertain as to whether it's the same girl or not!

Day 16: someone who inspires me

last year i posted about Isla inspiring me to be a better mama.

well this year is similar theme, but the person who inspires me to be a better mama, wife and friend is my friend Sarah.

Sarah has 4 children... 4 very young children.
She has a very happy home, her kids love each other, they are obedient (and they are cu-ute!).

She loves Jesus, loves her husband and loves her kids.
She cares about others and is a blessing when she shares or speaks.

She keeps things real, but is always looking for the better.


When I had Isla, I found it surprisingly easy, like I had found my calling.

I never expected anything different with two.

Two was very different than one. To be honest...having Megan threw me for a bit of a loop.

I found myself becoming a mama that I wasn't so proud of.

I was yelling a lot, I was disorganized and felt overwhelmed and was very easily angered.

I decided to spend a morning with Sarah, just to pick her brain about how she makes her little brood work.

Sarah offered a listening ear, she offered some advice, some books to read, and what she has found to work.

I went out of there feeling loved and filled with confidence and peace.

Sarah makes you feel so welcome and like you are worth listening too.

one thing stuck out to me like crazy, something that I have been thinking about since that morning: Sarah's cell phone buzzed at one point shortly after I got there, she then picked it up without looking at it, turned it off(!) and did not look at it again the whole time I was there.

I think that right now, in our culture we are pretty used to cell phone's and we don't really take not when we or someone else answers a text or phone call right in the middle of a conversation, but let me tell you, it is significant when someone does NOT answer it. It made me feel like I was the most important person and that whatever I needed to say or receive in that moment was her primary focus.

She does that with her kids too. She loves each one as they are and considers the heart connection with them as one of the most important parts of being their mother.

I want to be like that.

sarah blogs over at Snailskin
she blogs about Jesus, family and real life.

Day 9: a close up of my day

basically this is my day right now :)

 



Day 8: three inspirational quotes

 

 

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!

By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.

I say to myself, "the LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. 

Lamentations 3:22-25 New Living Translation

 

Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what.

If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.

 Catherine M. Wallace

 

 

i've been working through quite a few things since becoming a mother of two and a mother of a toddler.  love and discipline and grace and consequences. on living in the moment and planning for the future. schedules and free for alls.  it's been a big learning curve, figuring out this new stage; one that has it's difficulties but truly does have more joys that outweigh the difficult moments.

i've been speaking with friends and reading books and praying.

these quotes and verses have stuck out to me.

 

that verse from Lamentations is actually one i shared a preach on Mother's Day two years ago when miss Isla was first born.

 

image source.

 

 

 



Day 7: a song for the day

well, my current playlist involves a lot of Kindermusik, Raffi and Sesame Street.

having a two year old kind of dictates what kind of music we listen to.

the nice thing is she also likes Snow Patrol, Karen O. and the Kids (from the "Where the Wild Things Are" soundtrack), Mumford and Sons, and Metric.

so that helps :)

we've been doing a bit of driving these past few days -- we drove to Hamilton, and then today we drove an hour each way to a butterfly conservatory which was actually an amazing place for a toddler!

anyhoo, in the car we've been listening to a Raffi cd that Isaac got Isla for her birthday as well as her Kindermusik cds.

I think that the song that seems to however stick out the most is "Down in the Valley"
Thom used to sing it (and still does when we visit) to his younger brother Matthew who has Down's Syndrome, and now he sings it almost every night to Isla while tucking her in.

I so love to hear it over the baby monitor when I'm in another room with Megan.

But this week we are away, so I've been singing it.

It's a lovely way to end the day. 

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow dear, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail
Birmingham Jail dear, Birmingham Jail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail

Build me a castle, forty feet high
So I can see you, as you ride by
As you ride by dear, as you ride by
So I can see you, as you ride by

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

(lyrics slightly changed from the traditional American folk song)

Day 6: a book I'm reading

I'm currently reading

Heaven at Home: Establishing and Enjoying a Peaceful Home by Ginger Plowman.
 

 

 I got it from the library on kind of a whim, I was looking for a book on parenting and godly-parenting.

 

this one came up.

it's been amazing.

it reminds me a bit of babywise with some other relationship and organizational ideas thrown in.

it's about letting your kids be who they are in Christ and allowing yourself to be who you are in Christ as well.

 

there is always room for improvement and grace and growth.

 

i actually think i may reread it right away, as it has had a lot in such a small book and i want to make sure that i am getting all that i can out of it.

 

she also points to scripture for the basis of all her points.

 

it's possibly a life-changer, this one.