Christmas, Cousins, and Chewing Gum

Christmas is always fun, but this one was especially fun! One of my sisters and I both got home on the Sunday before Christmas. Her husband and their six month old daughter were with them. Caleb was so sweet with her. He was much more gentle with her than he is with Karis...Karis tends to get the rough end of the playing.



Their favorite thing to do was to was swinging. Caleb liked it when we pushed him "really higher" and when Ashley spun him in circles.



His favorite thing to do was to push Karis though. He is a great big brother/cousin already! She would laugh hysterically, and he just kept laughing and laughing.





Even Annie got in on the action. She had the best smile while Caleb was pushing her.



GiGi and Grandpa came to see us too. We took a long walk in the woods, and we all had a good 'ole redneck time cleaning ducks, walking the pony, and letting the dogs swim in the back pasture. The dogs really liked their snack of duck wings and later deer legs...yep, I told you redneck!










(There's nothing like learning to chew straw at a young age!)




(Don't know if you can tell, but they are throwing sticks to the dogs in the pond.)

So we went to Mama Bet's house on Christmas Eve. Karis and Annie had fun playing with Aunt Jamie.



Caleb has a special secret with Mama Bet. Everytime he sees her he asks for chewing gum and of course she willinging gives it to him! So for Christmas, she gave him a packet of gum. He was so excited and immediately announced that it was the "best present ever in the whole world!" We laughed so hard, but the reality of it is that we get so wrapped up in "stuff" that we forget that the best present of all is something from the heart.

The best part was our new Christmas Eve tradition and the ensuing Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve we read one of Caleb's books that told the story of Jesus' birth(never mind that I threatened a spanking during the reading of the book because he WOULD NOT sit still). We finally did get him to say that Jesus was the best present, but he still wanted a Santa and a reindeer and an elf and a snowman and presents! After that we left Santa milk, cookies (well a haystack), and a carrot for the reindeer.



He was so cute looking up the chimney for Santa, and of course the adults had fun after the kids were asleep setting up for "Santa."





Christmas morning was great! We woke the kids up at 6:30 to go open presents. This isn't anything new for us "Peebles girls" though. We have always opened our presents while it is still dark outside. There is something magical about the living room being all set up with just the tree lights lighting the room. The look on Caleb's face was priceless. He just stood and stared, then immediately bypassed his "Santa" present (a toolbench) and headed straight for Annie's present. It was obviously much cooler than any old toolbench:) He did finally get around to playing with it and now he loves it! By the way, I did get the best present of all. My hubby and my dad secretly built me the book shelves we've been planning on building. They kept it the best secret...so good in fact that my feelings got hurt! They are awesome and I can't wait to get home and organize everything!







So, now we are at Ashley's parents and finishing up Christmas! I can't wait for the fun times we'll have here! More to come and Merry Christmas!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I have to say that I LOVE Christmas, and the great thing is that I'm not alone in this love of the season. I know that most people love it just like I do and that makes it so much FUN!! I definitely can't name one favorite thing about Christmas, but here's a short list of some of the highlights for me...

1. Reading, hearing, talking about the birth of Jesus...God's best gift to us. Just reading Luke and Isaiah 9 warm my heart. When people ask Caleb what he wants for Christmas, I'm trying to get him to say, "I want people to know that Jesus is our best gift from God." He's not buying it though. When I ask him to say it, he says, "Nope, I want a Santa and an elf and a snowman and a reindeer and presents." Oh well...at least I'm trying.



2. Sitting in my living room with the warm glow of lights from the Christmas tree and the mantle. Yes, we use colored lights and tinsel. It just makes me feel so festive. By the way, this was probably the prettiest tree we've ever had...until it unexpectedly wilted last week:(







3. Hanging up my favorite ornaments. They represent so many stories, traditions, and memories. We definitely don't have a tree that would go in a magazine, but I love hanging our old ornaments up beside our new ones each year.


Our "First Christmas" ornament from the first year we were married. That seems like so long ago:)


Caleb's first homemade ornament. He made it at Building Hope's Christmas party and he was such a big boy wanting to make it by himself.


