Joy

Isn’t it amazing how sometimes you hear exactly what you needed to hear without knowing you needed to hear it?  That is exactly what happened after listening to my friend A.J.'s pod cast tonight.  One thing he said in particular rang loud to me today.  He said, “Joy is not accidental, but joy is possible anywhere.”  How amazing is that?!  How appropriate is that?!  How much do we all need to hear this, and understand this, and believe this, and live this?!   It is so easy for me to fall into dwelling on what is hard.  I talk about how tired I am, or the frustrating day I had with a toddler who seems at times like his life’s mission is to do the complete opposite of what I say, all too easily.  I feel these things, dwell on these things, and talk about these things, because I feel I am entitled to it.  But ultimately, and more importantly I am entitled to joy.  And as A.J. pointed out, this joy is not accidental.  Dwelling on my joy, on the goodness of my life, making room to comfort others in their hardship and help bring them joy, is possible in any situation, on the hardest of days, there is always joy to be had.  Joy to be shared.   

Listen to A.J.'s podcast "Complete Joy" here:   http://theophiluschurch.com/listen/ 

Photo of the week #3: Something You adore

Something I adore?  Well that's easy! How about this girl?!

And this guy?! (And yes, he is "reading" Eclipse :)

Man oh man do I adore these kiddos!  Sure they make me want to pull my hair out at times and deprive me of precious sleep, but the amount of love that just pours out of them inspires me.  Sure, when 8:00pm comes around Nick and I run around like chickens with our heads cut off attempting to get these little crazies to bed so that we perhaps have a chance to relax and gather our bearings.  However, more often than not, when 10:00pm rolls around and we inevitably just spend our time talking about the kids we find ourselves saying, "Let’s go wake them up, and give them hugs and smooches!"  We do not.  I mean we are not totally insane.  But we consider it, for at least a second. 

Photo of the Week: Letterbox

I could not pass up the opportunity to share a photo of this darling Valentines box Frankie made so I am swapping the photo for week 4 with week 2.  So, here is my entry for a "Letterbox".  And I could not think of anything more appropriate and more darling than this.  Age 2 has been a blast concerning Holidays.  Franklin has finally been old enough this year to get excited about holidays a head of time, but still young enough to find the most joy in the simplest of things.  This last week, Frankie and his papa painted this box to hold Valentine’s Day cards that we make for each other, and for others.  The idea is to open it up on Valentine’s Day and hand them out.  I must mention however, that during this painting process Frankie found it equally as fun to take off his shirt and paint his arms and hands.  I cannot believe I did not capture that on film!

Here is wishing you all a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Oh how the time flies, as they say

Happy half-birthday to the sweetest, strongest, smartest, silliest, most beautiful baby 

girl in the whole world! I might be biased, but it doesn't make it any less true :)

Wow! Six months! Already?!?!  It is amazing how much our family has changed in this short amount of time.  Franklin, has began calling his baby sis his "bestest friend in the whole world.”  And let me tell ya, that is the greatest thing on the planet a mama can hear.  I, seem to have grown less patient, yet quicker to forgive.  Although my aggravation comes twice as fast with two babes screaming at the same time, my heart melts twice as fast when I find them making each other belly laugh.  And my partner in crime?  His amazing daddy-ness only continues to grow.  He is the patient one, the one who can always seem to keep it cool.  And for that I am thankful for the balance he brings.  Besides, look at that smile, how could anyone be filled with anything other than love and blessing when being around her?  Happy six-month birthday baby Elena!
 

Photo of the Week Challenge

I got this photo challenge idea from a fellow blogger . I loved the idea of taking snap shots from everyday life.  I must admit I am already a little picture obsessed, snapping photos of every adorable thing my children do and posting it all to facebook for everyone to enjoy (yes, I am that mom. Sorry.)  However, I like the idea of having a list of things to capture.  Kind of like a photo scavenger hunt (is that a politically correct term?  I will ask Nick and I am sure he will give me the entire historical origin of the phrase.  I will let you know.)  Any-who, I am however, going to adapt this whole daily list thing.  Because even though I take more than a picture a day there is no way I can commit to posting one on to this blog each day.  So I will be sharing a “picture of the week” instead. 

