Jesus was in a small group...

I'm not sure I have written on my blog about this, but for a year and a half Lance and I have been a part of a really really great life group at our church. We met weekly at a friend's house here in East Nashville and our lives became richer. Besides the great conversations and discussions we had weekly, the people in our group have really become a huge part of our every day lives as well. It has been one of the most positive things we have done in our time here in Nashville.

We took a huge leap of faith and decided that it was time for us to lead another group in our neighborhood. Our group was busting at the seams and it just seemed like really great timing after having had Lucas and not knowing what his little baby schedule would be like, to do something in our own home.

So tonight we kicked it off! It was great. We had a wonderful turn out of people...some we know, some we'd met previously and some were brand new. It is going to be fun! Lance and I are excited. I think because we have seen how great of an impact our group had on us, we want that for others.

Are you a part of a small group at your church?

guy smiley

Lucas doesn't stop smiling. I am starting to wonder about this kid ;)

Seriously...I have to not look at him when I'm putting him to sleep or he just keeps smiling at me and won't sleep. It's really funny. Same with nursing, if I smile at him while he's nursing, he unlatches and beams at me. He is seriously happy. Seriously. haha...I keep saying "seriously" when I'm talking about how NOT serious this baby is. Judah almost got him laughing yesterday by clapping his hands together. It was adorable. I love watching them enjoy each other.

I hope his sweet smile makes you smile today!

It's contagious...don't even bother being sad around this baby...

twenty-four-seven-ness

There are many things in mommy hood you can prepare for. You can do things like buy the right furniture, decorate the nursery, have a college fund started, buy the things you know you will need for day to day life with a child...and do things like learn how give a new born a bath, or potty train a 2 yr old, or figure out the correct medicine dosages needed for a fever, or how to make your own baby food, or how to sooth a crying baby, or how to childproof your kitchen...and the list goes on. So many things you can prepare for and do well.

But the thing that no one can prepare a new mom for is what I like to call the "twenty-four-seven-ness" of the job. The no breaks, no relief, no full nights sleep, no turning off the internal awareness we have of our kids once they are placed in our arms (heck, in our bodies for that matter...it starts when we are pregnant). There is no preparing for it. You can know about it, and see others experiencing it...but you can't prepare for it. And once you are in the middle of it, you can't turn the train around. lol. It's a new way of life. And it is exhausting.

But along with the exhaustion comes never missing a beat, being in tune with our babies, being 100% completely invested into their little lives. It is what makes the twenty-four-seven-ness worth it. So incredibly worth it.

If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't have them yet, but think you will someday...you will find out.

So on that note, I am going to sleep. Sleeping when baby sleeps is an important part of surviving the twenty-four-seven-ness...you never know when they will need you. Need...not want, need. No pressure ;-)

I read a great article recently about moms with one child. It was not so long ago that I only had one...and this article rang so true. Yes, two kids is more work...but one kid was a lot of work too. I am hoping that some day the two will keep each other occupied and happy and it won't be as intense as only having one. I guess time will tell :)

"We write to taste life twice..."

I was in Target trying to find my little wandering family (Lance had both boys alone with a Target cart while I made a return...danger will robinson) when I passed through the stationary aisle and ran across this darling notebook. Now I am super picky about notebooks...there are many many many notebook covers I fall in love with, but if the paper on the inside is lame then it doesn't matter. I don't like the big wide ruled lines and strange little markings in the corners. It's a quirk...I have a few.

Anyhow, I love this notebook but wasn't even tempted to buy it cause the paper was lame. So I pulled out my phone and snapped a pic instead.

I feel this quote. It is why I blog. It is why I don't blog about things that I don't want to relive...like a good fight with the hubs, or family drama, or the poopy diaper that ruined my day...sometimes I do write about the bad days because I survived them, and that IS worth remembering, and "tasting twice". There is so much good in life to remember and to live again through writing. Some of it is too good to capture in words and so I try to capture things in a picture.

Life in Nashrock is starting to fall into a groove, I am hoping to do a bit more blogging if I can master the art of getting two children to sleep at the same time...wish me luck!

Less is more...I hope.

I have never been a big talker. I remember my mom trying to get me to talk more when I was a kid, but I was just more interested in listening and observing. It's not like I never talked, I just wasn't a chatty girl.
This is still pretty true of me, although I do try to be more vocal now.
But the reason I was thinking about this today is I was praying for my babe Lucas who is still fighting off a cold...going on 6 weeks (he's only 7 weeks old)...and I started wondering if God thinks I'm to quiet when I pray...do I need to say more than "please help my baby boy feel better, please lord" or should I be saying more. I know lots of people who pray and pray and pray...long prayers. Of course comparing isn't good but this is more theoretical than thinking of a specific person.
Is my simple prayer enough? I know the answer is that yes, it is enough. But as someone who has always been a little quiet and I know it bugs people, it just made me wonder if it bugged the big guy too.
Lol. I'm laughing at this post now, just realizing that you can't change a zebra's stripes. This is me. Quiet me. I know God created me this way, so surely he doesn't mind my short prayers.
Okay. Glad I worked that out, blogging does wonders in helping me "think out loud"...my way of being more vocal...with out talking. Lol. I'm done rambling for now.

