Good Night Baby, Good Night Mommy!

Last night was the first good night Aaron and I have had in almost 2 weeks! He's had a lot of changes in these past 2 weeks. First, the doctor said we should go ahead and start feeding him solids. Although he has put away his rice cereal, applesauce, and sweet potatoes like I put away a good, thick chocolate shake (as though it may be taken away from me forever if I don't eat it as fast as possible), his tummy has not adjusted as well as his taste buds. So, he's had a little tummy trouble. Then, it seems, that overnight he grew too big for his cradle that he's slept in next to our bed since the night he came home from the hospital, so we moved him into his baby bed in his big brother's room. Not only did he outgrow the cradle, he also outgrew his receiving blankets that we've swaddled him in since day one. No wonder he hasn't been able to get a good night's sleep! But last night, that all changed thanks to a miracle product called "Swaddle Me" that comes in a large size and promises to fit babies up to 9 months! :) We put him in the swaddling clothes (which he resisted at first) and voilà! He slept through the night and so did I! Now that the baby is sleeping in his own room, we can get back to working on Hannah and Luke sleeping a whole night in their own rooms. Too bad they don't make swaddling clothes for ages 3 to 6!

Loving God and Your Neighbor

Thanks to Project Gutenberg, which produces free ebooks, and to my husband who gave me an iphone, I have recently been able to re-read Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte. The last time I read this book I think I was in high school, so I had forgotten the entire thing.

I love Christian romance novels (I know that sounds funny to lots of people!) This is a good one, even though it's probably never been classified as such. The hero in the story is a clergyman who at one point encourages a distressed older woman by reminding her about who God really is and describes how she can love her neighbor. I loved how it was written and thought others may like it as well. Here you go!

You say you cannot love God; but it strikes me that if you rightly consider who and what He is, you cannot help it. He is your father, your best friend: every blessing, everything good, pleasant, or useful, comes from Him; and everything evil, everything you have reason to hate, to shun, or to fear, comes from Satan—His enemy as well as ours. And for this cause was God manifest in the flesh, that He might destroy the works of the Devil: in one word, God is love; and the more of love we have within us, the nearer we are to Him and the more of His spirit we possess.”

‘“Well, sir,” I said, “if I can always think on these things, I think I might well love God: but how can I love my neighbours, when they vex me, and be so contrary and sinful as some on ’em is?”

‘“It may seem a hard matter,” says he, “to love our neighbours, who have so much of what is evil about them, and whose faults so often awaken the evil that lingers within ourselves; but remember that He made them, and He loves them; and whosoever loveth him that begat, loveth him that is begotten also. And if God so loveth us, that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us, we ought also to love one another. But if you cannot feel positive affection for those who do not care for you, you can at least try to do to them as you would they should do unto you: you can endeavour to pity their failings and excuse their offences, and to do all the good you can to those about you. And if you accustom yourself to this, Nancy, the very effort itself will make you love them in some degree—to say nothing of the goodwill your kindness would beget in them, though they might have little else that is good about them. If we love God and wish to serve Him, let us try to be like Him, to do His work, to labour for His glory—which is the good of man—to hasten the coming of His kingdom, which is the peace and happiness of all the world: however powerless we may seem to be, in doing all the good we can through life, the humblest of us may do much towards it: and let us dwell in love, that He may dwell in us and we in Him. The more happiness we bestow, the more we shall receive, even here; and the greater will be our reward in heaven when we rest from our labours.”

10 Day Forecast: Tornadoes

Every day, without checking the weather, I can know for sure that we will have a tornado in the house that day! It is unbelievable! Even when Ramiro and I work together very hard to get the house in ship shape condition, in less than 5 minutes, 2 little tornadoes run through and we have a mess on our hands again.

Having a clean, picked up house can feel so relaxing, but having a home in which toys are played with enthusiastically, new ideas are played out, discoveries are made, and life is enjoyed can be so much fun!

It's so fun to watch how these tornadoes work, too. Hannah plays with toys, especially educational ones, exactly in the way they were intended to be played with. She favors reading, arts, and crafts. We always receive the most creative and thoughtful gifts and notes from her that show us how much she loves us. Luke is very imaginative in his play, creating his own worlds, with his own characters and stories. I always wanted to be able to play like that! And little Aaron? We look so forward to seeing what kind of tornado he will be!

Now please don't think that we are allowing these tornadoes to take over the house (even though it feels like it sometimes)! We are working on them putting things up after they use them, cleaning their rooms, and taking initiative to clean even if they weren't the ones to make the mess. But these are hard lessons, and ones I'm still learning myself! That's right - I'm a tornado, too!

High Tech? Not Really.

