Simeon at 19 Months

Some of my favorite moments with Simeon have recently been early in the morning, while the rest of our family sleeps.  Sim has been waking as early as before 6 and I am surrendered to the reality that once he wakes, he is up for the morning.  So if I am not up yet, I bring him into our room where he snuggles in bed until boredom takes over and he's ready to get up.  We head downstairs and I make breakfast for myself.  We let the dogs out.  He drinks some juice.  I hold him the entire time.

He has taken a liking to all my breakfasts: oatmeal, cream of wheat, an assortment of Kashi cereals, Shredded Wheat.  And we share some toast.  Then we have been sitting on the living room rug where he plays and I read the Bible for a bit.  This has been revolutionary in my life this past week.  Just having that moment of time in the morning consistently has made all the difference in my heart and attitude.

So Simmy Nash, the Lord knew what He was doing when He made you with your sleep patterns.  It has only taken me 19 months to figure it out, but now I can see it.

My mom went with me for Sim and Lieren's 18 month appointments last week.  Simeon weighed in at 27 pounds and is in about the 70th percentile.  He didn't get any shots because everyone in the house had colds last week so we have quite a few to catch up on eventually (I've been delaying shots with Sim because they have been so traumatic for him).

At 19 months, Simeon is saying over a hundred words.  And starting to put two words together.  Tonight he told me that "B" says ba.  And I wonder how he is growing up so fast.  Sim runs the greatest little boy run with his shoulders hunched up.  He jumps anytime he can, multiple times in a row.  He is a climber.  He does the cutest arm swing when he gets upset (both Shane and I agree we never want to forget it).  He is wearing 18 month clothes.  Sim loves and can name many of the Sesame Street characters: Elmo, Zoe, Grover, Big Bird, Snuffy, Oscar, Ernie, and Cookie Monster (especially funny since he never sees them on TV, just in our books).  He asks many times throughout the day for a widey (Silas called a video, videy, for the longest time so it stuck in our family; Sim makes the name funnier) then carries the box around, studying it and talking about it.  Sim is the one who always reminds us to pray before meals, clasps his hands together, and waits for someone to lead.  

When our pediatrician asked how I would describe Simeon, I said, "Passionate.  He is either very happy or very upset."  And I would add funny, energetic, determined, a snuggler, attached.

Today at lunch Silas requested we sing so I decided to play for him the songs I hold as most dear to me for each of our children.  It was a cold snowy day so we sang while we feasted on warm tomato soup.  I have talked about Silas' song and Lieren's song before, but don't think I've ever mentioned the song I love for Simeon.

Before Sim and Lieren were born, I could never settle on one song for him.  Then when the babies were just 4 weeks old, Shane and I drove with them up to Illinois from Louisville one week before we were supposed to move.  We still didn't know where we were going to live at the time and were praying that the Lord would give us a place.  He did.  And on Sunday I went to Harvest Bible Chapel Peoria for the first time as a staff wife.  Two tiny babies with us and one toddler back home, I think I was running on sheer adrenaline and grace.  That Sunday morning I heard this song for the first time.  I remember thinking at the time what a great promise it was for our children on their very first visit to church that anyone who calls upon His Name, they will be saved.  Little did I know how very many times I would need to be saved over the next year.  I chanted it to myself like a mantra at times, willing to believe that He would save in the midst of daily chaos.  As we sang along with it today, I thought how fitting it is for our Simeon, whose namesake looked with expectation for the Lord's salvation.

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God saying:

"Sovreign Lord as You have promised,

you now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the sight of all people,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel."

Luke 2:27-32

Renovation of our Hearts

Yesterday I took my parents to the airport for them to fly back to their home across the ocean.  It was bittersweet.  It is always sad to say goodbye.  But it was so nice this time knowing they will be back in less than 3 months to celebrate the arrival of our baby boy.  Now that the Holidays are over, I am getting the sense that time is going to fly.

Today I declared it to be the start of a new and intense season of teaching and training our oldest.  Between Christmas, having lots of visitors in and out, being out of routine, and a couple rounds of sickness, I think we were all ready to say goodbye to whining and fits and welcome back our Happy Hearts, Loving Words, and Helping Hands.  So we did.  I am using a modified marble jar type idea and Silas' reward will be a trip to Chuck E. Cheese at the end of the week if he succeeds.  I was re-reading a section of Loving the Little Years last night and was convicted that he had not been learning well because I was not being a good teacher.  So, as is suggested in the book, if I wasn't doing my job right, I needed to change up the lessons and teach in a different way.  Today was proof that Silas does extremely well if I teach extremely well.  Tonight I am grateful that again our home felt the peace that comes with training in righteousness.  And grateful that the Lord is changing my heart too.

In other news, we stayed home all day so at about 10:35 this morning everyone was begging (read: whiny and bored and just asking to watch a video) for something to do so I decided to take them on a walk.  It was about 30 degrees and right as we walked out the door some kind of snow or ice or tiny hail started coming down.  We put on brave faces and went on.  It was the best decision I made all day.  The kids loved it and Silas talked about it endlessly.  By the time we came in it was time for lunch and everyone was so happy they played then sat in their chairs while I whipped up some mac & cheese and  cooked carrots (which I will openly admit none of the children really ate).