I love how pretty red balls look nestled in the branches of the tree. I had a good time trying out my photography skills:).


This ornament came from my parents' tree. Growing up these were all over our tree along with orange and lime slices. They also had candy garland. These were always my favorites to hang up because they looked so real! Now I have a few candy canes (yellow and green ones) and a few lime slices. It makes me so happy to hang them up each year. Did anyone else have these ornaments when they were young?

4. CHRISTMAS CHINA!!!! I don't need to say anything more. I would have liked to have some greenery around my centerpiece, but with little hands...








5. The excitement of "Santa" and seeing little pieces of that excitement in Caleb. This is the bell from The Polar Express that was left on the couch.



6. Buying gifts for other people and making my own list. I can't lie, it may be better to give than to receive (and I really do LOVE to give), but I have to say that I'm pretty excited about my presents too!

7. Spending time with my family and all that entails...movies, baking, playing games, laughing, cooking, napping, and just having a really good time!

So, with one week left, these are my reasons for LOVING Christmas and I fully intend to relish each one of them in the next 7 days (and for a few days afterwards)!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

SUCCESS!!!

After a two day "sleep through the night" stint in Mamie and Poppy's pack-n-play, I was standing over her crib at 2:00 am Sunday night getting her back to sleep and thinking about setting up her pack-n-play right next to her crib. I couldn't believe that she was awake...what in the world. The only good news was that I didn't have to pick her up to get her back to sleep. I only had to scratch the back of her neck...you've never seen someone try to walk out of a room as quietly as I did once she fell asleep:) So last night, I decided to try one last idea before I actually set up the pack-n-play. At my mom and dad's I always plug in a space heater beside her bed. So, I turned on her noise maker (which is actually just an alarm clock radio tuned to static). IT WORKED! IT TOTALLY WORKED!!! Why would it make a difference in the middle of the night...I don't know, but I do know that if it makes her sleep all night long then we will have white noise in her room!

Hal-lelujah, Hal-lelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hal-le-lujah! Now we will just keep our fingers crossed tonight!

Worthy of a Post

I'm moving in with my mom and dad! Karis slept through the night last night for the second time in 3 1/2 months...the first time being over Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's house.

I don't know where I've gone wrong. At five weeks, Karis magically slept through the night without ever crying at all. At first I thought it was a fluke, but it continued until she was 5 1/2 months old. I was so confident in her ability to stay asleep that it never occured to me that it would end...but end it did. It started with her getting out of her swaddling blanket, then came the growth spurt and starving in the middle of the night. Next she learned to roll over and apparently it is quite disturbing to wake up on your hands and knees in the middle of the night and not know how to get back down. This was followed by some new teeth, habitually pooping at three in the morning, and now a snotty nose (apparently you can't suck your paci and breathe when your nose is stopped up with snot). Really all they are is excuses to not sleep through the night and get your mom out of bed. I've really tried all I know to do...earlier naps, more naps, later naps, earlier bed time, later bedtime, nursing in the middle of the night, paci and rocking in the middle of the night, crying it out in the middle of the night (from 3:30 til 5:10...lots of fun). I think it boils down to the fact that God is teaching me humility. How many times have people said that their kids weren't sleeping through the night and I have confidently (maybe even pridefully - see the post "Time for Transparency") replied, "Well, you just need to let them cry it out." After all, isn't that what the books say...and books are always right. Now I am eating my words because I have a sweet little girl who wants to wake up at night except in her Mamie and Popper's pack-n-play. So maybe I'm not moving back in with my parents, but I might be setting up a pack-n-play right next to the crib in Karis' room. If it works, I might just write a book:)

