Football's Back!

Yesterday marked the beginning of Isaac's first football season. The kids were so adorable in their AU gear, so I had to take some pictures before we headed over to Joe & Jennifer's house. (Thank you!) I'm always a little nervous when we take the kids over to someone's house for the first time, especially if those someones don't have young children. All was well though. I hope that the kitties weren't too traumatized and that they were able to find all their toys again this morning.

Precious Parenting Moments that Make all the Rest Worthwhile

*Watching and listening to Rachel laugh hysterically at Tom & Jerry cartoons. There's just something about watching your child enjoy the same things you enjoyed at her age.
*Hearing comments like "The trees are dancing, Mommy" while you're riding in the car. (The wind was blowing this afternoon on the way home from Mamaw's party.)
*Seeing Noah fast asleep in his crib holding a football.
*Listening to Jared pray over the kids as he's holding them.

My 2020 Olympians

We watched Rhythmic Gymnastics this morning. Someone please tell me how that became an Olympic sport. I'm not taking anything away from the "athletes" that "compete" in rhythmic gymnastics. I know it takes an incredible amount of talent and practice to perfect a dance routine with a hoola hoop. I just don't see why one should earn an Olympic Gold Medal for it. Anyway, Rach and Noah were fascinated with the dancers. After the first routine, Rachel gathered some shakers and began to dance and jump around the den. Noah had to join in the fun as well, although he soon got tired of dancing and just began smacking the floor and furniture with his shakers. It was cracking me up.

"Baby Isaac is my cousin"

We spent the morning with Hannah (my sister-in-law) and Gabe and Abi (my nephew and neice.) They are moving up to Philadelphia in the next month, so I really want us to spend as much time with them as we can. Rach & Noah are really going to miss being able to play with their cousins pretty much whenever they want to do so. It has been so nice to have all the family this close by. Hannah and I always have a good time chatting while the children play...we do have to referee occasionally, but for the most part they are on their own. I absolutely love being able to just call Hannah up and head over to visit for the day. Wow, I'm going to miss that so much! We didn't take any pictures today, but here are some from the week before Isaac was born....

Let's Play Dress Up

Rach & Noah had some friends over this morning to play while the Mommies (and Anna) watched some Olympics. Dress Up time was just way too cute. I had to get out the camera and record it, especially for Noah. I'm sure that he will really appreciate these pics in a few years. Ah well, it was just too classic!

We got soul but we're not soldiers...

We are loving the Olympics. I have watched more events this year than in all the other years combined. I guess it's probably because I'm at home and am able to watch more. The kids don't usually get to watch a whole lot of TV during the day, but the Olympics don't count as TV-watching, right? Besides, they are learning a lot of fun, new things. They recognize the music and NBC's intro each time. Noah noticed the flags around the Bird's Nest this morning and asked to watch Volleyball. Rach started dancing around during the Gymnastics competition. The funniest thing so far was tonight though during the Diving competition. Noah got so excited to watch "them jumping in the water."

Baby Blues

I'm just going to be painfully blunt for a moment. Life is hard right now. And even as I'm writing this, there's a part of me that's feeling like a whiny baby. I don't want to seem that way at all. I know that there are plenty of women in the world who would trade places with me in a moment. Missionary moms raising four young children in the jungle, for example. (Thank you Shirley) All the same though, I find myself struggling fairly often these days.
Isaac has brought so much joy and wonder into our family. He is such a beautiful addition. Words can not do justice to how I felt the moment I first held him in that delivery room. Rachel just adores her baby brother, and he thinks she's pretty neat as well. She can get the biggest smiles from him. I already can't imagine our little family without him. I'm so thankful for the blessing that he is to all of us. And I try so hard to keep all these truths at the forefront of my mind during the day, but it is difficult.
I'm learning that I prided myself on how "together" I thought I was. I found more comfort and security in keeping my schedule and routine than I realized. I felt as though if I could tick all the bullet points off my to-do list, then that meant I (and the children) had had a good day. If I could do all that with minimal discipline drama, that meant not only did we have a good day, but that I was an exceptional mother. This was the reality that I was failing to see. See, I thought that I was depending on God to get me thru the day, trusting in His sovreign plan. I'm sure that there were moments when I was doing that, but overall, I was trusting myself and my organization of my plans for my day.
With all the joy that has come with having this new little man in the house, there have also been a ton of kinks thrown into my plans. Pretty much every day has gone nothing like I thought or even wanted it to go. But God is patiently bringing me to the place where I can not only say, 'thats okay,' but that I can also fully be at peace and embrace the plans He made for my day. "Submit and trust" has become my little mantra. It is a hard, hard lesson to learn but it is good.

More Baby Items that I just love...

*Footie Pajamas that zip instead of snap ~ at 3 in the morning, it is sooo very hard to get those snaps lined up just right. I can't count the number of times that I've had to resnap a pair of pajamas!
*Gas Drops ~ These things are a huge blessing especially since all 3 of mine are/were spitters. I give Isaac a dropperful at bedtime, and his little tummy settles down very quickly.