Please say a short or long (whatever works for you) prayer for Lucas to get better...thanks!

Sent from my iPhone

The urge to purge

My husband always has the urge to purge, to the extent that he gets rid of some things that he later has to re-buy. I admire it, although I personally enjoy holding onto things. But I don't like feeling cluttered and like I can't enjoy what I have, so I also get the urge to purge...just not the same way my husband does.

I was reading a friend's blog and ran across the idea to purge 7 items a day...so today I did just that, I found a set of glasses at the back of a cupboard I have barely used and they are now in the purge bag.

The thing I like about the idea of 7 things a day (for a month) is that it is manageable. I do not have the ability or the energy to go through all of my things in a day, or even in a week and get rid of stuff. Not physically and not emotionally. Because yes, getting rid of things can be emotional. (I'm sure my husband is going to be ecstatic when he reads this blog post. lol. but honey, I may not get rid of the things you think I should...but it will still be a good purge, I promise.)

So wish me luck! I actually think it's going to be fairly easy to get rid of 7 things a day for a month. Heck, if I started in on Judah's toys, I could do it for 2 months and he'd still have an abundance. But I'm going to keep it focused on my own things & household things first. Toys are good to keep so you can rotate things in and not spend money on new toys.

How about you? are you feeling the urge to purge too? is it a January thing? All those fun christmas gifts and no where to put them? ha. yup. I am inspired. Time to lighten the load.

What my toddler will eat..

I thought it would be good to document at this season of Judah's life what he will eat. It won't take long:

Baked Beans...this article made me feel better about it being one of the staples of his diet..

Mac-n-cheese...but ONLY the kind that looks like this picture, if it's any other kind of noodle, forget about it. Even the ones shaped like cars or dora or sponge bob do not make the cut.

Hot dogs. This one worries me, not gonna lie. I try to buy the healthier hot dogs (oxymoron I know) but he is really picky about what kind of hot dog he will eat. It can't have tough skin, so the beef ones are out...and he won't eat the ends of a hot dog cause they are "squish" and that is not okay for the jbyrd.

Fun Nuggets...we do not call them chicken nuggets, we call them dinosaur nuggets and he bites their heads off and then their tales, their tummies may or may not get eaten...depends on how hungry the dinosaur devourer is. These only get eaten like once a week if we're lucky and it's very dramatic.

Besides those items, he will eat Lite and Fit Vanilla yogurt and applesauce...and occasionally grapes as long as the skin doesn't look funny. He's a huge fan of Pringles. He will eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a grilled cheese sandwich (sometimes). And for breakfast Lance can get him to eat pancakes and oatmeal. The only breakfast cereal he will eat is Frosted Mini Wheats. Sometimes he'll eat a cheese stick, but often he takes one bite and declares them yucky.

Oh yes, and he loves burrito's from Taco Bell (hold the onions please). Yup. That's my boy.

Once upon a time I thought if I made his baby food, introduced him to lots of flavors and yummy things that maybe he'd be a good eater. But that was a pipe dream. So I will continue to warm up the hot dog, mac-n cheese and beans (but not to hot cause if they are even a little bit hot he will refuse the entire meal)...even if it's for breakfast, I guess I should be thankful he's eating at all...I know moms with an even shorter menu.

What does your toddler eat?

ps...we started giving him a Flinstone vitamin every morning to keep him from getting scurvy,(j/k..kinda) thankfully he actually likes them.

Jbyrd the big brover

Judah is so sweet to Lucas...he gives him kisses, puts his cheek on Lucas's head and says "I wike him mom, he's nice" He also says "he's my baby, not yours!" in typical bossy 2 yr old fashion.

Unfortunately over the holidays, Judah got the pukes twice. Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. And the week in between he was coughing a lung and burning up with fever. I am not convinced he is completely over it all yet either. We knew he really didn't feel well because he was behaving. ha. He's a naughty little jbyrd normally.

I really think there needs to be a support group for parents of two year olds. If your two year old was an angel...well, count your blessings and give a mom with a naughty two year old a break ;)

I just know he'll turn sweet again...please God, let him be sweet again. Not that spicy is all bad, he cracks me up sometimes with how bossy he is and the sassy things he says. But don't tell him I said that. Besides a bossy sassy pants, he's also a ham. If he thinks he can get a laugh out of someone, he goes for it.

