David Wax Museum - "Born With A Broken Heart": SXSW 2011 Showcasing Artist

I went to high school with David Wax. Check him out. Very good.

Motherhood as a Mission Field

A good friend posted an article from the Desiring God blog by Rachel Jakovic last week. After reading it, I followed a link to this related article, "Motherhood as a Mission Field."

I thought I would share.

Here is a part of the article and the link to the full article below.

Motherhood as a Mission Field

June 16, 2011 | by: Rachel Jankovic

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive.

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

Bouncy Big Brother

Last night our little family of four was playing in Trip's room before bed time. I put Anna Kate on the floor to stretch out, and watched as the scene above unfolded.

Trip grabbed his blanket from his bed and gently put it across AK. Then, methodically, he placed each of his Monkeys, Big Lamby, Woody, and Buzz around her. All the while, telling her that it was time to go "nigh nigh" and giving sweet kisses. I ran and grabbed my camera to capture the sweet moment.

While Trip may have thought it was time for his baby sister to go to sleep, he clearly did not think that it was his time to calm down.

Trip grabbed his bouncing Tigger from the toy closet, and jumped circles around little Anna Kate.

Tigger bounced and cheered him on, saying, "Bouncing's what Tigger's do best!" (Boing, Boing, Boing!)

Although I can't ready minds, I imagine Anna Kate was thinking, "Wow! Look at my big brother! ... Um, Mom, can you help me out here? ... Is there anyone in the room that cares for my safety and well-being? ... Please don't jump on me!"



I can't imagine any better way to spend an evening! I love being a mom.

Jumperoo!

I am amazed that she is already old enough to be in her Jumperoo. Everyone warns - but it is true that time really does go by faster with each baby.

dada's shoes

like a big boy

These days, Trip likes to do things, "like a big boy".

Here he is, sitting at the counter (and not in his high chair - that would be like a baby), eating cereal and playing trucks.

Letting Trip do things like a big boy means that I need lots of patience, "like a big girl".

4 Months on the 4th!

Anna Kate turned 4 months old on July 4th!

[I love that her eyes are the same color as her denim dress.]

Height: 25.5 in (90th percentile)

Weight: 15 lbs (75th percentile)

Likes: Anna Kate is really so easy going now. I can put her in her crib or baby play gym for quite some time while I cook or play with Trip and she is happy to entertain herself. She really only fusses when she is tired. More on that in the "dislikes" section.

She truly loves her brother and has gone from just tolerating his craziness to seeming quite fond of him. I'm sure she is constantly entertained!

AK has really started to like sucking her fingers. As hard as I try and force the paci so that she doesn't become a thumb sucker, she just always seems to have a fist in her mouth.

Dislikes: She is still very sensitive to sound, but only when she is tired. If she is well rested, sounds shock her, but when she is tired they send her into a complete meltdown. Even hearing people talk if she is tired will upset her quite a bit.

Memories: In her 3rd month of life, AK was making some really quiet and sweet coo's. I thought, she is going to be my shy and quiet girl. This month, she has really proved me wrong. I think she has learned how to playfully scream from her brother. She can be so loud! Now I am starting to think that she will end up being even more wild than Trip! Lord help me!

Overall, Anna Kate is such a joy to be around and I have really enjoyed getting to know her without all the pain and fussiness she experienced in the first couple of months. She is still my little buddy (partially because she refuses to take a bottle), and I am so excited to see how our relationship will grow as mother and daughter.

We praise the Lord every day for this little girl. She is such a blessing to us.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was J's 31st birthday, which makes him officially into his thirties! We had a lot of fun celebrating this weekend with his mom and a few others.

Birthdays are always a good chance to reflect on the past year and all of the blessings that we have received. J has had quite a few changes with his job, we moved into a new house, and Anna Kate joined our family! On his birthday last year I told him we were pregnant. It feels like she has always been part of our family, so it is hard to believe that she just turned 4 months old.

Happy birthday J! We love you so much!

Trip the Tester!

I attempted to have a little July 4th photo shoot with my kids dressed in their cute outfits, but Trip was simply not having it. He didn't want any pictures taken of himself, and when I was trying to take pictures of Anna Kate, he was constantly jumping on me or her!

Alas, these are the best I could do.

Let's just say that Trip has been quite the little challenge lately. He is really trying to assert himself with me, doesn't want to do a thing I say, and is not responding well to my attempts at discipline.

Is this what they call the "terrible two's"?

I am about half way through Shepherding a Child's Heart and so far it has provided some really great, Biblical advice. Hopefully it will lend some good practical advice for how to handle this stage of discipline.

We shall see.

Trip's Fort

This was before Trip's nap today. He watched a little bit of his Toy Story DVD, cuddled with his monkey and had some "pink milk" in his new fort from his Cupcake.

Doesn't get much better than that.