overheard

When my kids’ say something sweet or cute, I try to jot it down on my phone instantly. I keep a running note with these little sound bytes and then a few months later, like to record them all here. I’ve got quite the collection now, so it must be time to dump them out and save them. 🙂

Jackson

This morning I thanked Jackson for being so helpful. He looked thoughtful and then said, “Having three children is hard. And we’re going to have FOUR and that will be even harder. I like to help.”

“Can I vacuum for you, Mom?” Um, let me think about it, okay. 🙂

Kyle was painting the swingset this summer, and the neighbor girl asked: “Can your dad do that (paint)? Jack said: My dad can do everything! Anything!

Taylor, aka The Princess of Sass

Crunes = prunes.

As she looked at herself in the mirror: “Ta-da!!!”

In the car while driving to the North Shore: “How much longer?” Half an hour. “I don’t yike half an hour!”

“Why does daddy cut his hair?” ‘Cause he likes it short and doesn’t have much hair. BIG SIGH. “I wish him had hair!”

About school: “Can you teach me how to talk words?” (She meant teach me how to read.)

“I need to go vacuum my teeth ‘cause they aren’t so sparkly.”

She overheard me saying that some days it’s just hard to be a mom. “Do you want to be something else today? Like a…grandma? You could be a grandma instead.”

To Jack: “Don’t tell me what to do. Are you the mom??!” (do you think maybe she hears me say that to her and her brother a few times a day, or what?)

She and Jack were arguing about something petty. “Don’t argue with me!”

Newest word added to her vocabulary: “Literally”. What??

Far past her bedtime because she had taken a long nap: “I can’t go to sleep. My eyelids are GLUED open!”

Grant

He just says a few words: mom, da, amen (complete with a sign/clap), and signs more and all done. He has also started giving kisses and high fives, which is pretty darn cute.

this is the day

last night was rough. The kids were up about 4 times or more for various reasons. And unfortunately for them, I am not a very good mommy when I don’t get very much sleep! But my frustration and sour mood melted away this morning. Not because I magically felt rested. Not because my coffee (hello – caffeine is a non-negotiable around here) was particularly delicious.

How could I be mad or annoyed at the world when my little boy declares: “Dis is a day duh YORD has made. We will reJOICE and be gad in it!”

Amen. And pass my favorite mug of hot happiness kindly brewed by my hot husband. 🙂 With Jesus, Kyle and Peets, I’m gonna make it through this motherhood!

taylor style::2

more fun taylor style:

long sleeved onesie: Gerber, short sleeved onesie: Carters, jean skirt: hand-me-down, tights: Target, headband: Target and flower from JoAnn Fabrics

onesie/shirt: hand-me-down, jean skirt: hand-me-down, baby legs: handmade from knee high socks, headband: JoAnn Fabrics

I love putting little girly skirts on her and headbands. It’s fun to ramp up the femininity. I try to be a little eclectic, mixed with solid foundation pieces, in my own dressing, and I think I’ve translated that into the way I dress Sweet T. This winter I’ve adopted a similar uniform of tights/leggings, a skirt, top, boots and accessories. So we’ve kind of matched, without looking like it. 😉

Sometimes she wears a cute onesie and pant combo – this outfit was a gift from Taylor’s Aunt Bethany and Uncle Daniel at Christmas, from Target. Such a fun pattern and warm fleece pants with tiny bows on the pockets. She’s wrapped her Daddy around her finger – literally, in this photo. 🙂 And to make sure everyone knows she’s my girly girl, I love this floral headband from Target. It’s so soft and sweet.

16/52

this self-portrait thing is a learning experience for me. Last week i cut off my head. This week I cut off my foot. 🙂 Oh well. I promise I will get better – hopefully I will learn some more things about my camera as a result of this fun online photography clinic a photographer friend of mine is organizing!

Today I felt cute. Like a hot mom even. My hair cooperated (very rare these days). My makeup worked. My outfit was fun, stylish and comfortable. I bought new skinny jeans and a kicky pair of blush ballet flats with pale pink flowers over the weekend (weirdly enough, thanks to JCPenneys). A friend gave me the shirt and I already had the belt and jewelry. It was a happy bonus to have it all come together today and feel like I had it going on. 🙂 At the slightly awkward not-really-showing-much but chubby-in-enough-places-my-old-clothes-don’t-quite-fit stage, its really nice to have a day like today.

feelin like a hot mama

15/52

one of my jack boy and I on a lovely spring day. i sure love this kid. Being a mom has been way more amazing and wonderful, and pretty much as challenging as I thought it would be. The thought of having TWO of these little people in our house overwhelms me on occasion, but I know it will work out alright and hopefully my kids will always know that I love. being. their. mommy. my other thought when seeing this photo – gosh I need to do something to my hairs! lol.

the best hugs in the world

you’re gonna miss this

this morning at approximately 6:52am, as I laid in bed contemplating how rough a night’s sleep I had, I was shaken from my reverie by a firm KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on my wall. Jackson occasionally employs this technique to inform me of his state of wakefulness. It’s endearingly annoying.

then, at approximately 7:28am, as he was devouring his toast with jam and his plate of eggs was already emptied, I heard “Mom, mom, mom – biiiite?” That’s Jack speak for “what you have on your plate looks way better than what I had or in addition to what I had I would like some of yours, thankyouverymuch”. 🙂 Again – so cute, but really I just want to eat my fried egg…ALL the bites of it.

these two events of the morning made me think of the country song, “You’re Gonna Miss This” because I’m sure one day I’ll wish for a chubby hand to knock on my wall with a cheerful cry of “Mom!” when the house is quiet because my kids are all grown up and gone. I’m sure one day (a long time from now) I’ll remember with more fondness how I couldn’t get through a whole meal or eat anything in his presence without sharing just a “biiiite”.

