A good day for errands

Today all day was rainy, cloudy and cool (so the picture I chose is actually from yesterday at the park). Despite the weather, J wanted to go outside and play after daddy left for work. I had other plans to do grocery shopping. J did really well being patient in the cart while I shopped (unlike last week). When we got home, he asked to go outside and play in the rain. I got his boots on and we went outside and he splashed around in the puddles and walked around in the rain.

Today in my reading, Beth skipped to chapter 17 in Luke. In my prayer time beforehand, I was thanking God that I can approach him freely, the one who created the universe. Then it just seemed to hit me how incredible that really is. How I take for granted who I'm meeting with. I realized I often don't have the reverence and awe for God that I should. I prayed about that and just let it sink in. Beth shares that we are moving into chapters now that are more challenging and even confrontational. But she says we can be encouraged in trusting that God never confronts to condemn, but to complete in us what is lacking. The topic of the chapter is being careful to avoid leading someone else into sin. Jesus tells us that when we sin against one another, we are forgive our brother/sister, to dialogue with them, and even to rebuke them. Beth shares that what is appropriate is to speak the truth in love. From 2Timothy 4:2 Correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. Also part of us maturing, she says, is learning how to receive a rebuke.

Since it was still rainy in the afternoon, it was a good time to run some errands like stopping at the pharmacy and going to the bank (we are old fashioned and don't have ATM cards). We spent some time reading books before J's nap. When on his way to take his nap, he let out a little burp and said "excuse me"! He must have picked that up from the book of manner's we've been reading to him. It sunk in. While I was making dinner, J came over to me and grabbed my hand saying "mommy play". It was so cute that I stopped what I was doing to play with him a bit. I have to say at dinner we had troubles with J again. This time is started because he wanted the red spoon instead of the yellow spoon I gave him. Then he got upset because I put on the "scoop" bib (he had messier food) instead of his regular bib. Since we knew what we were in for with his hollering, daddy took him upstairs to chill out in his crib. We're hoping these dinner melt downs will just be a phase and that he'd just be a happy camper again. Later, he had fun playing in the bathtub (mostly with his crayons) until I had to wash him. I was quick though so he didn't protest too long.

We had time with our life group tonight. The main focus was talking about the sermon on "Why Forgive?". Part of the discussion centered around the difficulty in forgiving someone who is unrepentant (having or exhibiting no remorse). We agreed that especially these times we need to seek the Lord for help in having a forgiving heart, and then often we will need to forgive multiple times. Just when you think you've forgiven, something stirs a memory and the anger and pain are back. Those are times you learn to forgive again. L shared that recently God impressed upon him the important of confession. He was thinking of the verse James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. He shared how as a couple we pray together every morning for about 20 minutes or so before he leaves for work and he's introduced confessing something in that prayer time. We agreed this can be a powerful thing and the importance of this within a relationship where you trust can trust one another.

We love play dates

This morning we had a play date again at our friend Joan's with Heather and her daughter too. J got excited when I told him we were going to Joan's and then we'd all go to the park together. The kids toys are kept in the kids bedroom and J wasn't shy about making multiple trips in there to pull out a bunch. There was a really cute Elmo puppet book he found "If You're Happy and You Know It" that J wanted me to read to him. I started reading it and the two girls came over to listen too. They all got a kick out of me making Elmo act it out. Then they wanted to hear it again so Heather read it to them. What was really cute was when J went to the fridge where they have a magnetic farm that plays music. He pressed it and started dancing and the girls came in to dance with him. It was the cutest thing, all three of them dancing together and J was giggling. Then the kids heard the lawn mowers outside and they all ran to the door to look out and watch. We went to the park which is just a little walk from Joan's place. The girls took off running together but J wanted "uppy" so I picked him up. He almost went down the big slide by himself today. Almost. The girls both went down and I think that encouraged him but he just didn't quite get the nerve. He still wanted me to go with him. Even with all this happening, we still got to have some good, adult conversations. That's the best part.

The play date was our big excitement for the day. We came home and ate lunch. J was doing fine until he decided to dump his cottage cheese all over. Then he even asked for more! Ha! I hate cleaning up cottage cheese, it is the worst. It sticks to everything and breaks apart and takes forever to get it all. Fun,fun. J wanted to watch a video but he kept changing his mind on what he wanted (Lord of the Beans, Elmo, Thomas the Train). I owed phone calls to two of my sisters so I tried reaching them but not home. I notice I barely spend any time on the phone anymore since so much happens by Facebook or email. I had the hankering for some chocolate chip cookies but just a few, not a whole batch. I found a recipe for a small batch and got J to help me with the mixing and stirring. At one point, he ran off with the spoon so I had to chase after him. He cried for a bit when it was time to go down for his nap, which is rare.

J was really out of it again at dinner tonight. I'm starting to feel like a broken record! He just cried and cried and I finally got him settled and he asked for PB & J and I had it made and got him in the chair but then the crying started all over again. It worked to lay him in his crib for several minutes and he ate fine when he got up. I'm thinking he needs more time maybe from waking up to starting dinner. Maybe he's still half sleepy when dinner comes and needs more time. We'll see. I had a good workout at the Y today doing the elliptical. J was pretty clever getting the Y girls to find his nuk in my diaper bag. He's on a blankie and nuk kick lately. We played outside for a bit when we got home, it was still so nice out there.

