What's the Big Idea!?!

Amanda has a new love of Donald Duck. She likes to walk around and just say, "Donald says, 'What's the big idea?!'" As you know from the last post, she is also now in a big girl bed. She is able to get out of bed when she is finished with her nap... when she actually remembers that she can.

The other day, we heard her through the monitor. She first began to cry, but then it got quiet again. I could hear her rustling through the bed, trying to get off. Then we hear crying again. And it is getting louder. Mark walks in to find her standing in the trash can, completely blocked in my 2 doll strollers and 2 small chairs. Abi had set something up before nap time and it was still set up. Amanda had climbed over the end of the bed instead of the side where she normally goes. I think she wasn't quite awake.

So mark pulls her out of the trash can. Amanda looks around, looks at Mark and says, "Hey! What's the big idea!!?!" Mark laughed, came out and told me, I laughed and then Amanda kept saying it over and over while smiling and laughing herself. SO funny!!!

Big Girl Bed

Today is a HUGE milestone for Amanda. I have been trying to talk her into a big girl bed for what seems like forever. We moved Abi to a big girl bed when she was just about a year old and she was so excited, transferred with absolutely no problem. Amanda has not wanted to part with the pack 'n play. We have been talking about it more these past few weeks, but she has not been interested. Actually, her answer is consistently, "No, I don't think so." I was beginning to think it would never happen.

Today at nap time, she said, "No mommy. I want to sleep over there." I jumped at the chance to actually get her to get in the big girl bed! She put her head on the pillow, nestled in, asked for help getting the covers up and then sat up and asked for her animals. I put the couple of animals she has in her bed in the big bed. She snuggled back in, sat up and looked around. I asked her if she wanted her pillows and she said yes. So I got those, put them the way she likes them and stayed with her for a bit. I finally had to leave because she kept sitting up and talking to me. She cried for a while, but then all of a sudden it was quiet. I walked in and this is what I saw:

Ahhhhh.... She sleeps....

Sweet girl. She slept less than an hour and woke up absolutely crying and upset, but she slept. Daddy came home and was excited about the big girl bed too. When the girls were playing and distracted, he went in and took the pack 'n play down! I was thinking maybe we would give it a couple of days, but I guess Daddy was ready for the bed to go buy buy. I have to admit, I was not sad at all to see it go.... out the door. They have so much more space in there now!!!

Then came bedtime. At first, everything seemed to be going just fine. Abi had already gotten all of her questions out of the way and Amanda didn't seem to notice. Until it came time to actually get in bed. "Where's my bed?" she asks. "Right there" I answered as I pointed to the big bed. "No, I don't want to sleep there" was Amanda's response. I told her I would lay with her for a little bit and she wasn't thrilled, but okay with it. Until she realized that she really was going to have to stay there.

When I finally went out, there were some tears. I knew there would be, so I waited a little bit. Then Mark went in to talk to her and try to calm her to. She didn't like that either. He came out and we let her cry a little more. Then I heard a crash. I went running!! She is in the bed, was reaching for a lamp and knocked it onto the tile floor. YUP! I picked it up and something came pouring out of the lamp. I called for Mark to help - it was dark and I couldn't see what it was. I set the lamp up, ran over to turn the light on and the lamp was fine. She had also knocked over a little "prayer pot" that had Easter grass in it. That is what I felt falling from the lamp. PHEW! Mark unplugs the lamp so we can take it out of the room, I look over at Abi to see how she is doing and she is passed out! Totally sleeping through all of my yelling to the other room for help, flipping all the lights on, Amanda screaming because the lamp scared her and she also knows she was doing something she shouldn't..... Abi never even flinches. I even said out loud (and fairly loud), "Abi's sleeping!" I am thankful she still didn't flinch or wake up. Everything happened so fast my head was spinning.

I finally get Amanda back down, but she doesn't want me to leave. I stayed with her for quite a while. Every time I would get up to go, she would say, "No mommy! Don't go!" I finally picked her up, here face full of tears, and showed her around the room. I pointed out that everything she new, the music, the closet, the door, the desk, Abi, etc., were all still in the same place, she would just see them from "there" - the big bed. She said, "Oh. OK." Then I showed her a couple of other things in the room, explained again that she would just see them from "there" and she giggled and said, "Oooooohhh. Ok mommy." She leaned over for the bed and said, "Sanks, mommy." I laid her down, covered her up and told her I would check on her after I finished the dishes. She added, "..and the laundry." I laughed and agreed. When I went to check on her, she was as peaceful as could be..... asleep on her big girl bed.

What a difference perspective makes on a situation. Sometimes we get so used to seeing things a certain way we can't get settled or rest well when we have to look at the same thing from a different view point. Sometimes it is the same thing, just a different angle.