God's Friends

Caleb has been so cute this year looking at all of the decorations. Everytime we pass a house that is decorated with lights, he exclaims in his best excited voice, "Look, it's Christmas on that house." Well, today he and I were riding in the car today and we passed a nativity scene. Of course he got excited and said, "Look Mommy, it's Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus and some kings!...Hey Mommy, why are there kings there? (I explained) Hey Mommy, why is Mary there? (I explained) Hey Mommy, why is Joseph there?" At this point I was in "answer the toddler mode" which means that I was giving automatic answers without really thinking. When he asked why Joseph was there I almost said, "because that was Jesus' daddy," but I caught myself. My better explanation was that God gave Joseph the job of taking care of Jesus as his daddy on earth, but that God was Jesus' real daddy. I was expecting that to be the end of the discussion, but the floodgates opened and I had a lot more questions to answer like "Why did God want to have Jesus? Why was God Jesus' daddy?" and suddenly I realized we were talking about the gospel and our need for a savior in 2 year old terms. I got excited as we talked about Adam and Eve (he thinks he knows them from reading the Bible at night)and their mistakes, that God missed being friends with people, and that He needed to send Jesus so that we could talk to God again and be friends with him. Then that little sweet voice piped up and said, "Well Mommy, who is God's friend?" I turned around and looked at him and said, "I'm looking at God's friend right now. You are God's friend." That wasn't quite enough of an answer for him (or maybe he's just trained to ask the same question at least 10 times in a row) because he asked again, "Who else is God's friend?" I responded, "You are looking at one of God's friends because I am God's friend too, just like you." Without missing a beat he said, "and Daddy and Karis AND Mamie and Poppy AND GiGi and Grandpa. They are all God's friends too!" How sweet..."Yes they are buddy. They are all God's friends." Then he laughed and it became a game..."and that person (pointing to someone in a car) is God's friend and that person is God's friend and the Pirates are God's friends" (a true Pirate fan:)). I just laughed and then we talked about how every person you see is God's friend or someone that He wants to be friends with. As we turned into the parking lot and our short drive was ending, I realized the profound truth that we had just been talking about and the real reason that we celebrate Christmas. God loves us so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to earth so that we would have a way to be friends with Him again. God is our friend...and not just ours (you know...us "Christians") but the people in line in front of you, the person who just cut you off while you were driving, your co-worker that drives you crazy, your parents, siblings, every person you see. So as we enjoy warm fires, hot cocoa, Christmas trees, great decorations, parties, and overall fun times, remember to tell people who you might not otherwise talk to, that God wants to be their friend!

Little Feet

There is something about a baby's feet that melts my heart. They are so tiny and precious...so innocent. Now, I'm only 2 1/2 years into this parenting journey, but there is something about my kids' feet that I love. It seems like I'm always playing with Karis', tickling them, tapping them together, wiggling them around and it makes her laugh so hard! They are so innocent - tiny and perfect.



They are just learning how to support her weight, but yet they hold the promise of so many things...wobbly first steps, wiggling in warm sand at the beach, pulse racing first dances. They will take her so many places as she walks out the plans that God has for her life.




Then there's Caleb with his little boy feet. They are getting so big and they do so many fun things now. They run across the yard to chase squirrels,



jump off as many steps as he's brave enough to try (four is his top number), splash in rain puddles,



and tromp through "lakes" left by tropical storms (that was at his GiGi and Grandpa's house).



Soon enough these little boy feet will grow so much bigger.



They will learn to climb trees, learn how to play sports, start to stink, and be slung over our furniture when they're attached to lanky teenage legs. They will be what takes him through mistakes and good decisions.

Right now, these two sets of feet are so small yet they represent a promise of something to come...lives that will grow into a young man and a young woman. When I stand over their beds at night and pray for them, I pray that they will clearly know the plans that God has for their lives at an early age and that they will walk in those plans with a joyful heart that only wants to serve our Savior. I pray that they won't walk down the road of the world, but that they will choose to walk with God so that they can experience all that God has in store for them.

Time for Transparency!

"Oh God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul is thirsty for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there isn't any water!"

