The Saturday 7: August 13-19

Image from lupy2002

1. I'll actually be thankful once school starts. At least then we'll have a consistent schedule! This past week has been a chaotic mess of one day of work for me, tennis practice almost every day for Rocky, GEMS workshops, and Rocky prepping for school sometimes at school and sometimes at home! Not to mention finding babysitters and transportation for this one-car family...
2. The two GEMS Coffee Houses I helped lead this week went great!! (see #7 of last week's post) Especially the second night -- I felt like I was on a roll and didn't stumble over my words, and was able to do my 45 minute presentation in 43 minutes. :)
3. I'm so lost when it comes to Abby's teeth. For the last year, every time she's been cranky and drooly I've passed it off as teething. Well she STILL only has 4 teeth, the last of which came in the first week of June. There are a few places where her gums are soooo white (including a molar?!), but no break-throughs yet. Poor girl.
4. We've started singing the "head & shoulders, knees & toes" song with Abby recently, and I think she's starting to catch on. She grabs her head to get us started singing, and when we ask where Abby's eyes are, she scrunches her face into this dorky little smile and blinks her mostly-closed eyes. 
5. She's really started testing boundaries with us. Drawers and cupboards that have always been off-limits have become places to get into again. For months she's known which ones she's allowed in and which ones she's not (we never put latches on any of them, she's always done really well), and lately her curiosity has gotten the best of her...
6. And the tantrums. Oh my. Sometimes I'll tell her no, that's not-yours/yucky/hot/etc. and move her to a different place in the room, and she'll just start wailing and bury her face on the floor. It's kinda cute at first, but after awhile...
7. And the stranger anxiety. Some days she'll wander off around the corner of a store and smile at random people, and some days (ok, even in the same day, or even the same hour!) she'll completely freak out when the cashier says hi to her. I don't get it...

Quite the mish-mash of items today. :) Have a great week!
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The Saturday 7: Post seven things that happened to you this week. Just a quick summary. Things you might not necessarily write a whole blog post about. Idea taken from Sadie's Lovin' Life with Lucy.

More Thoughts on Love & Logic: Principle #4

This is the fifth post in a series about the book Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years For other posts in this series, click here.
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The fourth and final basic principle of Love & Logic is to share the thinking. It involves guiding a child toward solutions, not just doing it for them. The trick is to again ask lots of questions, instead of just giving them commands. 

There are five steps for helping kids own and solve their problems:
1. Lock in the empathy (see principle #3)
2. Ask the child, "What are you going to do?"
3. When your child says "I don't know," ask, "Would you like to hear some ideas?"
4. Offer no more than three possible solutions. After each one ask, "How would that work for you?"
5. Allow your child to choose -- and learn from the choice and your empathy.
(page 106)

These steps give kids practice toward problem-solving when they're older and you're not around. Instead of giving in to temptation without a second glance, they'll actually think about the consequences of their actions before acting on them.

Wouldn't it be great if your children could learn, early on, that every choice they make affects the quality of their lives? (page 24)

More Thoughts on Love & Logic: Principle #3

This is the fourth post in a series about the book Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years For other posts in this series, click here.

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Principle #3 of Love & Logic is to provide a strong dose of empathy before delivering consequences. 

The "fight or flight" response exists in all human beings and is part of the "primitive" brain -- that part of the brain governing basic survival instincts. When we feel threatened or in danger, our brain tells us, "This is unsafe! Get ready to fight, or get ready to run away!" When we deliver consequences with anger, children's brains go into "survival" mode rather than "learning" mode. They think about escaping, or possibly getting revenge, than about how to make smarter choices in the future. In the survival mode, we cannot learn. Our focus is on getting away, fighting to be free, surviving. --page 18

Love & Logic parents need to be both strict and loving at the same time. Children should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. When parents get angry with their child, the fight or flight response turns on and shifts the focus in a child's head. But when a parent shows empathy, speaks softly, and exhibits genuine love and concern, the child is more likely to see the mistake as the "bad guy" and the parent as the "good guy." Empathy allows the child to think more about their mistake and less about being angry with you.

