Sunday, August 19, 2012

Samuel - 3 Months

This month was a busy month for you!  I'm pretty sure you had a 'wonder week' in there somewhere because all of a sudden you started focusing in on things and 'talking' specifically to them. You found your hands at right around 9 weeks old! This month you've started really loving to hang out on your activity mat (or anywhere with bright colors that's flat so you can kick and squirm).  You are still going to work with Mommy every day and so far so good!  We have a pretty easy routine of eat, nap, play, repeat. 

HAPPY THREE MONTHS!  

Sweet smiling baby :)

Finding my hands!

You also went on another trip to Grenada to see Poppy Don and all the cousins.  The twins (Maggie and Katalin) even came down from Wisconsin and D.C., so you got to meet them as well.  
Daddy may kill me for this one, but I can't help it!  It's too precious!

Samuel's yawn cracks me up!  Sweet baby boy with Daddy
 
With the twins (Katalin on the left, Maggie on the right)

Family :)

Poppy Don holding Samuel for the first time!

Grandfather, grandson, and great-grandson!

:)



Four generations!

Tuckered out after traveling

This month I was able to start using your bigger sizes of cloth diapers!  It feels so nice to not have to spend as much $ on disposables.  I can also say that strangely, I love cloth diapering you!  I'm sure I wouldn't say that if I had to wash them all by hand :).

This month you and I went to a Pampered Chef party at 'Aunt' K'Anna's house and you got to see your great great Aunts Emma and Nell.  They held you for the first time and you were such a good baby for them!
 

With great great Aunt Emma

With great great Aunt Nell


More pictures from this month:



'Watching' the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics
with great Uncle Tommy
 
This is what you thought of the Olympics :P.  You really liked
watching swimming, volleyball, and gymnastics.
 
Your very first trip to the Elite restaurant in downtown Jackson!
I hope you enjoy eating there as much as we do!

My precious Samuel

When you were born, a nice lady came around to our room in the hospital and took your newborn pictures.  We bought some of the pictures and the package we got came with a free sitting and free picture when you turned 3 months old.  Since we scheduled that sitting just before you turned three months, it makes it onto this blog post :).  One of the outfits you wore was a onesie that was your daddy's when he was your size!  That was a special thing to us :).

Wearing Daddy's onesie waiting to have your pictures done

Other things that happened this month:

You sat outside on Mimi's porch with her and watched the world!

We gave you your first binky!  You loved it :)

You still LOVE baths, especially your hoodie towels!

Sitting outside with Mommy, enjoying a rare cool afternoon

Monty just loves to 'protect' you

Talking to Daddy

Another pic of you with Mr. E-a-hant

You also like playing with things that rattle and crunch.  I can't get
over how blue your eyes are!  I think they are so pretty!

All that playing tuckered a fella out!
We are so grateful that God sent you into our lives!  It almost doesn't seem right to be in your 4th month of life!  Time is sure flying, and we are trying to enjoy every second!

 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Parenting... or something like it!

Our sweet little man was prayed for, man was he prayed for!  Next month will be a year since we found out he was on the way, and our lives began to change.  I began to pray for a healthy pregnancy, for God to provide financially, and for guidance on our new journey.  I got so caught up enjoying each moment of my miraculously complication-free pregnancy that I didn't really prepare myself for Samuel actually being here.  I have learned over the years that people can give all kinds of advice on a number of things, but that advice doesn't really sink in until you are in the thick of that particular situation (at least that's how it happens for me).  Then I find myself searching my brain trying to remember what in the world that awesome piece of advice was.  I won't lie, the first 4 weeks of Samuel's life I was a wreck.  W-R-E-C-K.  I was trying my darndest to breastfeed him, and it wasn't working out so well.  I blamed myself for not being able to provide a basic need to my son, and felt guilty for 'starving' him.  I know neither of those things are true, but try telling that to a first time mom who is dealing with crazy hormones mixed with some post-partum depression.  We were being told one thing by his pediatrician, and another by the Breastfeeding Specialist we saw.  It was the hardest place I have ever been in my life, and the decision to supplement with formula was way harder for me than I think it should have been.  I found myself questioning every decision I made after that, thinking 'If I was wrong about the breastfeeding thing then what if I could be wrong about this?'.   I have spent the past two years in a program where I have worked hard to learn to have faith in myself and my decisions, and I am forever grateful for how that program has changed my life.  But I think during the first couple months of being a mommy, I reverted back to my old ways and began to grasp for other people's opinions and advice to make them my own.  Over the last few weeks I think I have begun to just 'be' a mommy without thinking, without second guessing my decisions.  Maybe I figured there would be some 'how to' manual that would be true for every child in every situation, and now I'm realizing that couldn't be farther from the truth.  Perhaps I was waiting for 'mommyhood' to slap me upside the head and make me the perfect mom who always knew exactly what to do and when to do it.  Again, couldn't be farther from the truth.  I look at my best friend, Emmy, and how her kids are well taken care of and loved, and I want to be a mommy like her.  When I say that I don't mean I want to copy everything she does, but I want to be flexible and willing to adjust my parenting style to what is fit for my children as they grow.   Her children are normal kids who have temper tantrums, growth spurts, sicknesses, and she takes it all in stride.  I want to be able to do that.   I know that what works for others may not always work for our family, but I am grateful that I have realized it is OK to ask for advice, to listen to other's experiences and to learn from them.  In the end it is up to me to be the parent that I feel is most beneficial to Samuel.  I approach the rest of this wonderful journey with my head held high, and faith that God will guide me to be the best Mommy possible (even if that means not being perfect).  Thank you to any and every one who has prayed and is continuing to pray for us on this journey!



