Hard Things

Five months ago, we discovered that we can do Hard Things. 

Medium Hard Things. Tiny Hard Things. And Super-de-Duperty, Crazy-Making, Mind-Losing, Heart-Breaking Hard Things. 

They are Hard Things that we didn't plan for. That we didn't anticipate. That we still struggle with daily to fully comprehend. They are Hard Things that have changed the landscape of our home, the design of our family, and certainly the emotional complacency of ourselves and our children. These Hard Things have stretched us. Have tried us. Have pained us. Have caused us to cry more tears and utter more heartfelt prayers in the last 20 weeks than perhaps in all the rest of the days of our marriage combined. They are Hard Things that have allowed us to celebrate our strengths and have made us painfully aware of our weaknesses. They are Hard Things that have tested our patience, tried our faith, and stretched us to the ultimate physical, spiritual, and emotional limits of what we feel capable of managing. They allow us to truly grasp the meaning of taking one day at a time. Of putting one foot in front of the other. Doing bit, by bit, by bit.

Ultimately, ironically perhaps, these very same Hard Things have blessed us in incredible and incomprehensible ways. They have enriched our lives. Helped us to see the good. Allowed us to find gratitude in the simple things that are so easy to take for granted. These Hard Things have strengthened our resolve. Increased our faith. Caused us to rely more heavily on each other. On the Lord. They have brought us closer. Magnified our capacity to serve and to love. Instilled greater patience within us. They have enriched our lives in ways that we could never have imagined. Daily, these Hard Things are making us into better parents. Better spouses. And hopefully, better humans. They are defining us. Shaping us into individuals with a slightly greater capacity for compassion and understanding. Forging us into people who are willing to admit their limitations and seek help from the heavens above.

In myriad ways, and for myriad reasons, these Hard Things are oh so, oh so hard.

And yet. They are the biggest blessings of our lives.

Time Warp

 Anyone else get the sense that time is moving at incredible speeds these days?

June 2015

March 2016

If you don't believe me, take a look at this handsome baby-not-baby who has become an almost threenager in what feels like a matter of minutes. He seems to be changing at the fastest speed of all. 

There are, though, {thank goodness!} a few little things he still does to let me know that I haven't lost him forever, quite yet:

-Asks me to "hold you" about twelve times a day. Up the stairs, down the stairs, out to the car, down the hall at church, from the couch to the pantry, the pantry to the couch, in line at the store, across the living room to watch the trash trucks, etc. (I am trying to happily oblige, even though I may or may not have another baby in my arms, for the sheer reason that this will likely be fading away very soon).

-Carries his beloved blankie with him EVERYWHERE. And when he throws up on said blankie from crying so hard during his "I want mac-cheese, no don't want mac-cheese" tantrum, he promptly asks for "nother blankie" to replace it. (Thank goodness for back-ups.)

-Loves Daddy. Reveres Daddy. Celebrates Daddy. But, at the end of the day, all he really wants is Mommy.

-While he dabbles in ridiculous Youtube videos, his main source of daily entertainment continues to be from the holy quadruply: Cars, Cars 2, Planes, and...you guessed it...Planes: Fire and Rescue.

And, probably my most favorite: He hugs, kisses, snuggles, and hugs on me unabashedly, all day long. In front of friends, strangers, family, whomever. That's the one I hope stays around the longest. 

I sure do love my tiny tornado.

Park Perfect

There are no perfect children. Or perfect parents. There are no perfect days, or weeks, or months. But sometimes, just sometimes, you are blessed with a near-perfect afternoon, flanked on all sides by beautiful people who love you, basking in beautiful weather that you wish would last all year.

{Then you go home and throw 9 kiddos into tubs and showers and feel so grateful for the all of those perfect, warm, sandy moments that lead up to the first Clean Kid Extravaganza of 2016.}

Happy {Late} Valentine's Day, I Guess

Valentine's Day is one of those holidays I have a hard time caring about; it's up there with St. Patrick's Day in its pretty-much-meaningless-for-me status. I mean, a special day to tell someone you love them? Scoff. Every day should be that day, right? Plus, if it's a REAL holiday, shouldn't people get the day off of work, or something? 

Okay, so even though we have established that I really don't love it (oh, the irony), the question is, can I actually get over that feeling enough to celebrate it? And when I say celebrate it, I really mean, do something cool for the kids, because, let's be honest, besides happily using it as an excuse to get Olive Garden take-out to eat on the couch, Craig and I don't celebrate it at all.

Most of the time I don't plan enough in advance to do anything at all, but this year I was lucky enough to actually remember the holiday while I was at the grocery store, so I picked up some Sweethearts (which nobody likes, apparently) and candy for the kids. Then I stayed up waaay too late making them each a card, only to remember a couple of days later that I had already made them each a card at an Enrichment activity a few days before. And how do I completely forget something like that, you may wonder? (I know I do.) Not enough free space in this jumbled brain of mine to remember anything that isn't absolutely pertinent to the moment, I suppose. (It's kind of the new normal. I am not a fan.)

In a miraculous burst of energy and foresight at 10:30 at night, I decorated our kitchen table with some fabulous dollar spot decorations and extra candy. (Which no one ate. On account of they don't like it.) 

Then I went to bed. And missed their reactions to the little surprise in the morning because I was too busy hustling trying to get ready for church. I DID, however, get to see them enjoy their wonderful pink (okay, mostly orange) pancakes that Craig made them for dinner that night. It was a perfect way to end a not-really-holiday.

I just hope they are happy and satisfied for a while with this limited fanciness. 'Cause heaven knows that St. Patrick's Day will come and go without so much as a green accessory on any one of them, Ain't nobody got time for that.

This Boy

The Eyes. The Smile. The Lashes. The Perfect Nose. The Requisite Snot on the Upper Lip. 

The Endless Energy. The Ridiculous Messes. The Snuggles. The Blankie Obsession. The Refusal to Eat Vegetables. The Affinity for Pero. The Mommy Love. The Daddy Loyalty. The Lightning McQueen Fandom. The Intense, Irrational Fear of Doctors...And Dogs. The Cleverness. The Sweetness.

The Boy. The Legend. The Spencer.