4/26/08 - Watch Out For Baby

Amanda may only be 9 months old, but she’s already exploiting some of her newfound powers.  For one thing, she loves to experiment with the sound her nails make when she scratches different surfaces, from our textured walls to the mesh screen on the space heater.  It makes my teeth itch just hearing it!  And of course, her nails end up with rough jagged edges that I have to try and file smooth.  She’s also found that she can take her socks off, and I find them all over the house.  When it warms up so that socks are no longer necessary, I won’t have to worry about that anymore.  I wish I could say the same for her teeth.  She sprouted a second tooth this week, but apparently is expecting more, because she continues to teethe and chew on things like crazy.  Today while nursing, she bit me until I bled. *OUCH!*  The little piranha!  Eva never did that to me, but I guess there’s always a first time! 

Birthday Party

It warmed up to about 70 degrees today, which was a nice change.  We went to a birthday party for our friend’s 4-year-old daughter Talia, who loves animals and the cartoon Diego (the animal rescuer, supposedly Dora the Explorer’s cousin.  Why do I know this stuff?? LOL).  The kids got their faces painted and decorated doggy bowls to eat their cake and ice cream out of.  It was really cute!  Eva enjoyed running around the park in the sunshine and playing games.  It was nice to be outside in the fresh air for awhile. I look forward to much more of that this summer.  The party was less than a mile from our house, so Dave rode with Eva on the back of his bike, while I drove Amanda. 

 

Oregon Zoo

Yesterday I took the girls to the zoo for the first time, courtesy of my friends Kathleen and Kelly.  We had to bundle up from the cold wind, but otherwise it was a very enjoyable morning.  We breezed through with our strollers and had a picnic lunch on the grass.  Eva loved seeing the animals, especially the leopard, monkey and giraffe.  The majority of the enclosures featured a plexi-glass window that went all the way to the ground, so short little people (even sitting in their strollers) could see just fine.  What a great idea!  We haven’t been to the zoo since I was eight months pregnant with Amanda in the scorching San Diego heat.  I forgot how much Eva loved the zoo, and now she has a baby sister to share the fun. 

Precious Passengers

Dave still has one bike set up on the trainer in the living room, so he can burn off steam whenever he gets cabin fever.  But whenever he catches even a glimmer of sunlight, he loads the girls up in the little bike trailer and takes them for a ride.  They look so adorable with their little bike helmets, I can’t stop taking pictures.  Eva will yell “Hi Mommy!  C’ya yater!” as they whiz past, while Amanda just sticks out her tongue and blinks, wide-eyed, at the wind in her face. 

Surf On The Small Screen

Longing for warmer weather naturally leads to watching surf movies, at least in our house.  J  So a couple nights ago we popped in “Step Into Liquid”, which we haven’t watched in a long time.  I forgot how good it was.  I think it is one of the best surf movies ever made (sorry, Endless Summer fans)!  You don’t have to know the first thing about surfing to be blown away by the feats in this film.  Even my parents have enjoyed it.  When it was over, Dave said, “This is the last DVD I will ever sell!” That says it all.  LOL! 

Portland Zoo

A morning at the zoo with friends.

Gulliver's Cream Corn

Description:
The best cream corn I've ever had, and a favorite family holiday tradition! Originally from Gulliver's restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA.

Ingredients:
2 (20 ounce) packages frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Accent (MSG, optional)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
Place corn kernels, whipping cream, milk, salt, flavor enhancer, sugar in a large stockpot. Bring to a slow, low boil beginning on medium heat, stirring frequently. Simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. Melt butter in the microwave, or in a small saucepan on low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Stir into the corn until well blended. Enjoy!

Discovery Toys

Category:

Other/General

I am an independent Education Consultant for Discovery Toys. I'd be happy to send you a catalog by request.

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4/23/08 - Spring Freeze

Amanda has a cold right now, and Eva suddenly started throwing up last night, out of nowhere.  I was hoping we could make it through the rest of the winter unscathed, but no such luck.  I’m starting to get a sore throat myself.  I’ll be so glad when warm weather finally gets here!  Winter doesn’t seem interested in loosening its grip, even though the trees are starting to sprout tiny green leaves now.  We’ve had hail, sleet, ice and snow the past three days, and the forecast holds rain for the rest of the week.  It’s “warming up” to the 50’s right now, but I am sooo ready for REAL warm weather…say, 70’s?  At least we have more daylight now, in spite of the cold.  It’s only April, but already the days are longer than at the height of summer in SoCal.  The sun is up by 6:20am, and doesn’t set until 8pm.  I’m interested to see how long the daylight lasts in summer.  I guess those blackout curtains we got for the girls’ room were a good investment! 