it also made me think, “What else will I miss someday that currently drives me bananas?” I came up with this list:

• changing poopy diapers three times in a row (okay maybe I REALLY won’t miss this!)
• constant requests to go “a’side, Mom?”
• a little “helper” during meal prep, who wants to taste everything and gets too close to the stove
• the very. slow. pace. of walks when Jack wants to get down and walk next to me
• hearing him say “noo” in response to almost everything, even if he really means “yes”
• cleaning up toys and blowing bubbles endlessly
• hardly ever eating a meal when its hot or uninterrupted by something a little person needs

yes, these are the good times. 🙂 I’m trying to take a good look around and remember these moments that will so quickly fade. Someday I will miss motherhood and the trivial trials that come along for the ride. For now, I’ll ask God for grace to live in the moment and embrace it. Poopy diapers and all.

what are you going to miss?

mom corner: share the wisdom

Here’s a current dilemma I’m facing in mom-land and thought a little help from my friends would be great. Please?

i feel a little lost at this point in motherhood. Jack requires more attention than ever at this stage of the game…life was so much simpler when he couldn’t move. lol. 🙂 So while I have a pile of things to do that can’t really be done while he’s awake and needing me, I also require naps during his naps, which eliminates accomplishing those things while he naps. But the alternative is to be crabby and exhausted when he gets up from his two hour siesta, which is most definitely not a nice choice. For either of us.

I get the things done that I can while he’s my tag along or amusing himself with toys/books/etc. – housework, laundry, e-mailing, errands out and about and then find myself tired at the end of the day and when he’s in bed, all I want to do is curl up with a book or watch TV. I do not want to clean the oven at 9pm or scrub baseboards (things on my spring cleaning list). I’m not a big fan of sitting him in front of the TV, though I do employ that on a desperate occasion for 20-30 minutes at a time.

It’s the things that really require my brain like planning menus, writing stories, major cleaning that Jack will probably try to “help” with and create more of a mess, etc. that I’m finding hard to accomplish. I firmly believe in including your kids in life and I don’t view Jack as a hindrance to accomplishing MY goals…I definitely don’t stress about getting it all done and maintaining perfection, I just need to figure out something better!

Kyle is taking Jack with him right now to run errands while I make dinner, which is GREAT. I am hoping to schedule a day or overnight for Jack to go to Grandma’s so we can tackle major cleaning/organizing in April without him underfoot. On my to-do list is to develop a daily/weekly schedule to give a little more structure to our days, which I think will help a lot. I’m a very spontaneous person, but structure has always helped me reign in my time and be more productive.

How do you handle the needs and fun of a toddler and the need to get stuff done? Any experience or suggestions are welcome! 🙂

the motherhood: being here when its hard

Tonight I’m feeling a little weary in mothering. Jack has been difficult lately – whiny, clingy, unhappy with the things I want him to do, demanding his pacifier when we’re trying to wean him from it, finally picky in his food likes/dislikes (darn it!), and just a little sinner in general. There are definitely bright spots, and I know much of his inability to handle his emotions stems from feeling poorly (he’s had croup and then a cold) – but I would love to just rewind about 10 months to when he would eat ANYTHING and be perfectly happy to gum a toy and crawl across the floor and back for hours. 🙂 And crying was only a symptom of something being wrong, not a reaction to everything I suggest.

I knew these days would come. He’s only human and so am I. And I don’t want them or him to go away…I want to lean into this and learn what God wants to teach me about Himself and about Jack. I want to figure out the best way to instruct and correct Jack so he knows the world does not revolve around him, yet his mom and dad love him to the moon and back.

I’ve been totally blessed and challenged this year by a short, yet powerful book on mothering called “Loving the Little Years” by Rachel Jankovic.

In its 104 pages and short, easily digested and exceedingly practical chapters I found much wisdom and encouragement for this journey. If I could buy a copy for every single one of my friends that is a mom, especially in the throes of early parenthood with little people that need much shaping and love, I would.

Relating to my recent experience of Jack being restless and different, I found much comfort in her chapter called “Growth Spurts”.

Whenever this happens, this ambiguous restlessness in the house, I try to think of it as a growth spurt. It’s like they develop new needs. This is only a problem when Mom doesn’t have a growth spurt herself. If I pray for a growth spurt, for ideas on how to help them, how to make this a fun new phase, and how to appreciate their new needs, then the change on my part usually clears up a lot of things. I’m not saying it eliminates the need for discipline…but my attitude is no longer a player and it is no longer a big “situation”. It’s just normal life. Growing is, after all, what God wants them to do.

I also was really challenged by this one small phrase: “Who you are is where you are.” In this season of life, I am a mother. The Lord has led me here and while some days I do not love everything about being a mother, I am inseparable from it. This is me! And I want to be the best child of God, wife of Kyle, mother of Jack and Co., and whatever others need of me there is. I can only be that by God’s never-failing help.

Last night when Jack was up for the fifth time in the night and was inconsolable to the point I was almost in tears – hot, frustrated ones, not sympathetic, sweet ones…I wearily tried to recall the verse that talks about coming to the throne of grace where we can obtain help in time of need. Or as John Piper has literally translated it: “A well-timed help.” I had no burst of inspiration and Kyle didn’t come running through the door to save me from a horrible night’s sleep with a screaming 19 month old, but I did find comfort. And eventually the cries of a very upset child calmed and elusive sleep came back to both of us.

The morning began with more tears and frustration on both our parts, but I hold on to hope that this growth spurt or whatever it is will pass and I will be a better mom and Jack will be a sweeter kid on the other side. 🙂 I can pray, right?