Our Fall Picture Book

Apple picking with the youth from church!

We all had fun!

 Lots of fun school activities, we're slowly making our way through the alphabet and the Bible.

 Fall Festival at church- fun on the bouncy house in the cold rain.

 Grandma and Grandpa B came to visit and enjoyed some fun at the park for another fall festival.

 Great trip to the zoo with Esther, Caitlyn, and Evan.

 Olivia enjoyed the zoo too!

 Fun in the backyard.

 Olivia's first Halloween. Only the cutest elephant I've ever seen.

 The whole family. Olivia Jean - Elephant; Lauren Shea- Shark

 Olivia finding the candy in Lauren's bag to be irresistible! 

 Saturday family fun at the park. Look who loves the swings.

 Two goofy girls.

 Children's Museum fun with Esther, Caitlyn, and Evan.

 Taking a break with Ellie while she army crawls around the living room. 

 Lauren and Daddy enjoyed building a car at Lowe's build and grow.

 Just one goofy girl dancing to her favorite song "Speak Life" by TobyMac

 "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."
Proverbs 24:3-4

It's About Time!

It's About Time...that I made time to sit down and catch up on some wonderful blogs I follow and write down what's been going on here in our house. So with peanut butter covered graham crackers and some warm apple cinnamon tea it's time to write!

So here it is mid-November and I've been preparing for my little girl to turn three. With all her silliness and her ever encroaching desire for independence she is becoming quite the little/big girl. This fall had us in a few "phases" of toddlerhood I'm happy to see pass with the leaves. We've entered into the time when her body doesn't need a nap everyday but she still requires downtime. It took us some trial and error but we've worked out a system that works for us. She spends 1 hour in her bed (where sometimes she does in fact fall asleep) and then I set the timer for 1 hour of quiet playtime in her room. This allows me the time to get stuff done without kids in toe and it has also helped her grow. See, along with struggling at naptime she was also struggling with entertaining herself. Now there was 'once upon a time' when she would do her own thing and I could get something done in those 20 minutes before she was interested in my attention again but for some reason that capability seemed to disappear. She was very demanding and it was very exhausting. It seemed worse once Matt got home from work. It was like we couldn't even have a conversation without her needing someone to be paying full attention to her. It was a constant struggle because although we would give her good quality attention it was never enough. You pair that with less and less napping and we were exhausted each day- she was plain tuckered out and so were we. I think the hour of alone playtime in her room each day has given her time to grow in using her own imagination and seeing how fun it is when you're 'in charge' of your time, space, ideas, etc. I'd be very interested in hearing if other moms have gone through this stage of toddlerhood before.

I tell you I was up in arms more days than not. It was during the time when I was watching a lot of Little House on the Prairie on the tv at night and reading through the book series. I would watch/read it, and I know that it is tv and not real life, but still, I would watch it and read through the books and think to myself, back then it was like the kids worked for the parents and in my life I felt like I was working for her. I would say "Lauren, it is not mommy's job to entertain you all day- you need to give me time to do my work." And I knew it was hard for her to understand but as she's growing and learning I'm seeing a change and a difference. I don't want you to think I just sent her to the corner of the house as I propped my feet up and scrawled on my Facebook homepage- no I was doing things like house chores or dinner. I think my lack of blog posts lately can speak to this ever busy mama. And another added point I need to add is, I do let Lauren help with my tasks and sometimes that is great- but I can't do that with every chore, everyday- it's just not possible. 

Needless to say we're making lots of progress in this area. Me taking back my well needed down time for my stuff/sanity and her being directed to spend time alone has helped out everyone. One of my favorite parts of the day now is going up to get her when the timer goes off and check out what she's done in her time. She loves giving me a recap of the things she created, played with, and enjoyed and I love hearing it. Now...how to help Matt and her with bathtime...this is our next hurdle!

Isn't it funny, this motherhood thing?! My sense of humor has stayed very active as I've navigated the last three years. One funny joke I've been telling Matt and friends these day is how when Lauren was Olivia's age (~9 months) I thought I was rocking this mommy thing. She was well behaved, sweet, and doing all the things she should be doing- achieving her physical, emotional, and developmental milestones just like the books said. I was wondering what I was doing right, but I had it all figured out- HA! Not! My good friend Garrett said it perfectly to me one day when my nerves where fried and my hair seemed to be falling out at an exponential rate, "I once thought if I did everything right as a mother then I would produce this perfect, well rounded child who do would all the right things- but then I learned that isn't how it works." So true and such great advice. Because in the end they have free will and they're going to use it just like we do. 

I've been making the parallel in my head these days that toddlerhood is just a glimpse of the teenage years. They struggle to push you away and figure it out on their own. They can be unpredictable and throw a tantrum and then turn around to hug and snuggle you with warmth and affection moments later. They seek to see the world on their own but need you near to help them make sense of it all. Then I watched this internet video of a woman, Sally Clarkson and she said the same thing. I was like "this is a God thing!" I had been lead to her through Facebook- a friend from back home had posted something about her and I clicked the link and just couldn't stop reading. My heart was lead there by God because everything I was reading was making my heart fill with His love in a way only He can. You should check her out. I've since ordered on of her books on Amazon and I'm waiting so patiently for it to arrive any day now. She is all about helping women and mothers find their role of raising God loving, God fearing children. I'm looking forward to how God is going to use her wisdom to help me be the best God loving, God fearing mommy I can be.

