Friday, February 14, 2014

Five on Friday

Linking up Here for Five on Friday

1.} Valentine's Day- It's obligatory to write a little bit about our day o' love. This one was significantly less romantic than years gone by, mostly because us and our two daughters are living in a hotel room and we don't have a car to go anywhere. So we went to a mall, priced a mixer, had a heart attack, and stayed home the rest of the day! Ian and Grace picked me up some beautiful roses yesterday and the girls and I got Ian some almond stuffed dates (yum!) and cards.

2.} Big Girl Day- Well, it happened. Last night, when we put Grace to bed, we snapped a picture of her and her beloved pacifiers- one in her mouth and one on each pointer finger which she twirls around as she falls asleep. Today, when she woke up, she handed them to me and I hid them away. I could have just thrown them away but I am a little too sentimental right now. We spent the day as she wanted it- Presents in the morning (a 12 piece puzzle which she can finish in less than 2 minutes! a new book, and a thing of Gelli Baff) McDonald's for lunch, cupcakes for dessert, and cereal for dinner. Her nap time was rough, she cried and screamed, got out of bed to play with things in the room, and finally fell asleep. Bed time was semi calmer but she just lay there, like she didn't know how to fall asleep with out them. It was so sad. I'm sure there will be more hard days ahead of us, but this wasn't the worst start to it.

3.}South Beach- We're doing South Beach diet again, or our closest approximation to it. I've said it before and I'll say it again- we love SB for retraining yourself what are normal amounts of carbs/sugars to be consumed. I'm down 10 pounds and feeling alot better and more in control of my eating habits. America, you rocked our world, cuisine wise, but you also made us alot more unhealthy, ha!

4.}Birthday Blues- Do you watch New Girl? If so, there is a recent episode called Birthday that exactly explains how I feel about birthdays. I LOVE them. I think they are so special and that they are magical days. But I have such extremely high expectations for them that I am devastated when my birthday ends up looking nothing like I thought it would. So, I would really much rather be off by myself for the entire day than to be around people with my expectant "Aren't you going to whisk me away by plane to a surprise party at a five star resort?" look plastered all over my face. Please tell me someone else out there understands!

All of that to say: my birthday is on Sunday and Ian has to work. Wah-wah.

So it's me and my girls in our hotel room all day. I'll be the one telling my two year old to sing me happy birthday on repeat.

And also not to wet the bed.

Glamorous.

5.}Date Night- It's happening tomorrow night and I'm more anxious than excited.

Random hired babysitter+hotel room+limited English= one very nervous wreck Momma.

But I know how necessary date nights are and living in the city right now gives us the chance to more easily try out this babysitting service. Plus, I arranged the time so that the babysitter gets the girls during the long afternoon stretch and can keep them up until we get home.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

My Girls- An Update

 It's been a while since the girls have been the sole topic of a post, nearly five months since Sophia's first birthday and Grace's half birthday!

My girls are: Amazing, Wonderful, Hilarious, Loving, Energetic, Verbal, Intelligent, Helpers, Observant, and Learners.

And to be honest they are also: High strung, slow eaters, impatient, and (one) can have a bit of a temper.

I am so thankful for the daughters God has given us. Living overseas, in a male centric society, I get asked all the time by people "Just girls ma'am?" with a head tilt of sympathy. I bite the side of my lip most days, hug my girls close, and say "Yes! We have two wonderful daughters!" I really hate that they have to hear that all the time, like they aren't enough are good enough.

I am clearly meant to be a "Girl mom," first. A friend of mine, who happens to have two sons, lent us a bunch of toys to use while in the hotel. Part of the collection was a set of train tracks and trains. I set them up for Grace one day during Sophia's morning nap and Grace just stared at me like "What am I suppossed to do with this?"

I just stared back at her, because, frankly, I wasn't sure. Once I made the trains pick up a load of coal and do a loop around the figure eight, I wasn't too clear on what was to happen next.

Ha!

Grace:
 I learn so much about mothering from Grace everyday. It is a trial by error situation right now but I wouldn't trade a moment of it!

Grace is 2 years and 10 months old.

Grace is very full of energy and loves to be socially involved. She's happiest when we are out and about and can interact with her friends.

She is slowly getting over all of her weird food aversions and even ate pasta recently! And the moment we returned to the Middle East she started eating cheese again. Never mind the fact that I still buy Kraft cheddar cheese, just like we did in the States!

She is getting into books and stories alot more. She can retell random Bible stories (Elizabeth and Mary, Joshua, and baby Moses.) 

She is in size 3T clothes and 7 shoes.

She takes one nap from 2-4 but I recently figured out that if I laid her down at 1 or 1:30 she would still sleep until 4! She goes to sleep at 7 and sleeps until 7 am when we wake her up.