The first challenge is to capture a picture of myself.  Man, oh man, this is a little humbling.  Well, here it is.  I will say that I am glad I had a chance to actually do my hair today.  Nick has been working everyday for the past two weeks and today I threatened, begged, and bribed  encouraged him to take the day off.  What does this mean for me?  I got to take a shower, like in the morning, like with kids awake!  I even got to blow dry my hair (gasp!!!)  Anyway, still not the greatest pic, but at least I am clean. 

Oh what is that you say? I can't control everything? My bad!

Today I stumbled upon a blog post that gave insight into midwifery, homebirths, and the choices behind them.  I fell in love with it.  Not because it was a story of a beautiful home birth filled with birthing tubs and aromatherapy, but because it was about the times that the homebirth you may have planned did not quite work out the organic way one may have hoped.  I planned to have both my babies at home.  Growing up, I spent a lot of time in hospitals.  My mother had 13 surgeries by the time I was 12 years old.  A hospital to me was somewhere sick people went.  Sometimes to get better, many times not.   When the time came to make decisions concerning the births of my babies, having them at a hospital just did not seem to fit.  It was not a medical procedure to me.  It was not a place I envisioned beauty, and empowerment, comfort, and relaxation.  So twice, I decided to have my babies at home, and twice I ended up having them in the hospital.  I was blessed enough to labor at home, especially with my baby girl; I arrived at the hospital about an hour and a half before she arrived.  Although I did not plan on ending up in a hospital, due to unplanned circumstances that is where I ended up.  I have to admit at first I felt a little defeated.  Like I failed at something so important to me.  Like perhaps if I would have just tried a little harder, a little longer, I could have had the birth I envisioned. 

The truth is however, although my births did not go as planned, they went the way they were supposed to.   The goal was ultimately met.  I have been blessed with two, healthy, thriving, amazing little beings that have turned my world upside down in the best of ways.  Whether born at home or in a hospital bed, they are here, the way they should be.  And I am their mama, the way I should be.  My births did not go as planned, but really, I would not have changed a thing.  I had a birth team I trusted.  They assisted me in making the right decisions at the right time; choices that lead to healthy happy children.  A healthy happy me.   

I am sure a good writer does not need to state the obvious.  However, since I am not that good of a writer I will state it for you; we (and when I say we I most definitely, and foremost mean me), continuously try to control everything in our lives.  And when life strays from those controlled, carefully thought out plans, we feel like failures.  However, rarely does our loss of control alter circumstances so significantly that the goodness that comes out of these situations disappear.  The truth is, my plans fail.  A lot.  So, how grateful am I that MY plans have nothing to do with what is supposed to happen anyways?!?! 

I encourage you to read the blog I mentioned found here:  When Midwifery Works 

Coffee Bigger Than My Head...And I Like It.

I am tired.  Of course I am.  I have a 5 moth old, a 2 year old, a husband in graduate school and I am tired.  It is not a complaint; it is just my new way of being.  The other day I mentioned how unbelievably tired I was, and yet so happy.  My husband asked how the two could co-exist.  Honestly, I do not know.  It just does.  One minute I am realizing I have drank more coffee than water that day, and I still cannot seem to keep my eyes open, and the next I am dancing my heart out with my two year old rock star to the Glee soundtrack.  Feeling so much love, so much blessing, I can hardly contain it.  I guess this is the way my family is with each other.  One minute Franklin says “You are mean.  I don’t like you” and twenty minutes later he is cupping my face in his tiny hands saying “You are my bestest friend in the whole world.”  The later surely cancels out the first.  It has to.  And doesn’t life, even outside of our relationships with our offspring, work like this?  Doesn’t it have to in order to carry on? This does not mean the harsh realities do not hurt us, affect us, stick with us, because they do, they must.  But, the good stuff; the stuff that makes us laugh out loud, cry of happiness, and give selflessly, matters more.  It has to.  It should.