Ok, I think I'm going to be real honest and transparent about what God's been working in my heart lately...don't judge me. Maybe it will help you in some way. I'll back up a little before I start the good stuff:)

Through some different circumstances that are too long to include in this post, I have realized that I want NOTHING more than to be a woman that exemplifies the nature of God. My ultimate heart's desire is for people to see God in me...His tenderness, His patience, His peace, His POWER, His grace, and His love for others. Seriously, this is what I want. Now, herein lies the problem. I'm not living it. Now you might say, "Yes you are. You are such a kind person," to which I would respond, "When was the last time you saw my heart." I can be such a snob in my mind sometimes. I don't know what makes it happen. It's like one minute I'm talking to someone and the next minute I'm wondering why I'm thinking that their ideas (actions, beliefs, words, etc.) are not as good as mine. Where does that come from??? Then I spend a good few minutes trying to talk to myself in my head while the other person is talking. The mental conversation goes something like this, "Get control of yourself Lesli. You are such a snob. You are not perfect, nor are you right all of the time." Even when I do this, I sometimes will still find myself thinking the same snobbish thoughts later that day/week/etc.

You can see my problem. I seriously want to radiate Christ, but my mind and heart are just not there yet. I've been praying about this for a while and here's what I think the Holy Spirit has shown me. I need my soul and my flesh to long and thirst for God, just as the ground thirsts for rain in drought. I can't just want this and then long for a better house or more land so I have have farm animals (another post for another day). I can't want to radiate God and then long for more time to spend with my kids. I can't want the Holy Spirit to speak through me all day and then long for material things. I need to LONG for God, for His word, and for the Holy Spirit's power in my life. Then and only then will I be able to kick out this snob that decides to live in me at times and radiate Christ to the world. So, it seems like a pretty big job, but last I checked, we serve a pretty big God! I'll let you know how it goes!

Cloth Diapers

I am officially addicted...to cloth diapers. It started out as a "maybe I should try this" "if my mom could do it so can I" thing, and it has become something that I love. So this post is dedicated to cloth diapering. I think it's going to be a numbered list...maybe a "top ten reasons I like cloth diapers"...yes, I like that, so here goes!

10. They are bulky but sooo cute!
9. There are 4 different styles (that I know of) - fitteds, all in ones, all in twos, and pocket diapers. I love variety and having a differt type of diaper for different times. It keeps it interesting.
8. There are TONS of different brands. I like finding the ones I like the best. Once again there is good variety.
7. I have been introduced to a whole new group of people - the cloth diapering moms.
6. Poop in a cloth diaper isn't as bad as I expected it to be.

OK, I need to stop here for a minute. As a mom, you really learn to accept that poop is a part of your life. In just 2 1/2 years of parenting, I've had more poop touch my hands (arm, clothes, bottom of my foot, etc) than I ever really thought I would. I never really even considered that I would have to manage poop on such a regular basis, and that was with disposable diapers (with the first child). So here's the deal with poop in a cloth diaper.
A. When it's just breast milk poop (the yellow stuff) you don't do anything. Just put it in the diaper pail and wash as normal.
B. When it's poop that is solid, dump it in the potty. Put the diaper in the pail. No big deal.
C. When it's really soft poop that has squished everywhere, it gets a little more tricky. You have to get it off. They make this really cool gaget now called a diaper sprayer. Basically it is a miniature removalable shower head for your toilet. You hold the diaper over the toilet and spray the poop into the potty. Diaper in the pail...pretty easy. I, however, do not have a diaper sprayer. Therefore, I lay the diaper in the toilet, poop side down. I let it soak for a few minutes, then I hold on to the end of the diaper and flush. This pulls some of the poop off (this step may need to be repeated). Once I'm satisfied with the poop removal, I swish the diaper around in the toilet and squeeze it out. Yes, I am familiar with my child's poop. This calls for serious hand washing. It makes me feel a little better that my grandma told me that this was the way she cleaned off diapers too. I am not the first to have my hand in poop in the toilet. By the way, I used to be squemish about just touching clean toilet bowl water...those days are long gone:)

5. I like to see the cloth diapers hanging on the clothes line.
4. I feel pretty "green!" I like knowing that I'm not filling landfills.
3. I have gotten used to changing diapers a little more frequently and it makes me feel good that my baby's not sitting in pee for as long. (When I'm using a disposable, I make it last for as long as possible!)
2. I love the softness!!!
1. I DON'T HAVE TO SPEND $20 OF GROCERY MONEY EVERY OTHER WEEK ON A BOX OF DIAPERS!!!!!!!

So that's it. There's my top ten! If you're interested, let me know. I'll be glad to teach you what I've learned!

