Noah Kai . . . our newest dual citizen. Aussie by birth, American by descent.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Thoughts on Motherhood
My kids have been trading colds almost constantly since April and I've seen more stuff coming from and crusted under their tiny noses than I ever thought possible. I've decided its by far the most disgusting thing I've had to deal with as a mother. Snot can end up anywhere after a sneeze, even on my clothes or face, in my hair, and sometimes my mouth . . . thankfully not the case with other messy areas of parenting, such as poopy nappies. Of all the things that babies CAN do, I'd have to say I grieve that they CAN'T at least "sniff" or "blow" on demand.
Speaking of what babies can do . . .
Ella: can recite/"read" with us the Golden Book, "Little Mommy" and another book called "Little Blue Truck". It's amazing. These are both rhyming books, so we read them and leave off words and she fills them in . . . "This is my _____ (house) and I am the ____ (mommy). My children are Annabelle, Betsy and _____ (Bonnie)." So there really is a benefit to reading the same books over and over again! It is also a good tool for distraction on road trips and makes the Grandparents very proud.
We've entered a stage of jealousy/sibling rivalry. My belly is full from eating my words and thoughts. You know, things like, ". . . surely my kids will never fight. They will lovingly share all of their toys every day. . . ", and so on. That said, there are some extreme sweet and loving moments between my two kids . . . like this one.
Ella can get a great belly laugh going which in turn produces some great giggles from her brother. She continues to climb on everything, took her first ride in a coin operated ride (thanks to another little guy we had a ride for half price), and recently we are AMAZED at what she can do with her hands. She loves to buckle things, take lids off, put them back on and just figure out how things work. She has a rich vocabulary and we're surprised daily with words she must have just been storing away in her mind, like "coffee" and "washing". She can tell her brother to be "careful", ask us "what happened?" and tell us when she is happy, sad or shy.
Noah: is crawling (not commando style, true crawling), AND pulling up on things. He had been moving around since he was about 5.5 months but we declared him an official crawler right at 7 months. He occasionaly pulls himself into a standing position. There is no stopping this boy and I have a hunch we'll have an early walker. But he is adventurous and courageous and we enjoy those traits in him very much.
He is kind to his mamma, giving me a good blend of great snuggles, long naps, and long stretches of independant play time. He still LOVES to be carried in the baby wrap and I enjoy those moments a lot.
---
People weren't wrong when they said kids will change your life. I expected many of the external/physical changes. Things like how my house looks, the amount of laundry, sleep patterns and so on. I'm finding, though, that having kids is changing me on more on the inside than I'd ever expected.
There's something about the responsibility of shaping and guiding the hearts and minds of my children that really makes me think twice about the things I say and do, or even want to say and do. Perhaps I'm more confronted by this right now because I have a daughter who I thought was still a baby, but she is in fact a little girl with a striking capacity to copy what goes on around her; both the spoken and the unspoken.
I have a large influence in who she becomes. Not control, simply influence. I wonder, am I giving her a gift by helping her become a blessing to others? What will their hearts learn from me and my interactions with them and others? What do they hear from and see in me? Will Ella and Noah grow to act and react as I do? Am I responsible for their every thought and action as they grow? Of course not. Will I always act and speak in a Godly, loving way? Sadly, no. Will I have to seek forgiveness when I set a poor example? Time and time again, no doubt! .
I am especially mindful of their presence lately. They have reminded me that out of the overflow of my heart, my mouth speaks, and so too I believe, do my actions. They have helped me to be slow(er) to speak. To be silent, at times. To wait. And to search deeper and harder for the ways of God instead of following my own ways. If it takes two babies and the weight of responsibility to help grow a change in my heart, than thank you God for giving them to me when He did! :)
And I'm so thankful, too, that its not all up to me, but that a life in step with the Spirit promises to grow within us characteristics that come from, and point to, a gracious and loving God, rather than a broken me.
Well, thats quite a deep ending to a post that started out the way it did. But there you have it, the deep, and the not so deep thoughts from my life as I know it right now.
Speaking of what babies can do . . .
Ella: can recite/"read" with us the Golden Book, "Little Mommy" and another book called "Little Blue Truck". It's amazing. These are both rhyming books, so we read them and leave off words and she fills them in . . . "This is my _____ (house) and I am the ____ (mommy). My children are Annabelle, Betsy and _____ (Bonnie)." So there really is a benefit to reading the same books over and over again! It is also a good tool for distraction on road trips and makes the Grandparents very proud.
We've entered a stage of jealousy/sibling rivalry. My belly is full from eating my words and thoughts. You know, things like, ". . . surely my kids will never fight. They will lovingly share all of their toys every day. . . ", and so on. That said, there are some extreme sweet and loving moments between my two kids . . . like this one.
Ella can get a great belly laugh going which in turn produces some great giggles from her brother. She continues to climb on everything, took her first ride in a coin operated ride (thanks to another little guy we had a ride for half price), and recently we are AMAZED at what she can do with her hands. She loves to buckle things, take lids off, put them back on and just figure out how things work. She has a rich vocabulary and we're surprised daily with words she must have just been storing away in her mind, like "coffee" and "washing". She can tell her brother to be "careful", ask us "what happened?" and tell us when she is happy, sad or shy.
Noah: is crawling (not commando style, true crawling), AND pulling up on things. He had been moving around since he was about 5.5 months but we declared him an official crawler right at 7 months. He occasionaly pulls himself into a standing position. There is no stopping this boy and I have a hunch we'll have an early walker. But he is adventurous and courageous and we enjoy those traits in him very much.
He is kind to his mamma, giving me a good blend of great snuggles, long naps, and long stretches of independant play time. He still LOVES to be carried in the baby wrap and I enjoy those moments a lot.
---
People weren't wrong when they said kids will change your life. I expected many of the external/physical changes. Things like how my house looks, the amount of laundry, sleep patterns and so on. I'm finding, though, that having kids is changing me on more on the inside than I'd ever expected.
There's something about the responsibility of shaping and guiding the hearts and minds of my children that really makes me think twice about the things I say and do, or even want to say and do. Perhaps I'm more confronted by this right now because I have a daughter who I thought was still a baby, but she is in fact a little girl with a striking capacity to copy what goes on around her; both the spoken and the unspoken.
I have a large influence in who she becomes. Not control, simply influence. I wonder, am I giving her a gift by helping her become a blessing to others? What will their hearts learn from me and my interactions with them and others? What do they hear from and see in me? Will Ella and Noah grow to act and react as I do? Am I responsible for their every thought and action as they grow? Of course not. Will I always act and speak in a Godly, loving way? Sadly, no. Will I have to seek forgiveness when I set a poor example? Time and time again, no doubt! .
I am especially mindful of their presence lately. They have reminded me that out of the overflow of my heart, my mouth speaks, and so too I believe, do my actions. They have helped me to be slow(er) to speak. To be silent, at times. To wait. And to search deeper and harder for the ways of God instead of following my own ways. If it takes two babies and the weight of responsibility to help grow a change in my heart, than thank you God for giving them to me when He did! :)
And I'm so thankful, too, that its not all up to me, but that a life in step with the Spirit promises to grow within us characteristics that come from, and point to, a gracious and loving God, rather than a broken me.
Well, thats quite a deep ending to a post that started out the way it did. But there you have it, the deep, and the not so deep thoughts from my life as I know it right now.
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