Childcare

Amanda finally seems to be loosening up when it comes to other people holding or caring for her.  A couple Sundays ago I tried putting her in the nursery and was paged within minutes.  Last Sunday I stayed in the nursery with her the entire service, and she was fine so long as I stayed within sight.  On Tuesday morning I put in there again (this time for MOPS), and she actually stayed.  I peeked in a couple times just to make sure, and she was letting one of the staff hold her and rock her.  Success!  She finally got hungry and cranky after an hour and a half, but that’s normal, so I just came in and nursed her until she fell asleep.  I think we may have finally turned a corner! 

Financial Peace University

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

For anyone who is struggling with finances or just wants to understand how to better manage their money, I cannot recommend this course highly enough! There are 13 practical, in-depth sessions that cover debt elimination, budgeting, investing, taxes, insurance, retirement, wills, college savings, preparing for emergencies, getting deals on major purchases, charitable giving, common money myths and mistakes, and more! He even talks about how married couples can get on the same page financially, how singles can find financial accountability to stay on track, and how to teach kids about money (did I mention that he's hilariously funny, too?).

All you do is type in your zip code and find a class starting in your area. The class fee is $100 and includes all course materials and workbook, financial forms, CD recordings of every class session (to refresh your memory or make up classes you've missed) full access to all online resources, and a free trial of their money management software. We have already made more than that money back, simply by making wiser financial choices, and are happy to say we are now debt free! We will NEVER go back to managing our money the same way again!

http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/

https://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com/

4/19/08 - Milestone

Amanda pulled herself up to a stand for the first time yesterday!  Wow, it goes fast!  She’s also picked up a new habit of constantly going around making lip-smacking sounds, except that she does it by smacking her tongue against her upper lip.  To me it sounds like she’s always hungry, or just finished something tasty, and I keep checking to make sure there’s nothing in her mouth.  Nope, she just likes making the sound.  How funny! 

Presents

I took the girls to Fred Meyer this week to get birthday presents for some upcoming parties, and bought Eva a new 24-piece Diego puzzle while we were there.  I gave it to her as soon as we got home, thinking it would keep her busy for at least ½ an hour.  Wrong!  5 minutes later she came out of the playroom, asking for another “puh-yulz”.   She had finished already, all by herself!  I told her we didn’t have any more, so she ran into the bedroom where the other presents were sitting on my bed, begging to play with them.  When I told her that they weren’t for her, she started crying, of course.  I sat her down and explained that we were going to a birthday party, and she could give the toys to the birthday boy or girl.  “Ice cream?” she asked.  “Yes,” I said.  “Balloons?”  “Yes.”  “OK,” and she ran off, completely appeased by the idea of going to a party.  I hope she’s as fine about it when it actually comes time to give those toys away! 

Preschool Printouts

I printed off a couple of free preschool activity pages for Eva, to see if she would be interested.  The first was a giant “A” and a picture of an apple to color.  I held Eva’s hand and traced the letter A with a red crayon, and she was so excited to see the result.  She pointed to the letter and proudly said, “A!”, and then tried to draw it on her own.  When she was only able to create a random squiggle, she started getting upset and asking me to help.  “Help draw A!” she said, wanting me to take her hand and trace the letter again. What a little perfectionist!  My mom (who helps screen preschoolers for kindergarten readiness), said that means that her cognitive skills have developed more quickly than her motor skills.  So Eva knows what she wants to draw, but isn’t able to make her hand obey yet.  She advised me to focus on developing larger motor skills from the shoulder first, such as drawing a big circle on the ground with sidewalk chalk, before jumping ahead to more developed writing movements.  It was just a shot in the dark for me anyway, trying to see what Eva was capable of.  Now that I know where we’re at, I know better how to help her learn. 

Dora The Explorer

Eva’s favorite cartoon is “Dora the Explorer”, and she’s got little Dora tattoos from her Easter basket she likes us to put on her hands.  However, she’s clearly learning more that just numbers, letters, colors, and sequencing.  There’s a character named “Swiper the Fox” who “swipes” things from other characters, and the other day I caught Eva taking a toy away from Amanda and then imitating Swiper’s cackle and catch phrase, “Never find it now!”. (You can’t tell me kids don’t pick up behaviors from watching TV!)  I nipped that in the bud pretty quickly, telling her, “Swiper is naughty to take things away from Dora and Boots.  No swiping!”  So now Eva tells me “Swiper naughty!” whenever she sees him. 

