Mommy Time!

 I am sitting here in a dark room, no lights,no TV, just the sound of my fingers hitting the keyboard and I have to admit, I am liking it:) Now, don't get me wrong, more than a few hours of it, i would be missing my sweet,Precious,noisy children. But, for right now I'm enjoying some me time:) No screaming, no crying, no mommy can you do this or can you clean up that, no diaper changing, whining, bottle fixing,fit throwing and no fighting . Just time to myself to focus on absolutely nothing. I don't get a lot of these moments to myself, they are few and far between, so when I get the opportunity to just sit and do....well, nothing....I LOVE IT!!!! I hope all mommies get some "mommy time" once in a while. I am one of those that likes to do everything myself, one might call me a control freak(Cori and Jess)lol. I hate someone else being in charge, making the decisions and taking care of my kids, after all, isn't it my Job to take care of my kiddos, clean my house, fix dinner,ect ect ect! I'm not one to ask for help, a weakness of mine,probably. Some days though, I may be a bit extreme when it comes to being in charge of my kids and things being done my way. I remember the first time we ever left Ayden with our mom's. I spent the entire week before writing a 12 page itinerary(yes I said 12 front and back, sad i know) of what ayden liked, what time he ate, how he ate, when he pooped, what it should look like, how to get him to sleep, his favorite song,show, meal, the list went on and on and on....Well, when I asked Jason to look at it and make sure I didn't miss anything, he asked, "what is this?" I said, Ayden's fact sheet. Jason looked at me puzzled and said, it's 2 nights Paige, then ripped up my "book" and said, our mom's raised us, he will be fine. Isn't it funny how different our mind set is from the first child to the 2nd, now to the 3rd. When I leave the kids now, I still have some sadness, but I don't give orders(well i try not too) I don't write a novel on how to keep my kids for a day, and I actually find time away from my kids is good for the both of us. They learn that they DON'T need mommy for everything and I learn that they are ok without mommy too and other's are capable of taking care of my kids. I find that when I get back to them, I appreciate them more and I feel more refreshed and not so stressed out and impatient. I find that giving myself time away from them allows me to focus on myself, my spiritual life,Jason, my friends, the other things in my life that are going on, but I seem to forget about because my world evolves around my three little bundles of Joy! While God gives us these precious gifts(children) to enjoy and love, he also gives us grandparents and babysitters to enjoy our kiddos too:) So find time for yourself and learn to enjoy "mommy time" I know I sure do!!

Could you Repeat that?

 

  Last week was quite the interesting week.Jaxon introduced us to Jaxon the rock and Jaxon the baby rock, Then we managed to have Jaxon the Turtle, Jaxon the Daddy Rock, Jaxon the frog and Jaxon the baby frog(yes two) and the latest Jaxon the worm,Jaxon the baby worm, Jaxon the Daddy worm and my favorite this am, Uncle Jaxon the worm. There is never a dull moment with these two. From finding Jaxon in the laundry room with a tub of ice cream yesterday enjoying the tub while drinking the strawberry syrup out of the package, to Ayden swimming naked because he told me he goes faster, not much surprises me anymore.  Let's tell the kicker of the story from last week though. One of those stories you wonder if telling it is a good idea, or will DHS show up on your doorstep wondering what Goes on in your household. Since my husband posted it on fb before I could manage to get a chance to tell it, here it is. Maybe I should say it's PG-13 rated..lol
  Ever hear things differently than your children do? I experience this almost daily with my boys and the "creative" way they tell stories or explain something. The funniest yet happening just last week with our sweet little neighbor jean.  We have the sweetest little neighbors to the north of our house. John and Jean, retired little couple who we enjoy chatting with and the boys love playing with them whenever they get the chance. These are the neighbors who have the animals in the front yard(statues) and occasionally if you drive by, you might see jaxon riding the horses or bears(cheap entertainment). While Jaxon and I were outside playing and he was riding his bike, Jean had come out to see him. Jaxon immediately took off running to her while I stood at a distance holding Ella. Jean,the grandmotherly type she is, gave jaxon a hug, had a piece of candy for him and was asking him how his day was, ect. Now, Jaxon has a new pair of shoes. If you have been around him, he proudly displays them and is especially fond of the built in balls on the bottom that he will promise you,makes him jump super high. As Jaxon raised his foot in the air at Jean, I knew this conversation was about to get interesting. Now before I go on, one thing I need to mention about Jane is that she is having a difficult time with her vision right now, due to her diabetes. So when Jaxon was raising his foot, she was a bit unsure of what was going on. As his foot was raised straight out in front of him, he in the most innocent of ways said,"Hey, do you want to see my balls?" Gene, the sweet little reserved 80 year old grandmother stood with her mouth open, she looked around and seemed a bit unsure of what was just asked, so she said," Sweetie, I don't think I understood what you asked, could you repeat that." Jaxon put his foot down and raised the other and said even louder," do you want to see my balls?" Gene stood for what seemed at least a minute, unsure of what to say or do next...Then she simply said, "Well sweetie, I don't think that's such a good idea.." At this point I'm walking towards her trying not to laugh until I explain the story. As I reach her, she has that nervous what Kind of people are you look. I simply explained to her that Jaxons shoes have bouncy balls and he was asking if she wanted to see the balls on his shoes, he just didn't word it in the best way. She bent over laughing slapping her leg and leaned up barely able to speak and said, well i can't see very well right now, so I didn't know if he was pulling his pants down or what...We stood outside and laughed for a long time...I actually still laugh when I think about it. Makes me appreciate the innocence of a child. I think it's funny that Jaxon who's 3 asked that and we say,"oh how cute", but if Jason had done the very same thing, he would have been arrested.lol.
That's what is so great about the way God created Children. You can't take anything for granted with Children. They are so very practical; they take things literally. I know this is so very true, because just yesterday I made the comment to Ayden, Hold your horses..He looked at me and said," what horses?"
My point is, in our very busy lives, among the dirty dishes, piled up laundry, with so much important grown-up stuff grabbing our attention, how often do we look around and see the world as our kids see it , walk a day in their tiny shoes and enjoy the even smallest of creations God made and enjoy the funny way in which kids describe things. Whether that be frogs ,rocks, bugs, dolls, barbies,bouncy ball shoes or ice cream, appreciate the way God created kids and their innocence and take pleasure in the things he's given us. We have no better example to enjoy the simplicity of life then our children!