God's Voice, Oh So Sweet

Last evening I was driving to Target to get shampoo for the girls. It was early evening, so plenty of light for humans and ducks alike. As I was driving, I saw a couple of ducks by the side of the road. I slowed down a bit not knowing where they were headed. The female duck flew up and over the street. The male was still walking. As I got closer I knew it was safe to pass by, so I kept driving. Just as I was about to pass, I saw the duck out of the corner of my eye begin to take air. PROBLEM! He flew right into the side of my truck! Took out my side mirror.

I was totally shocked!! The sound was so loud you would have thought another car had hit me. I looked over and my mirror was gone. The base there, but the glass completely gone. In shock, I called Mark immediately. He told me to turn around so we could see if there was anything we needed to pick up. When I came back around, there was nothing. No duck either. I am hopeful the duck was just stunned and able to fly away. The motor still works though! Just no mirror.

Today as I was driving, I kept trying to look in the mirror to see what was behind me. Nothing there to see. Nothing but brokenness. Emptiness. Cannot look back. This came to mind: " ¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" Genesis 19:16-17.

Don't look back. Don't look back. As this phrase ran over and over in my head, I looked forward. What did I see? I saw clearly what was ahead. Obstacles to carefully maneuver, people to watch out for, but a clear path to my destination. I felt God speak to me. "Do not look back. Remember what has brought you to this point, but don't look back and don't stop along the way. Keep your eyes looking forward. I have great things ahead, so just look ahead. Keep moving forward." And remembering what happened to Sarah, Lot's wife, when she looked back (she turned into a pillar of salt - vs. 26), I think I am excited to just keep looking forward. "Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain!" vs. 17. WOW! Don't even stop along the way. Just keep moving forward. Keep moving forward. Keep looking ahead.

I am thankful for these moments. Moments when God speaks so clearly to me. Moments when He uses something like this to speak to me. There is nothing sweeter than the soft voice of God when He speaks directly to you. Encourages you. Speaks truth and love over you. Showers words of wisdom over you. I pray you encounter at least one of these moments toady. Every day. He speaks to us all the time. Are we quiet enough and ready to listen?

Fantastic Weekend!

What a great weekend we had. Thursday afternoon we drove to Stuart and spent the weekend. Mark took Friday off and we went to see the space shuttle launch. We weren't on site, but we had the best seat you could have being off site. Mark got this picture from his iPhone!

Saturday we made a quick trip to the produce stand and then spent the morning at the beach.

The girls are ready!

And yes, Amanda has her hat on backwards. That's how she wears all of her hats!

Amanda was all business for most of it. Building sand castles, digging in sand... it is all serious business!!

Abi, on the other hand, was all about the fun and laughter... in the water. What a change from 6 months ago. She was hilarious! And thought it was funny when the waves came up over her head. And when the waves would totally spin her around.

On Sunday Amanda had fun running in and out of the waves along with Abi. And they made some new friends in the pool. It was such a great get-away!

Hot Dogs..... Or Not

My girls are pretty good eaters. And by that, I mean pretty healthy. They love their fruits and veggies and eat pretty much whatever meat I give them (chicken, beef, turkey, pork, fish...). They love ALL kinds of fruit and most veggies. Sounds like a dream!! But they do have their fall backs and it can be hard to get them out of the rut. Like this weekend. All they think they want to eat are hotdogs. So I give in and give them a hotdog, but with fruits and or veggies. They don't complain about my extras and they do eat it all, but I would much rather they eat something other than a hotdog. Even if they are all-natural and nitrate/nitrite free!!

We are out of town this weekend and I asked them what they wanted for dinner. They of course said, "hotdog". But they also wanted oranges. We went to the produce stand earlier and oranges were a GREAT price. It is a treat for them because, even though we live in Florida, oranges have been expensive! Haven't had them in forever. So, as I was fixing their plates (without hotdogs), I asked them, "do you want hotdogs or would you rather have chicken?" Their answer was still hotdog. I didn't say anything more, just fixed their plates. And here is what they sat down to at the table:

Grilled chicken, grape tomatoes (which they picked out at the market), carrots, cucumbers and oranges

They never asked about the hotdog, they scarfed it down and asked for more! Small portions in fun designs more often then not lead to more consumption - they ask for more! Sometimes it is all about the presentation. :-)

Calm After the Storm

Today was truly the calm after the storm. The girls were in rare form yesterday and challenged every last nerve, bit of patience and indoor voice I had in me. By about 10 am, Amanda had already had 5 time outs. Abi 3 and no one was in a good mood anymore. Everyone was grumpy, especially mommy, all patience was gone and the girls could not be in the same room without fighting about something. This made grocery shopping oh so much fun! Yes, we had 4 errands to run and I did them anyway.