 

But her active little mind has come up with a more clever way of taking toys away from Amanda.  She’ll start saying “Tank you, tank you!” as she’s reaching for the item, as if it was being offered to her, watching me out of the corner of her eye.  Or she’ll offer something different, tell her “Here, ‘manda!”, grab her hand and put the new toy in it.  With her sister distracted, she’s free to take the toy she wants.  Who says kids aren’t cunning?  LOL! 

 

Potty Woes

Eva likes wearing her pretty underpants, but she still doesn’t like to use the potty, thinking that if she pees in it, it’s an “accident”.   Nothing either of us can say will change her mind.  So she’ll hold it until naptime when I put a diaper on her.  When she wakes up the diaper is always full, and we switch back to underpants.  But the stretch between nap time and bedtime is longer, and we’ve started having potty meltdowns every evening around dinnertime.  Eva obviously has to go, dancing around, holding herself and saying, “Uh, oh, potty!”  But whenever we try to sit her on the potty, she insists on holding it in and crying.  Then she wants clean underpants, and tries holding it in some more.  If she drips she starts crying “accident!” and wants us to wipe her.  She’ll continue to hold it in until she’s gone through about 4 pairs of pants this way, and then she goes for the big guns: a diaper.  She grabs one out of the diaper stacker, lays down on the floor and arranges it under her butt, begging us to put it on. 

 

I really don’t want her viewing the potty as a negative thing, and I still can’t figure out why she insists on holding it until she gets a diaper.  She knows she gets a sticker just for sitting on it, and if she actually leaves something in the bowl, she gets an M&M.  That backfired on us tonight, when she wouldn’t eat her dinner and we wouldn’t give her a snack instead.  She decided she wanted M&M’s, so she kept sitting on the potty chair and getting up again, demanding “M’s”.  “Not unless you go potty,” we told her, and then came the water works.

Amanda's 1st Birthday!

Start:

Jul 24, '08

Has it been a year already? Where does the time go?? :)

Eva's 3rd Birthday!

Start:

Jun 4, '08

Can you believe my little girl is going to be 3 already? *sniff*

4/17/08 - Playdate

I hosted a play date at my house yesterday morning, inviting friends from church and my old playgroup. Several people brought snacks to share, and we had a great time!  Even though it was cloudy and a bit chilly, the kids got to run around in the backyard a bit, and enjoy the playroom inside.  Eva enjoyed having so many playmates, and seemed to handle other kids playing with her toys remarkably well.  A couple kids decided to “make a wish” by dropping coins in the fish bowl, which I thought was hilarious (isn’t it funny how little minds think?).  The moms were all such gracious guests that the house was actually more tidy when they left than when they arrived!  It went so well, I’m hoping to do this every couple weeks.  When it gets warmer, I want to put sprinklers and a kiddy pool out in the backyard to play with, and maybe a swing set. 

 

Mommy's Helper

Eva is quite the little helper, now.  During our play date, she got out one of her favorite snacks (Slim Jim sticks) and started handing them out to everyone, totally unprompted. When she sees us getting dressed, she’ll often go into our drawers and hand us items of clothing, saying “Here go, Mommy!  Here go, Daddy!”  When we thank her, she says “’welcome!” proudly and runs off.  If I’m folding laundry, I can hand her some of her own clothes to put away in her drawer.  It’s not the neatest job, but she knows where they go and is always so proud of herself for accomplishing a task.  When she sees sister crying, she’ll bring a tissue to wipe her face, and whenever I feed Amanda, she wants to give her the sippy cup or have a turn spoon-feeding her.  She’s pretty adamant about dressing herself now, too.  The last time I put her in a play dress, she got out a pair of pants and put them on underneath, all by herself.  I guess she decided that no outfit is complete without pants! 

My Big Crawler

It seems Amanda grows every time we blink, and her personality is really starting to shine.  She’s gotten too tall for her 12-month clothes, so I recently had to put them away and bring out the 18-month clothes (and she isn’t even 9 months old yet)!   She’s fascinated by the vacuum cleaner, and will crawl along behind me as I work and laugh when it comes near her and blows air in her face.  This, when her older sister is jumping nervously onto the couch and yelling “Stop, Mommy!” because the vacuum still scares her.   

