Rough Patches with Joyful Moments

This last week has had its share of rough patches.  A lot of the rough patches involve a lack of sleep. Last Saturday we had already hit the level of sleep deprivation that makes understanding English very challenging. Yet our nights just kept getting worse.  When Andrew and I rolled out of bed Wednesday morning he gave me a big high-5 and said, “We made it!” after getting up 8 or 9 times during the night.  On Thursday morning we rolled out of bed after only sleeping three or four hours total.  The fight to be nice and pleasant has been real this week – but I’m happy to say that we’ve done pretty well (thanks to my mom who has received an earful of exhausted thoughts). I’m learning! I’m determined to have good, joyful days and LIVE instead of just waiting until I can sleep again.

We had a friend join us at church last week. She is a visiting professor from China in one of Andrew’s classes. We enjoyed getting to know her better. Nathan, Emily, and I have figured out how to get to church on time with Andrew gone at meetings in the morning and each Sunday that feels like a small triumph.

Nathan is growing and changing so much right now. Yesterday after we walked 2.5 miles home from campus just the two of us, I put him on the floor and sat down next to him.  I usually don’t spend a ton of time on the floor with him – Emily takes that role and they have a marvelous time.  But yesterday I was tired enough that nothing else would do, and I’m so so so grateful because I discovered that Nathan thinks it is hilarious to watch my hand jump around on the carpet.  He was belly laughing big time.  JOY!

He has discovered his feet and played with them while Emily and I folded and put away laundry this week.  This was the first week in a while where we successfully washed, dried, folded and put away our clothes in one day instead of two.

We walked to Goodwill on Tuesday morning and found a red table cloth to line the Christmas stockings I’m making, knit fabric for a sewing project (trying to decide exactly which one to use it for), and Rummikub! The grand total for all three: $5.  I have been looking for Rummikub at every goodwill and thrift store I go to since 2009 and on Tuesday it was there.  I bet you can guess what we will do for date night this week. Emily and her friend got out of the strollers to look at this little car. They took turns riding in it and it ended with Emily pushing Arthur at break neck speed up and down the aisles, both laughing hysterically.  The kind of spontaneous, innocent laughter that makes everyone that passes smile too.

I was making dinner and heard lot of laughter from Emily and silence from Nathan which usually is a cause for concern.  When I walked in I found the two of the both smiling big and playing.

My two new favorite pictures of these two:

Emily wanted to help hold Nathan up for picture taking.

He can sit up for unpredictable periods of time all by himself.

Emily chipped her front tooth on Wednesday morning which took us to the dentist on Thursday morning. Actually she requested, as the only option, for Andrew to take her since he took her to the dentist the first time last December.  She was a trooper through the entire event and was super excited about this pink hellium balloon that she got at the end. Nathan and I went to a research study that he is participating in at the same time so I was really grateful that Andrew happened to have a few extra hours to spare to help us out.  Emily, Nathan, and I also made a quick trip to the police station to get my fingerprinting done before the dentist appointment so I can renew my teaching license and they were so happy and cooperative.

Andrew prayed that we would all take naps yesterday and lo and behold, everyone actually slept.  Emily who takes maybe one or two twenty to forty minute naps a week slept for THREE HOURS. Andrew was teaching last night so after dinner we went outside to draw with chalk for a bit. Emily asked me to draw Emily and she drew lots of balloons in different colors up at the top.

A friend recommended looking up Janet Lansbury who teaches about Respectful Parenting. I’ve been listening to her podcasts the last couple of weeks and have really been grateful for the small course corrections in my parenting. It’s making a big difference for how I think about situations and how I spend my time.  I love this podcast that has suggestions of when to be very present and in tune with our children.