Lieren woke a bit sick today (all three have been passing a cold back and forth) and her little voice is hoarse.  It is the cutest thing I've ever heard.  She is such a doll.

Simeon was pretty fussy tonight.  It hurt my feelings a little bit, albeit a little nice in a different way, but he really only wanted Shane after dinner.  At bedtime he changed his tune, though, and snuggled with me like usual.  I put the two littles to bed early.  They didn't complain one bit.

Silas went with Shane to a basketball game tonight.  They should be back soon.  I actually debated going to bed right after I put the babies down.  While I don't feel like I did that much today, in reality I...
had a potty training session with Lieren, reinforced no hit more times than I can count, did 7 loads of laundry (none of which are put away), changed several diapers, read books with Simeon, created a reward chart with Silas, taught Lieren how to put on Mr. Potato Head's face, showered and brushed my teeth, took a nap, wrote a couple e-mails, made dinner, found the grace to be joyful when my littles woke early from their naps, woke Silas who had fallen asleep during rest time, rinsed some dishes, washed non-dishwasher items, cleaned up 7 puzzles in the children's rooms, sang "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" with Silas more times than I can count, and also bathed all three children at the same time.  No wonder I was ready for bed.  With all these multitude of things to do every day, I often wonder how the "big things" will ever get done: the real teaching and growing and learning.  And yet they do.  Every day.  In our house it was evidenced by Silas today declaring:  I had a happy heart! That gives God glory!

Eventful, I Suppose

Today was one of those days that was eventful for our home, but really could have been happening in any home anywhere.

First of all, Shane brought me flowers when he came home.  Love.

Also, Lieren went potty on the potty.  I know!  I totally can't believe I'm thinking about potty training her.  But she has been "talking" about going potty for a few weeks now.  So I started sitting the two littles on the potty at bathtime, which they think is hilarious.  Then this morning, after Lieren told me she needed to go, then proceeded to go, I told Shane that if she was an only child I would potty train her right now.  But it's just so much work, I said.  To which he replied, And it will be less work later?  I think I just shrugged my shoulders.  But two hours later I decided I didn't have anything to lose and, with absolutely no plan in mind, started taking her.  Tonight after dinner she came and told me she needed to go so we went, then went again.  There were also accidents.  So we'll see.  The jury's still out.  But it sure would be nice to have her trained before another little comes!

Then here was the scene in Silas' room at the end of his "rest-time".  Yes, I have become willing to drop his nap.  So he rests, reads books, and plays quietly till the clock says 3.  Today he came out after reading books for a while and I could tell he was really tired.  So told him he had some more time to stay in his room and why didn't he sit in his chair?  I heard him rocking for a while and then quiet.  The jury is also still out on this whole dropping nap thing.  Today he slept, but tonight he is sick.  So who knows what the next few weeks will bring?  But I will say that our home has been more peaceful, and so has my heart, since I let go and became willing for him to stay awake if he needs to.

Finally, not to leave Simeon out, I have been finding some new ways to work with Sim's irregular sleeping patterns.  This morning was super sweet.  He sat by me on the couch as I ate my cereal, taking bites here and there while the other two children slept soundly.  Then he played at my feet as I had a quiet time.  Like with Silas and naps, it feels good to not try to fight who my children are and what it seems they need.  Trust me, I haven't always been here.  The Lord knows I've begged Him to change some sleep issues in this house.  But He has been faithful to keep teaching me that while He might not change what I would like changed, His grace is sufficient.

To add to all that, as I mentioned above, I think we have sick kids tonight.  So here's me heading to bed.  Might be a long night...

Two Lefties?

Or maybe two righties?  They keep us guessing...

Simeon has often been the one hiding in pictures in the past, but can you find Lieren this time?

And evenings like tonight when Daddy is home are the best...

I am doing a little "tweaking" with naptime around here.  Today was the first day of the new plan.  We'll see how it goes.  At least I can say that bedtime went much better tonight than it has in over a month.  I told Shane tonight that I am thankful for a renewed determination to seek the Lord about decisions like this.  He alone knows what is best for our family, especially when we are charting new territory.  And I have a growing need to get some of the "tweaking" worked out before baby boy arrives!

Where She Gets It

Our Lieren-girl is the little woman among us.  I am grateful that she has such a wonderful group of women in our families, among our friends, and in our church to look up to, admire, learn from, and love.

At 18 months, Lieren is as girly as can be.  Today she wore around a pink beaded necklace, tucked babies into the Moses basket she just received from Grandma, and dressed up in the frilliest cowgirl costume you've ever seen.  Silas said she was a princess.

Our girl may be the smallest of our three, but she can hold her own with the boys.  She is just about running and loves to play chase with Silas.

Lieren is saying well over 75 words now.  But the cutest thing is when she answers, "Yeah" to just about any question.  The last few days, though, I have been noticing that she is getting much better at understanding what is actually being said to her and she has appropriately answered "no" several times.  The days are coming when I'll miss the yeah.