Here's a few pictures of my boys, being Boys!!

Jaxon the Frog #2 and Jaxon the
Baby frog!

Jaxon the Worm, and all of his
Family..(notice jaxons haircut)
Courtesy of Ayden!

Jaxon showing his

excitement over Timmy

Getting new batteries!

Jaxon the Rock

Jaxon the Frog(RIP)

Jaxon and one of his costumes!

Ayden telling me he didn't get in

the mud......

Catching Jaxon in the brownie

bowl!

Change of Plans

Once upon a time, before I was mega mom(I use the term lightly), I was a college student focused and ready to take on the world. My entire focus was on my basketball career, my future husband and what I wanted to do after College, and while I knew that Jason and I would some day have kids, I never imagined by the time I was 27 I would have 3(esp 3 in 4 yrs). I was a bit...hmmmm...how should I word this??Self-absorbed..yeah I think that sums it all up..I was worried about me, my wedding, my life, my job, my school,my problems, me me me! Goodness doesn't God have a funny way of changing us. Six months into marriage, Jason and I found out we were pregnant with Ayden. Man, did that ever change me. I went from worrying about which internship I would get to what Color are we going to paint the nursery. The plans I had made for myself were completely changed and God revealed to me that it's not my plans I make for myself but his plans. I never would have imagined my days would be filled with Power Rangers, skinned knees, dirty diapers, wet beds, hurt feelings, little league,groceries,dentist trips, Dr's visits, and my favorite baby spit up! My newest dilemmas changed to: Do I have time to take a shower before Handy Manny is over? Could I find something in the Kitchen to throw together for dinner tonight, so I can hold off another day of going to the grocery store. My new role had changed and although I didn't feel like I was very confident in my new job and would I do a good job? God showed me that he had been preparing me the entire way.  
   God is smiling and proud of us mommies. He appreciates the wonderful job we do! Jesus said,"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me;and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me"(Mark 9:37). God definitely understands that a mommies job is difficult and tedious at times and that it is a very self-sacrificing job as well.I have days when I wonder if I'm doing anything right as a mom, but look to my heavenly father for encouragement. When I do this mommy thing well, I feel God's pleasure and picture him smiling down at me. I believe God takes comfort in the fact the we are taking care of the next generation of his creation. He knows that I'm not always perfect at the job he's given me, but he gave me this job for a reason and because he has full confidence in me that I will do the job to the best of my ability. Even at my worst moments I can get a grip if I remember how great it will be when I stand before God Almighty and he says,"Well done, my Good and Faithful mommy."
    So, while the Degree I worked so hard to get sits on the shelf collecting dust and all plans I had ever made have changed. I find comfort in knowing I am doing the job God has chosen for me. And because God has different plans for each child, he needs a wide variety of mommies to raise them each. God made us so unique , that each of us is the perfect parent for our particular child, God matched us perfectly! I always laugh when I think of that and think about my cousin Jess saying, God gave you Ayden and Jaxon because he knew they needed one Patient and easy going mommy,lol. If you were to spend a day at my house, you would see exactly what she means. My days are not always easy,I'm not always good at my job, but it's God's plans for me and I find comfort in knowing I'm doing what he has chosen for me and I love every minute of this exciting and rewarding life he's given me.

