I now have two blogs (as if my life wasn't crazy enough)! You can follow my opinion posts here: http://girloutofthebox.com . I wanted to separate my "family" blog from my opinoins, so I created a separate blog. It's been wonderful to get my thoughts out, but I have neglected this blog. There is so much to say about the kids lately. As the months go by I realize more and more what a gift time is. The Bible says in James 4:14, "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." As a kid you don't really grasp this verse because the days go SO SLOOOOW. As a teen it's very much the same. You have A LOT of time in one day, but as an adult the days seem like hours did before. Months seem like weeks, years, well they just keep ticking by. Looking at life this way, and seeing as though my baby boy will be 10 months old in just 5 days, I have tried to schedule my life a little more. This way life doesn't seem as chaotic even though I use every minute. I've tried to compartmentalize work time/family time into different "time zones." I am tempted to work while the kids are awake, and I find myself doing this often, but then I remind myself that I should spend time with the kids. SO, the GOAL is to use their nap/sleep times for work (about 5 hours a day-two hour nap and I go to bed around midnight), their awake times for learning, coloring, playing, interacting, planning meals, cooking, and cleaning, and the time Josh gets home from work to exercise. This means my blog time is generally on a Sunday after church. It's a crazy life, no wonder it goes so quick! So quick that my baby boy was just born like yesterday -in my mind- and now he's crawling around the floor getting into everything! He was a late bloomer crawling, but he picked it up quick and he's moving out now ;). It's a whole new world exploring, putting things in his mouth, and having near death experiences swallowing little hair balls (haha/kidding here). I have taken to singing to the little guy, "Mr. Jo,uh Mr. Jo, uh Mr. Jo" and he bobs his head like a little bird, throws his hands in the air and clenches his hands open then shut. He's also got the biggest four teeth smile! Here is a short clip but not the "full affect" with the hands and all that. I haven't caught that on video yet ;) Oh and don't mind my "Stitch MOVE" comment, I get aggravated that my dogs are in every video I ever take.
My other son, Gabriel has had very thought provoking questions lately. I can't believe some of the concepts he's put together from things that he's learned. One example is stems from a sad story. My sister's beloved horse, Splash, was attacked by pit bulls and passed away. Gabriel was trying to understand WHY things die, so he asked me why God made splash and allowed him to die? In other words, why would God create a creature and then allow him to die. I started to explain to him death, how sin entered the world and with that death, and he very quickly tied this to the story of Adam and Eve. It just amazes me how he connects everything he knows into a coherent thought. I guess I just don't know many four year olds who would question why a creature died, and why God would allow it to happen. But thoughtful questions like this are the norm for him. They aren't simple questions anymore, they are questions stemming from a lot of thought. With this intelligence, however, comes the ability to lie. This is something we are struggling with at the current moment. He's very intelligent and can think of intelligent lies. My prayer in this area is that God gives me discernment to know truth from untruth.
What about the little girl in our family you might ask? She probably has the funniest stories and is one of the most talked about. She's a spitfire to say the least! She LOVES attention and we've noticed likes to be on stage singing. I caught her one day although she wouldn't let me get the camera in her face:
Don't mind her wild hair, she hates it when I brush her hair so at home she walks around looking like a creature from the lagoon ;). She is a parrot of her brother. Everything he says, she says. My prayer here is that we can train her not to be so much of a follower, and to make her own decisions. Her copy cat behavior gets her in trouble often, and Gabriel uses this against her to get her into trouble. Thankfully I am able to catch this most of the time. She also loves dunking her head under water in the bath tub and can hold her breath for a good bit. She is certainly a wild chick and isn't fearful of much! Who knows what she will be when she grows up but I know she will be passionate in whatever it is. Her passion lately has come out in yelling and talking back to me, so this is the area we are working on now with Ms. Liz. She really needs love and attention and wants to be held often. This has been difficult for me with Josiah needing to be held until just recently, this month actually, when he is o.k. exploring. So a new door has been opened for Elizabeth and I to bond again. I'm happy to be able to pick her up more and love on her. I think this will be very important for her and I love giving her that attention she wants =).
So this is life lately, wild, crazy, and beautiful!