Whenever possible, parents should try to guide their child to solving their own problem, or coming up with their own consequences. By asking "What do you think you should do about this?" the parent offers the child some control (remember principle #2?), and helps them take responsibility for their actions. Be ready with a few ideas of your own though, in case the child is too sad or flustered to think of one on their own.

For children younger than three (that would be Abby!), the authors suggest following 3 steps: 1) Respond to the misbehavior with empathy: "uh-oh..." "how sad!" "bummer!" 2) Change the child's location, remove the "offending" object, or both. 3) Allow the consequence to do the teaching -- don't warn, lecture, or remind -- let actions speak louder than words. (page 96)

Show your children you can handle them without breaking a sweat.

It definitely takes practice. And some parents are more mild-mannered than others, so this principle may come super-easy for some and be really difficult for others. Just remember:

Consequences + Anger = More Anger
Consequences + Empathy = Learning
(page 92)

More Thoughts on Love & Logic: Principle #2

This is the third post in a series about the book Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years For other posts in this series, click here.
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The second principle of Love and Logic is to share the control. When a child's life is full of "don'ts" -- don't do that, don't touch that, don't cry, etc. -- they feel powerless and frustrated. How do you feel when things are out of your control, such as when you get a flat tire or misplace your wallet? A great example given in the book (pg. 82), is about King George of England and his control of colonial America. He told them how to spend their money, where they could live, what religion they could follow. And what happened? The people rebelled!

The key to this principle is to offer your kids choices. Lots of choices. Especially in things that you don't care a whole lot about! Always offer two options, both of which are acceptable to you. "Do you want me to put your carseat on the left side of the backseat or the right side?" "Do you want to go down the slide first or get on the swing?" "Would you rather carry your coat to the car or wear it there?" "Would you prefer carrots or broccoli for dinner?"

Once they feel like they've had some control of their day, kids will be more likely to be ok with you making big decisions for them -- "It's time for bed. You've had lots of choices today, now mommy gets a turn to make a choice."

Even though Abby can't verbally make choices yet, I've tried this concept a bit just so I can get used to offering choices. Mostly it's been things like holding up two shirts in front of her and letting her pick which one to wear.

As she gets older, I think this principle can become a fun game as I try to think of all the different choices I can ask her in a given day!

Do you offer your kids choices? How has it worked out for you?

More Thoughts on Love & Logic: Principle #1

This is the second post in a series about the book Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years For other posts in this series, click here.

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A few months ago I wrote a post summarizing the concept of parenting with "Love & Logic". I really agree with the principles presented, and hope to use them with Abby. She's reached the toddler-tantrum stage, and while I can't apply some of the Love & Logic ideas until she can really communicate with me, there have definitely been times already when I choose to approach things differently than other parenting styles...

Principle #1 of Love and Logic is to build their self-concept. It's so easy to see a 14-month-old try to do simple tasks and want to take over and do it for them, or "show them how it's done." For example, Abby has one of those ring-stacker toys. I know she has watched me a number of times over the last few months put the stars on (making it light up), but she didn't show much interest in trying to do it herself until just recently. Now she's taken a star, tried and tried and tried to get it on the post, turning it every which way except the right way. It was all I could do to sit on my hands and let her figure it out on her own! And she did. And I praised her. She grinned and grabbed the next star and worked on it.

Another example: We have a big (pink!) satellite-type chair in the living room. Abby doesn't quite have the height or leg strength to push herself up into it, but she does know how to get down. It takes her a few minutes to maneuver her legs into place and slide out. I watch her like a hawk, ready to ease her landing if she takes a tumble, but I try to not do it for her. The same thing with going up and down stairs.