My Husband, My Hero

I really feel like I need to take a minute to give some props to my hubby. He says that he doesn't ever read this, but if by chance he does, he'll know how much I appreciate all that he does for our family (and Sheila, I'm sure you'll like reading about your sweet son:). We all know that I really like things clean and organized, but you might not know that my hubby does too. Before we got married, his apartments always looked like the typical bachelor pad...pretty messy. His bathroom was always the worst, but once it got bad enough, he would clean it until it shined. I mean hours of scrubbing everything in sight. Well, this has carried on into our marriage and our house. He has been known to scrub all of our ceilings; take the blinds outside, take all of the slats out, and scrub them with bleach; and wax our hardwood floors.

Well, last night proved to be another cleaning frenzy. We had come back in from out of town and that always makes things a little messy, but in addition our kitchen floor was messy. When we left to go out of town, we were in the midst of a tropical storm. This meant wet feet, wet dogs, and a wet cat had tracked dirt, grass, and hair across our floor. Then he fried fish for supper so there was grease on top of that. It was bad. Well, I went in the living room to do feed our baby girl and I heard furniture being moved. It sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of a good floor mopping...and it was! He took EVERYTHING out of the kitchen (except the big furniture) and cleaned it up. He finished it up and I assumed he was done, but then I heard water hitting our front door (keep in mind that it was dark outside). It turns out that he washed the front windows and door with the mop - while he had it out. Then I walked into the kitchen and he was cleaning the stove. Not normal cleaning, but burners off, stove top lifted, brillo pads out cleaning. When he finally stopped, he was tired, but we had a clean house.

So, here's to my husband - detailed cleaner, cloth diaper changer, great dad, best friend - my hero!

'Tis the Season

When each season rolls around, it becomes my "favorite." Winter means bundling up, scarves, hot chocolate, and just maybe some snow. Spring comes alive with new life, beautiful colors, and the first hint of warmth. Summer is just fun - vacations, hot weather, long days, cookouts, and just general fun. So fall is here now and of course, it's my favorite.

I love the changing leaves. It always reminds me of the beauty and necessity of dying to yourself, going through a season on deadness, and then becoming new in Christ. The periods of "death" that we experience, whether a trial, hardship,or an extremely busy time, teach us things that will bring new life. The Bible says that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it will not grow into a stalk of wheat. We watch the leaves fall to the ground leaving the tree seemingly dead only to have it burst forth in new life and new growth in a few short months. I love the way God plans things. I have to learn to let go of the old things and embrace the newness of life that He has planned for me - and we know that His plans are so much better than ours!

I also love the festive nature that begins in the fall. I was thinking last night about why this happens each year. Here's my theory...every other season has it's own excitement (mentioned in my list above), but fall, with it's short days, needs a little boost. So, here we begin our festivities and I LOVE IT!! I love finding reasons to be extra thankful, planning for all of the family get togethers, making fun Thanksgiving crafts, remembering the Pilgrims and all they did to establish our country...their tenacity for living. I love trying to keep my excitement for Christmas contained until the appropriate time and then going all out. I love the DECORATIONS - fall and Christmas!! It is a time for family, fogiviness, and above all thankfullness for all of our blessings in life. So let's slow down and enjoy the festive season that we are entering. After all, fall is my favorite season:)

What is Life?

It's ironic really. I've been surrounded by death my whole life (my parents' are funeral directors), but I've been relatively untouched by death in my personal life. In the past two weeks two people have died who were a part of my life. It's been years since I've been to a funeral and yet I've found myself at two in two weeks. As I've driven to these funerals, I've pondered life and what it really means.

One life was long and full. It was filled with love, family, happiness, and then after 80 some years, it ended. Granny was such a blessing to others. I can remember having pies and cakes end up on our counter that she had just "dropped off for Cecil." She always had a smile for everyone and loved her husband so well. There was so much to learn from her life...a life well lived.

The other life was cut short (from our worldly perspective), completely unexpectedly, but she too lived well and was an example to others. She was the mother of one of my good friends and always such an example of quiet yet strong devotion to her family and God. She had the ability to bring peace and calm to every situation.

