A Moment In Time

 I want to tell you about something marvelous that we do around here. 

 

There was a moment this week that the house was quiet.

 

Quiet Time.

 

It doesn't always go as planned.  It doesn't happen every day.  It isn't always quiet.

 

 

I hear moms of littles talking about how they can't find time to read their Bible or spend time in prayer.  They can't find time to take a shower.  They can't (insert the needed task that should be accomplished). 

 

And some days we won't.  This week I went two days without taking a shower.  But hey, I brushed my teeth! (There were days when Colt was first born that it was like 3pm and I realized I hadn't brushed my teeth yet! There, you can laugh and gasp at my expense:)

 

There are days that the time I spend in devotion with my Savior is reading aloud in The Jesus Storybook Bible, crying out for help and grace in moments of weakness, reading my daily Bible reading while nursing a baby, or trying to pray in the shower while there are little people on the other side of the glass unrolling the toilet paper and reaching for my hair gel.

But I don't think that just because we have littles running around our home that it can be an excuse.  Because it's too easy to become one. 

 

Our quiet times have looked different lately as Declan is now done with a morning nap and Elliana usually doesn't take one.

Timing doesn't always play out the way I plan either.

 

I'm not going to write out different scenarios that we have around here. Some days I wake up early and spend time in the Word so I can use our quiet time for other tasks.  Some days I roll out of bed when I hear crying over a monitor and it seems as though I'm playing catch up all day.  With four children three and under in the house--no two days look the same.

 

I just want you to see this moment in time that happened this week:

I found this little desk at a garage sale for $5

Declan LOVES books! Almost as much as he loves his paci and bear:)

Quiet time.  Stick them in their rooms! If they aren't old enough to be trusted then put them in their cribs. 
And you know what? I don't feel bad about it.  Maybe at first I did.  But I know that I spend a lot of quality time with my children and putting them in their room alone isn't going to damage them.

This will help teach them contentment of playing with what you allow as well as playing alone (one of my children really needs this because she always wants to be around someone and getting attention).

At this moment in time, Elliana was in her room napping.  I haven't tried quiet time with her yet (she has done blanket time) because I haven't wanted to put her in her room all alone like that.

I had two baskets full of their clothes that needed to be put away (which is hard when it's nap time!) so I was in and out of their rooms doing that.  It was so cute because at one point I walked in and Raelynn was reading to Colt (this was the first time he'd been in her room during quiet time)

It was thirty minutes.  And it's amazing what can be accomplished in a short time when I put my mind to it.  Quiet time is part of my sanity.  We used to just do blanket time. And the transition to quiet time went well (other than that one time Raelynn caught us watching her on the moving camera monitor and FREAKED out. Sometimes she still hides the monitor behind a picture frame because "it can see me"). 

This was something that I had never thought of until it was pointed out to me by an older and much wiser woman with grown children.  So I wanted to pass it along to those mamas of littles that are longing for a moment to themselves to either spend quietly seated at the Throne of Grace or maybe just to shave your legs.

Now, if I could just get up to an alarm clock at 5am....

My Mommy Minute: March 26

Not in any particular order....hope you are having a great week! 

Thank you to those who have told me you like this! I've prayed over this blog many times and am 

thankful God has provided a way for me to encourage others through it. Thanks for your feedback:)


18 Things I Will Not Regret Doing With My Children by Raising Godly Children

The Notorious Mom Fail vs. Christ's Accomplishment by Kim Crandall at Domestic Kingdom
"It’s my brokenness, my mess, and all of my failures as a mother that continue to draw me into the arms of Jesus." 
This is a great read! I keep reminding myself that it is these failures that Christ had to die for.  It's because I am not perfect that He is.

 

Which Comes First? God or the Re-pin? by Cravings
This is short, yet convicting. I rarely get on Pinterest anymore, but this can be applied to other areas of life.

The Brutal Truth About Having Three Kids by Mama Mia

This is a hoot! Laughed a lot and could relate to almost everything. However, I am blessed to be around a loving 

group of friends and family that have celebrated all of our blessings. But wow, SO many things in this are true!! She obviously had children close in age.

