Things I Wish I'd Known

I'll start this off by confessing that I am a liar.  I said my next post would have Colorado pictures...but this one does not.  Sorry...maybe tomorrow?

I'm not sure if it's because I'm about to have my 3rd child, or because of my quickly approaching birthday, but lately, I've been thinking about things I wish I had known 15 years ago.  I've kind of been compiling a mental list...some serious, some funny.  So, I thought I'd share my list, one at a time (about one post a week, if all goes as planned) on the blog.  What I'd really love is for everyone reading this to share something they wished they had known when they were younger too...if you'd like to share (and PLEASE do!!), please leave the thing you would like to go back in time and tell your younger self in the comments.  I think it will be fun to read everyone's advice.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to comment.  And who knows, we might just help out a young whipper-snapper somewhere with all of our wisdom.  :)

So here's my first installment of "Things I Wish I'd Known:"

1.  You do not have to accomplish EVERYthing you ever want to accomplish in your 20s.  Slow down and enjoy being young and relatively free to do as you wish.  It is not necessary to get a career, marriage, children and a house before you are 25 years old.  Wait for God's timing and don't try to force it or make it happen.  Just enjoy the ride.  You can never go back to this time, so enjoy it as long as it lasts.

So, what about you?  What do you wish you had known 15 (or 20, or 30, etc) years ago?

And, as a bonus, here's one Colorado picture.  I love this view.  It makes me feel close to God and at peace.  In my dreams, my "mansion" (which I hope is more like a cottage) in heaven has this view:

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."  Ecclesiastes 3:11

Trust

What a whirlwind summer we are having!  For those that don't know, the night (yes, ONE night) before we left for Colorado, we decided to put our house on the market!  We love our house, but we are starting to feel a little claustrophobic. The idea of getting all the baby stuff out of the attic and trying to find space for it makes me want to hyperventilate!  We have found a neighborhood we would like to build in, but we have to sell our house first.  We have covered this in prayer, and God has not really chosen to reveal much of his plan for us at this time.  So, our plan now is to keep it on the market until the baby comes, and if it hasn't sold by then, we'll just stay here.  There are a lot of "ifs" and a lot of unknowns right now...not something my personality handles well!  So everyday, I have to consciously turn it over to God to handle all the details in his timing, not mine.  I know he's teaching us something through this...I can almost feel myself growing and stretching (and not just my pregnant belly either!).  He knows I hate not being in the know!  But, he's been so gracious to give me such sweet verses out of the blue to help settle me down just when I need it.

For instance, the other day I was doing laundry and fretting about if moving was the right idea...is that the right neighborhood, would we like it there, would we miss it here, etc.  When I glanced up, I saw a verse hanging on my bulletin board that said, "I am the Lord your God and I am with you wherever you go."  It brought me such peace to know that it doesn't really matter where I live or what happens in my life, because the God that spoke the universe into existence loves me as his child and never leaves my side.

Then, as I was stressed about the details and the timing of trying to sell one house, build another, all while having a baby...and all the financial details that go along with it...I sat with my Bible in my lap not even sure where to turn and it fell open to Jeremiah.  There, highlighted in my Bible was the verse:  "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future."  Okay God...you have this under control.

Sunday, the stress was really creeping in...money is tight, and there are so many unknowns.  The sermon was on trusting God...very timely.  It brought both Mark and I a lot of peace and reminded us again to just take our hands out of it and let God handle the details.  That night, I was reading a magazine article that referred to living life as "the lilies of the field."  It reminded me again..."consider the lilies of the field.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

Okay, God, I get it...we don't have to worry about this or try to make it happen.  We'll just take one step at a time and let you handle the details.  If our house sells, wonderful, we'll get a new house.  If it does not, we'll stay here in the home we love, surrounded by all your blessings.  We'll just cling to you as you work all of this out.  How blessed are we to be your children!

Speaking of God's blessings, (sorry to change gears all of the sudden, but I have some catching up to do!) we had a beautiful and restful time in Colorado.  I'll post some pictures in my next post.  When we got back, we found out that we are going to be blessed with another daughter!  Aidan said he is moving to China.  Ella announced that she is glad it is a girl and no longer hates babies (that's a relief!).  I am 22 weeks pregnant...only 18 to go!  I've been feeling good for the most part.  I am feeling the baby move on a regular basis now, and it makes me feel very honored to be a mother.  What a gift it is to bring life into the world.