The greatest gifts of all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful mother's day! I had a very busy, but enjoyable weekend! My weekend celebration started off early when Ayden had his Spring Program at Emmanuel Christian School. What a blessing it was to hear him proclaim his love for Jesus! Melted my heart to hear all he has learned and especially how much he has grown in his understanding of Christ and his love for each of us! Thursday evening was extra special at home too.We have  been working so hard with Ella on Sitting up. OU childrens had told us they wanted to see her sitting up by 7 months or they would be sending someone each week to work with her  and guess what.....Thursday night, just a little over a week before she hits 7 months, she did it!!!!!!I guess she is a procrastinator and likes to make mommy worry..It was so exciting..It's quite funny because the grass is so green in the front and the boys were playing, we were in the garage and I decided I wanted to get a few pics of the kids together. I set Ella in the grass and asked Ayden to sit with her while I grabbed my camera from the car..He said momma, momma look...Sure enough Ella was sitting there on her own, eating grass...I was so excited I didnt care what she was eating..What a proud moment it was for all of us..Ayden and Jaxon were beaming with delight as their sister whom they have adored since the first moment they met and watched grow over these last several months, achieved such a milestone..I have never enjoyed a session more than I did that evening. The love they had for eachother was so evident..I never want to forget that night and the pride the boys had in Ella for accomplishing to some what may seem a small feat, was a huge accomplishment and special moment  to us! 

Here are some of the pics, as well as, some pics from the weekend!!Thank-you Jesus for giving me these special moments with these beautiful babies you have entrusted me with and blessed my life with. I can't imagine a better gift!

James 1:17

"Every Good and Perfect Gift is From Above"

                                

OOOOHHH VASELINE!!!

Ayden and Jaxon up to something!