Allowing kids to struggle and solve their own problems builds their self-concept. It's the idea that forms in their head of "hey, I've got what it takes! I can do this!" And it sets the stage for them to think on their own in other events later in life, when mommy isn't watching.

Women in the Word Wednesdays: June 2-8

Thoughts on what I've read this past week...

Thursday 6/2: Romans 2:4
Do I tend to accept and relish in God's kindness, tolerance, and patience, or do I brush them aside? Maybe not in contempt, but taking them for granted?

Friday 6/3: John 14:1
This verse comes right after Jesus predicts his betrayal and Peter's denial. Don't worry about what the future holds!

Monday 6/6: John 14:27
He will never leave me. Even though he physically left the disciples (this past Sunday was Ascension Sunday), he sent the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us.

Tuesday 6/7: John 16:27
This verse was tough to understand taken out of context. I think it's again confirming and comforting the disciples before he leaves.

Wednesday 6/8: James 3:10
I haven't read this week's chapters in The Ministry of Motherhood, but I have a feeling they're about using your words to show grace and compassion. This verse reminds me of a verse in Ephesians about using our words to build each other up, instead of tearing others down. As Abby learns to understand my words, I need to be careful what I say to her.

I need your input!!

Ahhh it's finally here! The last day of school! Both Rocky and I will be done by noon tomorrow! And while I have to work once or twice a month and Rocky will have some tennis practices to go to, we've got soooooo much more free time! Yay for being married to a teacher!!

So that brings up the question -- what do we DO?! I find amazing blog posts like this one and this one and this ebook and get so inspired!! But then I think... I have a one-year-old. Boo. She can't appreciate most those things. :-(

So I feel stuck. I want to be "intentional" and plan activities and outings and things for our family. I don't want us to sit on the computer and watch Abby play with her toys and discover summer is half over and we've been lazy.  I'm a natural planner, and Rocky likes to have a plan for any given day.

I need your input!! What should we do this summer?? What activities can we do, what places can we go, with a one-year-old?? Help!!!

Thoughts on Love and Logic: Part 1

This is the first post in a series about the book Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years For other posts in this series, click here.
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I really hadn't given much thought to what my parenting style would be like, especially discipline, until very recently. I'd kind of figured I would just go with the flow of whatever happened, and hope Abby turned out to be a good kid...

I first heard about the concept of Love and Logic when Rocky was reading the book Teaching with Love and Logic a few years ago. I glanced through it and thought it was a neat idea for the classroom. Then I noticed a copy of Parenting with Love and Logic for sale when I worked at Family Christian Stores, which I bought just before Abby was born. I read through the first couple of chapters last summer, but got discouraged because I didn't think it applied to us yet. The stories presented were about older, school-age kids.

So I visited the Love and Logic website, did a little browsing around, and, lo and behold, Jim & Charles Fay had indeed written a book about younger kids -- Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years. I checked it out at the library, then eventually bought it for myself (I guess you can only renew a library book twice before returning it...).

"Your children will learn how to live with the consequences of their actions, avoid blaming others for their problems, and make wise decisions." 

There are four basic principles of Love & Logic:

1. Build the self-concept.
Instead of 1) finding faults and criticizing, 2) insisting on doing everything for their children, and 3) not allowing them to experience the joy of independent success, parents 1) offer empathy, understanding, and unconditional love, 2) allow their kids to struggle and solve their own problems, and 3) encourage them to learn to succeed through personal thinking and learning.

Children need to know how to handle situations that appear without warning, situations that require them to think for themselves. Then they'll begin to believe "Hey, I've got what it takes!" Every time we rescue our children and solve their problems for them, we erode their self-concept.

2. Share the control
Give control away when you don't need it, so you can get some back when you do! Share control by giving the types of choices that do not cause a problem for you. Make sure your choices are framed by firm limits. And make sure in each choice you give, you are ok with either choice!

For example: Do you want milk or juice with breakfast? Are you going to wear your coat to school or carry it? Are you going to brush your teeth now or in five minutes? Would you rather have peas or carrots with dinner?

