Moments

Good morning! I have had the hardest time sitting down and blogging lately, for some reason. Maybe it is because there is so much to say that it overwhelms me.

We are doing well here in Japan. I am not sure why Noah's snowboarding picture won't rotate upright but, you get the drift: this kid loves the snow.

We thought that since all 180" we had gotten thus far had melted that spring was on the way.... no such luck! We got aboujt 5-6" last night. The temp has been up and down so much lately that I am sure it will melt but it certainly is beautiful to wake up to the sunlight bouncing off of fresh snow.

I am reading "One Thousand Gifts" right now and if you haven't read it, I highly encourage it. Especially for busy moms who long for night time when you finally have some alone time... Like me. I am learning that God has given us THIS moment - it is to be savored, enjoyed, and we are to enter His courts with THANKSGIVING for all things in that moment of time.

I have started my 1,000 list but haven't gotten far... there is so much for me to be thankful for. Even the mundane can be given thanks - and giving thanks when you don't have a thankful heart is so difficult, but God doesn't care. He doesn't want us to blanket our thanksgivings to Him. He knows our hearts and knows our struggles. So if we can give Him the thanks even in the daily struggles, our blessings will abound. As I said, I am learning an awful lot from this book. And when you are "mom tired" as I am most often, it is vital that we remain thankful and aware of the moment. Moments we will never have again with our babies, our husbands, our daily rituals - for once a moment is gone, it is gone forever. I don't want to look back on my life wishing I had slowed down, for life isn't a race - once run on this earth, it is but a memory. I want my babies to look back on their childhood with me and know that I took time for them, for their dad, for our family, but most importantly, for our God.

Things like my kids singing to each other, the way Elly's hair curls and hangs around her innocent face, the sound of Noah's voice, the soft breathing of my husband as he sleeps beside me, the cat's meows as he talks to us, lying on the couch reading what God is trying to teach me, the mundane of the daily routine, the soft snow outside my window, the phone calls from my mama from so far away, my sister's constant dry sense of humor that never fails to make me laugh, a wave from someone you pass on the street.... my list continues into infinty.

I encourage you to order either the book or the devotional (which is just as awesome) and read it and savor your moments in time with what God has given you. I admit, I struggle to do that most days - I get so caught up in myself, my anxieties, making it one moment to the next. But when I slow down, God blesses me and that moment.

Heading out to start my day as the kids are at pre-school. Enjoy this day and give thanks for it!

Bedtime Story

I just put our boy down for the night yet the tears that were flowing because of the story that I read to him refused to stop. Noah loves to pick out his bedtime story and usually it is either "Courdoroy" (from Aunt Annie!) or "A Pig's Tale" (one of my 2 favorites from my childhood - my Mom-Mom used to read it to me). But tonight, Noah chose one from the "top shelf" where the most special books are placed. **Note: those previously mentioned 2 books are also from the top shelf... Noah's got great reading taste!**

Noah's Grandma Carol (Dan's mom) is a school librarian in Virginia so we can count on the best of the best children's books to be given to her first (and so far, only) grandson. One of the sweet books she gave Noah for his 1st birthday was "On the Night You Were Born" by Nancy Tillman. Tonight, that was his pick for his bedtime story.

Dan finished bathtime and Noah and I were ready to read as we settled into the rocking chair for his bedtime story and prayers. Let me tell you: that book is by far one of the most precious, touching bedtime books a mother can read to her child. Here are a couple of excerpts:

"On the night you were born,
the moon smiled with such wonder
that the stars peeked in to see you
and the night wind whispered
'life will never be the same.'
Because there had never been anyone like you... ever in the world."

The book ends with the most touching part of the story:

"Heaven blew every trumpet
and played ever horn
on the wonderful, marvelous
night you were born."

I was becoming very emotional as I read that to Noah because if I ever had to put into words the emotions I felt on the night he came into this world, they would sound a lot like the words in the conclusion of that sweet story.

