Since adding a teenager to our family, it's been interesting for me to see where my extra time has come from. Because I certainly didn't think I had any extra time to give, but it has to come from somewhere, right? Turns out, I spend way less time on Facebook, I gave up reading 75% of the other blogs I was subscribed to, I watch less TV in the evening, and I go to bed way later than I want to or should. That has probably been the (physically) hardest thing about having a teenager in the house. Around 9:00 p.m., just about the time I am ready to shut down and close up shop for the day, she magically comes alive and starts to talk. And I mean really talk, about important stuff that she needs us to hear. I heard somewhere that teenagers are like oysters, they open up briefly and for short intervals, so you need to jump at every opportunity to drop what you're doing and listen! So we do. And God has been faithful to give me the grace I need to make it through the next day even if (when!) the baby has me up multiple times a night following a late night, and prior to an early morning wake-up call. I was SO thankful for Daylight Savings' time hitting when it did this year...it has been bliss, BLISS I tell you, having at least 2 of our 3 kiddos sleep past 7! Sometimes 8! The first morning after the time change I hardly knew what do do with myself when 7:00 came and went and no one was awake needing my attention. I actually got my house dusted before they got up, for the first time in...well...I'm not going to tell you, because that would be too embarrassing, but it had been quite awhile! I could get so much done if this tradition continues! To be honest most mornings I haven't been all that productive...but I have been trying to catch up on all the extra zzzzzzs I can squeeze in.
Let's see, an update on the kiddos anyone? Grandparents? Great-grandparents? Are you going through withdrawal from lack of pictures?
Shortly after Valentine's Day, my dad and Tim took the girls on a special date at my dad's church. Aren't they adorable?
Norah, AKA "Bruiser," and her broken nose. Norah: 0, Dining Room Chair: 1
She's also been working hard on learning how to write her letters!
I cannot get enough of these cheeks. I kiss them all day long. Repeatedly.
And this lip....this pouty lip! It's going to be nearly impossible for me to deny this little pouty lip.
Mr. J-Man has started a few solid foods. And by started I don't mean he eats them, he mostly just plays with his food, rolls it around in his mouth, and spits it out. But he sure has fun!
Some notable quotables from the last few months:
Every time I sit down to read the girls a book before naptime, Audrey says "Mommy will you put your arm around me?" Then I do, and she sighs, "there, that's much more comfortable." I usually try to do it to Norah too, but she removes my arm from around her shoulder and states matter-of-factly, "Mommy, I am NOT your snuggle bug." They have different love languages, my daughters do. It's so fun to figure them out! Just this afternoon I was carrying Norah home from a family walk early because she suddenly had to go potty. She was stroking my hair, telling me all about how she was taking the tangles out of it for me, then holding it out of my face so the wind wouldn't blow it. The wind stopped blowing momentarily, and she told me "I was talking to Jesus about that. I asked him to stop the wind blowing." I told her she was sweet and kissed her on the cheek. She responded with, "Mommy, I need to tell you someting. I don't like kisses anymore." :( Guess what? She's gonna keep on getting them!! Silly girl.
Shortly after I started Justus on some solid foods, I asked Tim one night at dinner if he would sit next to Justus' highchair so he could feed him. Norah's made the funniest face, then practically shouted, "but DADDY can't feed Justus, Daddy doesn't have BREAST-ES!" We all cracked up so hard at that one.
One day at naptime as I was leaving Audrey's room I saw her finger begin to enter the forbidden zone of the nostril, so I gently told her to stop picking her nose. She remarked, "But Mommy, it's like there's a loose tooth in my nose!" Funny, I totally understood the feeling she was talking about! (I handed her a Kleenex to get it out.) :)
Speaking of naptime, one afternoon Audrey came out of her room and told me "It's really hard to sleep when I keep swallowing saliva."
I've been experimenting with a variety of breakfast bars from Pinterest lately. Some have been big hits with the kiddos, some not so much. My most recent experiment was a rip roaring success; Audrey took one bite and remarked, "Mmmmm, Mama, I think you got the recipe right."
Another day she was really satisfied by my cooking. So much so that I got a "Mommy, you made my wish come true by making this the cheesiest! So you're kind of the hero of the day!"
One of my favorite phrases that Norah uses these days is "make sure-ing." Oftentimes I ask her what she's doing, and she responds with "I'm just make-sureing this isn't breaking," or some such thing. So sweet!
Lastly, I'll leave you with an answer key that I've been mentally compiling to help me decipher the text messages of our resident teen. At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I must say that the abbreviations get seriously ridiculous. Whatever time she saves by typing in this abbreviated faux-language, I surely spend while trying to interpret it. For example:
"sumtn" - something
"afta" - after
"ig" - it's good
"whteva" - whatever
"N" - and
"b" - be
"wit" - with
"Idk" - I don't know
"guna" - going
"Ikr" - I know, right?
"u" - you
"tht" - that
"tho" - though
"jus" - just
"dis" - this
"Ik" - I know
Got it? If you get a funny text from me, you'll know why. I'm learning the language of teens, people.
All in all, life right now is full, busy, crazy, stressful, fun, exhausting, good. Really good. What we're doing right now is hard, but we've found that while doing kingdom work is hard, it is right where we want to be! We cannot be refined unless we walk through the fire. It forces us to press into God for wisdom and strength and sustenance. So that's where we want to be! We covet your prayers.
And thanks to you faithful ones who continue to check this blog and read it when I get around to posting! And you get 5 bonus points if you made it all the way to the end of this long one.
That's all I've got for now. See you again in a few...