3. Provide a strong dose of empathy before delivering consequences
Consequences are a big part of life. The pain of poor choices helps kids learn to avoid mistakes. Children need to make and learn from their mistakes while the consequences are still small and affordable. Consider the difference of wasting one's allowance at age five versus wasting one's paycheck at age 21...

If a kid makes a mistake and parents respond with sternness or anger, the child's brain goes into a "survival" mode instead of a "learning" mode. They think more about escaping your anger, or possibly getting revenge, instead of how to make smarter choices in the future. Rather than set ourselves up as the enemy, wise parents use empathy in a way that makes the child's mistake the "bad guy," while keeping the parents the "good guys."

4. Share the thinking
The more anger and frustration we show, the less our kids think -- and the less they learn about solving their problems. Shared thinking involves lots of love and empathy, and guides a kid toward solutions rather than doing it for them or automatically giving out punishment.

The key to getting your kids to think is to ask questions. Allow them to think more about a solution to a problem or a mistake than you do. "What are you going to do about ____? How are you going to pay for that? Would you like to hear some ideas? How would that idea work for you?"

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While a lot of these concepts still sounded like too much for my then-6-month-old to handle, chapter 2 is called "It's never to early to start!" Though there were so many great concepts and ideas in this chapter -- and I could easily share them all! -- I'll just quote one paragraph:

Some people believe that children cannot learn or benefit from discipline until they can converse. Nothing is further from the truth! Can the family dog learn how to sit, stay, come, fetch, and lie down? I've never met a pooch who talked, but I have met some parents who seem to believe and act like the family dog is smarter than their kids. How sad! By the age of nine months, human babies are more intelligent than any other creature on the planet... Replace lectures, warnings, and lots of words with actions." 

I think that's enough of a summary for now... I'm re-reading the book and underlining and keeping these concepts fresh in my head, so I'll hopefully take the time over the next few weeks to expound more on each of the four principles of Love & Logic!

In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Do you have a parenting style? Does this one sound worthy of pursuit to you? (please note, I won't look down on anyone who disagrees, and I'm still learning too :-)

Snapshots

Everyone says life goes by more quickly the older you get. Granted, it doesn't really go any faster (in the physical, minute-second kind of way), but it just seems to go faster. And of course when you're young, you don't believe it. During school you can't wait for summer vacation to come, then come the end of July you can't wait for school to start (ok, maybe it was just me). But now it seems like everyday I look at the calendar and think "where did the time go?!"

For example: Today is March 24. Wait -- March?! Wasn't it just the middle of winter, we were getting dumped on with snow and making cupcakes for Valentine's Day?? And not only is it March, it's the 24TH -- as in, April is only a week away?! Didn't I just write that "Ode to March" post a couple of days ago??

And that means yesterday was Abby's 10-month birthday. Yikes! We're in double digits now! I need to start thinking about her first birthday soon! Oh and not to mention -- wasn't she just working on her army crawl?? Wait, that was in December... now she's practicing her balance and will probably be walking before her first birthday...

Life goes by fast. Thank goodness for cameras, especially digital cameras. I have so many pictures of Abby I don't even dare try and count them all. But pictures are best when you look at them often.


Someone gave me some advice just before my wedding, and it's stuck with me. They told me that my wedding day would go by so fast that all I'd be left with were a bunch of pictures and a few memories. Throughout the day I was to stop, look around, and take a mental snapshot of what I saw. One image has stayed with me -- it was just before the service was about to start and my bridesmaids had left the dressing room. I was all alone, and I looked at myself in the mirror. It was just a few seconds that I took to pause and "snap a picture" before heading over to the sanctuary, but I remember that image and that room and the excitement and the peace.