So as I've contemplated their deaths, I've really contemplated their lives. What we do with our lives is what is important. At Barbara's funeral God showed me a few things that I need to change in my life right now in order to leave a legacy for my kids and to be the best wife, mom, and friend that I can be.

1. I need to stop making excuses for not doing the things that God specifically tells me to do. This means that when the Holy Spirit speaks to me, I need to act.

2. Do nice things for people every day and give to people just to bless them. I can be so selfish sometimes especially with my time.

3. Realize that my own agenda and needs are second to my children's needs. I know, I know...all of us 21st century women are thinking that "I need my time, my pampering, my girl time for my sanity." While yes, I still think that's true, I need to realize that for the next 20 years, life is not about me. It's about the two lives that I am raising into a man and woman of God.

4. I need to be bold for the sake of the gospel. End of story...no explanation needed!

So, what is life...it's the fullness of all that we can make of it. My true desire is to be sold out to God and live according to His calling so that when I die (and we all will one day), I will have lived a life that has left a legacy.

Whew...this is a serious post:) Maybe the next one will be much lighter and funnier. I will end with this. I am addicted to coupons. I just got a box of 80 Hefty trash bags for $3.25...pretty impressive!!

Back Online

I don't even know where to start. When it comes to the Grandy's and computers the old addage, "when it rains, it pours" applies to us. I'm not sure how we have so many problems, but we do. A couple of weeks ago, I royally messed up our desktop computer (yes, I take full responsibility). The short and skinny is that now when you turn on the computer all you see is a black screen. Our resident computer guru, Beruk, says that he thinks he can fix it...I'm just not sure how when all you can see is black. Then we decided to wipe out our laptop and start all over since it was messing up so bad. Of course what we thought was an easy fix was not easy at all. All this is to say that I have been computerless for several days now and it feels great to be back online. Last Saturday night I was at home by myself and didn't have a computer. What did we ever do without computers???? I was bored! I paid bills, organized, cleaned and then watched infomercials until 1:30 in the morning (I now really want the 80's rock ballad CD and Montel William's awesome new blender...if I get them both I would only spend $400 paid in "four easy monthly installments.")

During my internet hiatus, I have had three blog posts rolling around in my head. I'm not sure which one or two I want to write about tonight, but I think I'm going to start with the "lighter" one of the three (one of the other ones requires me to be extremely transparent with my shortcomings and the other one is pretty sad...I'll go for happy tonight).

So, I have recently started clipping coupons. I really want to cut down on our "necessity" grocery bill so that I can buy some of more fun things that I want. The first couple of times I went, I saved a little, but last Saturday morning I went for triple coupons at Harris Teeter and I kicked butt!!! I bought $70 worth of groceries for $35!! Now I realize that this doesn't even compare to the woman on the news who leaves with the grocery store paying her money, but for my first time with triple coupons, I was psyched!! It was almost a rush to see the total bill and then watch the cashier start scanning coupons. The total dropped and dropped until it cut my bill in half. That's exciting. Wal Mart is definitely still cheaper in general, but when you can combine triple coupons with a Vic special, you have a good combination. Here are a couple of my best deals...
12 oz Joy - 9 cents
10 oz Dawn - 24 cents (those two combined are almost the same size as the normal container I buy so 33 cents for dish detergent...not bad)
Cambell's Cream of Mushroom soup - 38 cents
Campbell's Soup (like for a meal) - 54 cents
Progresso beef and chicken broth - 48 cents (for the big box)

I had some other good buys, but those were definitely my best! I am so excited about using coupons. It really is kind of addicting. If you hear of any good deals, let me know:)

Going Mobile

No, I'm not talking about a phone...it's Karis. She's a crawling kiddo now! I think it's so funny how we wait for them to take that next developmental step. We've known this was coming for a while. She's been rocking on her hands and knees for a while and scooting around when she wanted something, but it hasn't been real crawling yet. But as of today, she took off!! I'm watching her crawl around right now, laughing at how cute she is!