I wish it were possible to capture in a picture or video the looks and faces he pulls when he's trying to persuade you sweetly to do what he wants...those eyes can get him out of trouble if used properly...and he knows it. ha.

Today he yelled from the kitchen (I was in the living room working on something) "babe? where are ya? babe-mom?" I was cracking up. Lance calls me babe so I guess it makes sense.
With all the family we have had visit over the holidays, he heard us called all sorts of things like Auntie and Uncle and daughter and son and cousin and such. So he started calling us by our names again (I broke him of the habit one time previously). Or calling daddy "Uncle Lance" and when I say "no, what do you call him?" and he knows the answer should be "daddy" he can't help it but says "daddy Lance" instead...it's his way of getting away with murder. lol. and since he's not good at the letter L yet, it sounds more like "daddy wance" and it cracks me up more. oh boy.

Our routine has been out the window for a while now...the last few weeks of pregnancy and then since Lucas was born have been anything but routine. And we are suffering the consequences of it. I am trying to get back into being very intentional about being in a routine that works, it's not easy though with a new born, but not impossible. Judah needs structure and with out it, he just gets to be larger than life and not in a good way. I am hoping that with less sugar (way to many holiday treats in our house) and more structure, some of the sass will go and more sweetness will return. Wish us luck.

I don't want a day in Judah's life to go by where he does not know and hear that I love him. I try to tell him every day and of course show him. Because I do. Seriously. Love him more than I can ever put into words. He's my joy. Even at his most terrible, I love that kid to pieces :)

"wrap me like a burrito mommy!" haha...oh I love that smile :)

Love these boys

Lance and Judah have a great relationship, it can be intense at times...they both react to each other intensely and feel what the other feels intensely. I wonder if they can even see it?

It is interesting to watch them interact...sometimes it is the most stressful thing to see, other times it is the most wonderful.

I have a feeling the words "like father like son" will be uttered more times than anyone can count about these two :)

Now if we can only all just survive the terrible terrible two's...(yes I said terrible twice...)

I am testing

Just checking

Sent from my iPhone

tick, tock

There's this feeling of desperation that happens when both boys are asleep...I am desperately trying to finish something, do something, think through something, all while a huge mental clock is ticking off the minutes...no time to relish, no time to waste, no time for mulling. Gotta work fast or else. I remember feeling this at the beginning when I had Judah...so I guess it must be normal and part of adjusting.

The big mental clock says I am almost done blogging cause Lucas is about to wake up and want to nurse...but it was nice to stop in for a minute or two. I hope this finds you well!

settle in

I have things to blog about and show pictures of...like all the fabulous christmas celebrations we had and my birthday and of course our happy new year...lots of sweet baby moments...interesting toddler antics...so many things...

The last of our holiday guests departed this morning...Lucas is 6 weeks old on Tuesday...I am feeling a little more human all the time.

My January resolutions are:
I plan to go hardcore with Judah on potty training...he is SO ready.
I want to get into a routine, again for Judah, he is a mess after the last couple months of crazy schedules and life changes. Time to lock into a routine that sets him up for success.
I want to get back into couponing, I found out I can order my groceries online at Harris Teeter and use coupons...so if I can manage to do these things from the comfort of my home, it may actually be possible.
I have a couple areas of my house that need to be re-organized...and decluttered. I don't know if this is even possible but it's going on the list anyhow...aim high people, aim high.

My life resolution:
To create a space where I can create. I can't leave anything laying around or out in my house for very long...if I do, Judah will ruin it or Lance will want me to clean it up. Those two forces are not to be reckoned with, not by me. So how can i create a win, win? well...I'm not sure. I guess that's the challenge. I want to scrapbook, I want to blog, I want to smash, I want to sew, I want to have piles, I want to leave a cup in one spot for a week and not use a coaster. I have goals people ;) ha.

My 2012 resolution:
To settle into life as a mom of two.


I wish this blog "flowed" or was more coherent...but the fact of the matter is, I have had to stop and do other things at least 5x...and I'm tired. Once Lucas goes to sleep (it's looking like it might be soon) I plan to join him in dream land! Judah has been asleep for a bit (thankfully no puking tonight...we've had way to much of that this week). Lance comes home in the morning...I wish he was coming home to a tidy home, but reality is that if it's going to be more tidy, he's gonna have to do it or watch the kids so I can...they double team me and I am lucky to get half of something done at once...lol. I'm not complaining, just stating the facts of my life as it is currently.
I'm officially rambling...so on that note!

Sweet dreams blog land!