 

When it comes to people, there’s very few she trusts enough to touch her, and she clings to them ferociously.  When she wants me, she crawls over and grabs my legs until I pick her up, no matter what I’m doing.    She’s attached herself not only Mommy and Daddy, but big sister Eva, too.  The fact that she would only calm down for Eva when we were gone on our date is only part of it.  When she’s in the mood to play, she follows Eva around the house like an eager puppy.  Yesterday Amanda was playing quietly by herself in the living room while Eva took her nap, when she suddenly decided she wanted big sister to play with her. She crawled all the way down the hall to their bedroom and pulled herself up on the side of Eva’s toddler bed, trying to get her attention. I thought she had crawled into the playroom, so when I went in there to get her, I was surprised not to see her and started looking for her.  Luckily I found her and got her out of the bedroom quickly enough that she didn’t wake Eva up, but I thought that was so sweet! 

Hail

It’s hailed three times already this week, and we’re expecting more this weekend.  I’ve got to admit, it’s gone from being an entertaining novelty to nuisance pretty quickly. Little chunks of ice that sting like BB’s, bounce on impact, and melt away within minutes.  You never even get to play with it.  What’s the point?  I’m really wondering what all this hail is doing to my car’s paint job, too.  Still, I’m told it’s unusual for the cold weather to last this long, and warmer spring days should be returning soon.  At least we’re not at the higher elevations where it’s been snowing all week.  There’s always something to be thankful for! 

Visiting San Diego

Start:	Aug 1, '08
End:	Aug 9, '08

We get to see all our friends and family, and go to the beach! Yay!

Aunt Laura

Dave’s sister Laura and boyfriend Malcolm came to visit this weekend, and brought the warm weather with them.  It broke the 70’s for the first time this season, and we could actually go outside without a jacket!  I was able to put the girls in cooler outfits, and it’s the first time in months that Amanda’s chubby legs and adorable baby toes have seen the light of day.  I missed seeing those cute little baby rolls!  On Friday night Dave fired up the grill, and we enjoyed BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes out on the patio.  Our first outdoor meal at the new house!  We’re really enjoying our huge yard now, and Aunt Laura and Eva picked a whole bowl full of dandelions (Eva kept calling her “Lola” because she couldn’t pronounce her name, LOL).  We took them on a tour of Dave’s building so they could see where he worked.  They said it was nicer than the Assisted Living place he managed back in Escondido, and I’d have to agree.  

The next day we took them to see Multnomah Falls, stopping at the Vista House along the way.  The wind through the canyon was so fierce it nearly knocked us off our feet, but at least it wasn’t icy like before.  Aunt Laura bought Eva a kaleidoscope from the gift shop, which was a huge hit.  When we brought the girls home for a nap, Malcolm and Laura went to check out downtown Portland, and Dave went for a bike ride.  He followed the bike trail into the city and met up with them.  I still haven’t gotten to see much of the city yet, so I hope to do that as the weather gets warmer.  When we first moved here it was just the start of the rainy season, and Amanda was so little.  We had just a few weekends to see the sights before the weather got bad.  Now I’m looking forward to getting out more, and getting to know the area beyond our neighborhood better. 

 

 

Date Night

Malcolm and Laura suggested that we go out for a date night on Saturday, while they babysat.  At first I wasn’t sure it would work out, because Amanda is so clingy and touchy around strangers.  But she had spent the past two days with them, so we hoped that would warm her up.  I nursed her to sleep around 7:30, and then Dave and I went to dinner at a sweet little Italian restaurant in the historic part of town.  It was nice to sit and enjoy a meal with just the two of us, and then we took a short walk around town before heading home.  They were surprised to see us so soon.  It turned out we had only been gone for an hour, but it felt like longer because we aren’t used to getting that much time to ourselves.

 

Amanda was quietly playing on the floor with Eva when we arrived, and didn’t start fussing until she saw me and wanted to be pick her up.  Apparently she had woken up about 20 minutes after we left, and didn’t want anything to do with the adults.  So Laura and Malcolm told Eva to play with her in the living room while they went to the kitchen (just on the other side of the wall), and Amanda calmed right down.  After awhile they were able to come back into the room without her crying, so long as they didn’t try to touch her.  They told us, “Eva is a good babysitter!”  It’s nice to know they found an effective strategy we can try from now on if we want to get away.  Up until now, Amanda has been so clingy I really didn’t know what to try! 