I hope everyone reading this is having a great summer.  I'm thinking we should all pray for rain!!  My lawn could stand a good drenching right about now...and it would do wonders for my soul too!

Bye for now,
Jessica

Excuses

Everyone has been asking about the blog...I know, I've been TERRIBLE this summer!  Sigh.  I just can't seem to get it together.

Since everyone loves excuses, here is a list of excuses for why I haven't been blogging regularly:

1.  I'm pregnant.  (18 weeks...almost 1/2 way!!)  I'm pregnant and I can't think a complete thought...putting that thought into writing?  Next to impossible.  I have pregnancy induced dementia.  For example, the other day, the kids and I were driving to the grocery store.  I was NOT thinking about what I was doing, and I missed the turn.  So, I turned the car around.  I immediately started thinking of something else and missed the turn AGAIN!  I would not have even realized it if Aidan hadn't said something.  I've also taken wrong turns on the way to church twice in the last week.  Church is less than 5 minutes from my house.  So, I'll be doing good to finish this post and remember how to get it published correctly.

2.  Both of my kids are home all day every day.  I LOVE having my kids home, but if I don't keep them entertained they will do one of three things:  a) Eat every bit of food in the house  b) Fight   c) Make a gigantic mess.  So, needless to say, I do my best to keep them entertained.

3.  My husband is only working half days.  One might think this would make it EASIER for me to get things done, but no.  I need a routine.  I have my days planned out, and on my schedule, Mark gets home at 4 or 5, not 1:30.  It totally messes me up.

4.  Laundry.  Does this even need an explanation?  Could someone please explain to my children that you can wear the same clothes AFTER you go swimming that you were wearing before?  And, if you want to pretend to be super heroes, you do not have to ACTUALLY change clothes while spinning around.  If God had told Eve that eating that fruit would ultimately lead to load after load of laundry I am SURE she wouldn't have done it.  Fortunately, Mark took up the laundry cause yesterday...he decided he was going to wash every piece of dirty clothing in the house so it would ALL be clean at once.  I just smiled...I didn't bother to explain that this is an impossible task, because our kids won't stop wearing clothes!  He'll figure it out soon enough.  In the meantime, I'll update my blog while he chips away at the laundry.

5. Dishes.  (sigh)

6. Our computer is a dinosaur.  I'm not kidding.  It takes 7 minutes to open one email.  If all goes as planned, we will be getting a new one this summer, thanks to my awesome hard working husband.

7.  We are getting ready for a long trip.  Because of my PID (pregnancy induced dementia) this is really taking up all my mental energy.  I usually have a great system for trip preparation, but I can't seem to concentrate long enough to work on it.  So, I just think about it, walk around the house a few times trying to decide what to do first, and then sit back down.  It is exhausting.

8.  I am trying to keep 2 kids (I guess, 3 now), 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 bird and 1 husband alive.  They must all be fed, groomed and played with regularly.

9.  A realtor is coming to the house on Thursday to discuss the possibility of listing our house.  That means, I feel compelled to clean the whole house...and not just "stuff it all in the closet" clean, but really clean and organize everything...which takes twice as long because of the aforementioned PID.

10.  It's summer...and I'm lazy.

Enough excuses though...I promise to try to do better.  Maybe while on vacation, I'll have more time.  Ha!

In other news...we find out the gender of the baby on July 18th.  Yea!  My morning sickness is almost completely gone, although it still rears its ugly head on occasion.

Please don't hate me, but we will be going to Colorado VERY soon.  Colorado!  The place that boasted a cool 56 degrees last week...on the same day that it was 105 here!  If you need me, I'll be sitting on a deck looking out at a stunning mountain view and reading a good book.  Please don't hate me.  :-)

Sweet Summer Time List

I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been with my sweet babies around the clock, enjoying some summertime fun.  I love summer, and I love having Aidan home.

I've got a few minutes while Aidan complains about putting his laundry away, so I thought I'd make a list of what's been going on around here.

1.  Ella has been coming up with some very creative names for her toy animals lately.  Two of my favorites of late are, "Phantom Button-Head" and "French Apple Princess."

