Busy Blogger

Finally, I'm taking a few minutes to blog. Right now both of my girls are in their rooms for a nap. At the same time! Lately this rarely happens and if it does, it's usually not for long. Naps for Anna anymore consist of her playing in her room for a while. I can hear her playing pretend with her princess dolls and Calico Critters house. Then she'll often call "Mommy!" and I open the door to her smiling face hopeful that resting time is over. Other times she will crawl back into her bed and fall asleep for a short nap. Emily naps one to two times a day, depending on how well she slept the night before. Lately though it seems like I put one down for a nap and other other wakes up, leaving me little time for myself or for my beloved blog. But for the moment, I have some peace and quiet. Phooey on the dishwasher that needs to be emptied and loaded and the laundry that needs the same. It's been over a month since I've written, though I've thought about you (my blog and my readers) every day.

Along with the juggling of nap time, life has been very busy lately. Emily is ever on the move, crawling and climbing with endless curiosity and mischief. She's a darling girl, so busy and in tune with everything around her. She loves to play and laugh with Anna. Their laughter together, unprovoked by anyone but themselves, is probably my most favorite sound. Emily also loves Anna's toys, which often causes trouble and frustration for her older sister. "That's mine!" can be often heard and we're working on that ever difficult concept of sharing. Emily loves baby dolls, knocking down block towers, and reading her colorful picture books. She can walk behind a walker toy now and she pushes it right along in front of her. She can even stand up straight without holding on to anything for a good several seconds. She is getting so big, so fast. She waves bye-bye, blows kisses, and verbalizes lots of sounds. She points and says "Ooooh!" and is very interested in photographs of people. She eats finger foods at every meal and is less and less interested in baby food. She loves bananas, pears, peas, and toast. She tolerates a bit of yogurt and does still like her morning oatmeal cereal. I spend most of the day marveling at her ... how fast she is learning, how beautiful she is, and how soon she will be turning one year old. My 10 1/2 month old baby is quickly turning into a little girl. A lovely, loveable little girl.

My 3 1/2 year old lovely and loveable Anna has also been keeping me very busy. She has an inexhaustible imagination and is almost always playing pretend. She currently has a love for everything Disney princess, especially Beauty and the Beast. She was given the movie and Belle and Beast dolls in her Easter basket and to say she loves them is an understatement. I picked up the soundtrack CD at the library and we listen to it about three times a day. She pretends she is Belle and names Brent the Beast. I am Mrs. Pots and Emily is Chip. She puts on her tutu, crown, and church shoes and proudly announces that she is Belle. Her imagination runs wild and she sings and dances to her Disney delight. Sometimes it is exhausting for me, as she likes not only to pretend she is Belle but also likes to be called Belle, which of course I forget and she corrects me. Aside from Disney pretending, she pretend plays most everything ... restaurant, library, dolls, and more. While she does play by herself sometimes, she asks and would most prefer Brent and me to play along with her. This can also get exhausting for me and Brent (who is a very good sport and uses an exceptional Beast voice). Sometimes I think my head might explode if I have to pretend one minute more. We have been so generously blessed with a smart, delightful, and creative child. The energy from my one-a-day can of caffeine Coke sometimes falls short to entertain her. Not to mention Emily's interruptions. It's tricky and tiresome, but also so endearing and sweet. That's my Anna (oops, I mean Belle).

Rewind to Easter .... we had a lovely one. We traveled to South Bend and spent good times with my parents and in-laws. We saw Rob and Jas and my grandparents. The girls loved their Easter baskets, egg coloring, and egg hunting. They looked beautiful in their Easter dresses. We enjoyed great weather, Easter dinners, and lots of chocolate. Brent gave up all sweets for Lent, so the Easter Bunny brought lots of goodies to no complaint of anyone. As for Lent, remember my goal to read prayer daily and hopes to gain some special closeness with Jesus? Thanks to my husband who wrote daily Lenten reflections on our family chalk board and then read them out loud before dinner, I was able to keep this goal though maybe not really deeply embracing them as I had hoped. I wasn't able to achieve that sense of spiritual connection with Jesus, though I found the remarkable and recurring message of His Mercy to be so hopeful and humbling. In all my flaws, Jesus still shares his love for me, for all of us. It makes me want to do better and be better. Maybe that was what I was supposed to learn and now can strive for. But life sure complicates it for me .... all the challenges, lack of sleep (though this is improving a bit), and questions. I follow a blog written by a mother who is faithful and she also found it hard to be fully Lenten (if that's a verb), so it made me feel comforted that I'm not the only one who seems to lose myself in parenting sometimes. Maybe not lose myself, but find it difficult to find the time and energy to invest much more of myself in anything other than my kids. However, Easter reminds us of hope. Hope in the risen Lord and all that is to come.

Spring is still in full swing. The weather has been chilly and windy lately, but the leaves are budding green and the robins are heavy bellied. My brother built me a birdhouse for my very first Mother's Day in 2009. It has been hanging under our evergreen tree in our backyard ever since. Scott built a few bird houses. My mom has one, too. But birds never nested in them and it frustrated Scott so. I would always tell him that one day a bird will make it its home. And wouldn't you know, this year chickadees (my favorite bird) nested in my birdhouse. Brent noticed them flying in and out of the house one afternoon. He called me over and sure enough, there they were. The first birds in Scott's birdhouse. It was one of those moments that I wished I could call him and say, "We've got birds! Told you so!" I cried that afternoon. I miss him and moments like that one make me ache. I miss him so much lately I can't stand it. But there's that hope thing again. New life. Birds in his house. Hold on to that hope.