Today, I’m linking up with my friend, Carissa, for MISCELLANY MONDAY! I do this every so often when I’m feeling extra random. Hope you can relate and aren’t scared away…
1. I’m not tremendously fond of how sickness lingers after you begin to feel better. Really ready to feel like myself again. Plus, I am spending way to much on Lysol & Clorox.
2. My boy turns THREE THIS WEEK!! Seriously, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s doing weird things to my heart. I guess I should get used to it, because it doesn’t look like it will get any easier as my babies get older. Ayden is getting so big & becoming more and more grown up everyday. I am crazy in love with him. God has blessed me way over my head with that boy.
3. I have been super blessed and encouraged by this girl’s blog series on the book of Psalms (every Tuesday & Thursday on her blog). If you haven’t met Nadine yet, you need to. She is so in love with Jesus & His Word, and He’s using her to change this world. Love her to pieces.
4. Have you tried Starbucks’ new Vanilla Spice Latte? I’m usually not a “vanilla latte” girl, but I really like this one. (Told you this was random, right?)
5. In case you missed it, I guest posted over at Savory Concoctions, my friend, Jennifer’s food blog last week. I shared a recipe for Pasta Chicken Salad that I stole from a good friend and actually make quite often. It’s yummy. Check it out.
Welp. That’s about all I got. I hope that you have a wonderful week, and that you are blown away by His favor & love.
Greetings from our sick little corner of the world! Actually, I think we are all finally on the mend. I knew it was coming. Everyone was tweeting and blogging about their sick families right before and during Christmas. I had a feeling it might be our turn soon. And, then, for a split second, I thought maybe we would make it out unscathed. Not so much.
It started with me having bronchitis on New Year’s Eve. Then, New Year’s Day, it was William’s turn with strep. Three days later, it was Ayden with the flu. The next day, Chelsea had the flu too.
I have known for a long time that Brooklyn is tough. This girl can smash her face into a wall and walk off like nothing happened. She can be bleeding and not even notice. Often, she will jerk her head back while sitting in my lap and nearly break my nose and think nothing of it. So, why should I be surprised that she has been the only one to remain healthy during this crazy week?! She really is something else. (Watch, as soon as I say this, she will get it now…)
But, through it all our God is faithful and good.
This is me at 8:00 a.m. NYE on my way to the Doctor. This is my “Seriously?! Here we go…” face.
Friday at the Dr. with Ayden. He was SO sad. ALL he wanted to do was snuggle. No complaints there. Just hard to see him so miserable.
Saturday. Ayden called this his “sick couch.” We had sort of quarantined him to one side of the living room. (When you have 3 under 3, and both mom and dad are sick, you do everything you can to keep it from spreading.) This was in the morning before we knew Chelsea had it. Then we just said ‘to heck with it’ and let them have the whole living room.
Ok, this is Chelsea with a RAGING fever in her high chair trying to get some meds and hydrate. Pulled out my iPhone to snap a pic of her pitiful, sick face, and she gives me this smile. Seriously. She and her sister are the most beautiful little ladies I’ve ever seen.
This one is from yesterday. William worked from home and hired himself an assistant. Isn’t she the cutest?
Also from last night, Ayden feeling well enough to help with some dishes. To be honest, this was the first time we’d ever done this together. He was so excited to help. Hoping that sweet spirit will just continue to grow as he does. I really love this little guy.
And…this is definitely one key to not being completely miserable while you’re sick and caring for sick little ones (& one sick big one) all at the same time. Introducing: the heavenly scent of a vanilla latte constantly permeating your kitchen. You’re welcome. Here’s what you do. Head over to Target & pick out a cheap hurricane, a bag of coffee beans, and a vanilla (or whatever) scented clearance candle left over from Christmas. I cannot take credit for this ingenious idea — totally stole it from my mother-in-law. But, it definitely made me happy every time I walked into the kitchen to refill a sippy cup or grab the Tamiflu out of the fridge.
