Kendall and the Horrible, Terrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

My day started out pretty good, with happy children and a yummy breakfast.  However, it quickly took a turn for the worse:

*Lily took advantage of the 53 seconds that I was away grabbing fingernail clippers for Brahm's feet and toes, and decided that Brahm was hungry for her lime playdoh.  So she fed him some.  And I returned just in time to see green drool oozing out of his mouth.  After losing it calmly responding to Lily, I dug playdoh off of the roof of his mouth.  Brahm continued to spit up all over me and the floor, which I considered, in this case anyway, to be a good thing.

* My kids went outside to play with the neighbor kids, and all I could hear was constant bickering by my two children:  "I WANT THAT SWING!"  "NO!!!  You can't have it until you DIE!"  (Yes, Lily DID say that.)  So I dealt with that...again and again and again.  

*We had fun mixing cookie dough together....until I realized that I was out of cream of tartar.  So, being the amazing chef that I am, I deftly substituted alum for it.  They look the same, surely they serve the same purpose, right?  (I looked online and decided, no, I probably shouldn't have done that.)  So we RE-tried making cookies after lunch.

*Mid-morning, I noticed a funny smell in my house.  It was a strong burning odor.  I couldn't figure out where in the world that would be coming from, until I walked over by my bread machine (making bread for lunch!) and realized it was smoking.  Thankfully, it was only a piece of dough that fell on the coils.  My bread finished baking, but didn't rise quite like it should have.  

*Brahm has traded in his 2-hour long morning naps for a short little 45-minute cat nap.  Not a BIG deal, I realize, since he's happy as a lark.  But it threw me off a bit this morning.

*I talked with a very nice lady on the phone after lunch and got a bit snotty with her.  She was only trying to help me figure stuff out.  But I got annoyed and defensive way too quickly.  Oh, and guess what we were figuring out?  Church stuff.  Yep.  "Christian of the month" award coming my way, I'm SURE. 

This was a bad morning...no bones about it.  But, in the two hours I've had since, I'm realizing that for the most part--it's pretty laughable.  I'm writing this down so that someday, when I'm older and my kids are grown, I'll remember what some mornings with 3 little ones were like.  So that my selective memory won't forget that we DID have rough mornings.  And that my kids weren't the perfect angels I'm sure they'll have turned out to be...

And tomorrow morning is only a mere 16 hours away...

potty talk

Guess what?  As of lunch time today, the word "Butler County" is official a naughty word at our house.  Bet you're wondering how THAT happened!  (And what kind of crazy parents we are...)

Here's the (halfway) short version:  "Butt" is potty talk at our house.  We say "rear" or "bottom".  So one of our incredibly ingenious and creative children (whom shall remain un-named) decided he would sneak "butt" into other words.  Therefore, he'll shout out "Buttcha!" randomly.  Or "Butt-er".  And his newest version?  "BUTT-ler County."  Seriously, people.  I never thought we'd be banning such words.  But in an attempt to keep our house potty-talk free, it's the next step.

Now, I should interject that I have very wise parents who have come up with some creative ideas in the past to dealing with behavior, and knowing that this is an attempt on the child-who-shall-remain-nameless's part for attention, we're going to try a new technique.  If it's successful, I'll be SURE to update!  

There.  Now you have it.  As of today, we'll referring to the "county directly east of us" anytime we drive to El Dorado.  Or Berean.  This shall be interesting...

brahm {4 months}

A couple weeks ago...Brahm turned 4 moths old.  I always think this is where it gets really fun! (although, as I'm typing this, he's on sleep strike and is screaming at me for some reason which I have yet to figure out...)  But USUALLY he is the happiest little guy in the world! 

He has become constant entertainment for Oliver and Lily--he's just sturdy enough that they can play more and hold him better, and he loves to reach his hands out to grab their face or hair!

One day for church, Ollie and he were twins...so we had to get the kid pictures ALL together:

Most nights, he is still sleeping really well--going 9 hours and taking SUPER naps through the day.  (But as I mentioned already...NOT today.)  He is waking up happy, too--and has started contorting his body so that he lays on his side, but turns his legs and bottom way over...and in the last day or two has ended up on his stomach.  He HATES this, for the record.  It results in SCREAMING every time.  But here is his cheesy 'wake-up' grin:

He is also quite the social butterfly and will talk and talk and talk.  It's adorable!  Here he is striking up a conversation with Lily's doll who just happened to be near him:

He has really started to figure out the whole cereal thing...just today he finished the entire bowl I made!

 

 

We are TOTALLY smitten with little Brahm-y.  

 

And at the rate this little guy is changing....he's gonna be sitting and crawling in NO time!  

hike in the woods

 One of our favorite places to go in town is the hiking path behind Bethel College.  It is so pretty and wooded there--the kids absolutely LOVE it!  So we took them on a warm evening at the beginning of March:

 At one point, we were pretty sure we spied a ferocious forest beast....

 Sure enough--he was watching us from behind a tree!  A brown bear!

 

Thankfully, it was only our little Brahm.   Phew!

Lessons from Brahm.

I was taken back down memory lane this morning while feeding Brahm.  As he was eating, things got a bit loud in the house.  (Shocking, I know.)  The kids were yelling (in a good way!), doors were shutting, etc.  This isn't unusual at all.  But I noticed today, that when it was noisy, Brahm didn't cry or shriek.  He didn't get startled, even.  Part of that is probably because he is pretty laid-back, being the third and all.  But part of that--and I remember this with Oliver and Lily--is because he just looked at me.  When something loud is going on, he checks my reaction first.  And no matter what is going on around him, if I'm smiling at him, he's happy.  He's content.  He can disregard the noise.  

I can't help but think that it's a bit like my Father.  I get extremely frazzled by things around me:  disobedient kids, criticism from someone else, worrying about this and that....feeling that I'm failing in one way or another. It's easy for me to focus on the circumstances in my life and see only chaos--and then I can't help but fear and worry.  

But what if I took a lesson from Brahm?  What if, instead of worrying and focusing on the events around me--what if I looked to my Heavenly Father, instead?  I have a feeling that he is completely unfazed by the things that worry me.  Nothing that happens in my day is a surprise to Him.  In fact, I'm realizing that he uses the frustrating and inconvenient things in my life to show me:

1.  His power--in fact, I'm realizing that I see His Wonderful Almighty power even MORE in circumstances that I am the LEAST capable of dealing with!

2.  His great love for me--even in the frustrating details and events of life, He is there--guiding, directing, and drawing me to Him.

3.  His bigger purpose--Thankfully, it's not about me.  And it's not about my kids.  It's about God and His goodness. 

And if I can start looking at Him more often, and focusing on my circumstances less...I know I'll see that He's up to some pretty cool things....