Friday, January 15, 2016

Three Things Lately

I saw a neat idea to capture some moments in time over at Momfessionals that involves listing three things that are going on with each family member right now. I might not include three things for Ian and I as we are just not that interesting, but there are always things to add for the kids!
 1. Grace is THIS close to dropping her nap. I know, she's four and a half years old so it shouldn't be that big of a deal but to me it is! I love that I have all three kids in their rooms for nap time at the same time. One and a half to two hours of pure silence bliss. For awhile I was putting Grace on our bed (she naps there since Sophia is in their bed at nap time and they would never sleep if in the same room during the day,) with books or some small toys and she would play for an hour or so and then fall asleep. Now we've moved to putting her Calico Corner dollhouse and box of figurines in my room so that she will stay awake. Otherwise night time sleep is tenuous.

2. Grace has two cavities. And not just any cavities, two cavities that need some serious work. The dentist told us they would need a "baby root canal," and my heart just broke for her. I had pretty awful teeth as a child and spent alot of time getting work done and I had just hoped that the kids would get their dental health from Ian, but that may not be the case. She goes in on Sunday so keep her in your prayers!

3. Grace keeps asking me when I will have another baby (not anytime soon, trust me.) She plays with a baby doll every day and talks about our imaginary future baby, who is a girl, named Cora. At one point she told me she wanted to adopt an older sister and name her Cora. And she decided that Matthew is a better name for Luke and calls him that whenever she is playing house.

1. Sophia is three and loving life. Except when she's really not. And that seems to be what being three is all about. She gets really weepy and can go for half a day or so where everything just sends her into sobbing. She doesn't get angry or mean, just weepy. Teenage years are going to involve alot of tears, I think! She also can get really frightened by any kind of chase game. I think she actually thinks that something bad will happen if she gets caught!

2. Sophia has a red tutu that my aunt or my mom gave to her. It sparkles and is really pouffy. She loves it. Anytime she plays dress up she includes the red tutu in her ensemble. She gets all dressed up, usually including her birthday crown and a pair of high heels, then leaps around the family room to whatever music is playing. She has alot more of a carefree streak in her these days that is so cute to see!

3. Sophia would give me a run for my money, and my patience, if we ever had to homeschool. The other day we were reviewing the letters A, B, and C, for the third week in a row and when I pointed at A and asked what his name was she bit her lip and guessed "O? No, S?" I told her the answer and right away asked her A's name. We repeated this about five times before I just walked out of the room. I know comparison is never good but it is so interesting to see the differences between Grace and Sophia- Grace knew the names and sounds of every letter by 2 and a half! Sophia's a year older and can't quite master the name of one letter. Craziness.


1. Luke is into everything these days! He can pull up to a stand and prefers to be that way almost all day. And if he has to crawl anywhere it is just to chase after me and pull up on my pant leg. His crawl has one leg straight out to the side and one leg in a normal crawling position.The girls scurry to the carpet the moment I put him in his walker as many a toe has been run over or heel scraped by the rampaging Luke. He can chase us all around the dining room table in it. Busy boy!

2. He is recovering well from his little bout with Pneumonia. It was such a relief to get him on medicine but I hated having to take him in every day for antibiotic shots. Luke seemed to really love the nebulizer and breathing treatments. He'd grab onto the face mask and drift off to sleep every time we did a treatment. We are praying that this small case does not lead to a susceptibility to respiratory problems in the future. I am so thankful that we had a proactive medical community that could treat him.

3. Luke has started signing "more," and "all done," and seems to understand and respond to clean up time. He will put things in a box if you ask him to, though I am not sure if that is because he understands or if it is just a fun game. I love this age. They are learning SO much, it is incredible!

Ian and I recently celebrated our ten year anniversary from when we started dating! I can't believe that we have been together that long. This man has been such a rock for me on this great adventure called life. I'm so thankful that we get to journey together.


Saturday, January 9, 2016

2016 New Year's Interview

I've recently been really convicted about my role as memory maker and keeper for my family. So many things can be captured and shared with some effort and I want my kids to be able to look back on all of these special (and not so special,) moments.

Some of my favorite things to do as a kid were to hear stories about me when I was younger and to flip through photo albums. Now I have thousands of pictures on a hard drive but not many of them actually printed.

It may take some time and effort to get caught up on the sharing but I am doing my best!

We finally sat down and filmed the girls' new year's interview.

And by "we," I mean me.

And by "interview," I mean a quick questionnaire that only got filmed because:

1.) the girls' hair was actually brushed.
2.) Luke actually let me put him down...for about 30 seconds and then he falls and gets hurt.
3.) I finally remembered to.

Eventually I will actually write out and save a list of questions that I want to ask them every year, but for now I'm tailoring them to their current situation.

And, for a look back at past years' interviews, here is 2015 and 2014! It's crazy to see how much they have grown, changed, and developed over three years!

Grace, part one:


Grace's New Year Interview 2016 Part One from IGalloway on Vimeo.

And part two (because I forgot to ask her a question and she called me out on it!):


Grace's New Year Interview 2016 Part Two from IGalloway on Vimeo.

Sophia:


Sophia's New Years Interview 2016 from IGalloway on Vimeo.

And, not to be left out, a riveting one on one with Luke:


Luke's New Year's Interview 2016 from IGalloway on Vimeo.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Welcome, 2016!

Another year closes and I am sitting here reflecting on the past year and the months to come. We rang in the new year in Muscat, Oman, hanging out with good friends and laughing at New Year's past. 

The year has finished so quickly and I feel like I'm scrambling to "finish well," all the while looking forward, setting goals, and asking the Lord what He has in store for us. 

Each year we try to enter into the year with a blank check for our lives for God. Where do You want us? What do You want us to be doing? What do You want us to do with the resources You have provided? 

And every year the answers are clear and, though not entirely conventional for the Western world, predictable enough for us that we can follow willingly and plan out for years to come. 

This year, things are not as clear and straightforward but we rest in the fact that continually looking to the Lord align out will to His will result in good things. 

Last year was the first time in a long time that I didn't set any goals for the year. I think my mindset was just surviving Luke's arrival and adjusting to three little ones while in a foreign country. 

This year I feel like I'm ready to set some personal goals: 

Blogging- I miss it! It's such an easy creative outlet (and free!) I'm obviously not a professional writer and this isn't going to take me anywhere but I love documenting our adventures, both the mundane and the exotic. I'm going to make a big commitment to blogging. The first half of the year I want to blog 2-3 times a week and the second half of the year 3-4 times a week. 

Reading- as the girls get older I am more and more aware of the influences of screens. Their generation is going to have to walk a tight rope between embracing technology and not becoming a slave to it. 

Grace has started reading and I want to keep the momentum and joy of reading alive so I think modeling that will be helpful. I'd love to read 20 books this year (or more!)

Health- I'm back down to my pre baby weight but things have definitely... Changed. My goal is to stick to a loose Trim Healthy Mama eating plan (loose because a lot of the "special ingredients" are hard to find over here.) And to continue with running when possible. I'd like to be able to fun a 5k by July and a longer stretch by December. Speed is not an issue, just endurance!

I'd also love to finish 4-5 photo books this year. I've fallen behind and it's going to take some work to get caught up!