Out of town for the weekend

We are going on one of our first family getaways (other than to see family). We were invited up to LaCrosse to see some friends. It should be a nice time. I'll take a short break and will post next on Monday.

Julian did a lot of crying today. A lot of it was around meals, like at breakfast. I can't even remember exactly why, but one thing was him wanting water when I was asking him to drink his milk. That set off some crying. We continue to pray for wisdom and patience in how to respond.

We went to play group today for Titus at Blackhawk. I am part of a smaller group in Titus and it was our group's turn to bring toys. It ended up being worth it to drag as many as I did with me. The kids used all of them throughout the play time. Julian was a little quieter and more subdued today. Usually, he's Mr. Social. I'm not really sure why but he still had fun. He really liked the big wheel that had all these buttons and sounds like different horns and music. He was content to not even move around but just press the buttons and "dance" which was basically wiggling around and waving his arms to the sounds. My friend and I had fun just watching. He had a little tantrum while we were doing a craft project. We were using glue on some different cut-outs and he wanted to take the whole box of cut-outs instead of taking just a few. He ended up squawking quite a bit when I put the box back.

It was a busy day as I got home and had enough time to feed Julian and then feed myself before our friend and sitter came so I could go to my bible study.We took a month and a half break while our host was on vacation and it was great to be back together. Today we went through our study of Esther. There were a couple things that stood out. One was how God can use one person to make a huge difference. It's easy to underestimate how God is using you in your life and the lives of others. It was good to take a look at how he's working through you at home, at work, at church, etc. Another lesson was how we are where we are for a reason and a purpose looking at Esther 4:14 And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? For such a time as this represents that timing factor of how God places us where he wants to use us.

For some reason the big melt down of the day is happening around dinner time after Julian's afternoon nap. I finally figured out he was asking for cottage cheese and getting upset because I didn't understand. We were having spaghetti for dinner and he likes cottage cheese in that so I gave him a bowl but then he gets it in his head he wants to eat outside. At this point, I'm willing to try anything so we get coats on and go outside to the patio and he won't eat. Daddy comes home and finds us wondering what the heck we're doing so we went back inside and somehow he calmed down (I think it was when I brought out the grapes) and he ended up eating really well. Go figure!

Daddy was playing guitar and Julian was dancing. I got a neat little video of it. The night went really fast and before I knew it we were putting him to bed. I started collecting some of the things we'll need for the weekend but most packing I'll do tomorrow. I think now will be a good time to sign off for some wind-down time. Be back on Monday!

My little one loves to dance

Today I woke up feeling much better. I'm sure it helped that I went to bed around 9:30 last night. I am still taking it easy eating bland foods just to be safe. Julian wanted to do some coloring after breakfast and then wanted to hear the story of Moses again from his toddler bible. While I ate, I read the Quiet Rest book. The message today was that God's word really tells a love story. How we all have a God-created hole that cries out to be filled, a deep need for intimacy. Many people in the scriptures illustrate this love (Adam and Eve, Abraham, David, Mary and Martha.) Julian wanted to be held again. We saw some birds at the feeder outside and watched them for a while. He wasn't really interested in painting or doing art downstairs.

David's story continues in 2Samuel 15. His son Absalom conspires evil in his heart to win the hearts of Israel and steal the throne from David. Afraid of an attack, David leaves Jerusalem with his officers and household. Beth Moore reflects that David had an opportunity for reconciliation with Absalom. He did allow Absalom to see him, but there wasn't reconciliation. Now we see how bitterness and dissatisfaction has festered in Absalom's heart toward his father. Beth shares that forgiving even if the person takes no responsibility for their actions will save us the misery that would befall, like with Absalom.

I'm really bummed that I couldn't go to my women's study today. I have no idea if my stomach thing at this stage would be contagious so I didn't go. I started the study that we'll discuss next week and it's a good one, Esther. Here the king banishes the queen from his kingdom (the King of Persia) and calls for all young virgins from 127 provinces to come to the palace. The king is preparing to select a new queen. Esther is brought to the palace and the main thing we see is that she won the favor of everyone who saw her. It was said that it wasn't just her outward beauty but with her heart, her internal beauty she won them.

Julian ended up with almost a beard of peanut butter after lunch today. When he was done with lunch he wanted to dance. Took my hand and danced in the kitchen and then he led me into the living room. This was so sweet. Then we collected a few toys and went outside to play. It was really windy so the beach ball I brought out was just blowing away and I had to bring that in. I was then asking Julian if he wanted to go to the park and he said "yes, park" and got excited. So I got his car and when I went to put him in it he started crying. It was like he thought I had changed my mind or something. We went back and forth with this until at a loss I set him inside to see if he'd calm down. I waited and opened the door and asked him if he was ready to go to the park. He said yes and this time he let me put him in the car. The odd thing is once we got to the park and I walked onto the grass to get to the jungle gym he wouldn't come. He put his arms up to be carried and I waited for him to walk. I think he's put off by the grass since he's never really walked on it that much. He started walking last September/October and didn't do much in the grass so now I see why he's apprehensive. So I asked if he wanted to take my hand and he did. Then he walked across the grass finally! He played for a bit on the jungle gym and a girl asked if she could play with Julian's car. I didn't see any harm in it so I said yes. We went down the slide together and hung out a bit more but then I noticed it was time to get him home for his nap.

After dinner, we hung out downstairs with Julian coloring. He's starting to learn his colors a little bit like the blue crayon and the yellow crayon. He turned on the radio and said "dance" and was dancing around the basement. It is so cute to watch him dance. He's doing more of it lately. Again he took my hand for a little bit to dance together. We played until I noticed it was time for bed. Then daddy read him a book and I tucked him in. Pretty soon I'm going to tuck myself in too.

p.s. My cat Rio died today at home. I was glad I could be there, even though it is very sad to lose a pet you cherish.