Babies, Brownies and Blessings

It's been a few days since writing so I just grabbed the computer and sat down. I have several ideas of things I'd love to blog about  but motherhood is calling me. My youngest son is down and out with body aches and an intermittent fever. And he just came up to cuddle. I wouldn't ever pass this up...so goodbye for now. I'm going to snuggle my son, pray for him, rub his back, kiss his forehead  and enjoy the few moments of quiet. Because I only get to do this when they're too sick to move.

I'm pretty sure I've said those 4 words more often than any others in the last 1 1/2 years. (Except, perhaps, "I said no" when speaking to my children). In February of 2009 we read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey  and it changed our whole relationship with money. We now spend everything on paper (called a budget!) before we actually spend it. We use cash. Only. Which means we only buy what we can afford. I love it and I hate it. I need new shoes, our comforter has seen better days, Bri needs work boots, I'd love to do a little redecorating. But... it's not in the budget. Yet. The upside is that eventually we can work that all into the budget. Right now we're debt-reducing so the budget is tighter. I'm so excited for the day we can loosen the purse strings a bit. And it will feel good because we waited for it. We worked for it. Committed to a life-style change and stuck with it. We don't subscribe to everything Dave says but most of w...

I really thought this stage was over. Call it what you will: naivete, wishful thinking, ignorance. Whatever the name, I was hopeful that we were past this. I've read books about how to change this behavior, purchased tools to "program" the behavior to go away. The offending behavior? 5:30 a.m. wakings. 5:30 is not a bad time if it's spent in blissful slumber. A mood killer if it's the time you see on the clock when you hear "Mom!" followed by the pitter-patter of little feet coming up the stairs. For nearly 5 years now I've been awake before 6 a.m. the vast majority of days. I had surrendered to it as my fate. However, a few months ago the boys started sleeping "in". As in 6:15 a.m. I was elated! It's so much easier to get up during the 6 o'clock hour than 5. I thought my days of 5ish wakings were over since BabyGirl usually sleeps until 6:30 at least. Now over the last 2 weeks the boys have been getting up before 6 agai...

I rocked BabyGirl to sleep tonight. Because I could. The boys asleep, Bri at work... Soaking in every perfect feature. Pale hand resting on my chest, skin nearly translucent revealing tiny blue veins. Cheeks that feel like satin beneath my fingertips. Eyebrows, so fine, smooth as silk. Not a line on her face save the crease of her chin. Sweet baby breath. Beautiful rosebud lips like her daddy... Gentle rhythmic breathing. Sound of her sucking on her plug. Grinning so big in the land between awake and sleep, losing the plug. Suck*Suck*Suck  **smile**  PLOP Baby blue eyes not quite closed... As if she didn't want to miss a moment either. Our God, so amazing to create the beautiful intricacies of a baby. Giving us the opportunity to experience a love so big and so outside ourselves. Oh how I love Him for that...

...from my favorite website. I'm actually hesitant to share what site it is because I'm a little...possessive of it. You see, the way this site  works is they have a deal every day. It posts at 10am (and I have my phone alarm set so I won't miss it!). When they have sold the allotted amount for the day, the deal is over. Some things don't go quickly, others  are gone within minutes. So what's so great about what they sell that makes me want to hoard it? Here are just a few of the steals I've gotten: blankets  , leggings , hair bands and flowers , cloth diapers . At 40-70% off regular price! So you can get some good quality items at a fraction of the cost! Bri doesn't quite understand the appeal and has forbidden encouraged me to not look at the steals for a while. Because you have to spend money to save money so wouldn't it be better to just not spend any money? What he doesn't know is there are several other great sites. So while I'm off B...

I'm heading back to work. In 15 minutes. Maternity leave is over...no more sitting around eating bon bons. ;-) I'm fortunate to have such a part-time job, makes going back easier. I don't think I'm forgetting anything. Bottles are filled. Clothes for the kids set out. Caleb's stuff for "Red Day" at preschool is ready. School bags and diaper bag filled. Schedule for Claire written (with perhaps more detail than necessary). Daddy does a great job with the kids and it was easy to leave before we added Claire. Now it's diapers and bottles again and a baby who's only method of communication is smiling or crying. Get dressed, grab my tea, pray for a good day and out the door I go...

Saturday night was date night. A real one, with a babysitter for all three kids. It was the first time that we would leave BabyGirl, too. Funny how much more quickly I am willing to leave our third child than our first. I was feeling a little guilt about that until I realized why. With our first, it hadn't been that long since we'd been alone. When he was 3 months old it had only been 3 months since our last date night. Now our first child is almost 5 years old. Which means we've been going for quite a while on very few date nights! That did a bit to ease my guilty mind. Anyway, I had everything ready to go and felt pretty good about going. Claire is not a fussy baby and pretty much eat, sleeps and smiles for me. She has had a few fussy times here and there but not bad at all! As we were leaving it was Sam who put up the most fuss about us leaving (which is usual for him). We decided to go sit on the patio at Pier 500 which overlooks the river. It was a beautiful fall nig...