Bunny's Bum

I was nursing Matthew in his room this afternoon and Ashlyn was playing with her bunny in there with us. She began to lay bunny down very carefully and she was patting him and stroking him. I asked her what she was doing. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: What are you doing, Ashlyn?
Ashlyn: Changin' bunny's diaper.
Me: Oh, did bunny make poo-poo?
Ashlyn: Yeah, I need a wipe.
Me: Well, go ahead and get one.

Ashlyn left the room and re-entered wiping her hands with a pretend wipe. "I got one," she said. She proceeded to clean bunny up, saying, "I wiping bunny's bum."

All day long she proceeded to change her stuffed animals' diapers.

Gearing Up

We are getting ready for Christmas and all I can say is: Thank God for online shopping!! We have gotten some great deals and haven't paid shipping yet. With two little ones, it is such a time-saver, too. Ashlyn is getting an easel to further develop her artistic talents :-)

Matthew might get one toy but he really isn't into playing with stuff right now and has a ton of hand-me-downs anyway. We're too practical. We are not going overboard buying things for Ashlyn, either...she has enough already! Here are some pictures from around the house...some ducks came right up to the porch the other day and we fed them bread. Ashlyn had fun with them until they started pecking the storm door and then she was afraid of them. They left us some nice presents on the porch. :-)

We put up our tree last weekend...Ashlyn enjoyed helping. She piled all the ornaments on one branch. It was a pretty branch until we redistributed the ornaments. We had to, though. There weren't enough!

As you can see, she enjoys piling stuff on her brother, too.

Miss Know-It-All

Sorry there have been no posts lately...I've been trying to get some sleep! I will share a quick story about Ashlyn though. We were on our way to Annapolis for Thanksgiving and she was reading a book. She pointed to a parrot in her book and asked what it was. Here is how the conversation went:

ASHLYN: What is that, Daddy?
DADDY: It's a parrot, sweetie.
ASHLYN: Actually, it's a chicken.

Well, la-dee-da-da! The video below is a demo of some of her repertoire. She's a funny girl.

Daylight Savings Time SUCKS!!

Whoever is responsible for Daylight Savings Time totally stinks. He's dead, but if he weren't, I would write a letter. Ashlyn hasn't figured it out yet that she can sleep an hour later! We put her to bed an hour later, but she's still waking up at the same time--UGH!! It's not like I'm getting tons of sleep these days, either. OK, enough whining. Seriously, though, right now I wish I lived in Arizona!!

My Little Puddle Jumper!

Well, it was rainy last week, and Ashlyn learned that she loves to jump in puddles. On Day Two of Puddle Jumping Extravaganza, the puddles were muddy. Thank God for Oxiclean! While we were at Babies R Us yesterday, I just happened upon some cute boots for our little puddle jumper. They're lined, too, so I think they'll just be good for the winter. Ashlyn was all bummed when we got home from the store and there weren't any puddles to jump in. :-)

Mark says Day 1 of his big inspection went well and just two more days to go and he can have a little time to relax (finally!).

Matthew slept from 6:00 PM last night until 12:30. I went to bed early to take advantage as much as possible of when he likes to do his long stretch. :-) After that, he did not sleep well...I could hear him coughing and gagging a lot. I moved the swing up in his room...I think it will help with the refulx for him to sleep on more of an incline. We'll see.

Ashlyn's Second Birthday!

I can't believe I have a 2-year-old! Ashlyn turned two on October 31st and we had a party for her the next day. It was supposed to be a costume party for the kids, but most of the kids took off their costumes after the first five minutes (Ashlyn never would wear her bunny ears)...so I was the only one in costume. :-) It was a fun party, though. The attendees were: Ashlyn's best buddies from church and playgroup, Grandma and Grandpa Harris, our neighbor Susan and her daughter, Haley (Ashlyn's babysitter), Haley's boyfriend Zach, some friends from the ship and mommy, daddy and Matthew, of course. Zach and Grandpa were the live entertainment, and the balloons were a big hit, too. I saw Zach getting pounded with balloons by enthusiastic four-year-olds almost incessantly.

I made the bunny cake, and even though Ashlyn opted for ice cream instead, she still mentions the bunny cake on occasion. She liked it. I think her favorite gift was a little purse that her Great Grandma Ruth sent...she was carrying it around for days afterwards saying, "I'm going shopping!" And when we asked her what she would buy, she said, "Pancakes and ice cream and brownies." Whoever said to keep your kids away from sugar as long as possible was sooo right!

Learning to Trust Him

Having children is tough for a type-A gal like me. They are unpredictable and they don't always go along with my plans. I am pretty convinced that God has given me "hard to read" babies so that I will have to trust in Him. With Ashlyn, I tried to follow the guidelines described in the book "Babywise," but it never worked out. I had trouble getting her down for naps after every feeding and she would just cry and cry and cry. And because I am such a type-A person, I felt like I must be doing something wrong...to me, Babywise was a roadmap to parenting my new baby. I was a new parent and I needed some guidance. Babywise was it, and I was failing.

When Matthew was born, I had it in my mind that I was going to enjoy my baby and not get caught up in a bunch of rules. Quickly, though, I began doubting myself and went in search of other strategies. Then the Lord gave me a verse during one of my quiet times: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." (Psalm 118:8)

It has been difficult to trust Him when Matthew is taking a super-long afternoon nap and the Babywise rule-follower in me says: "I must keep on schedule!" "I must wake him to feed him!" But I am learning. I just have to pray for wisdom and trust that I have received it.

James 1:2-8
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

I can't tell you how many times I have been a double-minded mother! I read a little of so-and-so's book and I do that for a few weeks...then it doesn't work so I try another book. Insanity!

I resolve to trust in the Lord! He is the one who knit Matthew together. He knows what is good for my little boy and He has PROMISED to give me that wisdom. It's going to be difficult to not be swayed by all of the professional opinions and all of the advice that is available, but I just pray that God will give me grace to trust Him so that I can honor Him with the way I mother my children.