Mommy and Me...(with Daddy too!): December 2017

I knew it’d be a while since I blogged…I just didn’t realize it had been THIS long. Yikes. The past ½ year has felt like a whirlwind in many ways. I supposed it hasn’t been anything too much out of the ordinary, just living life with three little boys, work, and ministry.

This fall, after much consideration and prayer, Andrew and I decided to start Isaiah in 1^st grade, even though he will be just be turning six in a week. We are doing the 1^st grade curriculum from My Father’s World. I enjoy it because it is so well laid out and organized, with little to none preparation for me, and isn’t overwhelming to get through a day’s lesson even with Judah distracting us. J Isaiah is a super little student who loves math, art, science, and books. He is getting better and better at working through the lessons that don’t come super easily, which is encouraging for me as a teacher.

Ezra is in preschool, and does much of Isaiah’s school with us, although he has his own projects and workbooks when Isaiah is doing the harder stuff. He loves to cut with scissors, write his letters, and read books with us. He is a skinny tall bundle of energy, who frequently reminds us of Andrew in his preferences and mannerisms.

Judah…oh Judah. This little guy will be TWO (already!) in February. He is such a little ham who loves to make people smile, and wants to be into everything his brothers are doing. Everything but sit quietly and color, of course! Ha. He is my home-school challenge right now – being able to teach Isaiah, guide Ezra, and keep Judah out of trouble at the same time. Before we start back in January my hope is to brainstorm some ways to organize our day a little differently so I have some individual and focused time with each child, rather than being distracted by Judah’s antics continually.

As challenging as trying to monitor all three of them at the same time has been, I am loving the ways I see them learning, growing up, and developing. Some highlights on each child from the past several months:

Isaiah, at 5: He is sooo good with Judah, and has always been. Isaiah can put on Judah’s hat, coat, boots, and gloves for me to get him ready to go outside. He constantly has eyes out for situations that may put Judah in danger, and alerts me right away. He is doing great learning to read, and while he still prefers being read to, I am amazed at how much he can read when he puts his mind to it.

Isaiah loves to make cards and pictures for his friends, or write them nice notes. He is quite a good little chess player, and spent a ton of time this summer and fall playing soccer with conference guests and Bible school students at the place we live/work. It's so fun to see his skills developing.

We love to hear Isaiah pray. The sincerity and depth of his prayers to Jesus astound and humble us. It is such a blessing to witness his growing relationship and faith in Jesus.

Ezra, at 3 and 4: He is our little wildcard, the one with the biggest emotions. He is a go-getter, determined to keep up with Isaiah and older friends. This summer he went for it and developed a ton in his swimming skills. Ezra also mastered a pedal bike in about…10 minutes! this summer, at 3 years old, and loves to charge around on his bike at full speed yelling at the top of his lungs. (Hmm, yep, that pretty much can sum up Ezra!) He loves to clean – vacuuming, dishes, wiping stuff down, trash, laundry – it doesn’t matter, he’s all in.

Judah, at 1: This little guy is a bright joy in our family. His brothers love on him in big ways—constantly. He has been and continues to be our best sleeper—he went 10 straight months (that’s 300 days, people!) without waking up in the night. I couldn’t believe it. He loves to make people smile and laugh, and though he can be shy with a few people, he generally is happy to meet new friends and make eye contact with almost anyone around him.

I am thankful for his easy-going nature, which has made many situations much less stressful because he is content to watch and wait. Granted, he has recently started revving up for the terrible-two phase, but that’s to be expected…he is a toddler, after all!

He doesn’t say more than a handful of words, but communicate very clearly with signs and expressions. He loves to dance and listen to music. And my goodness, does he give amazing squeeze-y hugs and sweet baby kisses!

Together, we learn and grow. Together, they teach me of how desperately I need Jesus to parent them with love, grace, and wisdom.

For 2017, it’s been one of the hardest years for me personally in a long time. In the midst of struggles and difficult situations, God has met me and supplied all that I've needed. I have learned a lot this year, both about myself and about the incredible faithfulness and wondrous, steadfast love God has for me. I feel so richly blessed, and I am excited to see and be a part of all that God does in the coming year--in our family, myself, our community, and ministry.

I guess that will be it for this year - maybe January will be a fresh start to get back on track with blogging more regularly. I can always hope.... :) .

Here are some pictures of our year -