Unfortunately I'm not doing that as much now with Abby, maybe because I always have my camera available. Why take a mental picture when I can take a real one? On Tuesday we had a scary incident that involved a trip to the ER (I'll try to post more details another time -- Abby just ended up having an ear infection, no RSV or pneumonia or anything). After going through some tests and x-rays, we waited in our little curtained room, Abby stripped down to her diaper, with her blanket around her. She was so tired (it was past naptime) and she just leaned against me sucking her thumb. I looked down at her and without really thinking about it, I took a snapshot in my mind. The feeling of her head against my chest, my arms around her with her little fleece blanket, her blonde hair and blue eyes, silently sucking her thumb. Even though the snapshot is from a scary event, I can recall it in my head and recall the powerful feelings of love and protection it brought.

So I'm going to make an effort to take more snapshots. Those little things that one might not think of taking a real picture of, just a quick stop, look, and click. Give it a try. It's what memories are built from.

Project Simplify: Pre-Project Activity

I just heard about a website called Simple Mom. The author describes it as "a productivity blog for home managers." It combines two things I love -- productivity and parenting! And today begins something called Project: Simplify. But apparently I missed the pre-project activity over the weekend, so I'm going to attempt to play a little catch-up... Because the idea of this project is right up my alley! "If you’ve always wanted to really declutter your home, but lose hope or steam after just a few hours, this will be the ticket. Nothing like knowing there are many families around the world working right alongside you!"

So the pre-project assignment is to tackle your home with a purpose. "As a family, you need to write a simple truth about who are as a family. It doesn’t need to be elaborate, but it needs to reflect what’s most important to you... When you make your home better suited to your family’s purpose, then it’s easier to care about where things go, what stays and goes, and how clean (or disheveled) it is. It’s easier to live there, because it feels like home... It makes organizing the means to an end, not the end itself."

Jeepers. We're working on a purpose statement at our church right now too. It's difficult to summarize what you're all about! But I understand the importance of it. So we'll give it a try, before tackling this week's "hotspot"...

Apparently the site's author has a book which dedicates a whole chapter to forming a family purpose statement, and includes 20 questions to help create that statement. I don't have the book, so I guess I'll just have to ask myself, What things are important to us? God/faith, family, friends, health, education/learning, music... I'll see if Rocky has anything to add.

Other thoughts (not sure if/how we'll use them, I'm just thinking "out loud"):

• the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
• Proverbs 31
• stewardship - of our time, talents, bodies, money, the earth
• teamwork
• acronym? ROER?

• So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it." -Genesis 1:27-28 (NLT)
• Psalm 139
• "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." -Colossians 3:12-17

We'll see what we can come up with! Does your family have a purpose statement?

One month in...

Ok so one month into our new year's resolutions... how have we done??

1. Daily Devotions - C - This one started out well, but slowly I started doing other things at the beginning of my day instead of being in the Word (aka Facebook...). I'm on a roll this week though, both yesterday and today I started out with some of my "homework" for the Esther Bible study I'm doing with some gals at church.

2. Exercise every day - B - I actually haven't been doing too bad with this one. I found out about the 100 pushups challenge and started working on it a few weeks ago. And I've been trying to do some situps/ab exercises every day. I'd like to do more with this one, but most will have to wait until it warms up outside enough to take Abby out for walks. In the meantime, I'm just trying to stay consistent with doing something - especially since Abby really likes watching me and laughing at me doing pushups and situps. :)

3. Read to Abby every day - A - This is probably the one I've done the best at. There has rarely been a day all month that I did not read to Abby. Sometimes we'll read in the mornings, sometimes in the afternoon before a nap, sometimes it's a bedtime story. She likes to try and close the book on me before I'm done. But at least we're making an effort.

4. Meal plan - B+ - Not too bad. Some weeks have been better than others. Some weeks are much easier to plan than others. I'm working on meal planning over the weekend so I can grocery shop accordingly on Saturday mornings or Monday evenings.