A few days before Christmas, Ramiro gave me a smart phone. And you know what, it IS smart! It might even make me feel smarter! I had big reservations about this phone, but I LOVE IT!

Then after Christmas I began my blog! A good friend of mine e-mailed me saying, "Wow! A smart phone and blog in the same time frame! You really are high-tech!" That gave me a laugh!

This weekend I asked Ramiro to help me improve the looks of my blog - and of course, I chose a kind of old-fashioned look - quilts! I love quilts - they remind me of my grandmother (Gommy) and snuggling and love. I wanted to spiff up the blog even more, adding a beautiful header and fancy bells and whistles. Ramiro was VERY supportive, trying to help me do everything I wanted to do, but to no avail. Neither of us could figure it out. Turns out, even my husband who has become a master at litigation technology, internet tv, facebook, and YouTube, isn't as high-tech as I thought. So, as far as blogs go, we're staying old-fashioned! And maybe we can keep the rest of our lives a little old-fashioned, too!

I Got the Blues, Baby

When Hannah was a baby just learning to talk, her first name for me was "Mimi." Of course I thought it was really cute and thought that it wasn't such a bad name to live with if she chose to call me "Mimi" instead of "Mommy." But then, she didn't stick with "Mimi." She moved on to calling me by my first name, "Amy!" Although I still thought it cute, I didn't really want to be the kind of mother whose daughter calls her by her first name. I began singing a bluesy, yet silly, tune:

I got the blues, baby,

Cause my baby won't call me Mommy,

Oh no she won't

She won't call me Mommy

Eventually she did start calling me "Mommy;" however, I don't know if I can give credit to my singing, although it did make her laugh!

Then Luke came along. He began calling me "MommyGirl," but the name evolved into "MyGirl." I loved that I was his girl, but I also really enjoy singing silly songs to make my kids laugh, so again I had the opportunity to sing my bluesy song.

Now, I'm singing again. Luke has decided he wants to shorten my name to "Mom." I knew this day was coming, but had no idea so soon. That's okay, at least I have a song to cheer me up! (And I'll still hear Mommy from his sweet voice when he needs me to rescue him from a crisis and when he calls me in the middle of the night!)

A Celebration of Life

This morning I experienced a wonderful hug of the heart. I attended a celebration of the life of David Robbins, the husband of my friend, Nancy, who I used to work with at M. D. Anderson. The service was full of joy and happiness. The reverend, James Tucker, began the service by quoting Karl Rahner, a Jesuit priest, who wrote that although we have no examples of Jesus laughing in scripture, He surely must have laughed, referencing His love of children and His performance of miracles. Can't you imagine Him laughing with the children and laughing in delight at the reactions of those who witnessed His miracles?

The reverend began the service this way because he said that David had a wonderful sense of humor and could bring joy and laughter to those around Him in almost any situation, even when his own heart was breaking. It reminded me of my grandmother who had that same great gift of making everyone smile, no matter what pain she might be experiencing. Oh that I would bring smiles and laughter and joy to those around me no matter my situation.

Just as Karl Rahner thought about Jesus laughing, I have often thought of Jesus hugging. One time in college I was preparing to lead a devotional and decided I wanted the topic to be hugs. However, as you probably know, I couldn't find one mention of a hug in the Bible. But Jesus must surely have loved hugging! A hug seems to me to be one of the best ways to express to someone that I hold them dear to my heart. Isn't that what Jesus's life, death, and resurrection was all about? Showing us all how dear we are to Him?

I'm thankful that I was able to celebrate David's life today and think about how I want to help others celebrate everyday.

Bathroom Sounds

Isn't it funny how bathroom sounds coming from a baby can sound so sweet to a parent's ear? They may not sound so nice to bystanders, but every time Aaron's little body makes bathroom sounds I know his body is working the way it is supposed to work. Its like he's giving me sweet reminders saying, "Mommy, my body is really working well today," and then asking "Would you mind changing my diaper?" Those bathroom sounds really make me smile! I'm so thankful for my 3 healthy babies.

Remember

Luke, my 3 year old, is starting all his new conversations lately with the word, "Remember." Today, I not only found it adorable, but also inspiring. I want to remember. I want to remember how sweet and precious he is today. I want to remember how after he puts a batman cape on his teddy bear he gives it to my 4 month old, Aaron, to hug. I want to remember how my 6 year old daughter, Hannah, looked today as she kicked her way to school on her new scooter she got for Christmas with a HUGE smile on her face! Each memory is like a hug to this Mommy's heart. These 3 blessings from God give me so many sweet hugs to remember I decided to write them down so we will all remember. Luke, thanks for telling me to "remember."