Summer Fun

Clearly, I am just slightly insane.

Because this is my idea of fun. Strip a baby down to his diaper, give him a pile of rice cereal on his highchair tray and a spoon, and take pictures of his reactions.

So what do you do for fun??? :)

on my mind

This morning, I have just had my friend Andrew and his wife Denise on my mind. She was 30 weeks pregnant, and in the last couple of weeks, she has had some complications, gone to the emergency room a couple times... well, I found out this morning that they were going to do an emergency C-section today, so I have been praying for them all morning.

I just found out that she had her C-section, and their baby boy, Parker James, arrived this morning! He is on oxygen, but Andrew says the dr.'s are pleased with how he's doing so far. 10 weeks is a long time to be early, so please pray for them if you think of it. She will be in the hospital for a week, and they have been told that Parker may have to be in NICU for two months! I know that God is amazing, and He has a perfect plan for their family, so let's lift them up to Him today!

**UPDATED TO ADD** Parker was 2 lbs, 3 oz- I can't imagine how tiny that is!! Pictures can be found at http://gallery.mac.com/andrew.northern

Where Neighbors Are Friends

That's the slogan of the retirement community where I used to work. I worked in the kitchen in the assisted living bulding. I quit about a year ago. In June. The twelfth, I think. Not that I was counting down the days or anything...but 5:30 am comes pretty early when the only things you can stomach before noon are peanut butter Ritz Bits, yogurt, canned tropical fruit mix, 2%milk, and coleslaw. Yes, coleslaw. And of course, peppermints. A morning-sickness lifesaver!

Anyhoo...every time I see this slogan, it makes me laugh out loud. It makes me think of Helen. Helen was this grouchy old lady who didn't really like anyone, staff or residents. She particularly disliked one of her 'neighbors' down the hall. This sweet old man was mostly deaf and in a wheelchair. Somehow she and he got seated at the same dining room table every day. When she came down for breakfast, she would give him a disapproving look, then scowl at me and say something like, "That man is just rude. He lives in my hall. Well, when I come out of my room, I look around the hall first. And if I see him coming, well, I just don't have to leave yet. So I just go back into my room and close the door until he goes on by." Typically, we would just put one little mini-pitcher of half-and-half on each table, but on their table, we had to put two little pitchers, one at each of their places, because they would get in fights if they had to ask the other one to pass the creamer. One day they were arguing about who was older. One was 92, the other was 93. How do you argue about who's older? It's kind of a fact, isn't it???

So, while the slogan, "Where Neighbors Are Friends" may have applied to most of the residents, Helen kind of blew the whole thing out of the water.

Eavesdropping

Overheard just now from the baby room, where Hubby is changing baby's diaper:

"How can something so stinky come out of someone so small?"

and also:

"Why do they put so many snaps on your little outfit? Have you ever wondered that?"

and squeaky little baby giggles :) which make my day. :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Well, I was going to write some witty and profound post about Mother's Day, based on my limited experience in the field...but then Antique Mommy said it much better than I ever could have: click here to read what she had to say- it's so true! My favorite little quote from her post is this: "Motherhood is often draining, exasperating, annoying, unsatisfying, and almost always smelly. It is also true that there is nothing else you have ever done in your life that you would describe in those terms, yet quickly add, "But I love it! It is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me!" " Such a great post! :)

So, in honor of Mother's Day, check out some of the great Mommy bloggers on my sidebar! I would have to say that Antique Mommy is my favorite blogger...funny sometimes, poignant sometimes, but always well-written. Second, I would pick Fiddledeedee at It Could'a Been Worse...and thirdly, lately, I've really gotten into One Thing, I think mostly because her life is so interesting- she has twelve children, the oldest is getting married, the youngest is about a month old!! And of course, Big Mama and BooMama are classics! :) So enjoy, because they say most everything better than I can! :)

Also, speaking of mothers, my parents are here this weekend, and my sister, so we're all going to be celebrating Mother's Day together tomorrow! :) Hubby says that Z has a present for me, and he keeps telling Z not to tell me- so far he hasn't. :)

Contentment

This weekend is our annual "Hobby Weekend" up at camp- we have quilters and scrapbookers come to camp to craft & fellowship, and it's so much fun. The last 2 years I've been able to attend the retreat, and also be the hostess for it, but this year, with little Z, I've just been hostessing some & chatting with the ladies some, and not scrapbooking at all. But I did give a devotional on Thursday, which kind of outlines some of the struggles I've gone through since little Z has been born...so I thought I'd share it with you! Here goes:

None of us will ever be content with what we HAVE. Contentment is possible, regardless of what we have or don’t have. I’m going to tell you a little bit about the journey that God has taken me on to teach me about contentment.

