1000 Gifts (3)

41. Rocking my baby
42. Healthy kids!
43. Jeans and a sweatshirt
44. Seeing pregnant women - the hope of new life is so refreshing!
45. Target diapers - these are my most recent fantastic find! (thanks, Kim!) They work just as well as Pampers or Huggies and they are a good $5 cheaper per case. You're welcome.
46. trees letting go of leaves...dozens drift down, slow motion.
47. Scarves
48. Our Honeymoon. SO glad we spent the time and money to do something really great! I think about it often...and covet another. :)
49. Cornmeal pancakes. a reminder of my childhood.
50. Hot showers. And I do mean HOT.
51. Baking. I love that you can put ingredients together and in a matter of minutes have a completely new, warm, fresh creation.
52. My grandma. She is so enthusiastic and young at heart.
53. Home videos
54. Washing machines. Even with a washing machine in my house, I am usually behind. I can't imagine how women stayed on top of laundry when they had to do it all by hand.
55. A card from a friend.
56. Flowers. Any kind. Any occasion. No occasion is even better!
57. Wine
58. Eating out - with no kids.
59. Painting
60. Decorating

Updates on the Kiddos

I feel like we are long overdue on some good Roman stories...so, here ya go!

Conversation #1
Me: "Roman, it's time for breakfast. What shall I make for you?"
Roman: "Uuummmm....cookies."
Me: (laughing) "UUUUmmmmm....no. We are not going to make cookies right now".
Roman: "I will make you a muffin." (meaning he wanted me to make him one. We still don't quite have those pronouns down!)
Me: "I was thinking toast or oatmeal..."

Conversation #2
When I went in to get Roman after his nap the other day, I opened the door and he said
"I have a surprise for you! Grandma's coming to see us!"
(again, he always says what he wants me to say to him - even funnier in real life because he uses the same intonation that I would have if I were actually telling him there was a surprise).

Conversation #3
Roman has a book about colors that he likes to read to me because it's simple and he can. The pages say sentences like this: "Red. This apple is red". Each color uses a piece of fruit as the example, but this is how he read it to me the other day:
"Red is apple."
"Bananas are yeyow." (yellow)
"Blueberries are yummy."

**Also, Roman is in this somewhat destructive stage...although Tony assures me it's not a stage. He says it's what boys do. According to Tony "I like to break stuff." When I asked him why he said "To see if I can. To see what happens."

Super.

Anyway, almost every day when I go into Roman's room after his nap, he has taken all the sheets off of his bed, all the clothes out of his dresser, and has all his books all over the floor. The other day he had even ripped a tag off of his mattress and torn it to shreds.

SERIOUSLY. Any ideas on how to take the destruction down a notch???



Judah:

• Has a tooth! His first tooth came in this week - it's on the bottom
• rolls back to front (not front to back)
• laughs hysterically at Roman doing pretty much anything
• is such a cuddle bug!
• thinks Old MacDonald is the funniest song ever
• spends a lot of time jumping like crazy in his exersaucer. He really enjoys being able to sit up in it without being held.
• loves his song ("Lion of Judah") and grins ear to ear when you sing it to him- yes, each of the boys have their "own" song - Roman's song is "Romans 16:19"
• is huge. He weighed 17 lb 10 oz at his four month appointment!
• has been a little grumpy, and a lot of drooly, due to teething
• usually goes to bed around 8 or 9, and then usually wakes around 1:00 and 6:00
• continues to be a very smiley, happy guy most of the time

1000 Gifts (2)

21. hearing the boys laughing at Joe in the baby monitor
22. silence
23. breastfeeding - it never ceases to astound me that God desined mothers so that they could sustain their baby's life with their own body
24. the smell of freshly baked bread
25. pictures that hold so many memories
26. living close to family
27. my wedding ring - a beautiful reminder to love and to honor
28. hearing the Word of God on Roman's lips
29. our amazing house
30. the teens in our youth group
31. the promise that the word "divorce" will never even be spoken in our home
32. the sound of the plastic covers on library books
33. the smell of the pages in an old book
34. opening a new book (can you tell I like books??)
35. sunshine
36. evening - when the sun is slipping down in the west but there is still just enough light to see
37. the faint smell of leaves burning
38. natural childbirth
39. Theology of the Body
40. CHOCOLATE

1000 Gifts

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In everything, give thanks; f9r this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

Colossians 4:2

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Psalm 105:1

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

"Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world."

-John Milton

Some will be large. Obvious. Some small...seemingly insignificant. All are mine...and they remind me that I am His.

And so I begin...

1. a God who is faithful
2. a husband who is Godly
3. Roman James
4. Judah Gerard
5. family
6. friends who might as well be family
7. the sound of rain on my window
8. autumn leaves...especially the bright orange
9. music that captures your exact thought or emotion
10. the mistakes I have made in the past. they have helped me grow
11. that God doesn't remember my mistakes
12. honey crisp apples...seriously...they will change your life
13. combines harvesting tall, golden stalks for corn
14. Natural Family Planning
15. the sound of little feet running across our hardwood floor
16. Roman's almost-not-breathing laugh
17. Judah's hiccupy, squealing laugh
18. being cuddled up in a blanket and listening to the wind blowing outside
19. when someone says just the right thing at just the right time
20. candles

The Rundown...

I have started to write several posts and just haven't been able to quite say what I want to say in any of them. So, hopefully one day, I will be able to spit out exactly what I would like for you to read.

In the meantime, here is a totally random rundown on what's going on in our house:

• I am sick. Sad day. It was really bad last night but I am feeling a little better this evening. However, if I haven't mentioned it, I have the best husband EVER. He stayed home from work today to help me with the boys. He took both of them (and brought Judah to me so that I could feed him every couple of hours) so that I could sleep most of the morning. Then he took Roman to the library while Judah and I rested. Then after lunch, he made me take another nap and brought me lots of juice. He is amazing. :)
• I am thankful for so many things. God has really been convicting me to have a thankful heart. I need to rid myself of a complaining spirit. I need to be satisfied in all that He is and in every way that he chooses to reveal himself in my life. I have been reading a new blog, Holy Experience, where the writer has posed a challenge to record 1000 things you are thankful for. I am going to start, so I may be sharing those things periodically.
• I have been reading a FANTASTIC parenting book, Instructing a Child's Heart. Two things I am going to work on: 1. making the gospel the center of everything that we do as parents. It has given me some great ideas on how to bring discipline, daily life, and difficult times back to what life is really about. I want to be purposeful in everything I do and say in my home. 2. I want to be truly present with my kids (and in all of my conversations and realationships, for that matter). I don't want to be distracted. They will only be little for a short time and I want to savor every moment. In the same way, I have incredible friends...and I want them to realize how important they are to me when we are talking.
• Roman is still awake - kicking his wall as we speak. How do I make that stop??
• I really need to put some new videos up...you have to see how cute it is when Roman and Judah start laughing at each others' laugh and can't stop. :)
• I love fall. I will save the details for part of a "thankful" post coming soon!
• Let me know how I can be praying for you this week...I would be honored to lift you to the Most High.