The Zoo

A couple of days ago Erik and I decided that if the weather was nice we would try to take the kids to the zoo on Monday. We figured it would be a good time to go since summer break hasn't started yet and hopefully it wouldn't be too crowded. Normally I am not what you would call an animal lover(that's putting it mildly), but my kids (well Jack and Anna, Lily's still a little young) love them so I was looking forward to seeing their reactions.

This was taken as we passed the Arch. Jack exclaimed, "Mommy look at that big heart!"

Anna was just sure she could pet that chimpanzee. It was pretty funny, because when we were standing at the exhibit none of the chimps would come down to the glass, but once everyone and Anna and I were getting ready to walk away, the chimp came down.

The face of a very worn out and hot little boy. Did I mention it was almost 100 degrees yesterday?

I thought this was a cute picture. Erik is taking Jack and Anna to see the amphibians, but Anna got scared of the room they were in, so Erik and Jack got to get some one on one time.

It was a pretty good day, though we were definitely exhausted by the time it was over. The kids were in bed by seven last night, and we went to bed before ten! We did have a lot of fun spending a little time together doing something out of the ordinary.

My week in Pictures

It's been a week since I posted anything, and I am not real sure where the time has gone. But since my brain is mush I thought I'd share some photos from the past week. :-)

The sleepy little lady. I came out from making lunch and this is how I found Lily the other day.

Remember how I told you that Anna can be a tad mischievous at times? I left my coffee cup on our coffee table and I discovered her drinking the rest of it. I tried to be stern with her, but really it was just too funny watching her try to drink it.

A good chunk of the week has been spent diligently potty training Jack. Believe it or not I'm finally starting to see some fruit from my labors(Thank God!) This is how I found him this morning, reading material and all! Something tells me in a few years he's not going to be too happy I posted this!

The sisters. Anna is apparently reading the Bible to Lily. Interesting enough when I found her looking through my Bible she was on the Proverbs page about training your children in the way they should go...

They have so much in our rocking chair. Jack and Anna just sit and rock and try to get going as fast as they can. And yes Anna is wearing her apron! She had to "help" mommy with dinner.

At every meal Anna must play peek- a- boo...

I love the look on Lily's face in this picture. This one was taken while her brother and sister were being loud and crazy in our rocking chair. She looks like, "What is this family I've been born into?"

Sorry that was so many pictures! Though I'm sure my mom and dad appreciated them. Hope everyone has had a great week!

3 months

Dear Lily,

You are three months old today! I can't believe you are only three months, it seems like you have always been part of our family. At three months old you are proving to be quite the happy baby. We still haven't heard you laugh out loud yet, but you try so hard. Usually you make a noise like you're about to crack up, but all you get out is a squeal(which is pretty darn cute!) At the last well baby checkup we had, you were already over 13 pounds and about 22 inches. You definitely have some chubbiness going on! I think you might be getting a little sensitive about it, though, because you've pushed yourself back from a three hour feeding schedule to a four. And there is absolutely no feeding you earlier than that!

You are getting close to sleeping through the night, you generally get up around ten to eat and then get up between 4:30 or 5:30. You take really good naps, though it is tough for you to sleep in the morning when your bubby and sissy are running around making noise, but you're afternoon naps are about 3 hours long! You startle very easily, much to your daddy's amusement. You hate it when someone blows raspberry's on you, and right before you get upset you stick your bottom lip out and try hard not to cry. Which is very cute.

From the minute you were born, you have known who you mama is. Most of the time if I just pick you up you'll stop crying, and that is how it's been from day one. Your brother and sister were kind of like that, but I remember it happening more when they were a couple of weeks old. That absolutely melts me! You either like to be held facing out so you can see everything, or you like to be on your back looking around. You love to watch Jack and Anna play, but we have to be careful laying you on the floor when their running around! We love you so much, Lily Faith. You bring
so much joy to our lives!

Love you!

Showing Love in the Little Things

I'm loving this meme from Lauren's blog, because it's causing me to be more intentional about how I show love to Erik. There's been a couple of areas I've tried to focus on, but I think the most important one this week has been giving my husband a quiet area to study since he has finals this week. Finding a quiet area in our house isn't an easy task with three little ones at home, though we are blessed with some space, but for me it's been more than just trying to keep the kids entertained so Erik can get work done. It's been an attitude check for me.

Whenever Erik is home I want his help. I might not necessarily nag him until he does what I want, but if I don't think he's doing enough around the house I will start thinking negatively about him. Before I know it, I'm in a fight with him in my head, and he doesn't even know I'm mad! So this past week I've strove to be intentional about not letting negative feelings come up. Erik needs to study and get work taken care of. The reason he's even going to school and working so hard is for his family, so the least I can do is joyfully keep the kids entertained and out of his way. I am also trying to make sure we have the food he wants in the house. It's not been easy, but in just a few days finals will be over, and things can get back to normal around here.

Be sure to check out the Live by Faith blog for more ideas on how to love your husband.

Reminding myself who God is

The last couple of years has had its ups and downs for me. When you compare it to trials some people face, mine seem pretty trivial, but nevertheless I've had to walk through some difficult situations. I've found myself getting to know the Sovereign side of God. I know that sounds strange, because everything about God is Sovereign, but when you're not walking through anything difficult it's easy to talk about how good God is. It's when you are faced with trials, whether they are messy situations you got yourself into, or truly trials sent by God to test us and refine us that force us to realize that we either believe God is in control, and is working all things for our good and His Glory(Romans 8:28), or we don't.

Last spring in particular was a pretty difficult time for us because we were trying to sell our house, Erik got laid off, I found out I was pregnant, and Anna was having some developmental delays. Basically in that order. During this time, I found myself questioning God and what His plan for us was. I found it helpful to look up things in my Bible's concordance and write them down, and any time unbelief or anxiety would creep in, I would remind myself what God had to say about it.

So whenever I would worry about why our house hadn't sold or ask myself if God even cared  about where we lived(this would be an example of a mess we made for ourselves) I would remind myself that the Bible says God has an allotted period and place for everyone(Acts 17:26). When I would become overwhelmed over how we were going to make ends meet I would remember that Jesus says not to be anxious, that He will supply all our needs if we seek him first(Matt 6:26-34). It was also a huge comfort to meditate on Hebrews 13:5,"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said,"I will never leave your or forsake you."

When I was questioning God's timing of my being pregnant, I would remember that God says children are a blessing(Psalm 127:3), and that verse along with reminders of not being anxious helped get me through my fears over Anna's developmental delays.

If you are a Christian, trials will come. With that in mind, I would just like to encourage you to look up the Truth in God's Word. And you know what? Some of the things that I was having such a difficult time with last Spring have already been resolved. Anna is fine, I couldn't imagine life without Lily, Erik is going back to school(something that wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been laid off), and we have never had a need go unmet.