Thank you, Carol, for sharing your wonderful taste with our Noah. I know that the books you give to him that we read to him daily will help shape him into the confident and loved man of God that we all pray for him to become. Thank you for your love of the written word and thank you for giving Noah one of the most precious books that we will ever read to him. This story made my night!

Lesson in Napping #2,053

Parenting is a constant source of education - sometimes painful and mostly joyful. However, an education from day 1 of conception and on.

I wrote about a week ago of our struggles with this toddler who has inhabited my sweet baby's body and his boycotting of naps. So, I took my friend Anne's advice and it has worked like a charm since (continuing thanks, Anne!). But I wanted to do some of my own deeper research so I purchased the book "The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems" by Elizabeth Pantley. I am learning quite a bit about why my child needs to nap and how much he needs to sleep during the day.

So often when talking to other moms, I have heard them say that their children just aren't nappers and will go all day without napping on a regular basis. I can't help but pity them! I am learning that every baby and child to the age of 4 or 5 NEEDS that extra sleep so they sleep better at night and they don't reach the "volcanic" stage of overstimulation. Also, the majority of brain and hormonal development occurs while a child is napping during the day so that uninterrupted, consistent and daily down-time for a child is vital for their growing brains/bodies.

I also have been told that at age 1, all children need to start consolidating their 2 naps a day into 1 long one. How untrue that actually is... 50% of all children take 1 long one a day but that leaves the other 50% who need 2 shorter naps. I struggled for weeks to try to consolidate Noah's naps into one long one and finally am learning why my child wouldn't cooperate. It would get to the point that by 10 a.m. he would go put his head down on the floor or on the dog's bed and try to sleep there. So thankfully, that book has come to my rescue! (And to Noah's rescue as well).

So, as of now at 14 months old, Noah will go to bed at exactly 7 pm with no fight, will sleep straight through till 7 am or 7:30 am (sometimes a bit later) and then is begging to go back to bed by 9 am at the latest. He will then nap for 1-1.5 hours, be awake for 3 or so hours, then back down post-lunch at about 1:30 pm for another 1.5-2 hours. Once I started reading the book, I was relieved to know that that schedule is OKAY and actually is the preferred method of 50% of all toddlers Noah's age. This schedule means that he's getting the necessary 14-15 hours of sleep that babies his age require.

For all of those mommies who are struggling the majority of the time to get their babies or children to nap well, then this book is highly recommended. It is a great resource for understanding why children need to nap and for how long and it also provides several different sample nap and daytime schedules.

Another 2 thumbs up from this Mom.

Book Recommendation

I am an avid reader. On my bedside right now, there are 8 books - yes, 8 - that I have started and I am juggling all of them at once. And behind those 8 are another 4-5 that I have ordered and they are just sitting quietly waiting their turn to be cracked open.

At any point, you will find me working my way through a book on the Holocaust and/or Nazi figures. I am currently reading (albeit slowly) "Explaining Hitler" by Ron Rosenbaum as well as "Auschwitz: A New History" by Laurence Rees. I am also a big fan of James Patterson's collection of the Women's Murder Club stories. And as I mentioned previously, I am reading "Raising the Strong-Willed Child: The New Edition" and "Bringing Up Boys" both by Dr. James Dobson. Whew! And obviously having a 1 year old prevents me from having adequate time in my day to read. Sad.

I had read a lot of reviews about the book "Everyone is Beautiful" by Katherine Center so I ordered it on Amazon.com. I haven't put it down yet. That book jumped into the front of the line and hasn't allowed me to read any of the other books that have been waiting for months and months for me to finish!

For all of you stay-at-home moms out there, READ IT. I promise it will make you feel so much better about your days, your body and your life in general. Sometimes, I feel so alone in my "career field" as a stay-at-home mom. So being able to read a fiction novel about someone who's life is much crazier than mine yet she's handling it with such humor makes my day. And for you ladies considering starting a family, READ IT. I promise you it will make you enjoy the mornings you can sleep in a bit later or the days you actually get to shower and put on make-up or go to the gym without having a little man hanging on your leg as you walk out of the door. This mom gives it 2 thumbs up!