Two Babies

The good news is that having two babies (Moses 15 months, Emery 2 weeks) isn't as bad as I imagined it was going to be, but it is a lot of work. Moses is going through a terrible hitting phase and is teething so it has been rather challenging dealing with him. I had two big fears before having Emery.

#1- That I wouldn't love her as much as Moses

#2- I was worried about how Moses would adjust or react to her

Fortunately, both of these fears turned out to be false. Moses LOVES Emery, maybe even

too much. Our biggest struggle is keeping him away from her or off of her. The moment she came home, he was in love with her. He wants to get in her bassinet with her, hold her, carry her around, and gets really protective of her around other people. It is so amazing the love that he already has for her. To the right is a picture of him when he first held her. You can see how excited he was!

Emery is such a beautiful little girl and I love her just as much as Moses. I haven't been able to experience much of her personality yet because this child is a sleeper. She literally is only up about three hours a day (on a good day). Moses was never like that, so it is really weird to me, but is super helpful because I can spend quality time with Moses. I can't wait to see her grow and continue to develop.

I am really tired and my house is a disaster, but all in all I am adjusting fairly well. Please pray that God directs me as I am trying to figure out what I will be doing in terms of continuing to stay at home or work.

Ten Things

I never had intended staying at home with Moses full time, but it has turned out to be the biggest blessing in disguise. I haven't been able to find a job since moving to California and now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God's plan. I have really been trying to be intentional with my time with Moses because Emery will be here any day now. He is such a neat little person and I never realized I could love someone so deeply. I created a list of my top ten favorite things about him (which there are thousands, but these are the ones that I currently enjoy the most):

#1-The way he looks at me when I pick him up out of his crib after he has been sleeping. He is overjoyed to see me and it melts my heart every time.

#2- He is such a snuggle bug and will crawl right up next to me on the couch and hold my hand and sit with me forever

#3- The way that he "runs away" from me (which is right to me)

#4- Whenever he does something good he claps for himself until I clap with him and gets the hugest smile on his face

#5- His wet slobbery kisses on my face

#6- This kid has some serious dance moves. Watch out world we have the next MJ on our hands

#7-I love how he gets jealous over me (I know he is not suppose to do this). If Jarrell is sitting too close to me on the couch he has to get on top of me or in between us

#8-I love how much he loves Jarrell. He will follow him around and wants to do whatever he is doing

#9- His sweet little laugh when you tickle him

#10- His huge precious smile which lights up his face and everyone else around him

Why Did I Do That?

As I was playing with Moses today, he decided that it would be a good idea to bang on his head with his drumstick. The first time he whined, but then he kept doing it! At first I tried to get him to stop but he was determined that he wanted to keep hitting himself, so I let him. I thought it was really silly that he continued to do something that he knew was going to hurt him.

How often are we like this as humans though? How many people have been in a relationship like this? How many have used a substance like this? There are so many more situations that I could name but I think I have made my point. I know several times in my life I knew something was bad for me, and even after I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me of it and warning me of the dangers, I proceeded to do it again.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

It always amazes me, yet scares me, how much Moses imitates the actions of other people (especially me and Jarrell). There are so many things that he does now that I never taught him but he learned by just watching. Mostly recently he decided that he had to dip his fries in ketchup because that is what his daddy does. He refused to eat them without doing it too. Also, he will take a wipe and clean his hands, toys, the carpet, the kitchen floor, and whatever else he can find. Below is a video of Moses wanting to wear a snowboarding helmet because Jarrell was wearing it around the house.

I know these are small examples of imitation, but they made me realize a couple of bigger principles. The first is that as Moses continues to grow older his words, choices, reactions to situations, and every aspect of his life will be an imitation of those around him. Most importantly an imitation of the lives that Jarrell and I choose to live. This is a huge personal challenge for me because I know that some of the things I say or do, I would not want Moses to repeat. I need to continue to strive towards holiness for God, but also to make a bigger impact on the people around me.

