Enjoy

To Enjoy: To experience with joy; take pleasure in. (dictionary.com)

On one of my recent trips to Target I came across this particular decor item that I have been wanting to be able to find! I was pumped and quickly snatched it up. This word continues to mean so much to Dan and I in our daily lives. And now as an even greater reminder it is sitting in our living room.

Not only do I simply want to experience my days with joy, but with joy that comes from God. A joy that isn't dependent on circumstances, how I feel, or lately....how cold it is. But a deep joy that comes from knowing God. Knowing that HE is all-powerful, all-knowing, full of love and SO much more.

This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Aiden + bad naps = stressful days

For some reason that I cannot figure out Aiden has a hard time with naps. He hasn't always and just when I thought I got him figured out we went away for one night and since then he's been all messed up.

BUT- the next week and a half I am devoting my days to getting him back to taking good naps. His sleep pattern is that he makes his transition at about 30 minutes, and too often he just wakes up fully then and doesn't go back to sleep. I know it will be tough and he will most likely spend a lot of time in his crib, probably crying. I have tried many things to help him, like putting him to bed earlier, later, letting him cry it out, trying to rock him...etc. Nothing seems to "do it".

Your prayers would be appreciated and I am praying for grace not to be frustrated and wisdom for how to best help him.

Laughing Aiden

Last night probably was one of the most fun times I have had with Aiden. All I had to do was look at Aiden and he would laugh and laugh and laugh! I don't know if it was because he felt relieved to be finally home after a crazy weekend or what, but I see it has a gift from God. A special time for sure, filling my heart with so much joy! After so much laughter I decided to get out my camera and see what I could capture.

Monster Cookies

Even though my chocolate chip cookies never turn out and my sugar cookies have turned out once, there is one cookie that I LOVE and turns out mostly every time, and that is.......

THE MONSTER COOKIE!

This cookie is filled with all sorts of goodness: peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips and M&M's. Plus I get excited about the little things like spring colored M&M's. :)

These are for youth group tonight! yay!

Eating one of these with a glass of milk is pure yummyness!

What is your favorite cookie to make?

"There aren't enough hours in the day..."

How many times have I heard people say that?...countless. And recently, for the first time, I said it. lol. This is something I have been thinking about for a while. There are so many things I want to do, but literally don't have the time. How do I balance the things like housework and cooking with the things I want to enrich my life like relationships and hobbies and of course giving my one child (and hopefully more in the future) the best life I can give them. PLUS, putting the time I want to in my walk with God to have an awesome relationship with Him, which is the most important thing in this life. And not be stressed throughout the day. These are the thoughts roaming around my head and so far this is what I have come up with...

1. I must have my priorities in line . God first, husband second, children/family third.
These are my big callings in this life.
2. It is my responsibility to keep the house clean and make food and create the right kind of atmosphere. But, I don't think I have to be OBSESSED with the house being perfect :)
3. It is a joy and a worthy calling to be able to minister in the lives of people at church and the teens.
4. I need to take time for doing the things I love and resting. Otherwise I will become what I don't want to be- a wreck and probably bitter.
5. Somehow I can combine these things together and make it work, not sure how yet though.

So, I don't have a huge answer, just thoughts that hopefully will transform into something tangible. I know that I don't want to go to bed every night being stressed because I didn't get everything done. I want to do my best and walk in the Spirit and then be at peace in my heart, with God and with people at the end of everyday.

Photography Help

We recently bought a new camera! YAAAYY!! Thank you hubby. :) This is a huge dream of mine come true because I am obsessed (I do not use this word lightly) with pictures! I want to be able to take awesome pictures of course and I am already completely overwhelmed at the possibilities and the options on this camera. But, I gotta start somewhere and I am expecting it to be this way until I get the hang of it.

What I want to be really good at taking pictures of is PEOPLE! haha. Especially children. Hm- I wonder why- oh yea, I am crazy about my son!

As I am learning I would like to look at other people's work to get ideas and inspiration.

What I am asking of YOU is.....
do you know of any photographer's websites or blogs that could help me?!

A Day in the Life of Us.

No real reason, but I thought it wold be fun to write out

what a typical day in the White house looks like:

7am - Dan's alarm goes off. :) Aiden has also been recently waking up at this time. But he stays in his bed until 8 if he doesn't go back to sleep.
After feeding time it's playtime with mommy and some solo play.
9:30 is NAP time! I like Aiden to sleep either till 11:30 or for 2 hours (whichever is longer).
What does mommy do? I usually get ready (I mostly never take a shower before 9:30 these days) and try to get something productive accomplished.
11-11:30 is feeding time again,
After eating, this is the time of day when if we are going to go somewhere, this is when we go. Which usually includes shopping (groceries and fun). If not, it's more play time.
Around 1:00 it's nap time again and this is where it gets a little sticky, we are currently in the phase of moving to a 3-4 hour schedule and I would like Aiden to take 2 long naps and 1 short one, but he doesn't always do it. SO, I am going with the flow.
What does Mommy do? This is the nap where I try to spend time
with God and relax, either nap, read or do something that is enjoyable to me.

2:30 is eating time again, followed by some baby food/cereal. This is a new part of the schedule, I had been feeding Aiden cereal every evening, but now with starting baby food and I will be regularly introducing new foods, I'm changing it. Then more play as we wait for daddy to come home. He spends time in his play center, sitting up with toys, tummy time, reading books and me doing all sorts of ridiculous things to make him laugh. It's worth it!

4:-4:30- another nap! And I prepare dinner.
Then who knows when he'll wake up, it's always different. The longer he sleeps the better, otherwise keeping up till bedtime can be a little difficult.
5:30-6- more eating. Then either we are going somewhere for the evening or it's PLAY TIME WITH DADDY! At this point of the day I feel out of ideas of what to play with Aiden. So, when Dan has a meeting in the evening I am reminded of how thankful I am for him in this specific way! It would be so hard to be a single parent. I love all three of us being together and funny things happening and just enjoying who we are!

Every other night there's bath time!

8:30 is feeding and our precious Aiden & Mommy snuggle time before bed. And every night I am in awe of God and how He has blessed us in giving us Aiden.

Funny to realize that my mind now works on these time frames, it's programmed into how I do everything.

After Aiden goes down, depending on the day I either still have a good amount of energy to keep going or I crash. :) But mostly Dan and I spend time together.

Also intermittent throughout the entire day are the things that I need to get done.
Like laundry, cleaning, baking, cooking. And other things that I don't have to do, but love to like youth group prep, photo books, blogging, talking to friends, hanging out with friends, reading and of course watching movies. :)

There you have it, a little look into my "normal" everyday life. But who really has normal days? Maybe two times a week! haha. Feel free to interrupt my day at any time by giving me a call or hanging out!