Typical Day

I want to be a schedule person. Really, I do. I would love to do the same thing at the same time most days. I love to plan, to make the most of my time. But in reality, this doesn't always happen! (And I do love being spontaneous, especially when it comes to enjoying my precious boys!) But particulalry since we're still having issues with Abel's night time sleep patterns and we're waking up exhausted, getting up bright and early does not appeal to Reed and I!

But now, I'm watching Chase. He arrives at 7:30, which means I must be showered, dressed, and have a tidy house by (I think) the crack of dawn :) Now that Abel is use to being woken up (he hears us getting ready) at 630ish, he gets up then even on the days we don't have Chase.

Here is our new typical day schedule:

Up at 6:30

Shower, dress, make our bed

Abel up, nurse

Chase here at 7:30

Tea and breakfast with Reed

Abel breakfast

Boys play

Abel dressed/ bath if needed

Laundry/ etc

9:30/10:00 Boys go down for nap

Spend time with Reed if he's home, read/computer/prep lunch/clean if he's not

Abel up 11:30ish/ nurse Abel

12:30ish Chase up

Lunch

Clean kitchen and/or start dinner while boys eat

Playtime, finish any chores

Nap for Abel around 3

Play with Chase, get him ready to leave, have him help pick up

Abel wakes up/nurses, Chase leaves both sometime between 4 and 5

Enjoy Abel

Finish making dinner, nurse/feed Abel dinner if he will miss dinner with Daddy

Dinner when Reed gets home sometimes before, sometimes after Abel is in bed

Abel gets ready for bed about 6:30, story time with Daddy, he nurses one last time, usually down at 7

Spend time with Reed

Clean up from dinner

Bed sometime between 10-12 but trying to aim closer to 10

There you have it! On days where Chase doesn't come, it's pretty much the same but I also run errands during time slots where the boys usually play. Our schedule also changes around Reed's work schedule, which is all over the place. Abel might stay up later the nights Reed closes, because I like to go visit him at work (Starbucks). If we're both home, sometimes we play together with the boys, or take turns watching them so the other can get stuff done! :) Also, depending on the day, we have church, ladies/mens bible study, small group, and the church children's program.

I'm so thankful I have the privilege of spending the day at home!

Menu Plan Monday 11/8

This week, I am joining up with Organizing Junkie for the first time to share my menu plan for the week.

I menu plan every week for my family, and have for some time. I've found that it seriously helps with keeping the grocery bill under control, and (for the most part!) prevents those "Oh my goodness I'm starving but there's nothing to eat let's eat out!" moments. Typically, I do not buy processed food (i.e hotdogs, boxed whatevers, frozen dinners. You know, the stuff hubby would survive on if I didn't cook!) Of course, the occasional bag of 75% off Halloween candy just might find it's way into my basket. But for the most part, I prepare all of my family's food from mostly whole foods.

For breakfast, we generally have homemade granola, oatmeal from oats (not those little instant packets) or cream of wheat. The baby (9 months) eats Greek yogurt with banana for breakfast. The rest of the time, he eats a modified version of what we eat.

For lunch, we typically will eat leftovers, a quick pasta, or veggie stirfry over rice noodles. Since my husband's schedule is all over the place, sometimes we eat dinner for lunch since that's when he's home. But after some serious thought and prioritizing in our lives, we've decided to exercise some self control for a while and have beans and brown rice for lunch. Every day. More on that another time :)

Dinner, for the week of November 8, 2010

Monday: Grammy's Spaghetti sauce, salad

Tuesday: Lentil and veggie soup with dumplings

Wednesday: Lasagna (made with leftover sauce from Monday) and roasted broccoli

Thursday: Reed will be at work at dinnertime, so I will have leftover lasagna. He takes leftovers when he goes to work, too.

Friday: Again, Reed will be at work. I'll stir fry the rest of the broccoli with garlic and an onion and add some teryaki sauce, maybe eat it over rice noodles.

Saturday: Chicken in Yellow Curry Coconut sauce over rice with homemade naan

Sunday: Finish up the leftovers

Thursday, I will also be making a spinach and onion quiche for a Ladies' Bible Study fellowship in the morning. Sunday, there is a fellowship breakfast for Sunday school, and I think I'm bringing a loaf of cider-pumpkin bread which I made a few weeks ago and froze.

Happy Eating!

Understanding Love

We had a baby shower at the church today for one of my friends in celebration the upcoming birth of her little one. I was invited to give the devotional, and this is what I shared:

I know that nearly each of you in this room has been a mother longer than I have, with my little one just 9 months old. It is humbling to me that I am suppose to share something with you all this afternoon. I pray that I will encourage each of you, but particularly you Sara, with a little part of what I have learned and realized in my short time of being a mom.

