Older, but wiser, right???

I think I've crossed some invisible barrier in life from being a young adult to an adult. I didn't know that I had, but apparently others have figured it out. Here are some examples:

At Old Navy the gal on the sales floor (my guess- age 18?) asks to help me. (Because I'm starved for adult conversation, I over-share...) I tell her I'm shopping for myself, and not for my kids for once, and looking for new jeans. I tell her I don't want them to be too low waisted and I like skinny/straight leg jeans that I can wear with flats or in my boots. She tells me she thinks I would like the "sweetheart, boot-cut" jean and it's the one HER MOM likes. WHAT!!??

The teenagers who used to babysit for Charli called me Miss Bess. The new babysitter called me Mrs. Contreras.

A few months ago I accompanied Brooks (my, then, 15 year old brother) to his high school. A couple teenagers asked if I was his mom. NOT OK.

I guess I'll grab my Reader's Digest, V8 and my walker and head to my ergonomic bed.

Choosing Thankfulness

Today I am overwhelmed with thankfulness. Could I look at my day yesterday and be mad? Sure. I could focus on the fact that my husband travels a lot and I miss him- his company, his love, his help and I know the girls miss him too. What I choose to focus on is how proud I am of him. He works hard and he is really good at his job. He provides well for us, so well in fact that we can live (comfortably compared to so much of the world) on one income. Do we budget? Yes. Do I clip coupons, shop the clearance rack, and cook most of our meals? Yes. But I'd bet there are a lot more people out there who think they need 2 salaries but could live on one and their children would be better for it. I digress...

Things I'm thankful for today:

1. My Bible Study. The Study itself (John Stott's study of The Sermon on the Mount) and the ladies in the group. They challenge me, they help me see scripture more clearly, they have been in my shoes and encourage me as a mom.

2. New friends. Just 2.5 years ago we moved to Memphis and though I'm from here, I only had one friend left still in town (who has since moved to Nebraska) I now have quite a few friends and even a couple friends I'd call best friends. WOW. That's a blessing.

3. Awesome neighbors in our cove and recently connecting with another stay at home mom in our neighborhood and meeting another SAHM in our neighborhood later this week.

4. Health. I don't take it for granted that the 4 of us are very healthy. I try to provide a clean, healthy home for my family but it's God who really provides us with this blessing.

5. Nearness to my family. I love this season of life. Someone told me my first year in college that I'd get over my homesickness. I never did. I missed them the entire time I lived far away. I am thankful that, at least for this season of life, they are just 15 minutes up the road. I love being able to eat dinner with them usually at least once a week or just call them to stop by. I think having been so far away in the past and also knowing we could move abroad again someday helps me keep this thankful perspective.

I never want to take all of these things for granted. Even on hard days (like yesterday) when my girls give me a run for my money, I'm tired/have headaches, my husband is on a trip, etc. my life is so blessed. Blessed as in- God's goodness in my life. I don't deserve it, not one bit. Without him I am "poor in spirit"- meaning utterly depraved- but with Him I experience abundant life. Wow. How could I choose anything other than thankfulness?

Tale as old as time...

Last weekend Mom and I took Charli to see her first movie in the theater: Beauty & the Beast 3D. It was a fun and memorable day. I love experiencing each of my children's first. I'm thankful that I'm there to be a part of each one- I can't think of one that I've missed, actually. What a blessing!

Charli LOVED going to the movie. She ate an absolute ton of popcorn and jellybeans and though I caught a picture of her wearing the 3D glasses, she didn't wear them for most of the movie. She took turns sitting with me and Mom and a few minutes on the booster seat. Speaking of the booster, a word to the wise: if you take a very small child to the movie, do ask for a booster and if it's a 3D movie you can ask for these foam tubes to put on the glasses to make them smaller. (They still weren't actually small enough, but it helped.)

I loved that my mom was there too. She took me to my first theater movie: Snow White, when I was about 3. Here are a few (bad) pictures that I took with my phone.

