prayers of a toddler

Adeline loves to pray.  Since she could sit up in her highchair, we have always made sure she was aware of our mealtime prayers.  And we have always prayed with her at bedtime.

From that, stemmed Adeline wanting to pray herself.  She tells us who she wants to pray for and will often stop and say "pay" and want to pray.  It is so touching to hear her say "jeesh-us" and "ayyyy-MEN" when we walk her through her own prayers.

So lately she's been very possessive and not liking other people (strangers) to come into her space.  When we stroll through a crowd, she will say "gih owa way" (get out of the way) and will say "NO!" and wave her hand as if moving someone out of the way when we are going down aisles at the store.  When we play at the train table or other places, she will say "no, no, no!" and do the same to other kiddos that come around.  This has seriously disturbed me! The only thing we can figure out is that we say these things to our dog...SO we are pretty sure this is where it stemmed from.  Adeline is such a sweetheart and has such a joy-filled, nice little heart...so it makes me sad to think other toddlers and Mommas see something different when we meet new people.

We started talking about nice hands and what nice hands do.  She will now tell you that nice hands wave hello, bye bye, blow kisses, hug and pray. Ha! So sweet.  We have also talked about how God and Mommy and Daddy want her to be a nice girl.  But putting that into action when we talk up "being nice and using nice hands" has been a different story!

So this morning on the way to library Toddler Time, we talked about nice hands again and as we were it hit me...SHE SHOULD PRAY FOR HELP! So while I was driving, I asked her if she wanted to pray about being a nice girl.  If she wanted to ask God to help her.  She of course said yes, because she always wants to pray. ;) So I led her through a prayer she prayed aloud in her own little language asking God to help her be a nice girl and to give her help and strength to do so.  This moment will forever be in my heart and mind.

And you know what? She was seriously a changed little soul at the library.  She shared.  She was sweet, and she used nice hands and words.  We talked and talked throughout the library and when we left about how proud I was of her.  We called Daddy at work and told him all about her prayer and how she was a nice girl.  She was proud in her own little toddler way and kept telling him about the duck stuffed animal she had shared with another little girl.  I was so happy for her and proud of her.

Why it hadn't dawned on me to have her pray for help with something before, I'm not sure.  I pray for help all the time.  And we want Adeline to know from this young that prayer is powerful.  That prayer changes things.  It changes hearts.  And the Holy Spirit at work in our lives is a mighty thing.

This mommy thing is just so amazing.  The ability to help shape and mold her into a Christ-like little one that will grow up hopefully loving Jesus with all her heart for all her life.  And sharing that joy with those around her.  For this gift to be that role in her life, I am just so thankful.

FIVE on Friday

I'm excited to participate in a new link-up this week! I thought I would use this week's link-up to catch you up on a few changes in our world here lately that I haven't gotten a chance to officially share yet and some other randoms!

One-
I'm officially a stay at home Momma this year!! (with a little side gig of working in my Momma's store on our historic main street) This was a long time coming in my desires and I feel so, so grateful that God has gifted me this opportunity.  This desire started when I had Adeline and just longing to not have to go back after having her (as a teacher, I LOVED my students but my heart was being pulled to my own baby).  So after finishing my fourth year of teaching after my maternity leave, I opted (was so blessed by this!) to job share 2.5 days a week as art teacher at my school last year! And then God kept up the awesome blessings by helping us realize we could take this leap of faith after Justin got a new job (see #2)! Mommy is definitely my favorite job!

we lounge

and lounge some more

and play our days away

Two-

Speaking of the above...Justin is now a full-time Youth Minister! (along with working part-time almost full-time in our family's Landscape/Hardscape business). The process occurred in the Spring with his application and interview.  June 1st was his first day, and it has been such an amazing blessing so far! Our summer was a crazy yet fun whirlwind of mission trips, retreats and many other youth functions! We actually grew up in this youth group and our youth pastor (that is now our associate pastor) is a great mentor to us.  I am so proud of Justin for his dedication and perseverance to see God's direction in this phase in his life through to this exciting, culminating change for our sweet family! I am loving working alongside him in the ministry and excited to see where God takes us on this journey! He works his bum off and I'm so proud of him!