When I was younger and my mom would tell me that she loved me, of course I would respond with, “I love you, too.” Every once in a while she would look at me closely, and tell me that I had no idea how much she really loved me. I just shrugged it off, frustrated that she thought I didn't know what love was, and say, “I know mom, I love you too!” Then she'd reply, “Toni, you won't understand how much I love you until you have a child of your own. When you do, then you will understand.”

So I grew up, hearing this every now and then, thinking my mom was a little bit crazy. I knew her love for me was special, but she really thought I couldn't comprehend it?

Then I had Abel. And I understood.

Sara. When you have your baby and as you continue to watch him grow, you will understand too. You will go into protection mode right away, and your love for him will be fierce. When he smiles at you, learns to clap, or says Mama for the first time, you will melt, into one big mommy puddle.. You won't care about anything else, because you're beaming with pride and love that your son called you Mama. When he cries, your heart will break and you'll want to fix it. You'll want to shelter him from anything that can harm him. When he is in pain, you will hurt. Physically, and deep down in your soul, you will hurt. And wish you could take away the pain, or the fever, or the cough. When he does something wrong, you'll pray for him to just learn the lesson so you won't have to discipline for the same thing over and over and over. And when you pray for his salvation every night before he goes to bed, you will truly understand the meaning of the scripture in Romans 8:26, “ ...For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” That's the kind of love my mom has for me, and now I understand, because that's the kind of way I love my son.

As I've grown to love Abel more and more, and to understand this deeper kind of love, I've realized something. The way we love our children is just a shadow of how God loves us, His children. We might think we understand the depth of His love, or the power of His love, we might think we know how precious we are to Him, but I believe this is beyond our comprehension. Eph 3:19 tells us that “ the love of Christ surpasses knowledge.”

Just like a parent, God disciplines his children to bring them to maturity. He is faithful when we are in pain. He is patient as we make the same mistakes over and over and over. Like earthly parents who try to understand problems their child faces, the bible says that Jesus can “sympathize with our weaknesses.” The love God has for his children is so vast, and immovable. In Romans 8, the Bible tells us just how awesome God's love is for His children. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?.... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And like a parent, God protects His children. He has made us his own, adopted us into His family, at great personal sacrifice-- the death of his only son. We are his children now. 1John 3:1 says. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Before Abel was born, I knew of course that God had sent His only son to die for me, and my sins. But when Abel was born, and I had an 'only son' of my own, this took on a whole new meaning. The God of the universe sacrificed his son, his perfect child, for my disgusting rebellion. Not only has he redeemed us, but he has made us co-heirs with Christ. Romans 8 declares that we “ have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” How rich is this truth! And how deep it is to me now that I have a son. God has sacrificed His son, to make those which have rejected him, his heirs. We've been adopted into his family. And we carry his name.

I love the song by Stuard Towend, How Deep the Father's Love for Us. I know you're all familiar with this song, but let me remind you of the first two verses

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

So Sara, I want you to remember, that when you see that sweet face for the first time, and when every day you fall deeper in love with your little boy , that that is just a shadow of the love Christ has for His children. We might think we understand how God loves us, just like I thought I understood my mom's love for me before my son was born. But God's love for us is beyond our comprehension. I pray that each day, as you grow to love your son more and more, that you will be reminded of, and in awe of, the immeasurable love our Father has for you.

Anne Bradstreet

Recently, Reed bought me a biography on the Puritan poet Anne Bradstreet. I was encouraged and convicted while reading about her deep faith in God, and I enjoyed learning the stories behind some of her poems. The beginning of her poem titled "Upon my Son Samuel his going for England" hangs in Abel's room. I read it once again as I nursed my precious baby, and I was reminded again to surrender his life to the Lord.

Thou mighty God of Sea and Land,
I here resigne into thy hand
The Son of prayers, of vowes, of teares,
The child I stayed for many yeares.
Thou heard'st me then and gave'st him me;
Hear me again, I give him Thee.
He's mine, but more, O Lord thine own,
For sure thy Grace is on him shown.

- Anne Bradstreet, 1657

A Letter to My Little One

Dear Little One,

Today marks the first anniversary of your due date. Had God seen it fit for you to be our first born, you would have been one today. But God had other plans, and your little brother is nearly one himself. Your brother, Abel, brings us such joy and happiness. We love watching him grow and learn new things. We love meeting his needs, reading him stories, and snuggling before bed. Your daddy and I have grown even closer through loving him together. Had you been our firstborn, dear Moriah, I would not know your precious brother. Though my Mama's heart loves you both immeasurably, I believe that is one of the reasons why we never met you face to face.

But because you came first, though you were not born, I am a different kind of parent. I know not to take any little moment with Abel for granted. I trusted God through my dangerous pregnancy and delivery with Abel in a deep way, because through your life I learned just how in control God is. I learned how faithful He is to meet out needs. How loving He is to care for His children. Your Daddy and I grew and learned so much from our time with you, and through the time we clung together and to God after you died. Your life taught us to live in total surrender to God's glory, and to submit our desires to the will of God.