You know, one thing that I love is God's Sense of Humor. If you don't think he has one, look at the terrible two's. A point in our child's life when we wonder one second why we had these sweet dirty little faces and the next second, we question how we lived our life without them...These tiny little people tend to bring out the best in Mommy and at times the worst in Mommy(the times when dad is wondering where this side of mommy came from). If this is you, then you are not alone! We deal with the screaming,crying,fit throwing, mess making, bug catching,frog saving,scribbles on the walls and floors, nose picking moments. Yes, God had quite the sense of humor when he said, Let's have terrible two's, whiny three's, Mouthy Four's and the I know it all 5's...(I'm sure it gets more complicated from here, this is just where I'm at with my little sweeties). Now, it seems that in these times, we want to see the reaction that mom has to her kid who's having a meltdown in the toy isle for the boy  doll(yes our SON Jaxon and his Timmy the doll ). How do we handle these moments and still keep our cool? If you don't believe me, that people watch to see how you will handle your little angel of a child, ask mom's how many reality shows they watch dealing with raising kids. Remember when Jon and Kate + 8 was huge. I tuned in weekly to watch Kate overreact to EVERYTHING. Kinda made me feel like super mom at times,well super patient mom. Now, I'm no super mom, but have had more than my share of Messes, fits, attitude and fights.  God maybe has blessed some of  you with those kids that you never had to put anything up and they never got into anything. Yeah, that wasn't me. God blessed me with two extremely active boys( Spirited Children I believe is the correct terminology), with quite the imaginative personality and a sweet little girl, who thinks if you are not holding her, somethings terribly wrong ( love all three personalities) Now, I know you all are wondering, Where is Paige going with this Vaseline title?? Well, God taught me a lot through an economy size jar of baby Vaseline and my two rambunctious boys. This one experience has gotten me through many,many,many messes and fights and I'm thankful for these messy lessons God gives me to teach me patience and guidance as a mommy each day. God's sense of Humor in creating these little busy and messy"hands and Feet" has taught me to take a step back and view my children as a remarkable bundle's of possibilities and and to embrace these messy moments with a smile.
     When Ayden was just short of two and Jaxon was around 8 months, I at times felt like I was raising twins. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy every moment with my kids, but at times I  look at them and wonder where they came from and many times they drive me crazy(in a good way if thats possible?) Some kids are screamers, some are fascinated with markers, some hit, some bite(jaxon) my kids fascination was anything that came in a tube,jar,can or a bottle. If they could get it out to rub it all over everything, they would..So, one day when I was washing bottles, doing laundry, being the homemaker that I am, I realized Ayden who was sitting in the living room watching Elmo and playing, seemed all too quiet. I decided that I better assess the situation. It was all to familiar, a quiet house like the stillness and calm that a storm  bright before it hits. I knew Ayden was up to something, but never imagined I would walk into what I did. Ayden no longer sat in front of the TV, playing. I heard giggles coming from the room Jaxon was supposed to be sleeping in, to open the door to see my two sweet boy's glistening in the light and not Edward twilight glistening, but mop and glo glistening. Ayden stood before me, naked completely covered in baby Vaseline rubbing it all over his body, smiling at me and raising his eye brows and shaking his head like I should agree this is a great idea. Poor baby Jax stood holding on to his crib bars, completely covered in Vaseline as well, with a two inch blob of it all over his head,  between and on his 2 front teeth, in his ears, finger,neck,etc. The TV, crib, dresser, toys, everything was lathered up in baby Vaseline as well. Now, when I say a jar of baby Vaseline was emptied that day, I don't mean a little diaper bag size. I'm talking the economy size that was just bought the day before for Jaxon, my child with endless rashes and allergies. I remember standing frozen not really sure what to do or say. After what seemed several minutes of soaking in what my child had just done, I completely flipped out on my kids. They stood still smiling, gleaming from the Vaseline, wondering what the big deal was. Now, have you ever tried to carry a naked 40 lb toddler covered in Vaseline to the shower. Much less two at one time. It was like picking up two huge slimy fish, they were squirming and flopping all over the place. We finally made it to the bathroom, to not even be able to sit up because they continued to slide on the bottom of the tub. Vaseline is extremely waterproof and i didn't realize how waterproof Johnson and Johnson designed that stuff till that very moment. I washed those kids heads,faces,hands,ect for what seemed hours. Guess what, they shined for weeks, I didn't have to put hair gel in bc it would naturally spike on its own and when they entered a room I was waiting for the song off of Coming to America to start playing you know, the one that goes, "Let Your Soul Glow, Oh So Silky Smooth, Just Let It Shine Through..." The furniture and Vaseline wasn't so bad...Seemed to kinda condition the furniture..The tv glass + Vaseline...Yeahhhh, that wasn't fun. The greasy carpet stains...Not fun either..
That moment was my "could be worse moment" my moment that I go back to when my kids have dumped all the pancake syrup on the table to make hand prints in it(yesterday morning), the moment when my child gives himself and his brother a haircut (this past summer), or how about the moment that my kids thought dropping  the 2 dozen carton of eggs on the kitchen floor was quite entertaining to watch(last summer). It's during these moments, I let my mind go back to the days of baby Vaseline, and appreciate any type of mess that doesn't involve it and thank God for these Hands and Feet that he gave me to make them. You see, being a mommy is a huge responsibility and this is a job where we as mommies get on the job training 24 hours a day. God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called.  The lessons never stop. Sometimes when I look back over my mommy hood so far, I don't know who learned more, my children or myself. God is always teaching me more about who I am, so I can become a better mother. While the experience with Vaseline was a nightmare, it's a lesson that has helped me to become a more patient and loving mom! The good news is that God always provides, loves and teaches us, not just through the major events and situations in our lives, but through the simplest of moments, the messes,tears and breakdowns we face each day. We can find him in the smallest moments of our day as we may condition the furniture(ha), wipe a bottom, clean a dirty nose or rock a sweet baby to sleep. Isn't it so reassuring to know just much God loves us. That he loves us even in spite of our own inconsistencies and failures. Let's take that patience and everlasting love that God gives us, to our own lives,kids and big kids(husbands) and find that enduring these messes,fits,fights and stresses are much easier to handle when we strive to have the love and patience our Heavenly father has with us! Vaseline is just my place to go and say Thank-you God for this (current) mess, because any mess is better than cleaning up 64 oz of baby Vaseline!

A verse to live by as a mom!
Isaiah 40:30-31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings as eagles;they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.



Some  pics of my two Rambunctious boys when they were smaller! Please share a pic of your kids and a story for us to laugh at and a moment God taught you something through them!