Justin's first official Sunday

Three-
I'm currently working on limiting my soft drink intake.  Especially diet (to stay away from aspartame). Mainly because I'm an all or nothing person.  I have a hard time just limiting.  So I went a good month or so with NO soft drinks at all.  Now I've slowly been reintroducing a Dr. Pepper here and there simply because I crave the taste! But that being said, I have turned into SUCH a coffee drinker! I have to have my coffee in the morning or I'm quite the bum!

Four-
I often stay up way. way. way too late chatting it up on Facebook Messenger with Mallorie, Natalie, Beth Ann, Allie and Jordan.  It still amazes me how God can bless you through online friends that feel like you have known them forever and see them daily.  We tend to chat about all things mommy, faith and other random tidbits that could easily make people blush (right, ladies? ;) Gotta love sweet friends you can be real with!

Five-
Adeline is more and more verbal these days (well let me be honest...she has always been such a "talker") but I am LOVING the sweet little conversations we can have these days where she puts a couple words together or a long list of words together that I don't quite understand ;) .  Whether it's if she wants milk or juice, what dress she wants to wear, or who she wants to pray for at bedtime.  These are the moments that melt my mommy heart. And I try to hold onto oh so tight as she giggles back when I laugh at the silly things she says.

 

things that make you a good mom

...loving your children
...being the best example you can be for your children
...providing all the basic needs for your children
...raising them in a loving home
...giving lots of kisses and hugs
...doing the best with what you have
...loving your children
...molding them and shaping them
...following your convictions
...and your mommy instincts

and did I mention?

...loving your children

In the midst of so many things in our world that SCREAM at us how to be a "good" mom, I get tired of it.  I get tired of the put-downs and comparisons.  I get tired of the "I'm better than yous" and the "That's wrong, I'm right."  I get tired of the "I'm that kind of mom" just to look good on paper. or on facebook. or on the blog.  Whatever it is.  Whether you say it, imply it, write it.  It's all silly.  At the end of the day all that matters is if we're doing the best we personally know how to do as a mom. And that we stay mold-able.  Stay shapeable.  And that we're learning daily by grace.

Because I want my baby to know love.  And I want her to know grace.  Those two things are enough for her to conquer this world.

We all have a story.  Let's take time to read and hear each others.

BIG news

You know it's something big when I post twice in one day. Who I am kidding...these days twice in one week! ;)

Tonight, after bath, when Adeline was running around nay-nay as she so loves to do, we had something exciting happen!

She was looking at her books and then looked at me really concerned all of the sudden.

I said, "Adeline, what's wrong baby?"

She said, "Poo poo."

Well I knew the drill! We've had her potty for quite a while, just for fun.  She LOVES to talk about pee pee and poo poo, sit on the pot and sing our little made up song and dance. We gave her the words "poo poo" very early on so she had a phrase to go with it and we've tried to use that phrase as much as possible when we catch her doing her smelly business. ;) She lays down and says "poo poo" like she's ready for a change just to pretend. She pretends to clean her baby's poo poo.  But she has yet to pee or poo on the potty.

But tonight I ran her to her potty when she said those two words...

And within seconds, she pooed on the potty with not an ounce of an understanding as to why I was dancing and clapping and acting a fool.

So we ran outside to get Daddy to bring him in to show him the business...then we called both sets of grandparents!

It's amazing what gets you excited when you're a parent.  It may be when your kiddo takes a good nap or when your kiddo eats all his or her peas. But tonight, it was poo poo that got us giddy!

So this now means we are into full-on potty-training mode. Hahahaha....

Nope!

We'll continue as nonchalantly with this for now as it all started!

But we are still so, so proud of our sweet, baby (18 1/2 month old) girl!

mother's day weekend!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!! We started the celebrating early on Friday night. Justin and Adeline took me to Outback for dinner and we stuffed ourselves. :)

Someone enjoyed her cheese fries and eating in a big girl booster!! ;)

We spent Saturday morning hanging as a family and took Boone to his annual check-up. Adeline LOVED going to the doctor with her best bud.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working at the store and Adeline and Daddy relaxed at home.