I have struggled with contentment many times in my life. When I was in college, I thought I would be content if only I was married. Then I got married, and while it’s wonderful, it didn’t make me content. When we were first married, we lived in a trailer, and I thought, “If I only had a house, then I would be content”. We moved into a beautiful house after about a year and a half of marriage, and guess what? It didn’t make me content. Then Joel lost his job, and we lived in a tiny apartment, and while we were living there, God really dealt with me and grew and changed me, and I learned a lot about contentment, and I thought I had it ‘down pat’ by the time we moved here. But there was still one thing I didn’t have. A baby. I WANTED a baby. I NEEDED a baby. If only I had a BABY, my life would be perfect and complete. THEN I would be content. We prayed for a baby. We tried for a baby. We waited for a baby. I cried like a baby every month when the test was negative. And then, one day last spring, I found out that I was FINALLY expecting a baby! Joel and I were on top of the world! The pregnancy and delivery went smoothly, and nine months later, on December 5th, little Z joined our family!

And finally my life was complete and every second of every day has been smooth sailing ever since. Right? Of course not. Those of you who have had newborn babies surely remember what it’s like those first few weeks- the lack of sleep, the seemingly constant crying (both baby and Mommy some days), the hormonal imbalances, the feeling of complete incompetence at being a new parent… I was miserable. Here I was, at a time when I should have been enjoying this wonderful tiny blessing, and all I could do was cry and complain. I was totally focused on myself- the sleep I was missing, the time that I was stuck at home with a screaming baby, when would my life be ‘normal’ again? Ever since I was young, my only dream and desire in life has been to be a stay-at-home mom. I never wanted a career or fame and fortune, only to get married, have babies and stay home to raise them. And I definitely wanted Z- we waited for him for so long. So I expected the transition to motherhood to be easy for me, and I expected to just automatically enjoy every minute of it. One day, when little Z was a few weeks old, I was having a particularly rotten attitude, and Joel called me on it. I thought about the things he had said for the rest of the day, and I realized that when I was focused on myself, I wasn’t loving Z, and I wasn’t pleasing God.

I spent a lot of time in prayer, and started striving to use every difficult moment as an opportunity to praise God and to love my son. I began to choose to trust God to give me rest when I truly needed it, and to give me and Joel wisdom about how to raise our son. And when I changed my attitude, things got a whole lot better! I started to truly enjoy each moment with my son, and I was able to handle the crying and the night feedings much better. I have had to depend on God all the time during this transition, but now I feel like God has finally brought me to a point where I can truly say, “I love being a mom. I love what I do, staying at home with my son. I am truly content in where I am and who I am and what I am doing.” Some days (and nights) are still better than others, but through God’s strength & His patience, I am choosing to love my son, and to love being a mom. Of course, as soon as I think I have this figured out, I’m sure God will find something else to work on!

I guess what I’m trying to say is that contentment is all about three things: First of all, your perspective. 1 Corinthians 15:28 says that God is all in all. When God’s plan for us is our focus, we can be truly content in where He has us right now, because we know that He has a future and a hope for us. (Jeremiah 29:11) Secondly, we have to adjust our priorities. If my top priority is getting what I want instead of doing what God wants, I won’t be content, and I won’t be glorifying God. But if God’s plan is my top priority, then everything I need will be added unto me. (Mt. 6:33). Finally, we have to depend on God’s power in order to be content- we can’t do it ourselves! Phil. 4:11-13 shows us how Paul depended on God to help him be content in every situation:

"I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

As we submit our lives to Christ and His will for us, we will begin to become content. We need to forget about what we have or don’t have, and focus totally on who we are and what we have in Christ. Then we can be truly content.

Live-Blogging?

Yesterday, I had this idea. I was thinking of 'live-blogging' for a couple days. Sort of a 'day in the life' kind of thing, just blogging about what's going on with me that day, checking in with the interpeeps when I walk by the computer...