2.  Nothing says summer quite like a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers picked by my sweet boy on a walk one evening.

3.  We're having a big garage sale tomorrow.  I've been feeling claustrophobic lately, especially with the baby coming.  I don't know how we're going to fit.  We're changing the family room into more of a playroom, so we're getting rid of our big, more formal looking furniture.  Someone, please buy it, so I don't have to move it anymore.  

4. Speaking of the baby, we are now 15, almost 16 weeks along.  The morning sickness is pretty much gone, except for an occasional episode when I'm really tired or really hungry.  I go to the doctor on Tuesday for a check up and I'm going to try to sweet talk her into doing the anatomy sonogram BEFORE we go to Colorado instead of after.  So, if I get my way, we should know if the baby is a boy or girl in the next 3 weeks or so.  

5. We have been swimming almost every day this week.  In fact, I think one day we went 4 times in less than 24 hours.  Ella LOVES swimming this year.  Which is nice, because she's been kind of difficult to take swimming in the past.  Hopefully, we can get her some swimming lessons this summer.  

6.  It's hot.  Very, very hot.  And, it's only June.  July and August aren't looking so good.  I don't think I'll come back from Colorado until October.  Do you think my in-laws would mind?  Pregnancy + 100 degree temps= a very miserable mommy.

7.  It looks like our next crop of peaches will be ready before our vacation.  That's good news, because last year, someone picked them clean while we were gone.  I haven't gotten over it yet.

8.  In addition to Colorado, we're also going to the beach this year.  I am super excited about that.  If we can work it out, we're going to try to get in a trip to Sea World also.  Did I mention that I LOVE summer?

9.  Oh, and we have been playing with Legos this summer.  Okay, not so much "we" as Aidan...and his friends.  These are some pictures that we took of their creations the other night.  They are hoping we can get them published in the Lego magazine.

10.  We're trying to find lots of free and "cool" things to do this summer.  The Saginaw Library is doing their reading program again.  If you sign up, you get a free pass to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.  And, if you read 5 books, you get a free circus ticket.  Plus, you can go watch their story book theater every Wednesday, if you can stand all the rude parents that sit in the back and talk so that no one can hear.  Our school district is serving free lunch, regardless of income, to all kids under 18 all summer...so if you're really desperate to get out of the house...there's always that.  The movie theater is showing $1 movies on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 am.  What are you doing this summer that is free or cheap??

Three Year Olds and Logic

Sometimes, if I'm desperate, I try to use logic on my 3 year old.  It never works.

Ella has had this problem lately that has Mark and I at our wits' end.  She is refusing to wear a pull-up at night, and she is not consistently dry through the night yet.  We make her put the pull-up on, but sometime in the night, she takes it off.  We're not sure if she's doing this while asleep or awake.  It is a fight every night just to get her to put one on.  She says they itch.  We've tried everything we can think of to get her to put one on and keep it on through the night.  We've had very little success.

So, last night, I thought I would appeal to reason.  If I could just use the right words...say the right thing, she would understand the need for her pull up and happily wear one, right?  Hmmm...not so much.

As she was getting dressed and throwing a fit about wearing a pull up (and after a long time out) I said, "Ella, I need you to be mommy's big helper.  When you don't wear your pull-up I have to wash the sheets, and dry the sheets and put them back on your bed and that's a lot of work for mommy.  So, don't you want to be a big helper and wear your pull-up for mommy?"

"I do!  I do want to be your big helper mommy.  I will help you."

"You will?  You're going to wear your pull up and be my big helper?"

"No.  I'll put the sheets in the washing machine for you, like a big girl."

Ugh.  Thank goodness she's cute.

My Big Helper

This Boy

I'll start by saying that I should be cleaning my kitchen right now.  But, I cleaned it yesterday...yesterday when I was running fever, and had a sore throat, and nauseous...I cleaned it anyway.  And today?  Well, today it is a disaster already.  Someone must be messing it up in the middle of the night.  Maybe one night when I'm up for the 300th time to use the restroom, I'll catch who's doing it.

