Lasso The Moon

Elijah Leon

 

Elijah Leon, born April 20 (three weeks early!) at 8lbs 4oz.

Seen here getting a little photo therapy in the hospital window.

At first Esther reacted like this:

But then she warmed up a little bit.

We ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days, because the little cub was considerably jaundiced.  He had lots of trouble figuring out how to eat, and he had to spend 24 hours in light therapy.  For those of you who have never experienced it, the light therapy looks like this:

To be sure, seeing those giant tubes, glowing lights, and eye mask was a bit traumatizing for Mom and Dad, but he didn't seem to mind at all.  Still, it was hard to not get to snuggle my sweet newborn whenever I wanted.

By day five, his levels had come down to normal, and we were able to go.

I've never been more ready to leave any place than I was that hospital!

On the way home, we stopped by the kids' school and pulled them out for the day.  Now it's time to just sit back and enjoy being our "little" family of six.

Power Perfected in Weakness?

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (New American Standard Bible)

⁸ Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

::

I had a conversation with a friend recently about weakness, and I thought I'd share some of what we discovered with you here.

I've mentioned a couple times that we are expecting Baby #4 sometime in early May.  It cannot get here fast enough.

I've heard friends talk about how they love being pregnant, and I wish wish WISH I could be one of them.  But for some of us, pregnancy is a 9-month struggle through spiritual mud and mire.  For me, there are many physical issues that accompany my pregnancies--a couple of which keep me in constant pain.  There are also the emotional factors of increased depression and anxiety that make me want to just hibernate until the whole thing is over.

In general, I'd call myself an optimist.  At least, mostly and optimist.  I can see the bright side of almost any situation, or else see where God is leading us through it.  Injury, loneliness, financial struggles, even death--I can take them in stride, knowing that God will carry us through.  Nothing shakes me to the core the way that pregnancy does.  I am an emotional train wreck!

I don't understand why this is, and when I don't understand something about myself, I try to take it to the Lord. Standing in the bathroom, bawling that I physically could not keep the house up to my standards, and I wasn't being the caliber of mother that I thought I should be, I cried out to Him, "Lord what is it about pregnancy that makes me such a mess? Show me. Help Me!"

And as soon as I got this question out of my heart and into His hands, He responded with this:

"Why are you so afraid of showing weakness?"

Oh.

All He wants is to carry me through this hard time, to show me how strong He is, how much He loves me, and what He is able to do for me. And here I am whining that I even need His help in the first place.

Pride.

While I am not good at accepting help, I am starting to realize that it's what God wants. This is how the Body of Christ is supposed to work. We can't always be the helper of others, and we aren't meant to do it all on our own. Sometimes He wants us to sit back and watch the Lover of Our Souls flex His muscles, so He can show us what He can do.

In my heart of hearts, I don't want my pride to keep me from experiencing His Majesty.  I don't know what it will look like practically, but for the next two months, I'm going to do my best to allow God's power to be perfected in my weakness.  Let some things go.  Accept help.  Wallow in the pool of His grace.

I'll let you know how it goes.

::

How do you cope with your own weakness?  How will you let God show Himself to you more clearly this week?

p.s.  God led me through a different life lesson during my last pregnancy.  If you are interested, you can read about it here.

 

Mischief

I know I had promised a second hair bow tutorial today, but my day has been going something like this:

I plan to regroup during nap time so that I can have that tutorial up for you tomorrow.  (What I had planned to do during nap time is sit back and enjoy a Cadbury cream egg, which I had hidden stealthily in the drawer of my nightstand.  She found it. And ate it.  Through the foil wrapper.  Notice that I did not find this amusing enough to get a picture of her face, hands, and dress covered in chocolate and sugary/yolky deliciousness.  It was my chocolate!)

So, what naughtiness have your kids been up to this week so far??  Share!  It will make us all feel better!

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Love Notes

 

I have to take a moment here and say something about my Ethan. 

He's six and is in kindergarten this year. 

I was so nervous about sending him.  He's sensitive, easily distracted, and has a hard time sitting still.  I mean, he's a six year old boy.  They are rarely a perfect fit for the classroom.  The night before his first day, I was up all night crying and praying for his year.  That his teacher would be encouraging and gentle.  That his beautiful spirit would not be changed.   That he would learn!

But he is thriving in school.  His daily behavior report comes home sunny every day.  And he is soaking up information like a sponge. I wasn't sure if my mile-a-minute, flip-off-the-couch, lego-crazed little guy would ever slow down enough to try reading, but he is!  And writing, too.  We've been finding love notes from him all over the house.

(I had a cold last week)

(Daddy is the best)

I love when kids start to figure out letters and words, and it finally starts to click.  The whole world opens up before them.  So fun to watch.   This week Ethan's been home from school with a stomach virus, but that gives me a little extra time with him.  I love you, my Ethan.  I hope you are feeling good soon!

Could I have your attention for a quick announcement?

I have no idea why I've kept this news from you for so long.

It's big.

HUGE.

We are having another baby.  Soon.

In just four months!

We already found out what we're having.

It's a boy!

Now, let me take a minute and tell you something about these photos.

I waited three days after the big sonogram to tell the kids they were having a brother.

