A Caring Heart

My mom, Diana, is one of those people who truly likes to be behind the scenes. She is at her happiest putting other people first.  Since it is her birthday and a special day, I just want to let Mom know how much we appreciate her.

From a young age, Mom has been a thoughtful caregiver. She helped look after her baby sister. As a young mother, she cared for three children sacrificing so much for us.  Professionally, Diana has carved out a successful career as a nurse. Mom spends many hours caring for elderly patients. It is much more than a job for her as she loves and listens to her sometimes forgotten residents.

I know she is probably cringing now and I don’t want to embarrass her much more. I just want to say, Mom, I am so fortunate to have you as my role model. You have a caring heart. Thank you for all that you do for us. I love and miss you. I wish we could be with you today to celebrate. We are there in spirit and can’t wait to say hello via video.  Xoxo

Happy Birthday Albert

As of 9:12 pm tonight our sweet Albert Aaron is one year old. It’s hard to grasp how fast this past year as gone by for us. I am amazed at how much our little guy has grown. I can’t imagine our family without him.

Albert has been walking for two months now and he is fast. He adores big sister Ivy and is determined to keep up with her. When we play music or Daddy makes a milk shake, Albert will start turning in circles. I call it his happy dance! He says Dadda and Mama and uh-oh. He’s a pretty good mimic with sounds. Albert loves to eat and some of his favourite foods are cheese, blue berries, turkey nuggets and toast. He gives the sweetest cuddly hugs and it just melts my heart when he toddles over to me with open arms.

Happy Birthday Albert Aaron! We love you. We are so proud of you.

 

The World According to Ivy Grace

Both of my babies are crazy about my phone. Their little eyes twinkle with glee and triumph whenever they get ahold of it. They become Gollum and my cell phone is the Precious! I often find photos I know I haven’t taken when I get the phone back. I don’t know how Ivy, as the oldest, manages to take pictures but she has figured it out like a pro.

Whenever I get the chance I scroll through my gallery to delete the repeats of our carpet or stairs. Once in a while one of Ivy’s photos will catch my attention and I have to save the image. It’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her world; a unique chance to see our grown up world from Ivy’s fresh perspective. I like her point of view.

Sometimes in the routine of mommyhood I can forget that my little ones are constantly investigating. I forget to see life through their eyes. This is one of the things I love about raising babies. It’s a perk of the job to see the world as a child again. I get to remember the awe and wonder of the everyday. I know this isn’t a new concept but when you are in the thick of things as a parent it can be really uplifting. Remembering Ivy and Albert’s perspectives helps me to have more patience and compassion. How exciting and daunting life must be to a toddler!

Sometimes I’m too tired or in a hurry or dealing with a typical baby emergency and I miss the magic of the moment. Hopefully this gallery of photos will remind me to be present. Enjoy my life, even the mundane parts of it. Enjoy my babies and “Rejoice always.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16) So let’s see if this puts a smile on your face. I give you the world according to Ivy Grace.

 

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Coffee Deprived

On Thursday morning I forgot to put the garbage bin out.  On Friday morning I put face wash on my tooth brush.  On Saturday morning I put my shirt on backwards. This Sunday morning I put my daughter’s leggings on before the pull up diaper. This is me before coffee. This is a couple years without normal sleep. This is mom life.

 

And Then There Were Four

Albert Aaron Mitchell was born on May 19, 2017 at 9:12 pm in Cambridge. It was an extraordinary experience delivering this sweet baby and I will never forget that night. We are now a family of four. Life with a toddler and a newborn is exciting and exhausting and challenging and full of precious moments. I now have even less time to myself. Thus I am blogging three and half months later in bed whilst pumping milk and eating chocolate! Ivy is asleep in her bed. Albert is asleep next to daddy watching a game downstairs. I should be sleeping but really wanted to get back into my blog. So you may get a semi-coherent sleep deprived  litany of motherhood and life and faith whenever I can write one.

Psalm 127 says that “children are a gift from the Lord.” Ivy and Albert are the best gifts we’ve ever been given. Mama is the hardest job I’ve ever had in my life. It is a role that requires all my physical strength, creativity, mental energy and prayers. I make a lot of mistakes. I do my best. We giggle a lot during the day. Cry. We make messes and read books. Sing. We dance like fools. Play. We give/ get a lot of hugs and kisses. I try to cherish each day even the really hard ones. Mostly I’m just so thrilled Jason and I get to be parents to our special little ones.

 

 

Strength for All Things

Ivy Grace is 18 months old. This is hard to believe! She has grown so much and the time has gone by so fast. Now we are expecting our second little bundle. Despite the growing physical evidence, it doesn’t seem real sometimes.  This pregnancy is different. I don’t have time to focus on it like I did before. Ivy keeps me hopping. I feel so blessed and privileged that our little family is growing. At the same time, I hope I can be enough for two babies at once. As we still struggle to get Ivy to sleep through the night, I can’t help but think what am I going to do with a newborn?! How I am going to night feed and settle a toddler climbing out of bed running to our room?! Though we are enjoying parenthood, the nights can seem long and dark at times. Sleep deprivation combined with hormones have done a number on me.

Caught in the snow.

Philippians 4:13 AMP- “I have strength for all things through Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me. I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency.”

Sometimes I don’t feel very strong. Most times I don’t feel very strong. I know in my heart this verse is true. It doesn’t always feel true. It doesn’t feel like I can be up all hours and then gracious as Ivy refuses to nap meaning no sleep again for me. Smiling and entertaining a toddler through tears is not ideal. But I am learning to be led by the Holy Spirit instead of my ever-changing emotions. It is a process and a daily challenge.

The above verse is the first one I memorized this year as part of the Siesta Scripture Memory Team 2017 with Beth Moore and Living Proof ministries. This online challenge is really sweet to me as I participated in 2015 when I was expecting Ivy. It seems fitting to do it again during this pregnancy. It must be God-designed. He knows how much I need Him. I have so much love in my heart for my husband and babies, but I am not physically able to do what I need to do without God. The dark days happen when I get caught up in my feelings and negative thoughts. When I get so caught up in the circumstances that I forget to pray, forget to recite my verses, forget that I don’t have to do this on my own, that is when I really struggle. Even still I know God is there nudging me to come to Him. And when I do cry out to God, He is faithful. Always. The more I work on my verses, the more the Word comes to mind just in time.

Daddy/daughter cuddles!

I know I’m not the only one. Maybe you are a parent like me juggling family life or caring for an aging parent or dealing with a stressful job. Maybe you are dealing with a loss. Maybe you are kept up at night by the evening news. Whatever it is you are going through, please, know that you can have strength for today. You can have strength for all things through Christ. You only need to ask.

Moments

What were you up to at 7 am this morning? Me? I was playing with this little beauty above. She was excited after breakfast to run about in her footy pajamas with her sunglasses on. I love her. I love her creativity. I love these stolen moments. These are the little moments in life that really mean everything. My plan is to make sure I don’t miss it. I don’t want my agenda to override the joy of Ivy growing up. Our time together is already moving so fast. I will be responsible. I will take care of our home which I know is a huge blessing. But sometimes the floor will just have to stay dusty a little longer while I chase my little doodle bee around the living room.