I leave you with this..  Months ago a dear friend of mine forwarded me an email of a daily devotion that talked about the Proverbs 31 woman.  I printed this out and read it often, trying to imprint it into my mind.  It rings true for me now more than ever!   

Imitating the (Real) Proverbs 31 Woman
Lori Chally
This is about the time of year when I usually consider writing the Proverbs 31 woman a nasty letter.
You know what I mean. It’s the time of year when all those thoughtful, prayerful goals you’ve set seem hopelessly unrealistic. (How many books were you planning to read in January? What was that bit about organizing the kid’s closets? And cutting back on caffeine… seemed like a good idea at the time.)
Or maybe that’s just me. I’ve finally gotten to the place (now that I have four kids, it’s about time) where I am enthusiastically embracing the joys and headaches of homemaking. The art of butter cream frosting, the green of fresh parsley, the spicy kick of garlic: yes, please.
I’m slightly less enthusiastic about laundry, but we’ve made our peace.
These are my peeps. This is my calling, so let’s get to it. Let’s pursue excellence. I’ve got the whole wide world at my fingertips! Do I want to sew up twirly skirts for the girls? Make my own soap? There’s probably a tutorial online. I’ve learned so far that I’m awful at organic gardening. I love chopping vegetables. The smell of baking bread makes me want to put on an apron and hug someone. I want to keep learning.
So I sit down at the beginning of the year, and I map out all the things I want to master, or at least try. All the things I want to do differently than last year. All the ways I want to be different. Grow.
Goals, goals, goals. LOTS of very good goals.
Sometime shortly after this moment of raw idealism, life happens. “Routine” is just a low-scoring word in Scrabble. I wake up before the sun; the kids wake up even earlier. I start sorting through closets; everybody gets the flu. I really do want to attack those unfinished sewing projects, but have you seen the new drama on Masterpiece Theater?
Enter Proverbs 31 Woman with her strong arms and her well-clothed household.
Cue the despair.
The woman is amazing, and if I’ve been listening in Sunday school, I know she is my standard. She is generous, strong, kind, wise, trust-worthy, never lazy, and she most certainly does not yell at her husband when he comes home from the store without the Kalamata olives.
I pretend I’m annoyed at her brilliance, but really I’m not. I want to be like her. I want to be a safe haven for my family. I want the word of kindness on my tongue. I want to laugh at the future.
When I spend some time re-reading the Biblical portrait of the virtuous woman… I’m shocked. I could have sworn I read in there once “She has organized all her spices alphabetically.” And, “She immediately picks up toys as her children put them down.” And this gem: “She is always caught up on her laundry.” None of these are in there!
In fact, most of the descriptions of the virtuous woman have to do with her faithful actions, not the state of her household. We learn how she spends her time. We learn what her priorities are. What her character is like. She is faithful, even when life throws curveballs. She works hard, even though the work is never done. She expands her interests, even when her world feels small. She demonstrates grace to her family, (I’m guessing here) because she knows what it is to receive grace.
Why is it so easy for me to trade in one wrong heart-attitude for another? I ask my Father to help me drop-kick idleness and discontentment, but I fail to guard my heart, and in creeps the idol of perfectionism. I work manically to accomplish all I think Proverbs demands of me, but what if God’s plan for my day doesn’t look like that? Perfection tells me to get that cake baked and the kitchen cleaned up. Grace says to let the kids help even though it will take longer and some batter will get spilled down the side of the cabinet, because somewhere in the middle of measuring and pouring, they start to tell me what they’re thinking. They ask questions about life and friendships and God.
I imagine what the Virtuous Woman would have to say about being held up as the standard of womanly perfection. She’d probably be shocked, because like all of us, she would know her own shortcomings best. She’d remember all the battles she lost before she started to win a few. I think she’d tell me that a joyful home, a home where grace dwells, is better than an organized one. A clean heart is to be sought above a clean house. Yes, I do think she’d remind me to pick up my bones and get busy. Life is full of trying! Work! Give! Love! Laugh! Don’t quit!
“You will fail. But you will grab hold of grace, and you will get back up again,” she says to me. “This is the kind of thing your children will rise up and bless you for.”
Lori Chally is an aspiring fiction author and mother of four creative children who never fail to provide inspiration. In her spare time (yeah, right!) she enjoys modern quilting, trying out new recipes, and scoring vintage finds! Lori can be contacted at lorichally@gmail.com.