Being Positive in a Difficult Week

Levi's smashed foot

It's been a tough week, but there were some really great moments too.  I've decided to remember the positives.  I think my top five favourites this week were (in no particular order)

1 - Watching Levi shower Aliyah with kisses and hugs. 

The boys absolutely adore her, and I hope that will always be the case.  They love to kiss her and touch her hands.  It is so tender and special to watch.  I hope they are never jealous of each other.  I am careful to spend time with each child, but the difficulty lies in the moments when more than one child require your attention.   I have such a hard time knowing what to do in these cases.  Will they remember those moments when I went to their brother or sister instead of them?  Will it affect how they feel loved and in turn how they love others?  Or will it teach them to become stronger?  Will they learn to put others before themselves?  I can only hope for the latter.  I guess I try to do the best I can, and trust my kids will know how deeply I love each and every one of them despite what choices I have to make.

2 - Decorating Cakes

This week was Meg's birthday and Sarah's birthday and I was able to make cakes for each celebration.  I enjoy decorating the cakes, but can also find it stressful.  I really desire each cake to be a beautiful piece of artwork - a testament to my relationship to that person.  I want them to feel loved through my handiwork, but I find that I am constantly disappointed in what I make.  Of course!   How can I encompass my relationships with icing?  And then, I find that I am often bound by the wiles of time or the lack of resources (as in I don't have the time or the colors/tools I need for decorating what I've designed).  So I "make do" and that makes me wish I could have done better.

Meg's birthday cake

Sarah's birthday cake

  

3 - One HOT Coffee Please!

On Thursday morning, I had a rare opportunity where all 3 kids slept in until 9am.  Since I have been making a habit of getting up at 7, to get prepared for the day, I found that I was able to finish a lot of my planed daily chores, with time to spare before the troupes awoke.   I had an extra few minutes to sit quietly by myself and drink a cup of HOT coffee undisturbed.  It was lovely and a wonderful start to my day.  God must have known I'd needed it too, as the rest of the day felt like a total write off.  All three children woke sick, and had I not been able to have that "peaceful" moment early in the day, I wonder how well I would have survived through the rest of the day.

4 - Aliyah Sleeping.

During the day, Aliyah doesn't tend to settle unless she is in my arms.  She can be completely out to the world, but the second I lay her down, she wakes up and cries.  It can be so frustrating, especially when I have meals to make, and other children to tend too as well.  In spite of this, I am glad to report that she has started sleeping longer through the night, which Leigh and I are so thankful for.  We were beginning to get so edgy from exhaustion.  For a number of weeks, we were only getting about 1-2 hours of sleep between feeds, but now we are getting 3-4 hours which might not seem like much but is in fact, a world of difference.  I would never want to raise kids with anyone else other than Leigh.  Before we had children, I remember telling Leigh that I was nervous about having kids, because without sleep I am such a (w/b) itch, and I was worried what it would do to our relationship.  I am thankful to report, that even through the definite "hard" parenting and marriage moments, we have been able to develop our relationship even more.   I think the key is that "getting out" is never an option, so we HAD TO make it work, not only for us, but even more now for our children.

5 - Loving Nan and Pa

On Saturday morning, we headed to Aldi to do our weekly grocery shop.  On the way we dropped the boys off at Nan and Pa's to help make the shopping experience a little less harried.  Since the boys have been sick all week with runny noses and upchucking, they understandably haven't acted themselves.  I remember telling Leigh when he got home from work yesterday that I was pretty sure 10 minutes hadn't gone by without at least one kid crying.  My patience was wafer thin, and every whine and cry sent shivers down my spine like someone running their nails down the chalkboard.  I realised I'd been holding my breath most of the day.   I think I was afraid that if I exhaled, I'd either cry or say something I'd regret.   Today was different.  Leigh was home, and we were dropping the boys at Nan and Pa's. I wasn't sure how they'd adjust to being at their house, but was thankful when we arrived when Levi cheerfully greeted PA! and Belle (the dog).  And when both the boys stepped into the house, I was relieved to see both boys run into Nan's arms with the biggest grins on their faces.  Oh! It warmed my heart, and I silently thanked God for the gift of Leigh's family to us.  We are so blessed to have them in our every day lives, and thrilled to see the kids loving them as much as we do!

  

You been truckin' long?