Whenever (if) God sees fit to give Daddy and I a little girl, we plan to name her after you Moriah. You will never be forgotten, and we will always remember the things we learned from your brief life.

With all my love,

Mama

Genesis 22: 1-3, 11-12

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I." He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him..... But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

To read more about our first baby, read this post.

Working Again

After a little hiatus, I am back to making money! God sure is faithful, and provided this job at just the right time. It fits what we wanted exactly- not full time, in my home, and enough money!

When Abel was born, I quit working full time because I had a crazy schedule which included too much time away from home! First I quit one of my sitting jobs altogether, then brought Abel with me to the other house where I babysat. But leaving our house would throw off his nap schedule, resulting in a fussy baby. Also, Abel still HATED the car at that point, so the trip over would turn him into a grouch. After a short time I began watching Sophie at my house, which was wonderful. But she just began Kindergarten this Fall, so after watching her for 4 years I needed to find someone new!

On Monday, I started watching Chase. He is a sweet little guy, about 18 months old - I am embarrassed I don't know exactly how old he is! I have him about 9 hours a day, 4 days a week. Chase had been in both a home daycare and a regular day care, but his parents wanted him in a smaller setting. On the first day, his mom warned me of separation anxiety that he'd been experiencing. He'd developed it recently as result of being bitten at daycare; she showed me the bruise on his arm.

Watching him has been a smooth transition. Honestly, waking up at a regular time has been the hardest part for me! I would usually let Abel be my alarm (except when I had Bible study and Church) and then just bring him into bed to snuggle when he did wake up. Hearing my phone go off at 6:30 has been a much less pleasant alarm. And a side effect of this is that now Abel gets up at 6:30 too, because he hears Reed and I moving around. I'm hoping that getting up early will force Reed and I to be going to bed earlier, and having a regular wakeup time will help us have more of a routine with our day.

I do wish that Chase didn't like the TV so much, he really throws a fit when I tell him no! I have a small selection of kids movies, but he even brings his own. His mom encourages him to go to the DVD player when she first drops him off. Ugh. We are more 'TV is a special treat' type people than 'lets have it on as background noise all day' type people, like his mom told me they are. I just don't want Abel getting use to it on, so it's a battle I'll keep fighting.

Both boys are napping well, typically at the same time. I am so thankful for that! Even on day one, they took both of their naps at the same time. I thought I would be too busy to get my chores done during the day, but since naps are so successful and because the boys entertain each other so well, I've been getting more done than usual. I can even write a blog post!

I am off to go prepare lunch for the little men, they should be waking up from their 2+ hour naps soon!

Still Here!

Just a quick update to prove that we're still here :)

Since my last post:

• Our camera broke! This is why (if you're my Facebook friend) I've not been posting my usual 'Abel month-by-month' pictures, or any day to day pictures. Our camera is not worth repairing, and until I've been working for awhile, we don't have enough extra income to replace it with the one we want. However, a family from our church was kind enough to let us borrow theirs until we buy one! So even though I did miss about a month's worth of pictures (which makes me sick!) I have been taking some the past week or so, I just need to upload them.

• I got a job! I've been looking for quite a while, because watching one little girl here and there was just not cutting it with the bills. (If you don't know, I stopped working full time when Abel was born, Reed and I wanted me to just be working inside the home.) Now that the little one I've watched for four years has gone to Kindergarten (!) I was looking for a full timer. In God's perfect timing, I found a family with a 1.5 year old that needs someone 4 days a week. I will be watching him in my house, beginning Monday. I am so thankful! It is enough money, with a little extra to save, and I'm not even working 5 days a week. And since they didn't need me until mid- October, I had time to get settled into our new house! Perfect!

• We moved! You should come over for dinner :) The Kerr's now live in a wonderful 3 bedroom that I love! Since we now have a borrowed camera, I will be posting pictures soon. The house has been such a ridiculous blessing, and so is Reed's part time job that provides the house! I'd love to share the long version sometime, but the short version is that along with the experience in ministry that Reed is gaining by working as the director of children and youth at our church, we were also offered the opportunity to live in the parsonage. So we packed up our apartment, slapped some paint on the house, and here we are!

• My mom was married last weekend! The ceremony was beautiful (on the beach at sunset) the food was great (crabcake and steak!) and I loved visiting with all of my Maryland friends and family at the reception. We don't head up to MD that often and though we were only there for about a day and a half, I am so glad we could go. We've been praying for my mom and her new husband (you'll never guess his name-- Tony. Haha) since they began dating. It's wonderful to watch how God uses different life circumstances for a purpose, to shape His children into His image. We're praying that they continue to grow together in their relationship with each other, and that they continue to encourage each other's relationship with God.

Hope to be back on soon with some pictures!

P.S. Abel is crawling, and has 2 teeth. He is such a joy! I love watching him grow and discover new things, though it's breaking my heart that he's almost one.