So the little one, no I didn't forget about her. Oh Olivia. I can't get enough of her these days. She is just the happiest little girl ever. I'm enjoying her sweetness and the phase of life she's in. Right now it is a nice time and I'm soaking it all up. She wakes up smiling, is easy going, takes two naps both about 2-3 hours each. She is content in almost all of the hussle and crazy as well as the slow and mundane. She squeals with delight and screams with joy. She eats what's put in front of her (for the most part). She's getting better at remaining relatively still during diaper changes- even though yesterday she flipped over on me and then proceeded to mark her territory, if you know what I mean, for the first time in a long time. Right now she's my easy one- but I know that it has nothing to do with my magical mommy mojo- and soon enough she'll be running around like a crazy girl too. Speaking of "running" she's on the move- slowly she will army crawl herself to a desired object. Last night she popped herself up from her belly to her bum- but she has yet to repeat that move. I was so happy and lucky that I was watching as it happened. So much fun! The best part of watching her 'move' about is seeing her personality in the way she does it. She will take four or five rests on her way to wherever she's going- oh she's going to be my doddler. No rush or sense of urgency in her, which right now works to my advantage but I see so many, many ways this quality will not be so sweet in the future. But she's the most perfect Olivia Jean ever and I wouldn't want her any other way.

I say that to my girls all the time: 'God made you to be the most perfect Lauren Shea and Olivia Jean and I'm so lucky to enjoy you' or 'thanks for being you'. They're so much fun and even though most days I'm too drained to do much more than park my fanny in front of the tv, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Even though I've spent the last few days in zombie mommy mode due to sleep deprivation and a sick baby I won't have wanted to spend my days doing anything else. 

These days also have us doing some different things at church. We've been reading through the book The Story. It is the bible turned into novel form so that you're able to see the story of God and His love unfold more seamlessly than if you were to pick up the bible and read it. It is the actual words straight from the bible. It has been great. I've learned so much by seeing the Old Testament in this story format. Matt and I are going through the book in our Sunday School class and then I lead the high schoolers through it on Wednesday night. Wednesday night have been different around here too- in a good way. Our church turned this bible study into a family night format. So every Wednesday we head to church when Matt gets home and we eat dinner there. For an extravert like me its so much fun to have dinner with all of our church family regularly. Then after dinner we break off into small groups to do the study. Since Matt and I do it on Sundays, Matt is the helper in the nursery and I'm able to lead the high schoolers. Then Lauren goes to the preschool class and Olivia chills with Matt in nursery. It's been great having the whole family going on Wednesday. Its been a welcomed change. It is however mighty challenging getting everyone in our family feed in a half hour, so we get there early in order to give the little ones, and ourselves, enough time to enjoy the yummy food and fellowship. It's also great to give up cooking one night a week and enjoy playing with the girls during the time I'd usually be preparing dinner.

As life keeps going by faster, I keep trying to keep up with it all. So much going on and so much waiting for us ahead. I really hope I can keep my feet on the ground and my head attached as I enjoy this journey and all the blessings of God that surround us. Here's to all the fun and crazy!

"Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
    nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
    and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
    those who hold her fast will be blessed."
~Proverbs 3:13-18~

Big Red

So here it is Monday and I'm just getting around to writing a post about three weekends ago. I haven't been blogging as much these days and it kills me that so many memories aren't get "archived." Sometimes I look back on old posts and I'm so grateful I wrote them since without them that memory might have set sail to the part of my brain in which memories don't come out of. I was just laughing last night that I'm going down in my old age with full understanding that I'll have some form of dementia- and I feel for my poor girls who will have to deal with their batty mom who can't remember her own name. Anyway, my whole purpose in blogging is to keep track of all the blessings God gives us and each moment with these girls is a blessing. 

Like how Lauren is ALL about being a little mommy these days. She has been dressing up her lovies (stuffed animals) in pj's and clothes and taking them places in her "car." Packing bags of food for them and feeding them. She is just so sweet and cute I can't get enough of it. And the things she says...her vocabulary astounds us. And Olivia is just all sorts of crazy. The other day in the car while we were out and about running errands she was in her seat flailing her arms and legs around in a circular motion screaming and having this little conversation with Lauren and I. I just couldn't get enough of it- I was laughing and carrying on, right back at her. Or the moment the other day when she was on the bathroom floor, while I helped Lauren out, and she got herself stuck in the corner- since she's in the part of crawling where she just pushes herself backwards across the floor frustrated she's moving further away from her desired object- and she was screaming and rocking back and forth trying to figure her way out of this predicament. Any day now she'll be crawling  I can feel it in my bones- yikes! Somedays I just want to wear a video helmet archive it all and then we have our moments of crazy and I'm glad that wasn't caught on camera ;-).

