Musings of a Mom
Written on Thursday of last week . . .
Okay, so I don't have a perfect life. Just wanted to throw that out there in case you were thinking it (HA!). This has been an AWFUL week or so . . . Jeremiah's parents came to visit last Wednesday and stayed until Tuesday. The good- Shannon loved them and gave them great joy. The bad . . . oh where do I begin? (the following part has been edited for public blog)
I don't want to get into it and bore you, but it was really, really hard. I got little comments every time I had to feed Forest "oh he has to eat AGAIN?" or when the kids were sleeping "oh they are taking a nap AGAIN?" Or when he'd start crying, I'd come to get him from them and I'd get little comments like "oh here's mommy to take you AGAIN." Lots of {attempted} manipulative behavior, which I chose to ignore because I don't do that manipulative thing. But it made for 6 VERY stressful days. I don't think I've felt that close to breaking point in a long time.
It's also hard because Jer's dad probably won't live long, so you want the visit to be enjoyable and memorable for your kids. And it was hard because it showed me the ugly part of me- how can I teach my kids to love people that I don't even feel love for? Ouch! Parenting is good for us because it shows us just how sinful and in need of a savior we are!
And Forest just had four BAD days in a row- lots of crying and being unhappy! Trying to keep Shannon's stress level low when he's upset and then Jer gets all stressed out . . . I had many thoughts of running away this week! {Edited to add he then had three good days in a row with lots of smiling and laughing!}
But then yesterday was good. A great day! In fact we walked out the door to dinner and no one was crying! And no one cried or had problems during dinner. It's amazing to me how UP and DOWN life with toddlers and babies can be. Some days life feels amazing and other days it's the pits.
Helps me remember that life isn't about the emotions or the feelings. I have to remember what IS and not what it FEELS like.
.......................................................................................
And now it's Saturday night, another week past. MY mom comes to visit on Tuesday and there is not enough room on this blog for me to explain just how thrilled and excited I am!!!! She was here for three + weeks when Forest was born and if it tells you anything about our visit, I was NOT ready for her to leave!
This is also our birthday week- B's on Sunday, C's on Monday, J's on Thursday and then our very own Shannon's on Saturday! Whew!
Well, we have another long day with the boys tomorrow, so I need to be a good mom and get some rest. I'll leave you again with a few scrapbook pages. I have been scrapping SO much lately and enjoying it SO, SO much! What are YOU doing to save the stories of YOUR family? What are you doing to give yourself a creative outlet?
My sweet mother and sweet baby boy
A challenge for the Sweet Shoppe had us scrapbook what we would do with a million dollars, I decided to take it literally and divide the money up. I actually had a very hard time spending it all, so just went back and bumped up amounts for people! Look close, your name might be on there!
Shannon decided to take up dancing this week! (Again, click on the image to see it larger)
My first digital scrapbook page of our wedding pictures!
I've been wanting to show this picture for a while- look how identical Shannon and Jeremiah look!!!!!
Okay, so I don't have a perfect life. Just wanted to throw that out there in case you were thinking it (HA!). This has been an AWFUL week or so . . . Jeremiah's parents came to visit last Wednesday and stayed until Tuesday. The good- Shannon loved them and gave them great joy. The bad . . . oh where do I begin? (the following part has been edited for public blog)
I don't want to get into it and bore you, but it was really, really hard. I got little comments every time I had to feed Forest "oh he has to eat AGAIN?" or when the kids were sleeping "oh they are taking a nap AGAIN?" Or when he'd start crying, I'd come to get him from them and I'd get little comments like "oh here's mommy to take you AGAIN." Lots of {attempted} manipulative behavior, which I chose to ignore because I don't do that manipulative thing. But it made for 6 VERY stressful days. I don't think I've felt that close to breaking point in a long time.
It's also hard because Jer's dad probably won't live long, so you want the visit to be enjoyable and memorable for your kids. And it was hard because it showed me the ugly part of me- how can I teach my kids to love people that I don't even feel love for? Ouch! Parenting is good for us because it shows us just how sinful and in need of a savior we are!
And Forest just had four BAD days in a row- lots of crying and being unhappy! Trying to keep Shannon's stress level low when he's upset and then Jer gets all stressed out . . . I had many thoughts of running away this week! {Edited to add he then had three good days in a row with lots of smiling and laughing!}
But then yesterday was good. A great day! In fact we walked out the door to dinner and no one was crying! And no one cried or had problems during dinner. It's amazing to me how UP and DOWN life with toddlers and babies can be. Some days life feels amazing and other days it's the pits.
Helps me remember that life isn't about the emotions or the feelings. I have to remember what IS and not what it FEELS like.
.......................................................................................
And now it's Saturday night, another week past. MY mom comes to visit on Tuesday and there is not enough room on this blog for me to explain just how thrilled and excited I am!!!! She was here for three + weeks when Forest was born and if it tells you anything about our visit, I was NOT ready for her to leave!
This is also our birthday week- B's on Sunday, C's on Monday, J's on Thursday and then our very own Shannon's on Saturday! Whew!
Well, we have another long day with the boys tomorrow, so I need to be a good mom and get some rest. I'll leave you again with a few scrapbook pages. I have been scrapping SO much lately and enjoying it SO, SO much! What are YOU doing to save the stories of YOUR family? What are you doing to give yourself a creative outlet?
My sweet mother and sweet baby boy
A challenge for the Sweet Shoppe had us scrapbook what we would do with a million dollars, I decided to take it literally and divide the money up. I actually had a very hard time spending it all, so just went back and bumped up amounts for people! Look close, your name might be on there!
Shannon decided to take up dancing this week! (Again, click on the image to see it larger)
My first digital scrapbook page of our wedding pictures!
I've been wanting to show this picture for a while- look how identical Shannon and Jeremiah look!!!!!
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