Favorite Clothes- She's really into socks right now. I don't really get it.
Favorite Show- All about Yo Gabba Gabba, much to my chagrin. I feel like I am hallucinating when it is on!
Favorite Song- She's gotten into Zaccheus and Skip to my Lou in the last month.
Favorite Food- Chocolate Milk and Babybel cheese
Favorite Person- Momma or her friend Miya
Favorite Toy- A VTech Picnic basket and little metal tea set that she plays with everyday
Favorite Book- The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (classics!)

 She's my painfully slow eater. I have been looking for some sort of "Bite timer app," so that she has a constant countdown and reminder to chew her food, swallow, and take another bite. It drives me crazy! Not with all food, of course, just the stuff that she is not crazy about.

We are getting rid of her pacifiers tomorrow, on Valentines day! I am really excited/dreading it all in one moment. She always has slept with them so it will be a big deal tomorrow, when she lays down for her nap without them! We are dubbing it her "Big Girl Day," and told her it will involve presents, cupcakes, and being all done with her paci's! She is looking forward to it but I doubt she has any concept of what being all done with them actually means!

Sophia:

She is One year and four months old!

She walks, runs, and tries to jump. She has gotten pretty good at climbing on things, which Grace never did.

We just got her off of the bottle on Tuesday, February 11th. I kept it around because I wanted her to have some routine through all of this change but with us being in a hotel for several more weeks I just decided to go for it one morning! She fussed that first morning and then was fine!

Sophia takes a morning nap from 8:30-10:30 and then from 2-4 in the afternoon. She is a pretty light sleeper though so any change of temperature or noise during the last 45 minutes of her nap will mean that she wakes up!

She is my cuddly girl. She throws her head back to laugh and runs at you full speed (eyes closed and looking up at the ceiling while she runs!)

She can sign More, Please, Water, Food, Milk, Baby, Cheese, and Cracker. She says Momma, Dadda, Bottle, Baby, Book, Open, No, Up, Hot, Shoe, Sock, Shirt, and Ball.

She sits very still for book reading and it has actually helped Grace to learn to sit still for stories! Sophia really does love to look at books and points at things she recognizes over and over.

She loves to "dance," and will hold her hands out in front of her fingers together, and sing a song from Nutcracker as she twirls around.


She is in size 18 month clothes and size 5 Wide shoes. She is in size 4 diapers. She has six teeth but two molars are popping through as we speak!

A quirk about Sophia is that she HATES to be messed with. Meaning, if she didn't initiate being touched then she probably won't like it. (as pictured above.) I can never get any pictures of them together because Sophia becomes a little tyrant about being touched. Doctors visits are awful because she just hates being poked and prodded at. You can imagine how much fun bath time or nail clipping is! She doesn't mind getting dressed or diaper changes and she IS super cuddly. Just doesn't like being "messed with."

My girls are such precious little lives and I am thankful to be entrusted with raising them up. Can't wait to see what the next couple of months brings!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Word of the Year and a New Look

I know, I'm a month late with choosing my word of the year. But, to be fair, we have had a good bit going on, you know, with moving overseas and all.

I should clarify by saying I have chosen wordS of the year. Plural. As in two words of the year.

Bold/Still

They may seem slightly contradictory but I assure you, they are not.

I focused on the word "Still," months ago when I felt the pressure and stress from our approaching move mounting. Again and again I had friends going through trials and I would refer them to the verse in Psalm 46:10 that says:

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted among the earth."

Each time I would feel a peace about our own situation and could rest in that stillness when I remembered that God will be exalted. If our own purpose on earth is to bring glory and to exalt God, then whatever change in the map of life that comes my way is for that purpose.

I knew my word for the year was going to be "Still." This was a trait that I wanted to strive for, to think on, and to help me focus on the sovereignty of God. We have alot of changes coming in our lives this year, especially in these first 2-3 months, and I had a real peace that this was something I needed to focus on.

I was surprised when the word "Bold," came to mind a few days after the New Years. I became greatly convicted about how my lack of boldness in certain areas of my life was leaving me without vision, identity, and purpose. I went to Scripture to see what boldness could be found there and time and again I found people being bold despite opposition and logic saying they should be otherwise.

Boldness with relationships, personal goals, language learning, social situations, and more will help me to reach the goals that I have placed before myself and I know that acting cowardly or hiding behind the veil of shyness or introvertedness will only hinder me. (note: there is a real time and place when those characteristics do affect how you act, but I know when I hide behind them instead of working with them.)

Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."

I am so excited to see how the Lord uses these words to grow and stretch me this year, and to see how His presence is affirmed again and again.

Also, thanks for sticking with me as I update the look of the blog! It's coming along but definitely needs some tweaking!