Reflecting on Jesus as Lily of the Valley by Cheryl at Re:flect-I (a GREAT blog written by the women of my sister's church)

 Reflecting on Jesus as Servant by Wendy at Re:flect-I
You should just subscribe to this blog because every daily reading is so good.  So rich and full of wisdom and encouragement. 

Rustler's Rooste!

Had a fun dinner out with Mimi and Papa at Rustler's Rooste last week.

 

whoo hoo, Mimi!

the slide went FAST!

 

 

Project 52: week thirty-nine

March 16-22, 2014

Pool Time!!

 

 

 

 

This girl is such an ASU fan.  She can be heard chanting A-S-U or "Go Devils" quite often.  She gets so excited when she sees a pitchfork on someone's car or on a poster of a building.  This week she has "perfected" (almost) her pitchforks. I think she's close enough--that ring finger is hard to hold down!

Figured out how to make this boy smile for a picture--a selfie with him! And then he wants to see it after. We had fun embracing the camera while the other kids were napping.

It was Daddy's birthday this week!!! We celebrated with a dinner out to Someburro's and fruit pizza (birthday boy's request, of course!)

A lot to celebrate this year!

Colt went in the swing for the first time this week.  I couldn't push him very hard, but it was nice to be able to put him in there.  Usually he sits on the porch in his seat while we play outside. Now there is a third person to share the baby swing with!

 

When Elliana takes a morning nap she doesn't go down in the afternoon.  It's nice to have one on one time with her.  She gets to do some things she may not get to do otherwise if the bigs were awake. She helped mama make a tuna sandwich and LOVED eating the tuna, too!

Colt had another first this week--the bumbo! He did great! It's nice to have a different option than always on his back or tummy. He is reaching out for toys now, too.

 

 

 

And of course, this was the big kickoff weekend for March Madness!  We don't usually have the tv on much in our house, but this weekend it hasn't been turned off very often:)  

Doesn't everyone's fireplace mantle look like this? It is the perfect diaper station for us! Each little shelf holds a different size:)

"watching" some basketball

 

 

 

 

My Mommy Minute: March 21

I don't know how often I will get these published.  I tend to have a bunch of tabs open on my ipad and once I have time to read a blog post I will transfer it to share with you or get rid of it.  Sometimes those tabs are there for days before they are read!

Here are a few posts that I have had saved from the past couple weeks:

Dear Moms of Littles by We Are THAT Family

How Well Do You Manage Your Home? by Thankful Homemaker

One Day: A Lesson in Living in the Moment a poem by Sarah E Brooks

Mommy, Somebody Needs You by Your Best Nest
Get a tissue!

When Satan Steals Your Motherhood by Letters from the Nest

Wise Words about Facebook by Eternal Perspective Ministries

Putting An End to "Just Wait" by Amy Stuart (a friend of mine!)
 

What if the "Best Years of Your Life" just....aren't by Mama Mia
Very timely that I came across this today after telling my sister how it literally makes my stomach hurt knowing these precious moments are leaving and will never return. I just can't seem to soak enough in.  Makes me grateful for my video camera!

My Mommy Minute

I'm starting something new here. 

I love blogs.  I love reading other people's thoughts that are so well written.  Usually, they say exactly what I'm thinking but in ways that I could never put words together.  I am not a writer.  Never have been. Never will be.  But I really enjoy reading other people's thoughts--especially when I can relate so well to them as if I had wrote them myself!

I have a lot of things I want to say on this blog.  But then I waver back and forth between wanting to share my thoughts and experiences and my poor writing skills, barring my soul and putting my sin and struggles out there for all to read. And oh, there is that time factor too.  If you actually want to edit your thoughts on a blog it just takes too much time!

So that brings me to My Mommy Minute (unless you have a better name for it...this was what I came up with because I like alliteration and I don't want to keep putting off posting this so I'm just sticking with it....but I'm open to suggestions:) Instead of me sharing what I say, I'll just share what other people have to say.