5. Keep track of finances - I - (that's an I for Incomplete...) With trying to organize my schedule into a routine and work on all of my other resolutions, this one got put on the back-burner. And I'm ok with that. Two days ago I put in the time to create a new Excel file to track our income and out-go, so this resolution is really starting in February.


So there we go. Definite room for improvement, but it's only been one month. I realized I did NOT make a resolution to blog every day (and I thought I had!) so that's a relief... since in the past 31 days I've blogged 8 times. Sheesh. 

Happy New Year

Ahh, New Year's resolutions. Something to be made every year, and broken a few weeks later... Everyone always starts out with such good intentions and valiant goals. I've read anywhere from 75-92% of people actually keep their new year's resolutions. So why even try? The odds are against me. It's a whole lot harder to actually do something than to just say I will.

Well I'm actually going to try. I've been making a couple of lists of things to do weekly and things to do daily. Most of the weekly stuff involves cleaning, etc. around the house, and most of the daily stuff is for my own personal fulfillment. So I'm going to list a few things here, and hope that by blogging about them I can keep up with them!

1. Daily devotions. Even if it's just reading a short page from a devotional book, I want to be in the Word every day. A former pastor of mine just launched a new video devotional called 30God, which I think will be a great jump-start to helping me think about God every day.

2. Exercise every day. I'm sure this is the most-often-named new year's resolution. Ok, maybe "lose weight" is the MOST common, but I'm more interested in just being healthy. It will be so much easier once spring comes and Abby and I can get out and walk again, but in the meantime I want to make a conscious effort to do something every day - even if it's just some sit-ups.

3. Read to Abby every day. I love books, and I want to encourage Abby to love to read too.

4. Meal plan. Ideally this will be something I'll do once a week, and plan what we're going to have for dinner every night for the next week. Then I can plan my grocery shopping accordingly, and not get to 6:00 at night and wonder hmm, what am I going to do for dinner? I at least want to have that day's dinner planned by noon so I can get any prep work out of the way or meat out of the freezer etc.

5. Keep track of finances. I've done well with this off and on, keeping track of what we spend and such, but never for a whole year. We've always been ok with our spending, etc. and I've never truly created a budget to work from each month, but I know the simple task of recording where our money goes does help us not spend as much.

So there we go. Five things, all very doable. Some daily, some weekly (I won't bore you with all the weekly cleaning tasks I want to accomplish). Can I stick with it? Be part of the 8-25% who actually stick with their resolutions? We'll see...

Do you have any resolutions for the new year?

This and that

I need to get better at this.

I always have such good intentions. I'll write for a few days straight. Then be MIA for a month. I would love to have more followers, just for the satisfaction of knowing I'm writing about interesting stuff. But who wants to read a blog that only posts sporadically?

I think one of my new year's resolutions is going to be to write every day. Or at least try to. Even if it's just a paragraph.

It's not that I don't have things to write about. I find myself thinking throughout the day "Ooo I should write about that!" Or something happens that is worthy of posting, etc. etc... I just never stop to take the time to write. Mostly because I have a 6 month old, and have you ever tried writing and being creative with a squirmy baby next to you?

So this current post (which is getting long already) is going to include some of the random stuff that's been in my head lately. And hopefully I'll get better at posting more often.

Cloth Diapering
Since Abby is now 6.5 months old, we've been cloth diapering for about 6 months. It's been working out really well. Yes we've had our share of leaks and explosions, but overall I'm happy with the experience. I do keep a pack of 'sposies on hand, I'll use them when we're out and about for more than a couple hours at a time. And we used them at night for awhile (since Abby continues to be a 12-13 hour sleeper), but I've discovered the joy of hemp inserts. I open up my Flip cover to the highest rise, put down two of those inserts plus the stay-dry insert the Flip came with, and voila! A super-fluffy butt that doesn't leak at night.