But, enough complaining...the real reason for this post is to brag on this boy:

This boy, is now a Bear Cub in cub scouts.  How is that possible?  Wasn't it last week that I was buying that tiger cub uniform?  He has learned so much from cub scouts, and worked so hard on all of his achievements.  You can't see them in this picture, but he has 4 silver arrow points and one gold arrow point for doing electives on his own from his wolf cub handbook.  He also earned the Texas Badge and the Leave No Trace Badge this year.  We are so proud of him.

This boy, LOVES field day.  He won the first round of the 50 yard dash.  He ran his little heart out, and gave it all he had.  He never slowed down to look back like he did in 1st grade.  He just ran, and I was so proud of him for trying so hard.

This boy, is a 3rd grader now (as of tomorrow).  Wasn't it just a minute ago that I wrote this post about 

Aidan starting 1st grade?  He grew so much in 2nd grade.  Doing his best started to matter to him.  We went from having to study spelling words every night, to never having to study them, because he would memorize them on his own at school.  He started doing his best to write neatly.  He has stopped trying to read fast, and started reading with expression.  (He asks me many times while he's reading, "am I reading with expression?)  He's aced everything that's come his way.  He points out waxing crescent moons and cumulonimbus clouds.  He does double digit multiplication...in his head.  He received a trophy for being a star student...only 2 are awarded per class.  He also made A honor roll and received a good citizenship award.  He's learned so much, and we are so proud of him.  

I love this boy, and I can't believe how fast he's growing.  Each little milestone is a mix of joy and agony for me.  I am so happy for how he is growing and all that he is getting to experience...and aching inside because it is all going so fast.  This boy is my pride and joy.  I love him to pieces.  What a blessing he has been to his mommy.  This boy is one of the best gifts I've ever received (and quite possibly a huge part of the reason why I have to now go clean the kitchen, again!)

I love you Aidan!  Congratulations on another great year!

Love,

Mommy

Memorial Day

I've been doing a little research this weekend on the origins of Memorial Day.  It seems that no one really celebrates the true meaning of the holiday anymore (we seem to do that a lot).  So, I thought I'd find out just how this holiday got started.

It seems that it all started after the Civil War.  Several different cities and states claim to have started the tradition, so no one really knows for sure.  But, people would honor the fallen soldiers of the Civil War by decorating their graves with flags or flowers.  In May of 1868, General John A. Logan, declared Memorial Day an official holiday in which the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery would be decorated.  New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday, and all the northern states followed.  The confederate states held out, each choosing their own days to honor their fallen soldiers.  Then, after World War I, the holiday was expanded to include fallen soldiers of all wars, not just the Civil War, and all the Southern states finally got on board.  As of 1971, it is now celebrated in all states on the last Monday of May.

In 1915, Moina Michael (my cousin...see mom, I listen, sometimes!) wrote a poem (in response to "In Flanders Fields") that linked the red poppy to the remembrance of those fallen in battle.  She then came up with the idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day.  The idea spread all over the world.  The United States honored her with her own postage stamp for her role in helping people to remember our fallen soldiers.

Honoring the dead by placing flowers on their graves used to be common, and it was a pretty big deal.  Now, I don't know a single person that does this on Memorial Day.  Mostly, we have bar b ques, go to the lake, or have a swimming party.  Few, myself included, take the time to really consider what the holiday is about.  Did you know that to combat this, in 2000, Congress created the "National Moment of Remembrance?"  I guess they thought if we couldn't set aside a whole day, maybe we could at least take a moment.  The idea is that at 3:00 pm, everyone will take a moment to in some way acknowledge the sacrifices that have been made for us.

I think I'll observe at least that moment with my family today.  And, I'll take some time to talk to my kids about the true meaning of the holiday.  Maybe next year, I'll plan in advance and do something special to honor our fallen soldiers.  At the very least, while you're enjoying time with family and friends today, take the time to think about the families all over the country that are celebrating today without someone that they dearly love.  There are mothers getting their kids ready for a Memorial Day celebration all by themselves, because their husbands are gone.  There are other mothers, whose children will not come home today for the family cook out.  There are children celebrating without fathers and mothers.  May we all take a little time today to think about why we can celebrate without the fear of being attacked.  We live in relative peace and without fear because of the sacrifices of our military families.  Make sure you tell your kids!

Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you to all the service members that put their lives on the line for us...and to their sweet families that give up so much for their service.