Goals

At our finance class on Sunday night, one of our homework assignments was to write out our 3-year career goals.  For the first time in my life, I realized I don’t really have any (not for 3 years, anyway).  I was working at a jewelry store when Eva came along, and retail isn’t much of a career to go back to.  I’d much rather go back to school, but that would take money out rather than bringing it in, and I’d have to wait until the girls were older, anyway.  In 3 years, Amanda will be 4 years old, and I’ll still be at home with her.  Unless the performance of the local schools drastically changes, I will probably be home schooling Eva for the first couple years, to make sure she gets a good foundation in reading.  I already have some Pre-K workbooks set aside for whenever she seems ready to try them.  I won’t push her if she’s not ready, but if she’s interested, I won’t hold her back, either.  However, if we can afford a private school, I’d much rather do that, because I value the classroom experience (so long as the academics measure up).  

Aunt Laura's Visit

A beautiful, sunny weekend for Aunt Laura and Malcolm to come visit!

Mary Rice Hopkins

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Childrens Music
Artist:	Mary Rice Hopkins

The first time I saw Mary Rice Hopkins was at a summer camp when I was 11, and I've loved her children's music ever since! She started writing songs for her kids in her living room, and soon her music was in demand at concerts all over the country. "Hippopotamus" is about all the fun animals God made. "Superman" is about how you don't have to be a superhero, because you're special just the way you are. "Big Steps, Little Feet" talks about how even little people can make a big difference. And then there are fun classics like "Matilda the Gorilla", "Gramma's House" and "Jammin' To Bed". We have some of her DVD's, and Eva likes to follow the hand motions or pick up her toy guitar and pretend to play along. A couple of them were made in the 80's and look a little dated, but little kids don't care. They just like the bright colors and catchy tunes.

www.maryricehopkins.com

4/11/08 - Squirmy

Trying to change Amanda’s diaper these days is like trying to saddle a bucking bronco.  She just can’t bring herself to sit still for anything so mundane, preferring to twist and turn, looking and grabbing at anything remotely interesting.  Once she gets into perpetual motion, it’s nearly impossible to stop.  Even when she’s nursing and in dire need of a nap, her legs are kicking and her hands are exploring and grabbing.  Then she pulls away and cries, rubbing her eyes because she was just on the verge of falling asleep before her own motion disturbed her.  Kind of ironic, but that’s all part of being a baby and learning how the world works.  If you want to rest, you need to try holding still for two consecutive seconds!  (Although, Eva apparently got her to sit still long enough to put stickers all over her face for this picture. LOL!)

On The Fence

In the ongoing “saga of the underpants”, Eva is doing her best to have it both ways.  She wants to wear her pretty underwear, and she’ll sit on the potty while watching cartoons, but when she feels the urge to go, she asks for a diaper instead.  Being the fastidious person that she is, she hates to be wet and is afraid of having accidents.  I can tell when it’s getting urgent because she’ll go to her bedroom and bring me a diaper with a pleading look on her face.  “No, diapers are for bed time,” I tell her. “Use the potty. If you put on the diaper, you have to go to bed.”   So we’ve had a couple of successes and a few accidents, but it appears we’re slowly making progress.  At any rate, she gets a sticker whenever she tries the potty, so that seems to help. 

Spring In The Air

The weather can change so quickly here.  This morning when I hopped into the shower, it was bright and sunny outside.  When I got out, a gray fog had settled all around our neighborhood.  It was kind of nice to see, though, because it reminded me of home.  I haven’t seen a hazy “marine layer” in months.  Our back yard is in full bloom now.  We have a tulip border in front that is getting ready to blossom, too.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like.  We’re getting more squirrels and birds paying us a visit, too.  Yesterday I heard what sounded like a jackhammer outside the kitchen window.  I honestly thought one of our neighbors must be working on concrete.  When I stepped outside with Amanda to check (Eva was napping), I saw it was just a little woodpecker pounding away at our metal rain gutter.  What a racket!  I hope it didn’t cause any real damage. 

Heroes

I’m finally regaining the time to read again before bed.  I love biographies, and lately I’ve been going back and reading the life stories of several famous Christian heroes I haven’t read about since I was a child.  Fredrick Douglass the abolitionist and Dwight L. Moody the evangelist (sort of the Billy Graham of the 1800’s).  Amy Carmichael, the Irish girl who went to India and created a home for abandoned babies who had been “given back” to the river god by being left on the banks to die.  Mary Slessor, who lived with several African tribes, founding medical clinics and schools, and rescued hundreds of twin babies left to die in the jungle (the locals believed twins were the spawn of evil spirits).  William Carey, the “father” of modern missions, who translated the Bible into 9 different languages and dialects so that common people could read it in their local languages, and helped to ban the Hindu practice of sati, or burning widows alive on their husbands’ funeral pyres (some girls as young as 11). 

