Friday, March 19, 2010

laughter is the best medicine

This little pumpkin cracks me up! I could sit and listen to her little laugh all day long. Lately she has been entertaining herself in the back of the car with her mirror and I catch her giggling quietly to herself all the time.



The pictures don't do her laugh justice- here is the audio to give you the full effect.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Patience

I struggle with patience. It's a major character flaw, but I have dealt with it all my life. When people (read: husband) say things to me like, "Patience is a virtue" I tell them "Silence is golden," roll my eyes, and charge forward. I am just not known for waiting well.
Maybe this wouldn't be such a problem if God didn't count patience as one of the fruits of the spirit, but alas, he does, and therein lies my problem. I desire so much to posess the qualities of a disciplined, dedicated Christian, but this area leaves me with much to be desired. Especially as it pertains to waiting on God's timing.
Many of you know that we have been trying to have another baby since Grace was about ten months old. While I realize that means we haven't been trying long, you other mothers know that when your heart is ready to be a mommy, whether it is for the first time or the fifth time, you are ready now and it is difficult to wait. I hate cliche' answers to life's big problems, but in this case I know the cliche' is true: God's timing is perfect. Trying to reconcile this with my patience deficiency (or complete lack thereof) has proven to be difficult, especially when I thought I was pregnant last month. For three weeks I held out hope that just maybe we were, but five negative tests later, I laid it to rest. Now we are waiting until May to try again (it's a long explanation that has to do with the store and Christmas help) and I can feel the impatience creeping up in my heart again. I want to be patient, I want to rest in the comfort of knowing that God knows what is best for our family, God's timing is perfect, and when it is time again, He will bless us with another baby. These are all things I believe but find hard to hold onto in my impatient moments.
On top of all that, I feel selfish. I have a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby girl who absolutely lights up my world.

Why then am I so impatient with a heart that seems unwilling to wait on God's timing?
I am praying for patience right now, which most of you know can be an incredibly scary thing because that may actually mean God will give it to me and teach me other difficult lessons in the meantime. Like how to fully rest in Him. How to walk by faith and not by sight. How to say "God is good all the time," and mean it. How to watch friends lose babies or try for years unsuccessfully to get pregnant and still know deep in my heart that God is in control even when things don't make sense. These are the things God is teaching me right now and while I can admit (a bit embarrassed) that I am not enjoying it, I know I will come through on the other side deeper in Christ and hopefully with a measure more of patience.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

15 month checkup

Grace is seeing a new pediatrician and we went for her first visit and 15 month shots. Nothing says "nice to meet you" like two shots in the arm and two in the leg. Grace had a rough time during the appointment but did the best she has ever done after shots this time. No fever, slept great, not fussy.

A few new updates:
She weighed 21.9 (25th percentile) and was 31.75 inches (75th percentile). She gained three pounds since her one year appointment which is good considering she gained five ounces from 9-12 months. She also grew an inch and a quarter.

She loves blowing kisses and giving high fives.

She has started picking up her stuffed animals and when she hugs them, she pats their bottom like a little mama. So cute.

The doctor thinks Grace is about to cut her molars. It is very white back there and we have all the teething symptoms only worse than before. I put no faith in teething symptoms though. Remember months four thru nine? I do. Nary a tooth for five long teething symptom ridden months.

She has a new dancing thing she likes to do where she shakes her head from side to side while she bends her knees.

She likes to brush her own teeth, which really means she sticks her tongue out and chews on the toothbrush but it is pretty darn cute to watch. This is something we started doing recently. Not sure where that mom memo went, but I didn't know you were supposed to start brushing when they get their first tooth.

She has added big bird (be-bur), boy, and bob dole to her words. You read it right. Bob Dole.

She absolutely hates being in her high chair for longer than five minutes. Last night she would take a lap around the table, stop for a bite of my food, then make another lap and repeated the process until she was full enough to go play in the living room.

She is also completely disinterested in milk. I got a stern talking to from the Dr. who said she should have 16 ounces a day. WHAT? I am lucky if I get her to drink 3 or 4 ounces. This is my new goal for the month.

She has an inflatable car full of those plastic balls you find at fast food playgrounds that she absolutely loves. She climbs in and out of it from the side and it always makes her hair full of static! Too funny.




Here she is dancing in the kitchen the other night. It was before she started her new moves, but it is pretty cute nonetheless. Please pretend I wasn't doing a crazy mama dance in the corner.