Oh my, I'm embarrassed by my lack of blogging this past week! I've had good reason to be e-silent though; my dad is here visiting.My dad is a jack-of-all-trades and since he's been here he's done numerous household projects for us. He and Matt trimmed our huge backyard trees, made a bathroom in our basement, and replaced our kitchen flooring. They also managed to get in two rounds of golf (during which Matt scored his first ever hole in one! Watch out pga!).
The project experience has been invaluable for Matt. He's learning firsthand from my experienced papa. And all the physical labor and project problem-solving has been a terrific break for Matt from his dissertation work. It's been a great blessing to me to see Matt relaxed and "playing" with wood. He's just a big boy at heart. :)
Another blessing has been the projects themselves. Since we are poorer than dirt, we could never have dreamed of completing any of these jobs ourselves. But with my dad's physical and financial help, our home is a now bit nicer. I'm still getting used to walking into our kitchen and being surprised by such a beautiful wood floor (pergo, actually).
I wish I could add to this blessing list that Clive is sleeping through the night consistently. He's not though. He was doing great at 3 1/2 months and then around his 4 month milestone his body suddenly decided he needed cereal. During that transition we had some middle-of-the-night feedings again. When got used to the cereal, he had a few good nights and then my dad came for a visit. During family visits I don't ever let Clive cry it out because I don't want to wake our company. To top it all off Chloe, Clive and I are sharing colds. So, now Clive's waking up when his nose gets too runny. Sigh. The last few nights have been better so hopefully we're on the road to uninterrupted sleep.
The blessing is that though I've been weary with the duties of a mom of two and running on intermittent sleep I can attest that God is faithful! He has ALWAYS helped me to take good care of my children. I can honestly say that they have not suffered (much, aside from a little irritability) from my sleep deprivation. God's strength has enabled me and revived me.
Yet another blessing has been Clive himself. You might think he's not a good baby because of his wacky sleep habits but he's just an incredibly social and happy guy. Lately he's been laughing a lot. The extra special thing is that Clive only does his biggest laughs with me. That's such a sweet reward for me. When Clive laughs and enjoys me I feel like he's saying, "Thanks for making my life so fun, mommy! You're my best pal in the whole world!" I know I've said this before; a laugh or smile from my kids magically refreshes me.
God's been keeping this song in my mind this past week to remind me to lay my tired self at His feet. He cares about me more than anyone else!
My troubled soul, why so cast down
You were not made to bear this heavy load
Cast all your burdens upon the Lord
And trust again in the promise of His love.
Jesus cares, He cares for you
And all your worrying won't help you make it through.
Cast all your burdens upon the Lord
And trust again in the promise of His love.
I will praise the mighty name of Jesus,
Praise the Lord, the lifter of my head,
Praise the rock of my salvation,
All my days are in His faithful hands.
5 comments:
what a blessing to get all those projects done! we have a list of projects begging to be finished, but it is all baby steps in the midst of keeping up with life.
that is a beautiful song.
that is so sweet that clive reserves his special laugh for his mommy! yes, that is a special reward for you!
Simon sounds a lot like Clive with his irregular sleeping habits. We're at family's in MI, so there hasn't been any crying-it-out either. He's slept a couple of nights to 5:30am though. I've redefined "good baby" since having Si. He doesn't sleep perfectly at night like I thought a good baby should, but like Clive, he's an absolute doll and piece of cake during the day. If he slept great at night, he would be perfect. Maybe Luke slept so good at night when he was a baby because he cried so much at nap time during the day.
That's AWESOME about your new floor and bathroom! What a blessing to have a handy and helpful dad. I'm glad you got to have a visit! :)
Sounds like you have been very busy, but a GOOD busy!!! What a blessing to get a new floor among other little projects done!
Thank you for your comment on my blog. Steal away on the pose idea. It turned out so cute, totally by luck! I was trying to get a picture of just Megan and Aaron kept sticking his head in the picture, so I told him to lay down right by her and it ended up after a couple other shots that they were both smiling at the same time! We enlarged it to an 8x10 and I just love it! Hope to see your adorable little kiddos in a similar picture!!!
Glad you had such a nice time with your dad. God provides in unexpected ways, doesn't He? You'll have to post pics of all of the finished projects:).
Poor little Clive - being stuffy is no fun:(. Just think of the day of rejoicing you will have when he finally sleeps through the night on a consistent basis. Michael broke out with chicken pox in PA, during Christmas, when he was barely 4 months old. Any progress that had been made regarding his sleep habits, were thrown out the window. NOT a fun experience.
Clive is getting to be such a big guy! What a sweet little man you have. It sounds like you are enjoying your role as mama to your little boy and your little girl;).
Oh, Al, what a blessing the poem in this post was to me, and also the Psalm you quoted in your previous post! Thank you.
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