First stop, the bank. Fortunately it was just to the ATM, so that was fairly simple. Then off to BJ's. This did not go so well. Amanda was challenging every direction I gave her. Then she started talking back, something I have zero tolerance for. I warned her that if she kept talking back and was not respectful and obedient, I would sit her down in the middle of the store for a time out. I could see she was about to say something she shouldn't, so I kneeled down to talk to her. Not only did she shout, "NO!", but she HIT me! What?!?! I sat her down in the middle of the isle (which happened to be the main isle in the store) and told her she was in time out for hitting and yelling at mommy. She looked around, started screaming and I took the time to calmly review my shopping list and map out my path to make this the fastest trip to BJ's in history with 2 small children. As I was looking at my list, Abi shyly looked around and asked, "Mommy, what are we doing?" I calmly said, "We are in time out for 2 minutes. Amanda was disrespectful and now we wait." Her answer was a shy, "Oh. Ok." When the 2 minutes were up, I bent down, talked to Amanda about her time out, she apologized and we were on our way.

Okay. out of BJ's and off to pick up daddy's shoes and the shoe repair shop. Abi at this point understands that I mean business and she is all about being respectful. Amanda on the other hand... OY! While we were in the shop, everyone was fine. Then we started out of the shop. I asked the girls to hold my hands while we crossed the parking lot. A simple and safe request. Amanda shouted, "NO!" and hit me again. SERIOUSLY?!? I picked her up, held Abi's hand across the street and sat Amanda down on the ground by the car. She was in a totally safe place, so don't worry. She was totally and completely protected. I put Abi in the car and bent down to talk to Amanda about her time out. She apologized, eyes swollen red from screaming, and I loaded her up too.

Breathe. Okay. I can do this. One. More. Stop. Costco. I know, I am a gluten for punishment. But I had to get these things done! My life does not stop for a disrespectful, moody 2 year old. We did not even get out of the car at Costco before Amanda started in. THIS was going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!! I had a map in my head already of the fastest path to get all the things on the list. Abi is still pretty good while we were out. Grumpy, but quiet. I don't mind grumpy, just don't be disrespectful. We are all entitled to be grumpy once-in-a-while. We managed to get in and out of Costco without any major drama. Thank you, LORD!

Back too the car and off to home! We got home, got everything unloaded and put away, fighting resumed, lunch happened and naps came quickly after. Abi doesn't always take a nap, but I forced one on her yesterday when she was smug and sassy, making fun of Amanda and mocking the things I was saying to Amanda. She quickly learned that is also not acceptable. Both began screaming, I said, "good night," and shut the door. I didn't hear from anyone for over 2 hours!!! What a blessing to have that retreat in the middle of the day and spend some much needed time with the Lord.

Today I had 2 different children. I mean they were sweet as puddin' pie!! VERY respectful, fairly obedient and they actually played together nicely for hours today! We ran a couple of errands and they could not have been more well behaved. Such a treat for all of us today. And they slept untl almost 7 am this morning! That NEVER happens! AND they both took naps. Another 2 hours to myself in the middle of the day. More time with the Lord. I am so thankful for the calm after the storm.

So, no idea what tomorrow holds, but I DO know that our days are like the weather. Ya just never know what your gonna get :-)

Love These Girls

Our girls crack us up! They are so very funny. And so sweet. And I am shocked sometimes about what they remember..... or say. :-)

Abi is a very thoughtful child. When we talk about people who need prayer, see cars off the road or see fire trucks go by, she is the first to talk about praying for them, always wanting to know how they are and continuing to pray for them for a very long time. Last night Abi asked about "the people in the water." She was referring to the flooding in Nashville last week. We talked about it quite a bit when it happened and she was concerned about so many people who had lost everything (no house, no furniture, no toys, no clothes....) and last night she wanted an update and to pray for them. So very sweet.

Abi is also a child of "literal translation" sometimes. Here is a funny-ism that surfaced this weekend. On Saturday, Mark took the girls to Miami. He said, "We're going to Miami!" They had a blast! They found a really fun play area on the beach, played in the sand and then had some ice cream on the way home. When I got home from my outing (yes, my wonderful husband let me go out alone! ALL DAY!) the girls could not stop talking about all they had done. Abi told me they went to "daddy's-ami" and then proceeded to talk about the beach, play area, ice cream, medical team rushing in to help someone in need...... but it was daddy's-ami. Today Abi asked, "Mommy, can you take us to your-ami one day? So FUNNY! She considers the city to be "Ami" I guess!

And then there is Amanda. She is a pistol! But boy is she funny. And I found out yesterday she can carry a tune! We were driving to church and one of the worship songs from a CD they have was playing. I heard a melody coming from the back seat and found out that Amanda was singing the whole chorus in tune, complete with great diction. I was shocked! She is not always spot-on, she is only 2. But yesterday she was singing in perfect tune and you could totally understand everything she was saying. AMAZING!