We grilled for the first time this season that night- we enjoyed some really yummy salmon!

I have just started a new 20s/30s small group on Sunday mornings at church- this was our second Sunday.  Well my alarm did not go off and Adeline slept until almost 10, so needless to say, we didn't make it to Sunday School on Mother's Day morning. OOPS. Good thing the rest of the group just laughed and didn't mind.  

Since there was no way we were going to make it to Sunday School, I spent some extra time rocking and snuggling Adeline on Sunday morning.  She must have known it was Mother's Day because anytime I tried to leave her room with her or do anything else, she would say "moh wok" (more rock). Who is gonna say no to that?!

We did finally get ready for church and Justin headed out to McDonald's and used a text coupon we had for a free meal for mom on Mother's Day and brought back breakfast for us to gobble down as we drove to church.

Our church service was on forgiveness and absolutely amazing.  One of those sermons that you leave NEEDING and wanting to change something.

We headed to a local homestyle southern cooking restaurant to celebrate with my mother-in-law right after church. It was a great meal complete with chocolate and coconut pie! ;)

After we ate and have "Gee" her presents, we headed home to relax for a while before round two of celebrating with family. :)

I got to open my gift from Adeline- a bird feeder and seed for us to enjoy together!! I've been wanting one and she LOVES feeding the "bir"s.

Adeline took an amazing nap- another impromptu gift ;) and Justin and I relaxed on the couch.  It all made for perfection for an afternoon.

We headed to my parents' for dinner and celebrating with my side.

It was a perfect weekend full of so much fun and relaxation!

still

Being still...

Not something I'm good at. At all. I busy myself. I multitask while I multitask. I worry. I get anxious. I try to handle it all. Myself.

But I'm really working with God and trying to let go and let Him change this in me. He knows me. Thank goodness. And He's fighting like mad to release me of this little quirk.

He's teaching me to be still. In many ways. For many reasons.

I convinced hubby a year ago that we "needed" our living room chair we have now for moments like tonight. I fell in love with the pattern. Paisley. Blues, greens, neutral. Perfection. I knew it would allow me to be still. To just be.

Truth: I can count the number of times I've intentionally used it to be still the past year on one hand.

Tonight though...it's different. It's not often I like different. But this change God is doing in me...it's a good thing. Hubby is asleep, baby is asleep and this I-don't-want-to-hold-it-all-together-on-my-own-anymore Momma is relaxing in a quiet house after a mad dash hour cleaning session and a busy, emotional roller coaster of a week.

I'm being still, taking a deep breath and feeling blessed.

"The Lord will fight for you...you need only to be still." -Exodus 14:14

if you want to wake your baby...

...paint your nails or toenails.
...make plans to leave the house.
...get in the shower.
...start crafting and make a big mess.
...get on the phone to make an appointment.
...start eating your lunch that you've been trying to eat for hours.
...warm up your cold cup of coffee.
...decide to finally sit down and get some school or work things accomplished.
...sit down to write a blog post.

What else is a guaranteed task that automatically means your babe wakes form his or her nap?

Featured Today!

Hey all! 

Just a quick note to say head on over to Callie's blog to check out her post series, Moms and Babies! 

 

I'm featured on her beautiful blog today!

Find the post here!

what I'm loving!

Linking up with the sweet Jamie today!

Today I'm loving...

*This new Pandora station I heard about for babies...Caspar Babypants.  Seriously cute!

via

*My amazing bible study I'm doing on Thursday mornings....James by Beth Moore.  I have always loved the book of James and how convicting and raw it is.  Beth Moore is seriously amazing at enlightening you to see scripture in a deeper way to closer to connect to Jesus.  One of my favorite parts of this is that we're handwriting the books of James throughout the study. How cool is that?  It makes it stick in a whole new way to visual person like myself! One part of James that's stuck in my head right now...

"Consider it all joy!" 

James 1:2a (paraphrased)

*That it's still summertime.  That's all I need to say about that! :D

*This article I found on Pinterest.  Definitely worth the read! So full of common sense, easy ideas!

via

 *All of your kind and encouraging comments on my post from yesterday.  I am so, so filled with joy over the fact that God was able to use my story to bless and encourage you.  You are such encouragement to me as well! Praise the Lord for how He works!