The second thought that came to me was based on Genesis 5:1 "This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he created him in the likeness of God." My life should resemble that of Jesus'. I can try to achieve this through "watching him" (like Moses watches me) throughout his life as presented in the Gospels. I know that these are really simple principles, but they are good reminders of who I want to be and how to live me life.

Friends

TWO. The number of days this week that Moses decided to get up before 6:00 a.m. Anyone that knows me can attest to the fact that I am not a morning person, so this made these couple of days rough. However, I have had an amazing past couple of days despite this fact.

First, I saw an old friend from Michigan that I hadn't seen in a long time. He works with Wycliffe Bible Translators and was out on a trip in California, so me and another friend had lunch with him. It is always so awesome to hear how God is working in other people's lives and in different places.

Second, I met with some of the moms from church for an early lunch Saturday morning. One of the ladies husbands offered to watch Moses, so we all were without kids! I can't even tell you how refreshed I was after not having to take care of Moses for an hour and a half. I am so thankful for these group of ladies because they are all in the same place as me and I can learn from them and grow with them.

The dad who watched Moses has a daughter, Ava, who is like Moses little girlfriend. They are so sweet. Moses feeds her his cheerios, strokes her hair, holds her hand, and has even kissed her. So precious. Here is a picture of them from a couple of months ago.

I leave you with this verses:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

I Never Knew A Love Like This

One of the greatest joys of being a mom is seeing how much Moses loves me. It can come through a smile, a stroke of his little fingers on my face, or when he crawls in my lap, throws his head back and stares up at me. Even on the worst of days, I think about him and suddenly the problem slowly melts away. Today I snuck into his room while he took a nap (one without resistance) and just watched him. Through him, I understand God's love for me in a deeper way then I ever have.

*The picture above is one of my favorite pictures of Moses. He was about 1 month old and looked so peaceful.

One of the other greatest joys of parenthood is

watching Jarrell being a father and the relationship he has with Moses. Moses absolutely adores him and gets so excited when he hears the key turn in the door when Jarrell comes home from work. I can see so much of Jarrell's personality in Moses. They both love being around people, playing/hearing music, dancing (you should see them dancing to MJ), and are both ridicously persistent when they want something. I look forward to seeing Moses grow into the type of man that his father is. I am truly blessed that I have a godly husband who loves me and our child and would do anything for us, because I realize for a lot of women this isn't a reality.

Turning the Bad into Good

In an effort to focus on things I am grateful for, I will start with the later part of my day and briefly touch on the rough part. Jarrell had to take his work computer to the Apple Store, so while we were out and about we decided to get some Japanese food, which happens to be my favorite. We are always hesitant to try new Japanese places because they can be so hit and miss, but I sure am glad that we did. This place literally was the best Japanese place I have ate at since leaving New York. (it is really sad, but I didn't even catch the name of it) My dinner consisted of Fried Tofu in an amazing sauce (eaten like soup), a huge seafood salad, and a California Roll, since I can't eat the good stuff right now. At dinner Jarrell looked at me and said, "I know why people love Japanese food. It is like an amusement park ride for your mouth." I thought this was so hilarious! Afterwards, we topped of dinner with Starbucks which made it an even better night.

Moses had such a rough day, which in turn made me have a rough day. He is refusing to take naps lately, even when he is so tired all he can do is fall over and cry. I was really losing my patience with him, but even in the midst of this moment God spoke to me. Two things that really stuck out to me were:

#1- I kept thinking of how 1 Corinthians 13 starts out with Love is patient. I began to realize in order to follow through with the rest of the verses, you first have to have patience.

#2- I thought about how patient God is with me/us. There are so many times in my life, like Moses, that there is something that I desperately need (whether that is prayer or to be in the word) and I don't doing, making my condition only worse. God is so patient with us in those moments and will be by our side no matter how many times we have to repeat a lesson or how stubborn we are.

I am so thankful that God can use tough times to teach us/remind us of important principles.