"Sledding"

I realize this is not a very clear picture.  However, this is a picture of my 87 year old grandmother-in-law outside in a snowstorm pulling my 55 lb four year old up the hill in his sled (her insistence.) She's been wanting to take Nolan sledding all winter, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind! ;)

piggies

I can't believe it, but our Olivia is almost 18 months old.  Her personality is blossoming and we are finding out more and more about our darling, and opinionated, little daughter.  She is extremely cuddly and sweet and is a really good helper.  She'll help pick up toys, put books on the shelf, help wipe off her tray with a rag, and always makes sure I have my phone and Nolan has his green baba.  She is confident and extremely sure of herself.  Olivia is a chatty girl and is learning new words every day.  She says "door" anytime she wants something opened, and makes a whole bunch of adorable animal noises.  She is constantly taking roll call of our family and will yell "No-ahn", "Da-eee", "Mama" and "My-My" all day long.  She also is very assertive when she doesn't want something, scolding "no" in a forceful voice, and sometimes resorting to hitting when she doesn't get her way.  If there is ever a situation she feels in unjust, she lets us know with this intense machine-gun sounding fake cry.  We hear this about 5000000 times a day.  She loves to dance and to wear grown up shoes.  Her super fine and soft hair is finally long enough to put into pigtails, and there just isn't much cuter than Livi with her piggies.  Oh, Baby Girl, we love you so much!

snow

The other day when we were getting home from running errands, Nolan wouldn't come inside.  To be fair, it was beautiful out - almost 40 degrees.  So, I figured I would join him outside for a little while.  I got Livi all bundled up and headed outside where Nolan insisted on constantly pelting me with snowballs.  I'm not really a winter kind of girl (the constant barrage of snowballs didn't help), but the kids sure enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday, Miles!

Miles turned 3 years old on Monday.  He remains one of the strangest (and most hilarious) creatures I've ever met.  Here is a list of some of the things that make Miles unique:

1. If I am playing piano, he is laying on my feet.  I'm not sure if it's the music he loves, or just that he wants to be close to me, but he insists upon this every time.
2. He loves his toys, but desperately wants to share them.  We call it his Toy Parade when he picks up his "baby" and proudly carries it all over with his tail wagging, stopping in front of each person in the room to make sure they have a good look.
3. He'll only eat if we're in the room with him.
4. He likes fruits and vegetables, and is a known garden vegetable thief.  Last summer he ate ALL of my cucumbers.
5. He prefers to sleep upside down.
6. It is his life's greatest mission to snuggle into your neck. And that's still not close enough.
7. He is very unsettled when Eric is gone at night, especially if the blinds are open.  He will circle the room over and over, as if he's keeping watch.
8. Our kids have pulled his ears and tail, stuck their fingers in his eyes and mouth, hit him, kicked him, and even knocked him in the stitches after his neuter, and the sweet guy seems to love them all the more for it.  He just adores our children, and watches over them.  In the backyard, he "babysits" and won't let them more than a few feet from him.
9. He winks. I swear!  Eric and I both see him wink at us all the time.
10. His howl sounds exactly like the mourning dove that lives outside our window.  At times, it's almost impossible to tell who is talking to us!

At Nolan's insistence, we made him a pup-cake for his birthday and sang to him. It took him about a half hour to eat one measly pup-cake, as he insisted on licking off every bit of the peanut butter frosting first.  Life would certainly be less interesting without the ridiculous antics of our spotted anxiety-ridden clown dog.  Happy Birthday, buddy.  We love you.

Artwork

My friend, Michelle, started making these amazingly stunning paper cuttings several years ago.  Stacking together several sheets of cardstock, she cuts away layers of different depth with an exacto knife.  The results are these stunning one of a kind pieces of art that take her dozens of hours to complete.  I recently commissioned her to do a portrait of Olivia for Eric for Christmas.  I cannot get over the exquisite detail that she achieved.  It is just so cool.

Michelle had also done a portrait of Nolan as a baby, as well as a memorial gift of Reggie after her passed away in 2011.  I recently hung all of them together in a group in our family room.  

Later that day, I was snuggling with Miles on the couch, when I noticed he was on alert, starting intently with his ears perked up.  At first I thought he was staring at the TV, but a moment later it was apparent that he was FREAKED OUT by the picture of Reggie.  He leaped off the couch and started pacing in front of it, ducking, with his tail in between his legs.  And then, he started growling! (I've never heard him growl before!)  I had to take the picture off the wall and show him there was no animal there before he would finally settle down and relax.  Such a weirdo!!

Let the Record Show

Tomorrow is the inauguration of our new president, Donald Trump.  For the sake of my kids, I feel that it is important to let them know my thoughts on this, as I believe there will be some defining moments for our country in the days to come.  I found this article that perfectly articulated my thoughts on Trump's presidency in a much more eloquent way than I could ever state.

"Let the Record Show"
 - John Pavlovitz

Let the record show that I did not consent to this.

Let it show that I did not vote for this man, that he did not represent me, that I did not believe he was deserving of being here, that I grieved his ascension.

Let History record my objection to him, to the ways humiliated women and vilified Muslims and threatened protesters and disregarded people of color.