As much as I hated having 4 out of the 5 of us sick at one time, it was kind of nice to all be miserable together (with the exception of Brooklyn who still has no clue what just happened). We are slowly ‘reassimilating’ back into normal life and the real world. Thankful that He provides what we need when we need it.
Merry Christmas from the Easoms! It’s a little virtual Christmas card from our family to yours.
 This past week has been so much fun, filled with little Advent activities. We have gone to Starbucks for hot chocolate, looked at Christmas lights, colored Christmas pictures, watched Christmas movies, & eaten chocolate chip pancakes. I love this time of year, and I love getting to spend it with these sweet faces!
Ayden
Chelsea
Chelsea
Brooklyn
We hope that you and your family have a beautiful Christmas season celebrating the gift of Christ!
We had gone out for an evening errand and a treat – just me and my Ayden. I had one of my favorite Christmas albums playing in the car. (Ok, I’ll tell you…it’s Point of Grace, Christmas Story. Don’t judge. It’s been a favorite since the year I got it.) The song was Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It’s super fun and up-beat, so he asked to listen to it again. Then, he wanted to hear it a third time.
The song had just begun and he says, “I don’t want to listen to Santa. I want to listen to Jesus.”
“Ok,” I said. So, I switched the CD back to the beginning -Â When Love Came Down.
“This one about Jesus?
“Yes, it’s about how love came down when Jesus was born.”
Then we spent the rest of the ride home answering his questions: Why was Jesus born? Why was I born? We answered those same two questions about four times because he kept asking them.
I tried to keep my answers simple and full of truth, praying for the right words. Those are the moments we live for as moms. It’s why God entrusts these little ones to us in the first place. That’s what being a mom is all about. It’s not about all the little things we tend to put first everyday. Lord, forgive me.
Helen Lee in The Missional Mom writes:
“So our goal as mothers is not to invest in family life as an end unto itself. That would be like my son pouring effort into his solitary part and isolating himself from the rest of the orchestra. Instead, we invest in our children to help them see the big picture, the greater purpose to which God is calling our sons and daughters. We strive to train our children with the purpose of preparing them to accept their own calling to be God’s missionaries in whatever way He intends. That is missional motherhood. It’s about helping your children recognize and play their God-composed songs and to understand how they are participating in the larger symphony He is conducting today.”
So, be intentional and ever-mindful as we approach this season of advent. Maybe you’re a parent or maybe not. We all have influence. We all know people who need Jesus. Let’s keep what really matters first.
Ok, so we started potty training Ayden last Saturday! We are silly people, I know…but he acted like he was ready, and one less baby in diapers is always a good thing, so we gave it a shot!
I set up a little kit in the bathroom, complete with pull-ups, reading material (more for me than him), Wet Ones (in case anybody touched something they shouldn’t), baby wipes, flushable wipes (for the messy ones), and disinfecting wipes (for the potty). Man, who knew they made so many wipes?! Expert moms: feel free to let me know if I have forgotten anything important in my kit! 🙂
And…success!! He was so excited to start learning. By now, we are in big boy underwear…hoping that he continues to keep up the good work.
And, of course, we are equipped with a “special treat” when he does a good job.
Probably the most important part when you are teaching a little one to use the potty. I intentionally wrote this as a reminder…in case I forgot. Good thing, too…because there were moments I referred to it!
As Ayden was starting to learn, for the first day or so, we decided to stay home as much as possible. Ayden must have gotten a little stir crazy himself, because I came downstairs to find that he had gone in the drawer where we keep old cell phones/chargers and pulled one out, along with a USB/mini-USB cord and a wall plug. He had successfully plugged the cord into the phone and the wall plug into the outlet, and charged up the phone enough to turn it on!! So…I asked him (you can imaging the tone of voice…), “What are you doing?” To which he replied, “Checking my email. Texting Mimi.” Really?! I looked over my shoulder to the “Love is patient and kind” note on the board. Then, I explained that he was not allowed to use the cord or plug things into the wall and that he needed to put that back immediately. He was pretty bumbed, but we moved on nonetheless.