Turning worries into prayer

I woke up really tired today. I think it was a mixture of a lot of activity yesterday and getting to bed late at 11:30. I need a few solid nights of getting to bed by 10:30 to really catch up. This morning J spent most of his time coloring, then he asked mommy to color too. He was playing with bristle blocks which he got for Christmas but only recently has been into sticking the blocks together. Also dancing to the Elmo firefighter song. I did something different today and added a video I captured of him dancing. (See the bottom of the post!)

I started Luke 12 today in my devotional time. When a crowd of many thousands gathered, Jesus first begins to speak to his disciples. He gives many warnings and instruction.
-Do not be like the Pharisees who valued honor from men over a relationship with God.
-Watch out for all kinds of greed. Beth shares that our life doesn't consist of the abundance of our possessions. This is so true! Oh Lord, that I would not be attached to my possessions.
-Do not worry about your life (food, clothes). See the raven who does not sow or reap and yet God feeds them. He says we are much more valued than birds so how much more he will care for us. Beth says that believing our great value in the Lord frees us from many trappings of life; greed, worry, fear. Verse 25: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Beth shares that she was taught to turn her worries into prayer, especially worry for her children and what a difference that made. This is also something I got in the habit of doing. It does help to bring peace knowing that he's in control. Verse 31: But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

We had a good study at my women's bible group today, reviewing chapters 5 and 6 of Ecclesiastes. Before we got into the discussion, our leader Betty read something to encourage us. The focus of it was on Genesis 2:7The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. She read that man is the only creature that has the breath of God in him; being made in his image. A question she read was "What does it take you to stop and pay attention to God?" Being fearful? Being down about something? Being in a difficult situation? Just because you want to spend time with him? There was a reminder about the Sabbath back in the Old Testament days and how it is really good to take time to rest. It helps remind us that our work is not more important than God's. One of the reflections from our chapters today was that the Lord is in the midst of whatever is going on in our lives. We can endure whatever hardship we face. We see this in looking at Jesus. He actually asked that the cup be taken from him (going to the cross) but said not his will but God's be done.

This afternoon I had a few errands to run. J kept saying "I want to go home". He wasn't enjoying getting in and out of the car. One stop we made was at Walgreens to get some good bubble wands to play with. A little boy came up with a ball and they were throwing it back and forth. His dad came and said he couldn't believe he was sharing. Later, at dinner J had another melt down. He kept wanting me to pick him up and then he wouldn't eat. He at first was excited about spaghetti, but then just sat there and eventually started crying. When he wouldn't stop, I set him in his crib to calm him down.

We had another nice family walk, this time going to a different park. I spent some time on the swing and just enjoyed it, taking in what a beautiful night it was. I was thinking back to last summer when I wasn't doing well. I would take J to this park and remember how horrible and incredibly self conscious I felt. Almost paranoid. It dawned on me that J couldn't walk last summer. We spent a lot of time in the stroller. It's so fun now that he's walking, climbing, running and everything. Last part of the night was his bath. He hated it! He said "I want to sleep mommy. I want to go to bed." I told him I'd give him a speedy, quick bath but he didn't want it. The minute I put him in the water he said "all done mommy" and started crying. I was pretty quick though but I hope he's not afraid of water now from his swimming lessons.

Soaking up the morning sun

This morning after daddy left, J wanted to go play outside. It was already 62 at 9am. J quickly lost interest is chasing balls so I got the idea of getting our camping chairs and setting them outside. I got my coffee and the newspaper and he had his sippy cup and a few books. The two of us sat out there reading until it was time for his morning nap. It was really nice.

Today I started reading Luke 9. Jesus called the twelve together. Verse 1-2: He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Up until this time, Jesus had been acting on his own. Now he equipped the disciples. Beth mentions how the disciples had been granted a privilege beyond all others based on what they'd seen. Yet then he also gave them power and authority while he was around to continue teaching them.

At my bible study, we went over chapter 3 in Ecclesiastes. One point made in chapter 3 is that as we grow in our knowledge, we discover that the more we know, the more we realize we do not know. Yet that is the life of faith. To rest in his arms letting the enigmas unfold, trusting in the wisdom of our heavenly father. Another part that stood out to me was in verse 13 it talks about man gaining pleasure from toil. The key, they found, is that it isn't lasting pleasure. The secret is that it is only a vibrant relationship with God that produces lasting enjoyment.

My babysitter showed me a new game she was playing with J while I was gone. She would sit J in the cardboard box and he'd put on his fire helmet. Then she'd pull him around the room on their way to a fire. When she stopped, J would stand up with his pretend hose and pretend to put out the fire. She left and he wanted me to do this a few times. Then we took a little trip to the library and I found a bunch of good books. When he got up from his nap, one of the first things he did was go through the new books and select a few for me to read before dinner.

During dinner, J had a little meltdown while eating spaghetti. He seemed to be getting frustrated by how much he was dropping into his bib. After a few bouts of nonstop crying, I laid him in his crib as a way to calm down. He was fine after about ten minutes and then finished eating. It was so out of the blue. We headed across town to our friend's house to pick up a water cooler for J's birthday party. J wanted to take some of his new books with him. Usually he'll pick one or at the most two. This time he wanted to take four with him and was upset when I told him it was too much. We compromised and I let him take two. He did end up reading both of them in the car. They were outside with the kids so we stayed to play. J loves their daughter who's a little older. She would ride her tricycle and he'd push her. Then she pushed him on a little scooter. He wanted her to chase him and he'd laugh like crazy when she did. For some reason, he wanted to wear her bicycle helmet so he had that on while playing.

One more day to get the final preparations done for J's party. Will have a lot of running around tomorrow and my sister and brother in law are coming up to stay the night. So I probably won't be posting for a few days.

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!