*That we just took an amazing family beach trip to St. Simons Island, Georgia. (I really hope to post pics eventually about this trip when I can find some time! I've got a crazy, mobile, pulling-up-on-everything crawler, y'all!) It was so fun to watch Adeline play in the sand and fall in love with the beach!

Happy Wednesday!

then and now

Feeling the need for a little reminiscing...

Here classic "ohhhhh" face. 

Then-

Now-

Her monthly photo shoots.

Then-

Now-

ps. this is another classic "Adeline" face these days...it's accompanied by loud breathing through her nostrils. crazy girl.

The pool.

Then-

Now-

After starting this, I could literally keep posting these one after another.  Maybe I'll leave others for another day.  But oh my, what a sweet gift it is to watch this little girl grow and develop.  Although, selfishly, this growing up thing hurts my mommy being deep down, it also causes proud and joyful tears to well up in my eyes...just knowing that every single day is such a precious blessing.

Thank you, Lord, for gifting me with this Mommy role.  I'm humbled by this breathtaking, amazing, precious life.

jarred baby food and disposable diapers

I wrestled in my mind with what to title this post.

I'm sure you're saying, huh? Such mundane things.

But to me, these are two very small items in my daily new mommy life that have significant messages to how God is currently shaping me and molding me.  How he's digging into my heart and rearranging some things.  Getting rid of some things.  Replacing some things.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

-Galatians 5: 25-26 (NIV)

Or I really like the way The Message words it...

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.  That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse.  We have far more interesting things to do with our lives.   

Each of us is an original.

-Galatians 5:25-26 (The Message)

So let me break this down before I go any further.

Every detail of our lives. (Yep, God is teaching me through jarred baby food and disposable diapers.)

We will not compare ourselves with each other.  (The heart of this post.)

Each of us is an original.  (That means every. single. one. of. us. There are no exceptions.)

This mommy thing is so precious.  The best role I've ever played.  By far.  God designed me to be a mommy.  I just know deep down He did.  It feels so natural to me.  So right.  So perfect.  And how neat is it that He is using this exact same role that I feel so confident and bold in to strip my heart down and humble me.  Our God is an amazing God.

If you've been reading for long or know me in real life, you know that there are many things I have written about or shared about or you've seen me do in action as a mom.

cloth diapering

making my own baby food

"sleep training"

made my own bows

DIYed tons of her nursery

couponed

etc

etc

etc

We could go on.  But this is where I want to explain.  We read blogs, we chat, we see each other in our everyday lives living out this mommy thing (or if you're not one, you may see and read things that churn ideas and thoughts for how you will be in the future as a mommy).  We see the good mostly.  We see the comparisons.  We focus on the "how she does it part".  We get caught up in what everyone else is doing.  How it should be done.

God has been teaching me a lot about this comparison thing.  He said it right there in scripture, it's not healthy.  It's not how we're supposed to live.  Maybe you've seen the quote floating around Pinterest..."Comparison is the thief of joy."  Seriously, y'all.  True story! God is teaching me to let go.  To be the mommy I know is best for my baby.  Not for anyone else's judgements.  To be confident in how I do things and to reflect.  But to know that this mommy thing is different for everyone.  We're all original mommies.  We aren't here to beat ourselves up.  Or to beat each other up.  We are here to fulfill the role God has blessed us with.  So many times, I read blogs or see something or hear something that makes me think, "oh...if only I could do that...could be that....could...." That's not healthy.  I want to live my daily life pointing to God.  He's the one that provides daily grace in my life.  He's the one that makes me the original mommy that I am.  What I am in His eyes is all that matters.

So I don't want to be someone that you may read my blog or see me in person and think, "oh...I wish I could do it that way...or be that way..."

So to help you out.  To keep you from comparing like I often do.  Here's two things that I don't do...

I don't cloth diaper full time.  We've had crazy leak issues with the cloth.  We use disposables unless we're just around the house or heading to Adeline's grandparents'. 

I make some of my own baby food.  Not all.  I am a big believer in organic food and staying away from preservatives and artificial stuff for Adeline for health-sake.  But she eats jarred baby food.  Gasp.

