Luke : 4 months

Luke at 4 months:

When he is happy he is ALL smiles - watch out, it's contagious!
when upset, your ears will start to ring
he weighs in at 15.4 pounds
he currently wears cloths in 6-9 months
naps inconsistently in the morning but we get a good 2 hour average in the afternoons
LOVES his new jumperoo
has captured all our hearts
Love this little man.

Perfection

For the first time in a while both kids are at school and the baby is taking a morning nap. The house is quiet. As I sit with my coffee and breakfast I turn the T.V off and do the normal internet routine. I check my email, then Facebook, then my blogs and daily deal sites. I put on Pandora this morning to center me with some christian music. I know some people read that and don't understand but this music centers my heart, it's in my blood, my love language.

This week has been rough. The older boys have taken fighting to a new level. The baby went on a sleep strike. I am no longer a mom, I am an overly tired referee. When I have any spare time I check out some blogs, and Pinterest, but instead of finding comfort that I am not alone in this overly tired parenting bubble, I instead see tutorials on how to make my kids clothes and how to make their lunch into an animated short film by cutting their sandwiches into little main characters and their sides into sidekicks. Me? I barely muster up the energy to put a PB&J sandwich on the table with a bag of apples. That's right folks, I get the already cut apples from Costco.

Why as moms is there so much pressure to be perfect? Everyone else can't be THAT much more put together, can they? So, this morning, I stopped short of reading blogs, looking at Pinterest, and finding deals on things I just don't need. I paused life to pray, reflect, be grateful. Most of all to remind myself of 1 Timothy 6:6 which reads

"Godliness with contentment is great gain"

What I really need to do is clean the house for guest tonight, get groceries, organize my house, mop the floors, plan for tonights life group, get laundry started, etc. After all, I have a quiet house. The thing is, I think God knows more then me - I think - and He is saying "Be still, Be calm, Trust". Who am I to say no!

This is what I am getting at... I don't think other moms are that different from me. We like to show everyone we are supermom to make us feel better about the job we're doing. My boys though - ARE AWESOME. Even though they drive me up the wall 90% of the time. I just need to gain perspective and clarity from God, and not the blog with the well photoshopped picture of the best looking perfect family , or the one with the house that looks like it came from a Pottery Barn catalog full of do it yourself projects (remember, I don't have energy to cut apples). I am sure today is going to be full of twist and turns, joy and frustration, that's my life but it's good to be recharged and refocused.

(this is where I would put the picture of my messy house

and be proud of it - I'm not that brave!)

Luke 3 months

Forgot to post his 3 month picture!

Luke,

My sweet boy, not sure what is going on with you for the last day but life is not that bad. Lets try getting back to smiling more then crying.

Love you,

Mommy

Discipline

I have thought much about the new year. I started to think about the typical new years resolutions and what I wanted to get out of this new year. My good friend Jessica wrote a blog post about taking one word and having it represent your "theme" for the year. I also read another blog where a mom asked her family what their new years resolutions were. After they stated your typical resolutions she asked them what they think Gods resolutions would be for them. Their answers changed dramatically. This made me think a lot about my new year. So this is what I came up with...

The first thing that hit me like a ton of bricks was the word discipline. I think this one word can sum up my new years goals. Who in their life couldn't use a little discipline. When it comes to food? or our time? or housework? or working out? or bible time? I feel like I need to manage my life a little better. Set a more scheduled routine. Sometimes I get in the rut of sitting down and having a hard time getting up and finishing the days work.

I am inspired this new year with all the awesome things to come. There is something that always feels fresh about a new year. 2011 was good to me and our family. Luke was born and continues to bring our lives even more joy. I am so excited to watch these boys continue to grow and continue to develop into their little personalities.

Happy new year to all of you...

2012

Advent

For the past few years we have done a Christmas advent (2009, 2010) and this year is no exception. We started on December 1st and have one fun activity a day (well, that's the plan at least).

We started with getting our christmas tree. This year was a little different because we got a Costco tree that you just pay for and take home. We bypassed the part where we carefully inspect each tree for hole and every imperfection we can find. It was Costco, you can't go wrong with Costco. Guess what? We didn't. Our tree is great, not perfect, but great. The only reason it's getting the not perfect grade is because it leans a little. It will work though.

Another advent day was spent making hot chocolate, eating cookies, and watching christmas movies.

Then we spent the next day decorating the tree. All fun Christmas stuff.

(oops no pics taken)

Continuing a tradition that we have had since I was little we spent 2 day at the merriest place on earth. We love taking trips up to Disneyland and it was exciting to introduce Luke to the tradition (although he slept through everything except Small World).

We enjoyed the church children's play, and buying toys for kids in mexico that do not have much this christmas.

I love the Christmas season. Look for more advent activities in future posts...

this is war...

It's me against postpartum pregnancy weight gain.

Game on!

2 months

Where has the time gone? I am stunned that it has been 2 months since Luke was born. Why does it go so fast? It's all a blur I tell you.

Luke is awesome. His longest stretch of sleep is now between 5- 7 hours. We still have not stepped into a regular schedule but his days are starting to regulate (sometimes). The boys are still loving have Luke around. Noah wants to touch him all the time and Ryan looks over him like the oldest brother should.

I am really enjoying the holiday season. To top it off it is raining out today. I think I might even start a fire tonight!

Thanksgiving 2011

We were blessed with a full house this Thanksgiving. My aunt and uncle came for a visit along with my brother and his family. I love having the family around and it is exactly what you would expect a family holiday to be. The house was loud with the 4 kids 5 and under but my brother still seemed to be able to sleep through it all on the couch. We lost my uncle for a while, he seemed to take a page out of my brothers book and napped... do we see a pattern starting. Somehow I was unable to fit in a nap but thats okay, there was cooking to be done.

Rachel helped me to set the table beautifully

and the boys took some time out to play football

this was tackle football people

played some on the ipad

and then time for dinner

all in all a great day...