Just to make myself feel good...

Sometimes the day goes by and and I wonder if there is anything that I actually got done or accomplished. You know, besides breastfeeding a newborn, feeding, clothing, and taking care of two other children, (and a husband) and keeping the house from concaving in on itself due to massive internal destruction.

So I decided that I'm going to list things I accomplished this week....just to make myself feel good.

• We survived a Christmas Eve service without childcare. Ungodly amounts of goldfish and apple juice were consumed.

• We survived four Christmases. That's right....count 'em. FOUR. 

• I successfully convinced my four year old, after a 20 minute argument, that she is in fact, NOT a grown up. We decided to compromise and label her a "little, big grown up". You win some, you lose some.

• I watched as my 19 month old unlocked my iphone, navigated directly to the pictures, flipped through a few, watched a video, came out of the pictures, found the music, played a song, then went back to the pictures. I then realized she had an addiction and took the iphone away. She was very receptive to my intervention.

• I ate a half batch of Christmas cookies. In one sitting.

• My 2 month old slept 9 hours straight through the night without waking. Ok that really IS an accomplishment! So proud of sweet Stella.

Now when Mark comes home and says, "so what did you do all day?" I can give him a big smile and reference him to the blog.

My Temptation

Last night, Mark and I laid in bed talking and mourning over the shooting in Connecticut. My eyes filled with tears, as I realized the risk we are placing on our three children by bringing them into this broken world. Elementary schools, malls, movie theaters.....all places of death now.

I said, in a moment of weakness, "Did we make a mistake by having kids, and then exposing them to the sin and the hurt of this world?" My sweet husband, with his always positive attitude and God given wisdom reminded me, that is exactly the reason we SHOULD bring children into this world. And we should have more, and we should lead them to Christ, so that we can take back this fallen world. So that our family, our children, can be a light in the darkness. Because this world is so dark.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

- John 16:33

My temptation, is to hide. To stick my kids in the closet, to shelter them, and to do everything in my power to make sure they are never hurt or scared. But that isn't life. And that isn't the life that Jesus calls us to. They will suffer, they will hurt, and they will be scared. And they will learn to cling to the only Savior who can overcome this world. As I have learned, it is in my greatest times of hurt and suffering that I have to lean on Jesus the most.

We have to take risks. We have to be in the world and not of it.

 Francis Chan says it better than I can....

2 months, Punctuality, and Personal Space

Stella is 2 months today! And I'm on time posting about it. AND I mailed out our Christmas cards this week. I'm on a roll. Last year I had to send Happy New Year cards because I was so late....

My husband is so proud.

Back to Stella...Can't believe 2 months is here already! I am amazed every single day at what an easy and wonderful baby she is. She is Super Baby. 

She is on a great schedule but is very adaptable and flexible and doesn't fuss when things don't go as planned. My mom had to ask me the other day if she ever cries....its pretty rare. And when she does cry, she is easily pacified.

Lucy trying to make her smile. She gives some BIG smiles lately...

Some post nap snuggles....

Annie giving some licks. Because that's just what she does.

Don't think its all gum drops and rainbows over here though. Stella really is an amazing baby, and the transition from 2 to 3 has been WAY easier than I dreamed of. Probably because my transition from 1 to 2 was difficult. Mainly because of this kid....

The one with no personal space. The one who acts like she might have been raised by a wolf pack. The one who thinks the dog bowl is a wading pool. The one who climbs more often than she walks. The one who on average gets bathed twice a day...and has no less than 3 bumps or scrapes on her face at all times.
THAT one.

I do love her...and we're working on the personal space.

Sweet Sisters

So thankful my girls love each other so much!

No personal space in this house...

Thanksgiving

A few of my favorite shots from our fun family Thanksgiving...

Always love piling into the golf cart to go feed the fish

They ran and jumped into a huge pile of leaves for over an hour. They had a blast!

Annie melting down, and Lucy about to drop Stella. I did end up actually getting a decent pic of the three of them after this.

The whole crew

SO thankful for such a wonderful family!

Late as usual

Well, I'm a month late on Annie's 18 month post, and Stella was 1 month old on Sunday so I'm a few days late on hers too...but I'm always late, so you aren't surprised by this.

Here they are, better late than never:


Annie 18 months

Stella 1 month

Stella is 1 month!

One month has come and gone for Stella! Time flies when you're having fun...or sleeping, eating, and pooping nonstop.

I am honestly very surprised at how easily Stella is transitioned into our little family. She is on a schedule, yes, but she goes with the flow and really has settled into our routine perfectly. She doesn't protest when she has to wait for her meal a little longer than usual...and she's perfectly content to sleep in our arms, in her bassinet, or her crib. 

So far the only place she really doesn't like is her carseat, and that isn't even every time. On Saturday we ventured out as a family of five to walk around and have lunch, and she slept in her carseat the entire time and never made a peep. Other times...there are lots of peeps :)

Stella at 2 weeks:

Stella at 1 month:

Trying to talk to me while I take her picture...

She has grown so fast and is very noticeably bigger than even just a week ago. I'm pretty sure she went through a growth spurt at the beginning of last week...its hard to tell because I have to wake her up for every feeding except for maybe one or two. In one week she outgrew newborn diapers AND newborn clothes. I am hurting for some winter clothes because Annie and Lucy were born in warm months, so if you have some hand me downs send them my way and I'll pay you for shipping :)

She is quite a sleepy head. In the past few days she has really become more alert and I don't have to work as hard to keep her awake while she eats. After she nurses she looks around for a little bit, then goes back to sleep. She is only waking up once in the middle of the night to nurse, then goes back to sleep until about 7 or 7:30 am.

Even though she sleeps a lot, she is holding her head up really well. I haven't really done much tummy time with her but when I do, she does this:

So far she is my easiest baby (at least as far as sleeping and eating goes...but that's all she does right now) She is a great nurser. She is a spitter though and goes through several outfits a day. Lucy was the same way so I'm used to smelling like baby puke all day :)

She still has some dark brown hair and her eyes are dark blue. She has pretty olive skin and people are always commenting on how pretty her complexion is. She reminds me a lot of Lucy as a newborn...except Lucy was shiny bald.

She is very tolerant and patient. Kisses and pats and noises and shouts and (accidental) rough hands from her sisters don't bother her at all. She turns her head to their voices when she hears them in the room. She obviously loves her sisters already. She calms to my voice and touch the quickest though.

She HATES her bath. Also hates when I change her clothes. Other than that, she really doesn't cry much.

Much happier after the bath was over :)

It's so hard to believe that she wasn't in our lives just one month ago. She has fit into our family so perfectly that I know she was made for us :) It feels like she has always been a part of our family. I am so thankful to be Stella's mama!