I have a minute while my little Eloise is sleeping so I thought I'd update on where we are now in this busy season of life.
It is nearly November 2015. My baby girl is about to turn ONE! It's been such a crazy year filled with so many ups and downs. As usual, God has taken my expectations and turned them upside down in parenting.
What I expect is never the reality. Expectations ruin everything and set us up for disappointment. God has blessed me with a curious, strong-willed baby girl. Yet she isn't super independent like Elaine or passive like Miles. She is all her own person. Sweet, smart, joyful. She's also very demanding and clingy, and doesn't like to sleep much. I worked hard and sacrificed like never before through nursing and little sleep with this one. She has within a doubt been my hardest baby, but I hope that means that God will bear great fruits in her and through her life.
Lately, when I look around my house and the state that my house has been in for the last, oh, year of my life, I think of that old saying that your house reflects the current state of your mind. Well, that would certainly be accurate in my life at the moment, for it is always a cluttered mess! I can only give myself grace and remind myself that organization and cleanliness will come again someday. These are probably silly things that shouldn't give me stress but I am prone to such self-consciousness.
Ahron is settling into the ship routine now. He's already been onboard for four months. It's been tough for us as a family. And he hasn't even deployed yet. I miss drinking coffee with him in the morning. He's doing a great job keeping up as a father and a husband and I appreciate his efforts. The problem with sea duty is that it consumes the sailor. It becomes incredibly difficult to find work/life balance.
Some exciting things lie on the horizon for us though. We are anticipating putting our house on the market in spring. We have outgrown our first little home. We need just a little more space to spread out a bit. In all honesty, I'm kind of nervous for this. There's something comforting about fitting the wholeness of my family into 1300 square feet. I don't want to lessen connection with my children, or have them swallowed up in massive square footage. I don't want more space to clean, or more money to throw at the bank. So with that in mind we don't want something that much bigger. Just a little more space to share with our little miracle surprise oopsie baby.
As for myself, I will embark in a new school journey here very shortly. Teaching at the preschool and teaching parents with the Ready! For Kindergarten program awakened my soul to what I believe is my true calling. A teacher, a mentor, a counsel and guider, a nurturer, a grower, a mother's heart I hope to instill to many children as my teachers have done for me. The short plan is to finish my degree in 22 months, so that my GI Bill will cover the cost. I am so excited to undertake this journey. God grant me serenity now.
So that is the short of it! I'm hoping to be able to update this blog more regularly. I love having a space to throw out into the vastness of the web. I wish I was an interesting and cool hip mommy blogger sometimes, but this is who I am. My older daughter is encouraging me to start a vlog too, so we shall see.
It is nearly November 2015. My baby girl is about to turn ONE! It's been such a crazy year filled with so many ups and downs. As usual, God has taken my expectations and turned them upside down in parenting.
What I expect is never the reality. Expectations ruin everything and set us up for disappointment. God has blessed me with a curious, strong-willed baby girl. Yet she isn't super independent like Elaine or passive like Miles. She is all her own person. Sweet, smart, joyful. She's also very demanding and clingy, and doesn't like to sleep much. I worked hard and sacrificed like never before through nursing and little sleep with this one. She has within a doubt been my hardest baby, but I hope that means that God will bear great fruits in her and through her life.
Lately, when I look around my house and the state that my house has been in for the last, oh, year of my life, I think of that old saying that your house reflects the current state of your mind. Well, that would certainly be accurate in my life at the moment, for it is always a cluttered mess! I can only give myself grace and remind myself that organization and cleanliness will come again someday. These are probably silly things that shouldn't give me stress but I am prone to such self-consciousness.
Ahron is settling into the ship routine now. He's already been onboard for four months. It's been tough for us as a family. And he hasn't even deployed yet. I miss drinking coffee with him in the morning. He's doing a great job keeping up as a father and a husband and I appreciate his efforts. The problem with sea duty is that it consumes the sailor. It becomes incredibly difficult to find work/life balance.
Some exciting things lie on the horizon for us though. We are anticipating putting our house on the market in spring. We have outgrown our first little home. We need just a little more space to spread out a bit. In all honesty, I'm kind of nervous for this. There's something comforting about fitting the wholeness of my family into 1300 square feet. I don't want to lessen connection with my children, or have them swallowed up in massive square footage. I don't want more space to clean, or more money to throw at the bank. So with that in mind we don't want something that much bigger. Just a little more space to share with our little miracle surprise oopsie baby.
As for myself, I will embark in a new school journey here very shortly. Teaching at the preschool and teaching parents with the Ready! For Kindergarten program awakened my soul to what I believe is my true calling. A teacher, a mentor, a counsel and guider, a nurturer, a grower, a mother's heart I hope to instill to many children as my teachers have done for me. The short plan is to finish my degree in 22 months, so that my GI Bill will cover the cost. I am so excited to undertake this journey. God grant me serenity now.
So that is the short of it! I'm hoping to be able to update this blog more regularly. I love having a space to throw out into the vastness of the web. I wish I was an interesting and cool hip mommy blogger sometimes, but this is who I am. My older daughter is encouraging me to start a vlog too, so we shall see.
