Hats Make Things Better

Pneumonia victim or Future Firefighter of America? I think you can guess which one goes over better in this household.



We have to liven things up a bit for this treatment to be "cool"...otherwise the mask suspiciously is removed.



And I love a kids who makes things happen...here he figured out that he could indeed still suck his thumb...



All fun put aside, let's be real. The New Year has kicked off by kicking us in the rear. In ways too numerous and personal to bother listing, but two double ear infections and pneumonia were the icing on an already frosted cake. This morning was a bit rough and despite my best efforts, I found myself teetering on the brink of sanity. Before I put Weston down for his nap, we were apologizing to each other (again) and he said to me, "When we're angry and sad, we still love each other." God bless that precious child...even when I want to throw him out the window.

And then I read this in the silence of a sleeping house and felt gratitude swell:

"He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11

Ah, God is near and He knows.

Trouble

Puzzling

Weston got a couple of floor puzzles for Christmas and we have been puzzling ever since. He has caught on quickly and it couldn't have come at a better time because winter is long January through March.

It's funny how I tried to impose MY way of doing puzzles on him and how he would have nothing to do with it. In the beginning, he needed quite a bit of help and I learned that the way you do puzzles is to find your four corners first, then do the edges and THEN fill in the middle. It took me about two minutes of attempted convincing before I said to myself, "Self, why does he have to do it that way? Let him do it his own way." And so he does it his way: Section by section so that each part comes to completion. It's like little successes upon the way (Where's the octupus' eye? The octopus is done! Now to the pink fish.) I must say, it's a good strategy and has served him well since he can now do 36-50 piece puzzles by himself. And that allows me to occasionally get dinner started or read Lily a book (for 15 seconds if she lets me).

And I Quote...

Last night as I was rocking Weston and singing, he was frowning at my face and I knew what he saw...

Weston (pointing to a pimple on my face): "Mom, you got a nipple on your face."
Me: "It's not a nipple, it's a pimple."
Weston (frowning harder): "Can you cut that pimple off?"

I wish.

I'm Pretty Sure...

...this is what our paper towel holder will look like for the next two years:

A New Year

New Years' is a little tricky for me. You see, I'm a little bit of a list addict. A tiny bit of a goal setter. When this time of year rolls around, I could possibly go off the deep end and drown in an ocean of endeavors. Luckily, I have a balanced husband that won't let that happen.

On New Years' Eve as we prepared to do absolutely nothing, I said these words (cringe) to Kurt, "Hey, since we're not doing anything festive for New Years, after we put the kids down, we could sit and talk about this year, set some goals and talk about what we want to do with (x,y,z)!" He didn't say a word, but this is what his face said, "It's bad enough we're not even hanging out with friends, and you're telling me that while the rest of the world is out having a hoot hollerin' grand time, we're going to sit on the couch with a notepad and map out our year? Awesome." Needless to say, no lists were made.

So, in lieu of a making a detailed instruction manual of my life in 2011, I've settled on a few "aspirations". Some relaxed, calm "aims" if you will...

• Wear an apron at least once a day.
• Eat 9 fruits and vegetables...make that 5 because week one of that has not gone so well.
• Consume even more butter than last year.
  
• Listen to more music throughout the day.
• Get up before the babies again. I'm having a little bit of a hard time beating Lily who currently likes to start her day at 4:15 a.m.
• Work up to running 20 miles a week. This will only be accomplished with my tried and true running partner(and sweet friend) Katie who's been spurring me on since 2004. Love you girl. Let's do it.
• Taste and see that the Lord is good.
• Grow my hair out and donate it.

And Lily's goal is to keep the house clean and organized. I mean, she's the neatest one here. Cleans up after herself, eats neatly, doesn't get into anything and doesn't make an inch of a mess...

The Five Days of Christmas and a Happy New Year

Christmas is my favorite time of year. The obvious reason is the gloriousness of "God With Us" but, secondarily, it also serves as a kind of benchmark on life. You compare life now with life in Christmases past. You reflect on the past year and ponder where you've been and where you'd like to head.

This time last year, Weston was just starting to say "Dedad" (Jesus) and that was about the extent of what his little 20 month old mind could handle of the Christmas Story. This year, on top of saying Jesus correctly, he grasps the idea of it being His birthday, that he was born a little baby in a stable with animals, who His Mama and (sort of) Daddy were, that Jesus is God, that Jesus is now in Heaven, that Jesus loves us so much. He sings "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Joy to the World". His little mind is able to understand a bit more, yet has so much still to understand (hmmm...like me I should say). I look forward to watching the Christmas Story unfold clearer and clearer, year after year for our children...what a blessed gift!

This time last year I was also enormously pregnant and Weston misunderstood that Jesus was in my belly. And now here she is, Lily Louise celebrating her first Christmas. She wasn't into wrapping paper like you hear baby's love to do. That's okay, she was just fun to have around and she looks so stinkin' cute these days. Since she didn't really "get" the gift thing, Weston took it upon himself to just claim her gifts as his own. Whatever. His time is short in this area before she catches on to his antics.

As far as a look back at the year...WOW! A few key words come to mind. Awesome, exhausting and waiting. Awesome because Lily has enriched our family and God has used her in so many ways. I cannot even imagine life without this precious little thing! Exhausting because there has been little sleep, lots of chasing, lots of discipline, lots of change, lots of decisions. Waiting because, well, I don't know. If I knew, I guess we wouldn't be in this waiting place that God has placed us in to trust Him more. Perhaps we're always waiting...

We celebrated Five Days of Christmas this year, so here we go...

With Nana and Julie's family...




Christmas Eve to ourselves...





Christmas morning...





Christmas evening at Noni and Papa's...



Not pictured: Montgomery City with the Bethel clan and dinner with our far away friends the Herndons and their sweet Sharp family...

And lastly, opening presents sent from Grammy and Grampy...


Our New Years' Eve was pretty uneventful. I don't really care for this holiday, so small children are kind of a good excuse for me to be a homebody, but I think Kurt misses a little New Year's adventure. Soon enough sweet husband. We ate dinner at the cute little Mexican restaurant by our house and then had breakfast the next morning with our dear friends the McKinley's.

Happy 2011 to you! Whoever you are? This wraps up my first full year of blogging and although my main purpose for this little place is to document moments for my family and print up a little blog book each year, I'm always surprised and touched to discover someone finds something here interesting enough to pop in every once in a while. I know there are just a handful of you, but perhaps if I don't know you're here, you could comment and come out of the closet? No fancy prizes, just saying thanks!