The only thing I might do differently if I started cd'ing all over again would be to start with a bunch of different diapers and see what we like best. We started our stash exclusively with Flips, based on price and the all-in-two type of system, and have stuck with them ever since. Luckily they've worked out well for us, but there are so many other kinds out there that I would love to try... but I can't justify spending more. So I resort to entering giveaways. :) I follow a number of blogs that have weekly or monthly giveaways (such as Nicki's Diapers and The Cloth Diaper Whisperer). This will probably be the only way I'll ever have a chance to try all-in-ones or pockets or prefolds! (I did win a Snappi once but have yet to use it!)

SAHM
So I'd like to still consider myself a stay-at-home-mom, but I don't think I can. My 13-hour-a-week secretary job at FCCS has been awesome! I'm loving the chance to use some of my computer and writing and other skills to serve this little school (and I think they enjoy having me...??). And quite honestly, I enjoy having some time away from Abby each week. I think being away 3 days a week would be too much, but 2 days is just right. And I'm leaving her in very capable hands (love you Debbie!), and I think the best part is I'm able to leave her at home. I do find myself missing her every so often, especially now that she's jumping across some big milestones (sitting, crawling, etc.). BUT I'm home by 4:00 on those two days, with Rocky not far behind me, so I still get plenty of hang-out time with her. :)


I think that's all I'm going to post today, as it is I've been working on this post for the last 3.5 hours. Abby got up in the middle of it so I had to come back to it at naptime!

Picture Challenge - Day 05

Day 05: A picture of your morning

A typical morning for me involves these things. A cup of coffee and devotions. A check of Facebook. A walk around the neighborhood. Playtime with Abby.

So tired...

The last few days have been tough on my emotions. I've been pretty down lately. I have no motivation to do anything. And it's not because I'm bored -- I have PLENTY to do around here... I've forced myself to keep up with laundry, and the dishes are mostly done... Then I thought hey, I enjoy scrapbooking, and that's a nice quiet activity and sounds moderately fun... 2 hours and ONE page later I give up on that too. Yesterday the rain made me want to just sleep all day... so I tried, off and on throughout the day. Plus I hadn't slept well the night before. Well I didn't sleep much at all during the day yesterday, and I think that only saddened me more. I've heard of post-partum depression, but is there such a thing as PRE-partum?

Luckily Rocky was able to get me out of the house for a bit last night while he helped with Youth Sunday practice at church. Then we had Debbie and Tim over for ice cream and some laughter... So I went to bed last night feeling a bit better. Still slept pretty crummy, my belly is so big it stretches my skin/muscles/ligaments painfully and it's difficult to roll over... which I end up needing to do every hour or so.

But today is a new day, right?? I'm still feeling pretty tired so I'll probably try and take a nap this afternoon... but I'm praying I'll be motivated to do a few other things in the meantime. Just so I can feel proud to have accomplished SOMETHING today... Please pray for me?

Transition to a SAHM

Yesterday was Day 1 of officially being a stay-at-home-mom. I’m struggling with figuring out what my daily schedule is going to look like until baby gets here. I like to get up with Rocky and see him off in the mornings (which I did yesterday). But once he’s gone, my morning-person-ness is wanting to continue on with my day and start working on housework and projects, another part just wants to make a cup of coffee and enjoy the sunrise and birds outside. And yet another part of me knows I only got 6 hours of sleep the night before, so I want to just go back to bed for an hour or two until the sun comes up more – since my body is very affected by sunlight!… I just want to start off this staying-home-thing on the right foot, you know? Part of me wants routine, something I’ll plan to do every day, part of me wants to just go with the flow each day. And of course that flow will change soon enough when I’m working around another’s schedule…

I decided yesterday to see if I could get a little more sleep before attacking my day. I only got another hour, but felt so refreshed afterward! I was able to accomplish a handful of things around the house plus put my feet up and rest a few times... I'm hoping I'll have the desire and energy to keep up with the housework in the coming days, so that when baby comes I can let things slide for a bit...

It could be any day now. It could still be 2 weeks away. We'll see what happens...