Why Charli loves me

Brandon asks Charli, "do you love your mommy? is she the best mommy?"

Charli, "yeah, she not a scary mommy."

Brandon digs deeper, "Are other mommies scary?"

Charli giggles and says, "nooo" pauses and thinks "two scary ladies"

Brandon says, "who are the scary ladies?"

Charli, "Rapunzel lady and ummmm... Little Mermaid lady" (meaning the lady who kidnaps Rapunzel in Tangled and Ursula in The Little Mermaid)

So, I'm glad that Charli loves me... because I'm not a mean lady. (similar stories have been told about me and my fear of "mean queens" thanks to other disney movies- Snow White and Sleeping Beauty)

A Typical Day

This post is really more for when I look back at our blog books (I print one every couple years) so I can remember what our normal days looked like with baby/toddlers.

7am: Brandon leaves for work, Char & Claire wake (usually about 20 minute apart, thankfully) nurse Claire, take Charli to the potty & then fix her breakfast (always OJ and something like toast/fruit/oatmeal/waffles/muffin) - I MUST drink my coffee now haha.

7:45: Claire goes down for a nap

I get Charli dressed/brush teeth & hair. She sits on my bed and watches PBS while I shower/get dressed. She likes to watch Cat in the Hat, Super Why, and Sesame Street. (I hope when Claire can stay awake longer in the morning this will become our stroller walk/jog time!)

9: playtime for Charli and Mommy- usually coloring or just playing on the floor with toys together - Soon this will become our 'preschool' time.

10: Charli snack. (she usually has either a tangerine, applesauce, or blueberries) Claire wakes and nurses. Get her changed/dressed. This is the errand time if we need it. If we have MOPS, Bible study, playdate etc. I wake her at about 9 instead and nurse her and we leave immediately after.

11: Claire naps at home or snoozes at church/in car if I'm lucky.

12, noon: Lunch for me and Charli

12:30-1: Charli nap, I clean/nap/read/start dinner/laundry etc.

1-1:30: Claire wakes & nurses, I continue dinner/chores with Claire to chit-chat with ;)

2: Claire naps

3: Charli wakes, has a snack, and we try to have active playtime, outside if at all possible, until Claire wakes up

4: Claire wakes & nurses - if I haven't started dinner I start it now- Charli plays in her room or sits at the kitchen table to play with playdoh, color, play with magnets etc.

5-6 Brandon gets home and we eat as soon as he arrives, followed with baths for the girls, playtime with daddy

7: nurse Claire and put her to bed / stories, songs, prayer and bedtime for Charli

7:30-10 or 11: RELAX with Brandon and sometimes exercise together/do projects/watch our fav shows, etc

Ode to Fred

Last week our sweet Freddy cat was hit and killed by a car on the main road behind our house.  Our neighbor actually saw him and moved his body out of the road and then came over and told me that he was pretty sure it was Freddy.  I checked and it was him :((((( I should've have had more retrain but I called Brandon sobbing- he didn't answer, so I called my dad because they work together.  I scared him to death because of my sob-fest.  Oops.  Lesson learned.  Thankfully I got ahold of Brandon and he was able to call the city and see if they could come get Fred's body. (I couldn't have handled going to get him to bury, especially with two little ones to care for!)  A couple days after it happened we decided to tell Charli that he went to heaven.  Here's how that conversation went.

Me: Charli, I need to tell you something.  Freddy went to heaven to be with Jesus.
Charli (with a look of confusion but happiness): yaay!
Me (gently, but firmly): Yes, he's happy there but he's not coming back to our family.
Charli: noooo, need him!
Me: I know, we loved Freddy, but he's happy living with Jesus now.
Charli: oh, ok.

Later in the week she told the babysitter that he was outside playing with the other neighbor kitty.  ohwell, she is only 2.  It's weird that she won't really remember him.

Here's a picture montage of our fuzzy friend.  We already miss him so much!