Also, during the time we’ve been home, I have memorized most all of the Veggie Tales, Robin Good. It really is a great one, and Ayden has insisted on watching it at least twice everyday. The silly song in this one is called “Bubble Rap.” Now, he loves to watch this one several times in a row and actually sing along…which is really, really cute. So, since I had memorized the song, I caught myself singing along as I was folding some laundry. Ayden looks over at me and says, “No, only Ayden sing it!” Whoops! Didn’t mean to ruin the moment for him…
The girls have been especially cute lately as well. The other night before bed, they donned their tootoos for some playtime. This is Chelsea.
And, here is Miss Brooklyn. Notice she has Chelsea’s paci in her mouth and her own paci in her hand. Silly lady. These two are such joys!! Love them all to pieces.
And…lastly, I decided to share the “Bubble Rap” with you…just to brighten your day and give you a little glimpse into mine. Enjoy!!
Been treasuring some precious, fleeting moments with you lately. I know all to well that these days pass like grains of sand through an hourglass. You’re only two now, but there is so much I want to tell you – so much I admire about you. Today, you celebrated your Easter party at school. Your teacher told me that when it was time for the Easter egg hunt, you chose to go the opposite direction from the others and walk along the perimeter of the fence in search for your eggs. Successful strategy, as it turns out. I thought that was so precious. Same thing your daddy would have done.
Yesterday, we went to Chick-fil-A with your buddy, Gavin. He was trying to escape from the play area, and you ran to hold the door closed, and told him, “No!” You hurt his feelings by snapping at him. We talked about what you should do when you see your friends doing something they shouldn’t. Then, you bent down to his face and said, “Sorry, Gavin” in the sweetest voice. Your grabbed a tissue from his mommy and wiped away his tears, giving him a great, big hug. Then, you raced one another down the slide.
These are such sweet moments. Never stop loving people. I know that as you grow and come to know Jesus, you will only learn to love them more and more. I love watching you learn.
The other night, you got in trouble for pushing your sister, Brooklyn. Your precious heart was broken. You apologized and had to go to your room for bed early. You were so upset that you couldn’t even try to sleep. We talked about sin and disobedience making our heart dirty. We talked about Jesus making our heart clean. Then you prayed, with your hands folded. “Brooklyn. Push. Jesus. Clean. Heart. Thank you. Mommy. Daddy. Brooklyn. Chelsea. Walker. Bed. Pants. Shirt. Amen” was how it went. Tears streamed down my cheek.
Thanks, Lord, for planting seeds in this heart.
I think one of the greatest, most horrible consequences of the Fall is forgetfulness. We FORGET what God has done. We forget who He is. As if His Word to us was not enough, we see Him in our lives. We feel and know His grace in the depths of our soul. And we still forget.
That’s why I’m writing this for you now. Because I don’t want to forget, and I don’t want you to forget. Time passes so quickly. His love for us is great. It never changes. It never wanes. No matter the season or circumstance.
So Ayden took his plate and cup to the table by himself and sat down to eat. No more high chairs or boosters for this big boy!! He ate his whole bagel like this and loved every minute! He is always wanting to be grown up and do everything like an adult…he even gets upset sometimes that he has to use a sippy cup! I’m not sure I’m ready for all this growing up business….
Today after church we all got to play outside for a while. This weather has been so perfect…and Ayden would totally LIVE outside if we would let him!
Up until now, his bubble lawn mower has been an inside toy without the bubble action. Also up until now, Ayden has been convinced that his lawn mower was actually a vacuum cleaner. Well, today, all that changed.
Ayden’s first experience with bubbles in his lawn mower…
Since Ayden was still wearing his church outfit, I wanted to get a good picture before it got completely dirty. So, this is the face I got when I asked him to smile for the picture…
Waking up to these crisp mornings makes me want to grab a book and head to Starbucks for a leisurely morning of reading and enjoying a latte. Unfortunately, that’s not what my Fall mornings look like very often. So, this morning, I made some homemade coffee cake. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it did the trick. It is definitely one of my favorite Fall morning comfort foods. And…I got to share it with Mr. Ayden…which always makes the experience more fun! It’s the little things to start off the day together that make me smile.