I have two thoughts about her crawling. On the one hand, I have cheered her on every time she has tried to crawl over the last month. Even Caleb would say, "You can do it Karis! You're almost crawling!" We all wanted her to take those first "crawling steps" so bad just so that she could be successful at what she was trying to do. On the other hand, I have been just fine with her not crawling. Once the crawling starts, we have a whole new ball game on our hands. For one it means that our floors need to be much cleaner and well...that means I've got to clean them a lot more often. It also means baby proofing, but that's not too big of a deal. More importantly, it means that we are going to have to start discipling her. I really dread this. She is so sweet, loves us so much, and just wants to smile all of the time. For seven months, we have tried to make her totally happy. There hasn't been any reason to tell her "no" or to even redirect her attention. But oh, the times are changing. Now the cat food, plants, Caleb's small toys, dust bunnies in the corner, books on the shelves, etc. are all in danger of these chubby little hands and slobbery little mouth! I know the time is coming where we are going to have to say "no" and mean it, we're going to have to pop her little hand, and our actions are going to make her cry. This thought makes me a little sad, but I know that what we are going to do as parents is going to make her a better child. We will be teaching her how to be a great toddler.

With all growing comes instruction and instruction isn't always fun. I think this is a good lesson for us as adults. Kids are constantly trying to grow, to learn, and to try new things. As a result of this they are under constant instruction which often brings about some sort of pain. Why is it then that we as adults get stagnant and decide that we don't need to grow anymore. Then when we do grow (usually in some sort of trial situation), we grumble and complain when someone (or God) tries to give us instruction. That pain that Karis is going to have (I know it's coming)and that pain that we have during our growing seasons is for a purpose. It is to refine us, to teach us, and to enable us to become all that God has planned for us. It will only make us better.

You know, I really can't wait for Karis to take her new found talent, turn to me, and crawl with all the energy she has into my arms. For the first time she has the ability to come to me instead of me just going to her. I can only imagine how it makes my heavenly Father feel when I take what He has taught me and use it to run into His arms. I hope it makes Him smile!

Toddler Love

Caleb and Ashley left home on Tuesday to go to stay with Ashley's parents. I had a great time at home by myself, but I was ready to see my men by Friday. Well, Friday I left early in the morning to meet Grandpa and Caleb at the half way point to bring Caleb back home for the Halloween party (Ashley didn't come home until Saturday). I was so excited to see my sweet boy and he was obviously excited to see me. He waved to me until I got to the car. Then he squeezed me so tight, pulled away, and held my face in his hands. He just rubbed my hair and my face and said, "Hi Mommy!" We got in the car and talked while we rode. He was so incredibly sweet, Karis was laughing and happy to see him, and we were just having one of those precious toddler moments. Fast forward a little bit to the Halloween party. There were definitely some melt down moments and I could tell he was getting tired. By the time we got home he was completely exhausted, but decided not to take a nap. He played in his room the whole time he was supposed to be sleeping. After his nap or lack thereof we had complete mayhem...whining, crying, disobedience, selfishness, and general uncompliance with anything that I said. I almost lost it when I was putting him to sleep. We were praying and he kept putting the sheet in between his teeth, sucking it, and then yanking his head from side to side. Oh, the frustration. I said our Bible verse and suddenly my sweet boy came back. He put my face in his hands and said, "I'm so sorry Mommy, I love you!" Then he gave me a "big squeeze" and a big fat kiss! Ahhhh, that will melt your heart and make you forget all the bad parts of the day...Toddler Love!!!

I wonder how many times a day we do that to God?