To me...those two things have been huge in how God has taught me to let go.  (Those are just two in a long list.)  Those two things represent something that I have heard so many times from other moms that it's so neat that I do that...that they wish they could be a "good mom" and do that.  Gross.  No.  If you're baby is happy and healthy and you're doing the best you can.  You are a good mom! What works for one...doesn't work for the other.  We are all originals.  The other side of this is, no.  I do not consider myself better than you or that my way is more perfect than yours because of these things.  It's what works for our family.  We are all originals.  God said so.  Not one of His children is better than another.  I believe it whole-heartedly.

So where do we go from here?

We show grace.

To ourselves and to each other.

We lift each other up in the Spirit as He does for us every single day.

We live transparently in a way that points to the Savior.  

He gets the glory for this mommy role.  Not us.

And we let go and live the life of the Spirit in every detail of our lives...jarred baby food, disposable diapers, and all.

things i'm doing instead of blogging...

So I have been pretty MIA on the blog lately besides quick Adeline updates and Fitness Friday posts.  For some reason, as much as I adore writing and keeping up with my blog, my heart hasn't been in it lately.  I'm sure you all get it.  There are so many different seasons in life.  And right now, in this season, I'm soaking up every precious moment with my little girl.  When she does go down for a nap, there are so many other things that take priority over blogging.  So forgive me for not being around.  And for not visiting your blogs as much as I would like.  I'll get my groove back.  But for now, here are some things I'm doing instead of blogging (some are new in our lives and some are old)...

-meal planning
-falling in like with my crock pot
-pinning tons of things on Pinterest and then attempting some of them
-stuffing cloth diapers
-shopping
-watching too much reality tv
-working out (going on 4 weeks now...whoo hoo!)
-oohing and ahhing over our sweet Adeline (that's my favorite)
-working on having more quiet time with God
-dreading February 13th (the day I leave my little one to go back to work)
-goal-setting and deep conversations with Justin over quite a bit
-getting back into couponing
-cleaning layers of dust and dog hair that have seemed to accumulate since Adeline was a few weeks old
-slowly organizing our unfinished basement
-planning our first date night!

Just to name a few... :)

my little kangaroo

Adeline is going through a stage of wanting to be held a lot.  Honestly I don't mind because I know I will want these days back down the road.  However, this momma does need her hands once in a while! If not, we may drown in laundry here and the Hoarders show may come knocking on our door due to the way the kitchen looks...

So we have a new favorite position with our Moby wrap since my sweet girl has head control now. :)

This is the best of both worlds...she's up and moving looking around at everything (her new favorite past-time at 2 1/2 months) and I have my hands and get to snuggle my baby...all at the same time!

The funniest part of this is that my little cat napper that isn't crazy about napping these days (or for very long when she does), fell sound asleep while I was loading the dishwasher.  I went to the mirror and found this sweet face!

Oh how I love my little kangaroo!

germie germs

I had our sweet girl out when she was just two weeks old, she's had gobs of visitors since birth and hasn't stopped going since the beginning and she stayed healthy the entire time.  But now at 8 weeks, we're dealing with Adeline's first cold...thank you Christmas germs!

The poor thing woke up last Thursday with a stuffy nose and having trouble breathing through her nose.  So for the past week we've been using our Boogie Wipes, baby saline, and suction for her nose like they're going out of style! We've also elevated her bassinet and run the cool mist vaporizer each night to help her little cough.  Thankfully she hasn't run a fever and has wanted to sleep and eat a lot.  We did go see the doctor yesterday since she was starting to gag some from the cough and the congestion didn't seem to be getting much better.  She ruled out any fluid in the lungs and determined her oxygen levels are right where they should be--so it's just a regular cold that she inferred Adeline probably got from being around all the relatives at Christmas.  Poor baby.

The good news is she's still been our happy, sweet baby that smiles like crazy!

Now I'm dealing with her cold...guess that's what I get for wiping a snotty nose gobs of times throughout the day! That's okay, I'll handle this cold with pride.  This mommy job is the best there is...even if it means wiping boogs and getting those germs!