So back to a few weekends ago, because that is when we became the "Minivan Family." The iconic suburb home fully equipped with a minivan in the driveway. That isn't the part I want to "archive" though. I want to look back and remember God's hand in it all. This is a case of hindsight being 20/20.

So it all started WAY back when Matt and I decided it would be financially best to pay off our car loan on the Pilot early. Now full props to Matt who had brought up the idea and about a month or so later it occurred to me that Matt's train of thought was best (which is usually the case, but don't let him know that ;-) He helped me to realize that with the economy the way it is right now our savings account was not making us much money and that to pay off our car loan was really saving us money. This is because the interest rate on our loan was greater than the interest rate on our savings account. Plus, he was still at his old job and paying off that loan meant more money for our monthly budget, which at this point was very much needed. So we put a chunk of money towards the loan and paid it off early. 

After doing this, we still took part of the money we were using to pay the car loan each month and opened a new savings account and put a portion of that money into it so we could start saving for a down payment for a 'new to us' car, when the time was right. Because at this time we didn't see the need for a new car for a few years.

Then months later we were very blessed by God and some loved ones. We were able to pay off Matt's loan completely, leaving us with one one student loan payment. Mind you this was totally unprompted by us- we were approached and didn't ask anything of others. Matt and I both fully believe it was our choice to attend college and assume the debut associated with a four year degree. We had full intentions of paying for these loans ourselves. God had another plan though. Very shortly after having Matt's loan taken care of mine was too. This is a blessing I can say without a doubt is the Lord's doing. Matt and I have diligently been paying off student loans since graduating. We started with four loans, two each. We paid off two before having Lauren, when we were a two income house. The two remaining were manageable and plugging away we would have paid them off but to have them taken care early a miracle beyond words. This freed up the funds needed, without even knowing we needed them. In fact, I have a vivid memory after we were approached about helping us out and saying to God- "You must know something I don't- because we're doing okay right now, You're providing for our needs- why do we need more?"

You see we had the Pilot and a four door sedan, both in good working order, nothing wrong with them. That was until Olivia was born. I know that may seem silly, since both of those cars work just fine with two kids, but here's the kicker- when Brooke is around that brings us up to three kids. And if we're lucky enough God will bless our family again (Lord knows I'd love a van full).

The Pilot seemed SO big, until you put three car seats in there. First off with two kids in car seats in the middle row you can't get to the back row unless you climb through the back. So each time I watched Brooke, I would crawl into the back with her- my butt on full display was I buckled her in. Then add a double stroller into the mix. Plus, in order to give Brooke her much needed leg room, I had to move the passenger seat all the way forward, move the middle row seat all the way forward and then she didn't look like an elf stuffed into a too small box. It wasn't horrible, but it just showed us that a minivan was in our future. And the same goes with vacations/trips. Yes, the Pilot fit all of our stuff but we are busting at the seams, especially when we had a little baby that requires so much stuff- it gets better once they're older and I've become a better packer as I've realized what is needed and what can be lived without. But again all signs pointed to a minivan in our future.

Now I'm going to send you back some years. When I met Matt he was driving his family hand-me-down 1988 Dodge Caravan. He's been a minivan man since I've known him. He has been all about a roomie minivan since we were talking babies. So he was on board when I was screaming "minivan" the first time I tried to put three car seats into the Pilot. 

We are not frivolous people so we did not run out and buy a minivan just to accommodate me driving around with three kids when I watched Brooke. I began praying for our next car and what it might be. Praying for God's timing in this decision. We live on one income- two years ago I would have told you we'd be sporting the same two cars for years to come, knowing full right we couldn't afford a new car any time soon. But then God provided in a way only he can. 

We did kind of set a time frame for the new potential car- we were flexible knowing God's timing would be best. When we first talked about it- we were thinking some time in 2014. As things fell together financially though it seemed that it might happen sooner. So things get better- as they always do when God's hand is in it. So here's the cherry on top and sprinkles all over part! We had set a date for Matt's parents to come down and enjoy the girls while we enjoyed some time to ourselves for our anniversary. And as everything worked out the perfect van came into the scene. It was all we desired and more. It was a gift from God delivered at such a time as we could take care of everything kid free. God even provided babysitter so that we could spend then many hours at the dealership without our little loves in toe. That was beyond my imagination wonderful!

I needed to write this. I needed to achieve His working in Our lives. He blesses us beyond our imagination. We were just hoping for a car to better suit our growing family and he didn't just give a four wheels and a payment. No HE provided the money for the car, a newer car that will last for years, a car that fit not only our list of needs but our list of wants too. 

So here she is "Big Red." The car my kids will remember at their childhood minivan. May many fun memories be made in this car. May many great trips be enjoyed in this car. May God's hand always remain as part of this car so that we will be safe and protected every time we're in it. May it always remain a symbol to us of how God will provide!

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-- to the glory and praise of God" Philippians 1:9-11