Let it record my repulsion at his tremendous cruelty, his lack of compassion, his contempt for dissension, his absence of simple decency.

Let witnesses mark down my disgust at the way he boasted of infidelity, at how he ridiculed a disabled reporter, at the way he attacked female opponents for their appearance, at the way he marginalized immigrants.

Let it be remembered that I did not look the other way when women accused him of assault, when the reality of his Russian alliances came to light, when he refused to share his tax records—though large portions of the American media and its people chose to.  

Let it be remembered that I did not buy into the fear that he perpetuated of those with brown skin or hijabs or foreign birthplaces. 

Let the record show that I looked on with disbelief as he spent countless early morning and middle-of-the-night hours following the election on social media, broadcasting a steady stream of petulant, insecure, incoherent messages instead of preparing to do a job he was ill-equipped for and seemingly not all that interested in.

Let the record show that I watched him assemble a Cabinet of billionaires and bigots, of people woefully unqualified to steward our children, our safety, our healthcare, our financial stability—and that I was horrified by it all.

Let it be remembered that my faith would not allow me to fall in line behind this man while so many professed religious people did; that I saw nothing resembling Jesus in him, and that to declare him Christian would have been to toss aside everything I grew up believing faith in Christ manifested in a life.  

Let History record my grieving at the racism and bigotry and homophobia that characterized his campaign, marked his supporters, and is evident in his assembling Administration.

Let it be known that I was one of the more than 65 million people who voted for Hillary Clinton; who understood that though flawed, she was an intelligent, experienced, passionate public servant with the temperament, commitment, and qualifications to lead and lead well. 

Let the record show that I greatly lamented the day of his inauguration, and that I promised to join together with other good people to loudly resist and oppose every unscrupulous, dangerous, unjust and dishonest act this new Administration engages in. 

History has been littered with horrible people who did terrible things with power, because too many good people remained silent. And since my fear is that we are surely entering one of those periods in our story, I wanted to make sure that I was recorded for posterity:

I do not believe this man is normal.
I do not believe he is emotionally stable.
I do not believe he cares about the full, beautiful diversity of America.
I do not believe he respects women.
I do not believe he is pro-life other than his own.
I do not believe the sick and the poor and the hurting matter to him in the slightest.
I do not believe he is a man of faith or integrity or nobility.
I do not believe his concern is for anything outside his reflection in the mirror.

I believe he is a danger to our children.
I believe he is a threat to our safety.
I believe he is careless with our people.
I believe he is reckless with his power.
I believe America will be less secure, less diverse, less compassionate, and less decent under his leadership.

And if I prove to be wrong, it will be one of the most joyful errors of my life. I will own these words and if necessary, willingly and gladly admit my misjudgment because it will mean that America is a better and stronger nation, and the world a more peaceful place.

But right now I don’t see that happening. 

Right now I am worried for my country, concerned for our planet, scared for the future of my children, and greatly saddened that 62 million Americans seem okay with all of this.

Let the record show that I was not okay with it.

Not at all.

Climber

This little stinker scaled the kitchen bar stools today, with the speed and agility of a tiny monkey.  Nothing is safe in our home!  

Exhuasted

Grocery shopping is exhausting!

Nolan-isms

Mom: "Nolan, what makes you feel happy?"

Nolan: "Going to the fair is so delightful."

Haha, what four year old uses delightful in a sentence?!  This adorable one!

Also, today we got home from the store and Nolan noticed that I bought a bottle of wine and had put it up in the wine rack.  He ran into the other room to find Eric and excitedly announce (shout) that Mommy bought "Root Beard" and put it in the "Root Beard" bin.  Haha, you can tell how often we have wine on hand in this house...

"Or-see"

Much to the joy of her mother, Olivia has recently become obsessed with "or-sees."  She loves her "or-see" toys and books, and nickers loudly and emphatically every time she sees one.  Perhaps I finally have the leadline candidate that I've wanted for the last two decades!  

 

For the love

This morning was another frosty cold Northwoods day, with a biting windchill well below zero - the perfect day to snuggle up at home and not go anywhere.  I started spinning about what to do today to keep the cabin fever from setting in and I glanced up and saw the little stack of books I got for Christmas beckoning me.  I pulled out Jen Hatmaker's, "For the Love" and I'm so glad I did.  It was exactly the message I didn't know I needed to hear today.  (For the record, I read the entirety of it in about 3 hours!)

Parenting has been a little grueling lately.  After the craziness of the holidays, our kids really took some time to get back into their routine.  Nolan, especially, has really been testing the limits, and his big emotions can sometimes get the best of him.  My heart has felt heavy as sometimes I feel like I'm not enough or not equipped with the skills I need to parent my own child.

Along with these moments of self-doubt, comes some of the feelings of inadequacy that comes with the territory of being a stay-at-home mom.  I often feel like I am dismissed by other adults because of my choice to stay home.  Like I'm doing this because I don't have any other options, and not because it's a choice that our family made.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not making my own mark on society through my career or calling.  It's easy to forget that being a mother is a calling.  Perhaps the most important calling, as it shapes and forms the next generation of movers and shakers in society.  It's just that in the trenches, it's hard to remember that.