But. Then I realized how utterly boring that would be for all the readers involved. Considering that the big excitement for this morning was a semi parked on the country road outside our house. The semi driver even came to the house, I figured he was lost & wanted directions, but actually he had a delivery for the camp. So there you go. The most exciting part of my morning was someone making a delivery to camp. I tried to feed Zachary his cereal, but he wouldn't eat it for some reason. Later this morning, he ate and had a dirty diaper. Also, I cleaned the bathrooms and washed the dishes. And worked on my devotional for Hobby Weekend, which is coming up next week.

So after sharing my riveting morning with you all, I think you'll understand why I decided to forego the 'live-blogging' of my day, and instead bore you every few days with the 'more exciting' tidbits of my life.

WFMW: Pot Scrapers

Works-For-Me-Wednesday:

Here is a tool that I use all the time in my kitchen.

It is a garden variety, plastic pot scraper. (On my ivy tablecloth. You're welcome for the expert photography.) You can purchase them at all kinds of different stores, mine I found for about 50 cents at a local Amish 'variety store'. They're also sold with the Pampered Chef stones, as the recommended tool of use for cleaning stoneware. I use it for all kinds of different things.

1) The first thing that I use it for, surprise of surprises, is scraping dishes. It works great for skillets with burned on eggs, burnt on cheese on pizza pans, (anyone noticing a pattern here??? ...no wonder my husband is always saying, "I'll make dinner, you just feed the baby") and melted cheese on plates. And of course I use it to scrape the aforementioned Pampered Chef stoneware, since I use my pizza stone at least once a week.

2) Another thing that I use the scraper for is scraping my sink out... If someone happens to drop some cheese in the sink or something else gets stuck to it, just a quick swipe with the scraper gets rid of it- and since it's plastic, it won't scratch it like a knife would.

3) I think the best use for the pot scraper is to clean off the counter after you make biscuits, cinnamon rolls, or any other kind of dough. You know if you use a wet washcloth or a green scratchy pad to clean your floury, doughy counter, all you get is a bunch of goop all over your counter and you have to keep wiping it over and over. Well, when I get done making biscuits, I just grab the pot scraper, scrape all the remaining dough & flour into a pile, and throw it in the garbage, then wipe off the counter with the wet washcloth. This works really well for laminate countertops & also wood butcher block countertops. I would say the pot scraper is probably the easiest way to clean wood butcher block countertops overall.

Well, I hope all this rambling has been useful to somebody! Head on over to Shannon's place for more Works-for-Me-Wednesday tips!

Quote for Mommies

I found this sweet quote on the website of a lady who's having her twelfth child today. Yes, I said TWELVE. Wow. Anyway...this is a really neat quote to remind us mommies about our God-given purpose in mothering!

Here is another sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about in my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what leisure for my own recreation my other darlings have left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother's heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her life-long prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, how wonderfully blest!

-Elizabeth Prentiss, Stepping Heavenward

I also love the MOPS slogan- Because Mothering Matters. Sometimes when you feel like all you're doing is feeding, diapering & clothing someone...you can feel like that's not as important as a teacher who fills children's minds with knowledge...but it is. It is the beginning of one of the most important influences on that baby's life...and I need to remember that when I'm tempted to be impatient or frustrated! :) Hope this encourages someone today!

Kisses

Time goes SOOO fast around here! I told Joel today, it seems like just a couple weeks ago that Zachary was tiny and screaming all the time, and refusing to eat, and not sleeping at night....and now he's such a big, sweet boy. He has slept through the night FOUR times this week! :) YAY! And all the people said, Amen. He sleeps from about 9:00 or 9:30 pm to 6:30 or 7 am, so that is wonderful. He is just such a happy boy, too. He loves for someone to be there playing with him as often as possible, and he responds to Peek-a-boo now, and giggles at me sometimes when I tell him he's a silly boy or talk in a silly voice. :)

Yesterday Joel called from town and I couldn't get to the phone in time because I was nursing Zachary, but when Zachary heard Joel's voice on the answering machine, he popped right off, and looked around to see where Daddy was! He loves his daddy! :)

He's started giving kisses now, too- when you hold him up to your cheek, he'll open his mouth and 'kiss' you, and it's so fun! Those first few weeks were so difficult, and I just thought, How long will this tough stage last??? But now all of his little responses are so rewarding, and he's so much fun. And I'm thankful we went through those tough times together, because now we appreciate his happy little personality so much more!