If you are like me, you are a busy stay at home mom and the extent of daily conversations are teaching a child to say "mama", telling someone not to hit their sister, explaining that we don't eat dog food, describing the love of Christ, answering the many "why" questions of a three year old's mind, and singing along to nursery rhymes on Pandora.

I love my kids.  I love my little three year old chatter box.  But I also love some outside interaction. My husband teases me because my texting numbers are WAY higher than his each month.  (For many reasons including I am a woman and he is a man...but also because I'm at home and he is not.)

I try to manage my home well and work unto the Lord.  There are a lot of things that can steal my time--internet being one of them.  But as careful as I must be to guard against the internet, there are also some great things that can come from it! As I said, I love blogs!
I didn't even know what a blog was until about two years ago. There are many good blog posts filled with God glorifying and encouraging content.

I know your time is precious.  My time is, too.  But as I said--I need some interaction and encouragement though the day (even if it is with a stranger across a computer screen who has no idea who I am but her words are either convicting, uplifting, or just providentially what I needed to hear). I need to learn more about being a wife, mother, and friend.  I need to know I'm not the only one here who struggles. I come across blogs that I learn so much from or can relate so closely to. 

My Mommy Minute is going to share those blog posts with you.  I want to do this so I can file them away on here for me to look at in the future and also to share encouragement with you.  I have had a couple people in the past week tell me they appreciate the things I share on facebook and that they are encouraged by what they read.  So I pray that you would find some sort of encouragement here.  Maybe a laugh or a good cry, too.

So sit back, grab a homemade energy bite and a cup of coffee and enjoy a Mommy Minute.




 

Project 52: week thirty-nine

March 9-13, 2014

Sunday Snapshots:
 

 

Declan is developing such a sweet personality.  He has always been so sweet, but we are seeing how kind he really is.  This week I was cutting up the vegetable for dinner (and you can always find Declan at my feet during meal prep!) so I gave him a piece of zucchini.  He ran up and gave it to his daddy.  Then he came back and asked for another and gave it to Mimi.  Then the third one he finally ate:) 

 

The weather here is absolutely perfect.  We are spending as much time outside as we can because come June it is going to be too hot!

We eat a lot of lunches outside....I love sitting in the grass next to the kids and I always smile when I look at their feet.  Love their little feet dangling.  Probably should get a photo of that :)

All four doing some activities at the table

 

Colt is 3 months old and Elliana is 16 months old this week!

 

 

 Elliana had her first hair cut this week.  I have wanted to even it out for a while, but was a little nervous about it.  I wanted to let it grow so it could be styled, but since I don't know how to style it, I figured we could cut it and let it grow back...then maybe when she is a little older she will let me play around with braids. 
She did great with her hair cut! Unfortunately I took way more off that I intended :( and I  am really missing her big curls.  She looks so much younger now...but it will grow back.  And with her adorable smile, it doesn't matter what her hair looks like anyway.

 

  

 

 

 

sisters sharing a sucker:)

 

 Mimi and Papa arrived on late Sunday night.  We are so excited to have them here for a visit!

 

 

2 months!

Colt was 2 months on Feb 10.  I did actually take these pictures on his milestone day, but midway through my battery died...and well, there just wasn't another time to get the photo shoot finished for the bench pictures before too much time had passed. Oh well! :)

Colt is super-baby! We thought Declan was laid back, but Colt has proven to out-do his big bro.  It is a gift from God what a good natured baby he is.  The Lord knew I needed this.  So, so grateful for Colt's schedule (he eats, plays, sleeps, repeats.) and how well he is sleeping (he is sometimes going over six hours at a time during the night!)

Colt is 14.8 pounds and 24.3 inches long

 

 

he does smile--but this is all I could get for the photo shoot

 

3 Months!

Colt is 3 months! Wow!

He is doing great! Through his second month, he consistently slept through the night (8pm-6am) and has proven to be an amazing baby.  He is so easy going and has a great personality!

No doctor appointment this month, but I did get his weight at home.  He is 16 pounds.