Enter this book.  As I turned to page 21, I came across this quote:

"To the Mama at home with a bunch of littles...your calling is today.  God makes you worthy as you desire goodness for your children, meeting needs and nurturing little souls.  No future calling is any more important than you current station.  Every good, meaningful possibility is yours today.  You have access to the kingdom now: the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  That is every Christian's calling, and the gospel is perfectly demonstrated through the daily labor of parenting."

Was she reading my mind?  How did she know that I absolutely needed to hear this??

As I read that passage and the rest of the book (which was equally uplifting) I felt a sense of calm and fulfillment come over me.  I was called to be a mother, and though I am not perfect, our home is full of love, kindness, and goodness.  My children are seeing examples of living the gospel though our love and care for them.

Here's one more word of encouragement that I found, so beautifully articulated from Jen's book.

"You are smart and capable, strong and wise.  You are an overcomer, a prized member of the body of Christ.  You have so much to offer.  You can gather your girlfriend tribe and raise kids together, providing the happiest childhood they ever complained about.  You can crack open your Bible and preach good news for the poor.  You can model faithful friendship around your table, and you can stretch your hand across oceans to mamas everywhere.  You can do small work.  You can do big work.  You are so able in Jesus, so beloved, so permitted."

AMEN.

Little Helper

Lu loves to help with laundry.  By help, I mean, she drags all of the clothes all over the house.  And yes, those are her brother's underwear on her head. 

Library Love

Just had to share these sweet picture of the kids at the library for Storytime! As Livi is getting bigger, she is able to participate more and more. Today she got to play with PlayDoh after the stories.  She loves it there and doesn't want to leave.  In fact, today Mr. Tom had to bring her out to get her coat on after Storytime, as she was NOT ready to go and wanted nothing to do with me.  Little girl loves her library!

I was so proud of Nolan today.  Though he loves the librarians, and Storytime in general, he struggles with group participation.  He shuts down when it is time to sing or do a dance or actions, and will not join in.  He gets very anxious and if I try to demonstrate or encourage him, it gets worse.  But today, he participated with EVERYTHING!  He did the snowman actions with Mr Tom, and got into the circle with the group, and even allowed me to sing and do the actions to Frosty the Snowman.  It made me soooo happy to see this happen.  I have been worried about this particular obstacle a lot lately, especially with 4K coming round the bend this fall.  I want his classmates and teachers to see the Nolan that I know and love - the bubbly, smart, fun, outgoing, kind, and loving little boy that he is.  I am hoping that maybe after such a positive experience today, he'll keep it up!  Way to go, buddy!

When Miles attacks...

Phase One: He walks over and rests his head on your lap, sighs deeply, and looks up at you with those big brown eyes rimmed with those sweet white eyelashes.  At this point you have two options; Option one is to ignore him entirely.  If you do this and don't make a sound or movement of any kind, he may move on.  This is unlikely.  What is more likely, is that you'll move, or glance at him, or sigh, or talk and he'll take this as an indication to move on to Phase Two.

Phase Two: He will turn his head away for a moment, and nonchalantly put one paw on your lap.  He'll act like it's no big deal and won't make eye contact.  The second paw will join the first. Once you've reached Phase Two, there is no denying Phase Three.  In the words of Nolan, "It's happening!"

Phase Three: Fifty five pounds of bony, spotted dog/clown are now on top of you, frantically trying to get closer.  As if sitting on your lap is not close enough, he now feels that he must nuzzle into your neck. I blame Eric for this, because on Miles' first night home, he spent the night cradled in Eric's neck.  Miles has since made it his life's greatest goal to recreate this feeling.  It is not mutual.

Lemur pose!

I know we rag on our faithful buddy sometimes, but the truth is that we love him and life would certainly less interesting without this clownish goofball making us laugh every day!

New Year

Hooray!  I'm feeling pretty proud of myself!  I made it a whole year keeping up with my blog, and I'm so glad I did it!  All of these memories and pictures will be going into a book that will hopefully be a special keepsake of our family's story.  Right now it is 310 pages!  I showed Nolan my draft on it on the computer the other day, and he absolutely loved it.

Our family has been spending the first week of January getting back on track with our normal routine.  After being gone so much during our Christmas marathon, it really takes some time to get unpacked, new toys and Christmas decorations put away, and caught up on the daily grind of errands, cleaning, and all the busyness of our every day lives.  Nolan has struggled a bit getting back into his routine, and his restlessness and mouthiness have been a bit frustrating.  He did so well during the holidays, with all of our travel and unpredictability.  Here's to hoping that a few more days of stability will help our sensitive guy with this transition.  Livi, too, has been pushing some buttons and has been not very interested in going to bed on time (staying up til 9 some nights!), leaving an exhausted mommy and daddy!  I'm sure the cabin fever we all have from the cold, cold weather isn't helping any of these things!

But, we count our many blessings at the beginning of a new year.  We have each other; we are healthy; we are loved, supported, and fulfilled.  That's about as good as anyone could ask for!  Cheers to blessed 2017 and lots more memories to be made!