But if you WILL....

Normally Sunday's are my day to sleep in (which incidently means we are perpetually late to church). Fortunately my husband is AMAZING and always gets the boys & himself ready, allowing me to leisurely apply make-up, straighten my hair, and change clothes 3x before meeting them at the car (after they have been waiting for a good 10 minutes mind you). Yes folks, he's a saint. Well...he's on a day shift right now and is of course working Sundays, which leaves Mama alone with the 2 precious littles. In case your wondering...in the 5 weeks Jason has worked Sunday's the boys & I have made it to service twice. Let's set the stage of our morning...

I was up & ready by 7am (This is GOOD..very, very good), Cole got out of bed, immediately got dressed & brushed his teeth (we're on a roll!), I have the car started at 7:15a...all I have left is get the toddler dressed. Surely that can happen in 15 minutes, right? {chocolate donuts in the car for breakfast...we're operating on essentials only this morning ladies} And this is when it all started going downhill.....Mr. Jacob had a colossal meltdown when I went to take his PJ's off..."No Mom, my jammies, my jammies, I dress, I dress". Then he chose to kick his feet the entire time I tried to change his diaper, whopping me in the face at least twice. By the time his coat was on & zipped I had successfully sweat every ounce of my make-up off and my hair (which was last nights anyway) is now levitating far above it's intended place. By the time we reached the church parking lot Jacob was covered in chocolate donut! My dear friend who happened to be greeting this morning asked me how we were today, my response "I've realized if I was a single Mom we may never attend church again" as I continued dragging the chocolate covered beast behind me. I had one thing on my mind...drop this kid in the nursery!

As I sat down in the pew I was all but ready for my mind to wander and to not feel connected in anyway today. Then Pastor Randy read the call to worship, Psalm 9:1-2. 

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. 

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

{sigh} Peace. That's what I felt. I had the choice at this moment to Praise Him. I had the choice to be glad. I had the choice to Rejoice.

Sometimes it's not easy, especially during these early years of parenting. My heart reached out this morning to every single Mom out there to who faithfully does this every week. God Bless You, Mama's. It. is. hard.

Sometimes you just don't have it in you. But if you WILL, He will meet you where you are. And that's just what happened today, I was filled beyond measure. I was blessed because we pushed through. My Children were blessed because we pushed through. My husband was blessed because we pushed through. 

And now I'm off to clean chocolate out of church shirts :)

Love & Hugs, 

Jenny

Setting the climate of your home

What is the climate of your home? Happy, Grateful, Peaceful, or Stressed, Angry, even Hostile?

We as Wives & Mothers have the ability to turn the thermostat in our home to any setting we like. Of course, we can't control our spouse or our childrens emotions, but, the climate we set in our home will greatly affect their emotional thermostat. This was something I was reminded of recently, and, honestly - I haven't been doing very well at it. I have to try REALLY hard, not to just retreat to a room all by myself as soon as Jason walks in the door on Friday nights! By the time he gets home, I'm exhausted from doing it by myself all week and feel like I just want to sit by myself for awhile - but, he is needing the personal attention of me & the kids that he's missed all week.

One way I'm trying to "set the climate" is by having Friday night parties! If Cole takes a nap during the day, he gets to stay up late on Friday night & wait for Daddy to get home. (Jas doesn't get home until 10 or 11p so this is a BIG deal for Cole!) Jason appreciates seeing us when he gets home, and, it's so awesome to see the look on Cole's face when he sees his Dad after the whole week.

When it comes to Cole, I find that if I'm tired (which is often with a 4 month old!) or stressed, it's so easy for me to say something in a tone that hurts his feelings. I'm trying really hard now to take a break if I'm getting stressed (for me, the best I can do is 5 minutes in the bathroom alone..but, it's better than nothing I suppose!). I'm also working hard to spend 15-20 minutes with Cole, by himself, every night before bed & in the morning if possible. We talk about the best parts of his Day, and ,the parts that he wished were better. Before school we talk about whats going to happen that Day, and, pray together. I think these times are helping him to understand that even though things have changed with our family - he is still very important to me, and, I'm working hard to make special time for him.

How do you set the climate in your house? Are there days when you hand the baby to your husband the minute he walks in & run screaming?! (come on...please tell me I'm not alone!) ha :)

T minus 6....

Well, I have 6 days until I leave for Hearts at Home, a wonderful Mom's Conference. I am so excited to spend time with my girlfriends, go to amazing sessions & come back re-charged as a Mom & Wife. BUT...I'm also starting to get really nervous about leaving my babies! I'm fully confident Cole can handle watching his Father (he he!), but I'm getting more nervous about Jacob. Leaving my 3 month old is a little nerve wracking :(

There will be a myriad of ppl coming to watch the boys Friday & Friday night, then Jason will take care of them Saturday until I get home. I have to leave lists. LOTS & LOTS of lists.

And, maybe a surprise or two for my boys for while I'm gone ;)

Oh, I had better get busy!

Do you know your Love Language?

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Dr. Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages. It's a great way to determine your love language - and, to best figure out how to communicate with your spouse, kids, etc.

I recently took the online assessment. It's a neat way to do a quick analysis and figure out your top love languages.

My are as follows...
1. Physical Touch
2. Words of Affirmation (a close second)
3. Quality Time

No surprises here!

I have asked my husband to take the assessment now though, because I want to make sure what if what I think his love language is...is actually correct!

I added the assessment Widget to the bottom of my blog - spend 5 minutes & check out your Love Language!

In coming days I will post about the Love Language of our Children...stay tuned!