 

Our culture glorifies all sorts of people who do nothing better than sing or look glamorous on a movie screen.  It’s important to have role models worth admiring for making a difference.  Of course, there’s a world of difference between reading about such people as a child, and as an adult.  Before they were just regular people who did amazing things when they chose to follow God’s call on their life.  As I read about them now, I can see much more clearly their quirks and faults, mistakes they made, and how different they all were.  I smile to think that if you put a couple of them in the same room, they’d drive each other nuts because they were so different.  One outgoing and gregarious to the point of being obnoxious, another reserved and dignified to the extreme.  Yet no matter their personalities, strengths or weaknesses, God was able to use them to change the world.  You don’t have to be something you’re not to make a difference.  God loves you and wants to use you, just the way you are.  That’s a great lesson for kids and adults, alike.  J 

When My Little Girl Is Smiling

Out exploring the local attractions and scenery around our new home in Oregon. Amanda was 2 months old, Eva was almost 2 1/2. (Eva loves "Dora The Explorer", so I had to throw that in, LOL)

4/9/08 - First Tooth

We have a tooth, ladies and gentleman!  That’s right!  After months of on-and-off teething, drooling and painfully swollen gums, Amanda finally has her first baby tooth!  I’m hoping this means that she’ll be sleeping a lot easier, now. 

"Eva Big Girl!"

Suddenly Eva has decided she prefers wearing “big girl” underpants.  I really don’t know what prompted this change, after two days of watching her have a meltdown if I even took a pair out of her drawer.  Who knows how toddler minds think?  At any rate, she’s been hearing me tell her for days, “You don’t want to wear diapers.  Diapers are for babies!  Big girls wear underpants!”  I guess it finally clicked.  Without any prompting from me, she’ll take off her diaper and tried to put on her underpants, and tell me, “Amanda baby. Amanda wear diaper. Eva big girl. Eva wear pants!”  So in one day, underpants have gone from being the epitome of hell on earth, to a badge of “big girl” honor.  Go figure! 

Hair Cut

We took Eva to get her bangs trimmed again this week, while Dave got a haircut.  Although we don’t have the rest of her hair cut (it’s so long now!), she’s pretty used to it, and always gets excited about the pretty balloon they give her afterward.  We’re so excited to have Aunt Laura coming for a visit this weekend.  It’s supposed to be 70 degrees for the first time this season, which will be wonderfully warm for us!  Of course, it will probably be cold for her, compared to Palm Desert.

In Retrospect

Eva loves to pull out our photo albums and look at pictures of herself as a baby.  I don’t know if she realizes that it’s really her, but she recognizes and names the other people in the pictures…”Gook, Daddy!  Gook, Grandma!  Gook, Uncle Xavier!”  (She still can’t say her L’s)

I’ve been going through my old pregnancy and baby journals, archiving them here on Multiply by posting them with their original dates and times.  It’s hard to believe, but they go back over 3 years now!  Going back and reading them, I can see how much I’ve learned, and how fast the girls have grown.  My memories of the events are less clear as time passes, but the original posts don’t lie.  There are a few little things I’ll read about and realize, “wow, I forgot all about that!”, such as the way Eva used to pronounce a word, or a little quirk she used to have that was so cute.  I’m so glad I wrote it down while I had the chance! 

 

I’m also reminded of a few of those harder days I never thought would end, and look back on them with a fresh perspective.   If there’s one thing that journaling has taught me, it’s that “this too shall pass”.  Sure, it’s a cliché, but it’s true!  When you’re struggling in the heat of the moment, usually that’s all you can think about.  It can be hard to step back and view the overall picture the way God sees it: this is a temporary phase, and you can take the opportunity to learn and grow from it, or become bitter.  Before you know it, you’ll be on to the next step.  It certainly makes me appreciate how fleeting these precious moments are, be they painful or enjoyable.  And it helps to see things from a more eternal perspective.  In the overall picture, do the petty things really matter?  Not as much as I make them out to be.  Does it really matter where we live?  Not as much as how we live.  Does it really matter how I decorate my girls’ room?  Not as much as how I help to shape their hearts.  Why is it that I’m often more preoccupied with how to cleanse and beautify the outside, than I am with how to cleanse and beautify my soul?  Lord, help me to see these things through your eyes, and focus on what really matters.