Attention to Details

In case you didn't know, the potential lies within me to be an obsessive compulsive cleaner. I like things organized, put in their places, and cleaned really well. I know my roommates in college couldn't stand it. I probably just about drove them crazy with how irritated I would get over dishes in the sink, shoes on the floor, and any little mess I saw. A husband and two children have really done a good job on the obsesssive compulsive part (there are dishes in the sink as I'm typing this...don't worry, I'll get you as soon as I'm done typing), but I still like things to be "Mother Clean" as my mom used to refer to it (see I get it honest). If I had to define the term "Mother Clean" it would mean that something is cleaned better than anyone else in the house would care to clean it. It also means that it has probably been cleaned with a toothbush and some sort of harsh chemical requiring cleaning gloves and probably a mask although I'm sure a mask was never worn (you just have to hold your breath as long as you can and then make it to fresh air for a deep breath). It also implies that the mother got tired at looking at a job half done/half clean and went into a hormonal cleaning fit and probably cleaned things like the closets, baseboards, and cabinets while she was at it. Well, this happened to me today. I typically say that if you aren't using a toothbrush while you are cleaning then you aren't really cleaning (I hope this doesn't offend any of you non-toothbrush cleaning readers out there). However, since having baby number 2, I have put my cleaning tootbrushes aside and decided that if other people don't clean with toothbrushes then I'm not either. This mainly applied to the bathroom (all other areas still need toothbrushes, I just thought I could get away with it in the bathroom). I bought some Scrubbing Bubbles because it says, "cleans so you don't have to" and well, that's what I wanted - a quick and easy cleaning job. I have actually been very pleased with the Scrubbing Bubbles, so pleased that I didn't restock on Comet when I ran out. The dirt and grime definitely just fall away, but what I started to notice was the little pink line around the drain of the tub and sink and the base of our stand up shower caddy. I still didn't pull out my toothbrushes, but I would scrub a little harder with my sponge. The pink would disappear, but it seemed to come back almost instantly. As I was bathing my two precious children last night it was no longer pink...it was RED!! This brings me to today. Today I donned my hot pink cleaning gloves (every serious cleaner needs a pair. It makes you feel decidedly feminine), sprayed a serious layer of Scrubbing Bubbles and went to town - toothbrush in hand. I didn't just stop with the tub though. The toothbrush got a workout on all major appliances in the bathroom...the nastiest being our toilet. HOLY COW have you ever used a toothbrush to scrub the hinges on the seat and lid. Our oldest was in there with me (he's 2 1/2). Every time I would say, "That's disgusting" he would say, "Ugggg." It was gross!! So, my bathroom is spotless and now I firmly restate my opinion, "If you aren't cleaning with a toothbrush then you aren't really cleaning!"

As a side note, I also cleaned the outside door to our laundry room and the outside window seal on our deck...sticking with the definition of "Mother Clean." Now I will tackle those dishes.

(I haven't quite figured out this picture placement yet)

What's in a Title?

So here I am, finally on the blog scene. I actually started to try to make a blogspot two years ago, but something went wrong and I never came back to it. While I've been working on this new blog (all of 10 minutes), I've had to come up with a couple of titles. Titles are usually difficult for me. It's like I always want to come up with something really catchy that grabs people's attention and makes me seem witty, but typically I end up floundering around with words that just sound silly together. When it comes to titleing (I'm pretty sure that's not spelled correctly but titling didn't look right either) something, I usually wait for someone else to come up with something which is so different from every other aspect of my life (usually I'm the first to come up with an idea even if it isn't good). For me, I have to work through a project, a paper, or in this case a blog before I can come up with something even remotely worthy of announcing the content of my project (paper, blog, etc.). So while I was contemplating what to title my very first blog, the beginning of my online thoughts, this popped into my mind...in the journey of life, I often don't really understand all that God is doing in that moment...I can't give it a title. It isn't until I've worked through situations, experienced people, LIVED life that I can look back and see God's hand in it all. It's at that point that the lightbulb comes on and I can "title" a season of my life. My husband and I have a yearly anniversary tradition that started on our honeymoon (this is a whole 'nother story in itself and not at all applicable to titles - but very funny). Each year we drink a bottle of wine and then save that bottle. Somewhere on the bottle I write a "title" and then a few bullet points to describe that year. Just the other day I looked at our wine bottles. Some of the titles were; Learning to Love, Trial by Fire, New Additions. Those titles were written after the year was lived. I think so many times we try to title our lives based on what we want them to be and what we think is coming or even what we want to come. It doesn't work that way. We can have goals and dreams, but God is the one who orchestrates and orders our lives. When I'm unsure of what's going on in my life I need to stop trying to force a "title" to bring understanding and instead just relax in my trust of God and know that the "title" will come later.