Rocks At the Beach

E has an obsession with rocks. If she's outside playing, she's picking up rocks and putting them in her wheelbarrow, or throwing them, or carrying them around. Maybe it's because we don't have a lot of outside toys, and she has to be content with dirt and rocks. Maybe it's a developmental phase or maybe she's a future geologist.

Nevertheless, her love for rocks continued yesterday after we walked down to a beach on the northside of our town. She spent much of her time laying in the water, grabbing a handful of rocks and throwing it back into the lake.

She even decided to go "exploring" and found other rocks to toss in the lake. The bigger the rock, the bigger the splash, right? You can imagine the number of times we had to caution her to keep the rock in her hands and not on her foot.

We decided to join in on the fun ourselves and started looking for sea glass. We had a couple really pretty pieces, but made the mistake of letting E hold them... off into the water they went. I think we're going to go on a "hunt" with each trip to the beach, and see how many we have by the end of the summer.

I have to admit - it was hard to stop once we started. :)

Baby Bliss

It's coming...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Wait for it... seriously, it's coming...

Now... aren't you glad you waited?

A Good Monday

Hope that you all had a lovely Fourth of July. We spent our weekend with friends and family, and with each other. It was nice. We were also pretty excited to find that we have roses that actually bloom in our yard. It's one of the few "bushes" that aren't weeds, so yay.

E and R napped at the same time yesterday, so I faced my own dilemma: nap or no nap? I almost always choose "no nap", since it's my time to relax or get something done. I've decided that can be better than napping, which rang true yesterday.

My time was spent in the kitchen making bread. I haven't had much success with bread making (even with a machine), so it almost felt like a waste of time. Thankfully, Elizabeth mentioned that recipe on her blog, and it turned out really well. Kneading felt almost therapeutic - much like weeding does for me. The homemade butter (which was incredibly easy to make, and really could only have been better if I had used Shetler's cream) and the strawberry jam made the bread all the more perfect. Yum.

I was also able to sneak some homemade croutons into the oven. E loves croutons, and often wants them as a snack (even our daycare worker mentioned this to us). I had some leftover bread, and decided to throw some olive oil, garlic salt and pepper on them for some taste and baked it in the oven. We had a salad for dinner last night, and we found her "sneaking" extra croutons off of the pan. She approved at least.

The rest of the day was spent coloring, digging in a sandbox, and playing with her train set. It was good.

We're Tired, but...

We've survived my first week back to work. Monday evening and Tuesday morning was spent organizing bottles, breastmilk, pumping, getting extra diapers, buying sunblock for E, organizing my own work bag, packing lunch, getting the kiddos ready, getting my pump bag ready...

L took the kiddos to daycare, because he thought it would be easier on me emotionally (it was true). E was excited about showing R off to her friends, and ran right inside without a second thought. L promptly called me to say everything was okay, and that our daycare worker said I could call every hour if I needed to (I only called once).

So, I drove to work, relieved that everything went okay, that we seemed to remember everything, and preparing to get back into work mode. I decided to drive to the bank, which is down the road from my job, to drop my check off, and I realized... no wallet.

I remembered EVERYTHING but my wallet, so I had to turn around and go back home.

Other than that little inconvenience, things are going well. When my maternity leave started, my caseload had tipped over 40 cases, and now (miraculously), I have in the mid-20s. That's pretty great. Really great, actually.

E seems to be into the swing of things, and our daycare worker states that R never cries, and seems to love watching the other kiddos. He's taking the bottle well, which was something I was nervous about. Pumping is going well, though, it's a bit of a pain to do at work.

And a bit of good news on my first week back: I got a raise. A very small one, but my boss said she wanted us to know that she really appreciated all of the work we do.

So, praise God that He provided a smooth transition for all of us. I don't know why I worry so much.

Berries Galore

So these were used for snacking and eating...

and then eating them with cream (of course)

for freezer jam...

and for watermelon/strawberry lemonade...

Thank you, God, for SUMMER!

It's That Time Again....

Strawberry season is here!!

Perspective

I am in the last couple of days of my maternity leave. Next Tuesday I am back doing my "other" job, and trying to get life back to "normal". It's interesting how I'm feeling now about next week than what I felt six weeks ago, and it started with a simple conversation with some friends.

When R was newly born, we were chatting with friends, and I mentioned how quickly the six weeks were going to fly by, and it just wasn't enough time. My friend looked at me and said, "Aw, don't look at it that way. Try to see it as you get six great weeks with your family."

It may seem like a simple statements, but it hit me right between the eyes. My friend probably doesn't even remember saying it. I believe that was God speaking those words to me, and that conversation has come to my mind often since then. I love it that God has put people around me that speak life.

Sometimes God has to remind me that life is about perspective. For example, I have compared my maternity leave with others' - the three months, the paid leave, the six months, others even longer. I could live the six weeks dreading work and complaining about it, or enjoy those weeks even more.

Of course this applies to other areas of my life (which is why it hit me so hard) - that yes, there are some things that I had wish had been done differently over the years. I have dwelt upon those things, when many times I have missed the blessings that have come from those moments. Or maybe I should have just looked at it a little differently?

I'm probably rambling, so forgive me if this post doesn't make much sense. Maybe I should sum it up and say God is good to hit us between the eyes once in a while. He does it with much love. I am praying that I become a person who speaks life to others, and not negativity or death.

So here I am, a couple days out from returning to work. I am at peace about next week - not necessarily looking forward to it, but ready for it. It was God who put that peace there, and it's good. And He's good.

Thank you, Father, for peace that passes understanding
And thank you for those who speak life
And for the right perspective