At the moment, Lieren is the best sleeper of our bunch.  She is ready for bed by 8, sleeps until about 8:30, wakes happily talking in bed, then naps for a good 3 hours.  I love going in to get her in the morning.  She asks for a "haci" (paci) which has inevitably fallen to the floor, pulls at her "banket" (wearable blanket) to ask me to take it off, grabs "baby", then points at "haff" (giraffe) who is sitting atop the bookshelf.  I love hearing her talk through each item, a concerned look on her face until each is addressed.  And if giraffe is downstairs, I reassure her we will see it when we head down for breakfast.  The only thing better than getting her up myself is when I take Simeon with me.  Those days he waits patiently at the door until I open it, then runs to her bed calling "Sissy".  She jumps up and with delight responds, "Simmy!"

Lieren does "light up Dad's life" (if you can see on her shirt).  She rarely cries when I leave, but has been known to cry when Daddy has to go.

Sweet girl also loves to sing.  Among her favorites (that I can figure out) are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, If You're Happy and You Know It, and Elmo's World.

It is such a great responsibility, but such fun to have a little lady in the family to join us!

Our Christmas

This morning Shane, my parents, and my sister took the children to Monkey Joe's while I stayed home and attempted to bring some sort of calm to the chaos that became our house over the Christmas weekend.  I believe I have (with a very grateful heart) two sets of grandparents and some aunts and uncles to thank for that chaos.  But things are now much more organized; I put a slew of our old toys away, arranged our now deeply stocked craft area, and even tucked away in a closet a few new toys that hadn't been pulled out of their boxes yet.  Some cold winter day coming up we'll all be glad to discover new things.  And I did some laundry.

Anyhow, the celebrating of Christmas at our house began on Friday with a day of baking goodies.  Silas has been asking for weeks to make an apple pie.  He saw it on a Berenstein Bears video and thought it would be grand.  He could hardly stand it when he woke that morning to discover it was the 23rd (thank you, Advent Calendar) and Apple Pie Day.  It turned out pretty good for a recipe I looked up online that morning...

Saturday we had two big celebrations.  We opened presents and had lunch (pizza and wings has become a tradition) with Shane's family.  You should have seen the kid's eyes as Grandma and Grandpa, Wes and Brooke brought in the presents that morning.  It was sheer delight...

After a good rest that afternoon, we all (my parents and sister included) went to spend Christmas Eve with Shane's extended family.  There isn't really a house among us that will hold everyone so we gather at an indoor pavilion in a park.  It is always decorated for Christmas and has a kitchen so works great for the family.  It's another fun tradition.  There are also hundreds of lit trees in the park at Christmas, which we love to see as we come and go.

Christmas morning we woke to full stockings...

We then all went to church together, which was a nice retreat I thought from all the "stuff" of the weekend.  There wasn't childcare, though, so I didn't hear much of the sermon.  However, our children did very well and I found myself grateful for the chance to worship on Christmas Day.  We had a quick lunch at home then opened presents with my parents and sister.  The children were all about in meltdown mode as we finished so I whisked them away for a long nap.

That evening we had a big Christmas feast.  And would you like to see the treasure that was our Happy Birthday Jesus cake?

I've never claimed to be crafty nor skilled at cake decorating.  But Silas loved helping with it and put the candles on himself.  We then had Papa read the Christmas story while three little ones climbed up in laps and wandered and generally couldn't wait until we got to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out candles.  It was sweet.  Nothing out of an idyllic movie, mind you, but very sweet...

Monday we had our final celebration of the weekend with Shane's dad.  Shane's sister, Tara, has our children's only cousin, who is just a bit younger than Simeon and Lieren.  Tara is also due to have a little boy just a month before our baby so they will all be super close.  We had to laugh after this picture; one day Simeon will wonder, Why in the world was I holding a toothbrush?

The children have a plethora a fun new things now.  Silas has really enjoyed his new marble run and Melissa & Doug food you can cut.  Lieren loves her new baby doll diaper bag and accessories.  Simeon hasn't quite latched on to one thing, but he and Lieren both seem to really like this set of the Three Little Pigs they got.  The children didn't get any new DVDs this year, unless you count Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas, which Shane ordered for them.  It was a classic in his home growing up, just like Christmas Eve on Sesame Street was in mine.

I personally received some really great gifts this year: dishes, a vacuum, maternity clothes, some pots and pans, and frivolous but much-loved new perfume (thank you, sister!) among some other things.  But my favorite gift was sitting on my pillow when I came to bed Christmas night.  Shane had even written in it...

This season of so many little ones in the little years has not been easy for me.  There is nothing I've ever wanted to do more, but nothing that has been harder.  I admit to tears when I saw it sitting there, realizing how much Shane knows my heart.  He sees the best of the best and the worst of the worst.  Yet he still is right here, loving the little years with me.

In true Brittany fashion, I opened directly to the last page.  I read what follows.  Then fell asleep with the book in hand...

So rejoice in your children.  Look them in the eyes and give thanks.  You will not even remember the work of all this planting when the harvest of joy overwhelms you.

She's Having a Pink Christmas