Here We Go!

Oh, where to begin? I’ve kind of fallen off the map, it seems, haven’t I? I’ve written a lot about change this year.  I just had this feeling at the beginning of the year that a lot of change was in store for us.  I wasn’t wrong.  And, so far, it keeps coming.  It started out kind of bittersweet, but it’s starting to get sweeter.  For the last month and a half, I’ve been working a schedule that is completely opposite of what I’m used to, and completely opposite of how my body is made to work.  Instead of working 3 days a week during the day, I’ve been working 6 days a week mostly at night.  It’s been brutal.  My pregnant body needs more sleep than that.  I’m exhausted.  My husband (who gets up early, and then stays up way later than his norm to see me when I get home) is exhausted.  We miss our time together.  Our daughter, who has always thrived on having both parents at once, misses our time together.  It just isn’t the best fit for us.  But, it’s kept her out of daycare and home with her parents and it’s kept food on the table. 

We’ve been praying for a while now that God would provide us with something different.  In fact, we were praying for that long before we started this current schedule.  Since we found out we were expecting our daughter three years ago, we’ve been praying that He would provide a way for me to stay home.  That was a surprise to me.  Never in my life had I pictured myself being a stay-at-home mom.  It’s funny how God changes your priorities and perspective over time.  We weren’t able to achieve full-time stay-at-home status, but we were able to keep me home more, and it worked for a while.  Lately, though, out of pure exhaustion and a feeling of defeat, I’ve been praying even more diligently that God would allow me to stay home.  I didn’t just want that, though.  I didn’t want my husband to have to work in a job that he hated.  I’ve done that, and there isn’t much that is more miserable.  In Sunday school last week, we asked again for prayer for jobs.  It wasn’t a new request, just a renewed one. 

Then, this week, God provided in a way that only He can.  We've both put in our notice, and in a couple weeks we’ll be moving on to a new chapter.  I’m excited to be able to stay home, and raise my own kids full-time, because ultimately I feel like that will be my greatest ministry.  I’m excited for my husband to be in a new role, similar to something he’s done in the past and really enjoyed.  He’ll do great.  I won’t go through all the details of the week, and how it all came about.  I’ll just say that it has felt like he answered every part of my prayer.  It won’t always be easy.  Sometimes money will be tight, but we’re kind of used to that.  And, I’m confident this is where God wants us. 

 

The Winds of Change

At the beginning of the year, I wrote this post about the year ahead.  We were in the process of selling our house, and I just had this gut feeling that there were more changes in store, though I didn't know what. A couple weeks later, we found out we are expecting baby number 2.  The change hasn't stopped there, though. 

Now, here we are starting April, and with it I've started a new job. There's that theme of change again.  I don't know how much more will change this year, but I have a feeling it isn't over yet. So far, a lot of the change has been bittersweet. I'm praying that by the time the year is over, it's just sweet. 

Goodbye, Twenties

I’m going to confess something today that a woman generally doesn’t reveal about herself.

This week, I will turn 30. It seems strange to be leaving my twenties. I’ve spent so much good time there that it feels like home. Can an age range feel like home? It’s just that so many of the high points have occurred in my twenties. There was college, and the fun and friendships and growth that comes with it. Those were some of the best years of my life. I met, began dating, and married my husband. He has enriched my life like I never could have imagined. And, he also added some family members to my life I didn’t know I was missing out on, but now wouldn’t know how to do without. I had my first child. She has brought such joy to my heart. I’ve had nieces who awakened yet another compartment in my heart I didn’t know existed. And so, now I’m about to move on to my thirties.

I know some people get a little anxious about that number. I figure I can’t change it, so I might as well enjoy it. Besides, I’ve heard people say that the thirties are the best. I’m already looking forward to welcoming a second child to our lives. I’m anxious to see what else these years will bring. I know these years won’t always be easy, just as the rest of my years haven’t always been easy. But, I’m excited to see what God will bring out of them.

A Birthday List

Since my birthday is coming up, it seems only logical to make a list of things I want, or rather need. My husband will be happy to see this, because he’s been asking me for over a month. Then, he’ll realize most of the things on my list are a little out of his price range, and decide I’m not being that helpful, after all. That’s kind of the story of his life, though. I make life easy.
·Warm weather
·New shoes
·New house, outside of town (not as far out as we were, just not smack-dab in the middle like we are at the moment)
·iPhone case. Preferably blue with white polka dots. Or just a really pretty blue.
· Vacation. I’m not even that picky. I’d go just about anywhere.
·Facial and/or new makeup. I’m a little self-conscious about my skin lately.
· Job. Not for me, though. A really good job for Dean, so I can stay home.
· To hug all of my nieces.
· Joint birthday celebration with my good friend, like the old days (ok so maybe it only happened once, but it was one to remember)

There. That’s not too much to ask, is it? And, Hubby, if my wish list is too far-fetched, maybe we should just make it a week-long celebration.

