Just As I Am

As I write this, it is a Sunday after noon in the Pacific Northwest. It is truly a beauteous day. The sun is shining and the air is crisp. The sad side of the tale is that I am home from church because my baby has a terrible cold/fever/cough. She is miserable, which is quite the opposite of her usual personality. Baby does not want to play, eat or dance. Times like these make me thankful for the days she is healthy and smiling with all eight teeth showing!

Our Bible study (with some of the women from church) has ended. We were studying Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney. It is one of the few books that is Biblically sound, while at the same time down to earth, exciting me to apply my knowledge. Concurrently, we studied John MacArthur's Pillars of Christian Character sermons. I feel like all the lessons I've learned "live on" in my heart and mind. Scripture floods my spirit every day. The topics we studied were so closely related to what I go through as a wife and mom of young children. It has been quite the adventure to do Bible study on my own every morning, as I have spent the last 12 years in Bible Study Fellowship.

But it has been AMAZING. God has been teaching me flexibility. It doesn't work for me to attend BSF this year because my eldest is too old for the preschool program and my husband doesn't have an evening available to watch the kids while I go. So...I don't have the daily discipline of questions to fill out. But I'm okay with that. I challenge myself with my own questions and use study aids to get a deeper, fuller meaning of what His Words plus context are saying.  I also hope to complete a 1 Corinthians Navigator study I started last year. On Wednesdays, my husband is a leader at AWANA, which my two oldest attend! Our church gives deep teaching in between all the verse learning, so it's wonderful for the children. I also enjoy working with my daughter on her verses. In fact, combined with her God-focused home school, I have so many verses to meditate on right now! But more than that, I am having fun living out Titus 2:1-5! Making my home, my kids, my marriage a priority.

I was really reading a lot (other than the Bible) because I had so much down time with Reese nursing. Now, I am constantly chasing after her since she learned how to walk. I will pick up a Beverly Lewis or Julie Klassen or crochet pattern any day though. Any book for that matter. I also read lots of Facebook and links on Pinterest. Does that count?
*Grin*

I know a couple posts ago I mentioned all the organization projects I had planned. I did finish organizing the kitchen. But that's all! Utter fail! These plans came before Reese grew toddling legs! Now my only goal is to finish something before she gets into the toilet or downs a whole crayon. So I do my organization in spurts. And I prioritize.

I am so much like a puppy in that I have a short attention span. I get interested in one thing, before quickly getting distracted by another. This is the curse of the creative person (and I wonder where my daughter got her streak!) And probably the story of every mom-of-young-children's life.

I'm currently crocheting two projects. I have a very pretty scarf in the works, as well as a baby blanket for a beautiful expectant mama at church. I love crocheting simple, elegant patterns. Not too fufu. Like I said, my attention span is limited! While I crochet (or fold laundry), I absolutely LOVE to watch shows. My favorite right now are Downton Abbey Season 2 or Market Warriors. I also recently watched Call the Midwife, which was excellent. Don't get me wrong. I really don't have oodles of hours to spare for television and crochet. However...I have recently realized I am a much happier mama as I've followed our new schedule which includes some rest time before I start on my second shift (dinner prep, clean-up, bed time). It has worked wonders!

This last Thursday, the girls and I had a Target outing, a big deal to us. We love this store. They are probably tired of our noise and faces. Anyway, our primary purpose was to purchase big girl undies for Katie (who is still very little at nearly 3) and a huge selection of treats. All in preparation for potty training! She was SO pumped, Brilla was excited to help her choose, and Reese, well, she just kept grunting because she wanted to stuff her face with all the food she kept seeing. We also bought some steals for our craft stash. Finally, our time ended at the book department. My girls drink books like their mom!

On Friday, the potty adventure began. It resulted in only one accident the whole day (we wore diapers second half of the day). And no pee or poo in the potty whatsoever. But I was okay with that. I just wanted to introduce her to staying dry and sitting on the toilet. I am super lucky in that she doesn't want to sit on her toddler potty, but likes to climb on the big toilet (with the insert on)! No extra cleanup! Saturday was a huge success. A whole day dedicated to the goal. Daddy was here to help. We had a couple accidents (one involving poo, yuck!!) but she was able to get rewards for both staying dry AND going in the potty!! Excitement all around. Even my oldest would cheer :) Grandparents got called to celebrate too. Not that we think our children learning to poop and pee is the greatest news on the whole planet. But I read somewhere that's it's an extreme boost for your child's confidence to do so. Well, the advice is correct!

So, today, after the family gets home, we will continue the potty saga. I will spare you further details of this journey, however :)