It had to be perfect.  Like pinterest perfect.

I bought the balloons.

I decorated the box.

The box was too small, so I opened the bottom, taped it up, and called the kids outside.

As I set the box on the ground, one of the balloons popped on the dry winter grass.

We got the kids ready, and told them to open the box.

The balloons floated out.

The kids were like, Huh? 

We forgot to tell them what the color of the balloons meant!  They had no idea what they were looking at!  Haha.  Donnie laughed at me.  I laughed at myself.  We stuck the balloons back into the box, replayed everything, and snapped some decent pictures.

Makes me wonder what's really going on behind the scenes in all those perfect pinterest pics, how bout you?

 

Election Day

I surprised Emma by getting her out of school yesterday to go vote with me.  I thought I'd have to talk the office ladies into letting me have her, but they seemed really excited and impressed that I would let her see how the process works.

While I've heard stories of crazy-long lines, and multi-hour waits, there were only a few voters at our location in the middle of the day, so we were in and out in a matter of minutes.  I wanted to get a picture of Emma turning in my ballot, but they tend to frown upon things like cameras at polling stations.

Before going back to school, we took a quick detour to Starbucks, since they were giving away these cool bracelets.  So patriotic.

I might have shared a sip or two of my coffee...

The caffeine and sugar only affected her a little bit.  I'm sure her teachers could handle it.

I'll have to brainstorm to come up with some other school-office-approved-midday outings.  I miss them so much when they are there all day!

After school, when Ethan found out I'd taken Emma on a field trip, he felt scandalized.  I cheered him up with a project I had set up for them both.

I found a map online that was complete with electoral college points.  During the election coverage, I gave Emma a red pencil, Ethan a blue, and set them to work keeping track of the votes as they became official. 

This way they felt completely engrossed in the outcome of the election.  They weren't able to stay awake for the end, but when they woke up this  morning, they were both curious to hear what the result was.

I don't believe in involving children in the grown-up politics and emotions of the presidential election, so I didn't make any big deal about which side I was going for, but it was fun for them to feel connected to it, and get an art project in at the same time.

Next time I might have them add up the electoral votes while they color.

Fun Friday Popcorn

Since the beginning of the school year, we have implemented "Fun Fridays".  We pack in as much fun before bedtime as we can to celebrate the end of a week-well-spent working hard at school.  Ice cream, no homework, video games, home made pizzas, a rented movie, and

stove-popped popcorn with butter, salt, and a bag of M&M's sprinkled on top.

Happy Fun Friday to ya!

Joyful

I've had this word on my heart all morning.

It's no wonder, with this happy Kitten at my side all day.

"My tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness." -- Psalm 51:14

"I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness." -- Psalm 59:16

"My mouth offers praises with joyful lips." --  Psalm 63:5

"Shout joyfully to God." -- Psalm 66:1

"Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation." Psalm 95:1

"Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD." -- Psalm 98:6

"Come before Him with joyful singing." -- Psalm 100:2

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face." -- Proverbs 15:1

"A joyful heart is good medicine." --Proverbs 17:22

After a long first week of school, we are really excited (even joyful!) about the long weekend ahead. 

Make a joyful noise this weekend!

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Psst! Come on over to Lasso of Truth and read about how to become a Mighty Mom of Valor!

We are not JUST about Haitian baby dolls around here -- just mostly

Just wanted to reassure you that there have been a few non-baby-doll happenings around here.  We have actually been making some great progress on our big summer list.

Sprinkler Park

The Chihuly Exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum

If you live in or near the Dallas area, please take the time to check out this exhibit.  We loved it, even though it was super hot at 10am and most of my pictures turned out like this:

Some antiquing:

And I have to share this pretty bowl of home-grown eggs from a friend:

That promptly became breakfast-for-dinner-french-toast. Yum!

So, yes.  We have been doing a little more than making and collecting baby dolls this month.  But not much more.  And if you have some dollies to send in, be aware that the deadline is only 5 days away!  I'm starting to get some in from other locations, and I'll share some of them tomorrow.

 

 

Summer List 2012

I have been wanting to make a Summer List for several years, but somehow I never remembered to do it until the middle of July.  Not this year!  Inspired by Meg, who writes the "Whatever" blog, We made a list of all the things we wanted to do this summer.

The kids had a lot of fun thinking of activities to add to the list.  I wrote them out on our chalkboard easel, and for now it is sitting proudly in the corner of the kitchen.  I have a tendency to get the kids hyped up about something and then change my mind about how cool it was, while the kids are still excited about it.  Isn't that mean!? I hate that about myself.  So we are going to do our very best to see this list to the end of summer.  And if we have to leave it in the middle of the kitchen for the duration so I don't forget about it, so be it.

If you'd like to make your own list for the summer, go for it!  Especially if you are not a quitter like me.  I made a board of other summer lists on pinterest to inspire, but some of my best ideas came from asking the kids what they wanted to do.  We also wrote down lots of items that we do on a regular basis, so we'll be able to cross plenty of them off.  Fill up your chalkboard, poster, or paper, and start checking those boxes!  If you find one that inspires you, link to it in the comments.  Link to your own, too!