All Those Baby Things

I’m currently in the 12^th week of my pregnancy.  Almost into the second trimester! Woohoo! That means I’m almost one-third of the way through.  It doesn’t feel like I’m very far along until you put it that way.  I’m thankful this time around that I have a little bit of experience.  I mean, when you walk down the baby aisles of a store, it can be kind of overwhelming.  There’s so much stuff! How are you supposed to know what you need (or what would make life a little easier), and what is just a waste of money?  Two important things I learned the first time around are 1) it depends, to some extent, on the individual baby (your first baby might love being in the swing, and the next one might hate it), and 2)some of the things I thought were dumb before I had kids turned out to be some of the most helpful, and some of the things that sounded brilliant turned out to be useless. 

The dumb-turned-helpful: 
Pacifier wipes.  Before I had Dinah, I thought, “Dude.  Just walk over to the sink and rinse it off.” After I had Dinah, I realized that sometimes you’re in the middle of the zoo and there isn’t a water faucet anywhere in sight.  I also realized that it’s handy when you want to wipe off the table and the high-chair where your baby is sitting in the restaurant, because she puts her mouth on absolutely everything she comes in contact with.  At least mine did. Her crib and our window sill had the teeth marks to prove it. 

The brilliant-turned-useless:
Pacifier thermometer.  What a simple way to take the baby’s temperature, I thought.  No worries of keeping the squirmy little doll still long enough to get a good reading.  What I learned (and I’m thankful my sister-in-law pointed it out to me before I wasted the money) is that when a baby gets used to one pacifier, they don’t generally care to switch to a different kind.  So, unless the thermometer is shaped like the pacifiers they are used to, they aren’t going to keep it in their mouth. 

Things you don’t need to register for:
Blankets and bibs. Sure, these are both things you’ll need.  They are also things people enjoy buying, and everyone knows you’ll need.  Now I tell people to register for other things you need, because you’ll still get plenty of these two items.  Dinah had about fifty blankets, and a thousand bibs.  That could be a slight exaggeration.   

Something I didn’t find necessary:Diaper Genie.  We take our trash out often enough that it didn’t have time to stink up the place.  And, if we did happen to have an extra-potent smelling diaper, it wasn’t that far to the outside trash.  We found it easier than having an extra trash can to buy bags for and empty. 

Something I wish I’d had:Diaper bag dispenser.  This little gem is a little dispenser that holds diaper-sized trash bags and clips onto the diaper bag.  There are times when you are out and about or on the road and have to change a dirty diaper, but don’t have anywhere to dispose of it.  How nice would it have been to have a trash bag right there to tie it up in and contain the smell until we could get to a garbage can? Occasionally, I would actually take an old Wal-Mart bag or something for that, but you know how often I actually remembered? Not often. 

If you have kids, what did you find helpful or not-so-helpful? If you don’t, what do you imagine you’d want?

Blast From The Past

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine tagged me in a picture she’d found from about 6 ½ years ago. I really enjoyed remembering what life was like back then, and the memories it conjured up.

Then last week, I got an email from another old friend. She forwarded me a message I had sent her from the same time. It was fun to go back and read my thoughts on what was going on in my life: college classes, my internship and mostly, of course, the guy I liked. It was one of the best summers of my life, and I love to go back and remember it. From the carefree mornings at the apartment pool with my friends, to the unique experiences of interning at a TV station, to my first date with the man I would later marry.

I’ve always enjoyed reminiscing about the good times, whether it be talking to my brothers about our childhood or talking to old friends about some activity we’d participated in, but I particularly love remembering the summer I started dating my husband. It was fun. It was carefree. I was pursued, and appreciated. I was right where I belonged. And, that is a good feeling.

Here’s to some of the good ol’ days!

Dinah-isms

The older Dinah gets, the more her little personality just blossoms. She makes us laugh daily with her antics and the things she says. So, I figure it's time to start keeping up with some of the things that come out of her mouth, or what I like to call Dinah-isms. Here are a few examples.

Me: Are you a baby?
Dinah: No, I’m a BIG ol’ Dinah!

Me: You little monkey.
Dinah: No, I Dinah (insert full name). Not a monkey.

Dean: *scolding the dog for digging under the fence*
Dinah: Don’t yell at my Mucket! (musket)
Dean: She’s in trouble.
Dinah: No. She loves me!
Dean: I know she loves you, but she is in trouble.
Dinah: I LOVE HER!

Dinah sitting on the couch with her daddy as I leave for work: Bye, Mama!
Me: Bye, baby. I love you.
Dinah: Mama!
Me peeking back into the room: What?
Dinah: Daddy loves you.

Now, I just need to get better about writing things down as she says them so I don't forget.