Mother's Day was such a wonderful reminder of how blessed we are. What a joy to be their mom! What an honor. We are blessed.

Heavy Heart

Wow. I just finished my daily study for the Believing God study and I am both excited and energized and heavy hearted. I just want everyone I know to participate in this study! It is so relevant for everyone today, so encouraging and with so much going on in the world today (floods in Nashville, health issues with family and friends, relationship challenges, etc.) it is just a great way to refocus and hone in on who God is, what he says he can do and learning to believe that he will follow through on those promises for those who have faith and truly believe!!!! You will be seeing more posts about this topic and study. I am just so moved already and I have already started!

Something that has been burning in the back of my head for the past 2 years is this: Carrie, where are your priorities. Do you remember the totem pole of priority? God FIRST, family second, work third. I have spent the past 2 years hearing this thought, looking at my life and wondering where in the world I would fit in time in the Word. Time with God. A study of his promises. Well, I am off the bench. God has been screaming this truth to me for 2 years!!!! Oh how thankful I am that he is so patient with me. In just this first week of making time for God by studying his Word and praying over what he is speaking to me in this study, I have found I have more patience with my girls, I am more at peace and I am laughing at obstacles that keep popping up in our lives! I mean literally laughing!!! Out loud! And that is a whole other blog post when the time is right. The obstacles we are going through while starting a company. It is truly a vision from God and we are feeling the pressure of the enemy. But guess what! This has already been won and I believe God is who he says he is and can do what he says he can do! This will all roll out soon and I can't WAIT to tell you all about the ride and how God has shown himself through this entire process. His hand is upon us and there is no greater comfort.

So my take away for today - don't keep putting off God. Listen to his still soft whispers...... or complete hits over the head with bricks. Spend time with him. Get to know him. Learn what he has promised and believe he can do and will do what he says he will do! Make this a new day. And if you are interested in doing this study, please let me know! It is all online and can be accessed anywhere.

Prayers

Abi has really started to pray some very sweet prayers and understand that she can talk to God whenever she wants to and ask Him for help. She is having a VERY hard time obeying right now - just testing all kinds of boundaries mixed with being independent. We have been talking a lot about prayer. We have also been talking about how it is not just mommy that says she needs to obey. God tells us in the Bible that we need to obey our parents (Ephesians 6:1). This morning she did something I specifically asked her not to do. I immediately sent her to her room for a time out. When the timer went off I went in to talk to her. Here is how the conversation went:

Mommy: "Abi, why are you in time out?"

Abi: "Well, because I did not listen to mommy."

Mommy: "Yes. You turned and took Amanda's ice right after I asked you not to. If you want your own, you can ask me for some."

Abi: "Okay mommy. I'm sorry."

Mommy: "Do you know that it makes God sad when you do disobey mommy?"

Abi: "Mommy, I want to say something to God."

Mommy: "Okay. go ahead."

Abi: She folds her hands, closes her eyes and says, "God, I am sorry that I did not obey mommy. I didn't mean to make you sad. I will try harder. And when I go to California, I am going to see if you are there too."

So sweet, but I did try not to giggle about the part about California. Her grandparents are visiting California right now and we have been talking about California a lot. She obviously wants to visit!

New Day

I have been completely glued to Facebook, internet and the news the past few days due to the flooding in the Nashville area. For those who don't know me, this is "home" to me. My stomach has been sick, my mind running a mile a minute and my prayers unending. I just cannot believe the devastation that has hit the area. And I have so many friends who have been affected by the floods, some losing just about everything. And no flood insurance. For about a week (before the floods) I have had a song stuck in my head.... "it's a new day, it's a new day, it's a new day......" This really is a "new day".

After the flood waters went down (in some areas) my friends went into their homes to assess the damage and then immediately started ripping out floors, drywall, pulling out trash, sifting through belongings to see what could be salvaged and what was now gone..... starting over. Taking only a moment to remember what was, and now ripping out the damage and moving forward. Making it a new day. New beginnings. Ripping out old memories and preparing the way for new ones. I can't help but to sit and think about the emotional disasters we go through in life and how hard it is to just rip up the damage foundations, throw them out and start new. Sounds so simple, but is so very hard. The physical act of cleaning out and fixing up a home seems so much easier sometimes. Although still filled with emotions that are so hard to move past. If only we could reach inside ourselves, rip out the damaged foundations, throw them out and begin to rebuild. It could truly be a new day everyday!

Isaiah 43:2-3 says "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Verse 5 continues with, "Fear not, I am with you." How fitting these promises are right now... today.

If you are interested and able to help, you can visit Hands On Nashville and sign up to volunteer and help. If I hear more specifics of what people need, I will post those here too. I know that many are in need of housing as an immediate need, so if you have any leads feel free to post here and I will pass on the information. Or let someone know at Hands On Nashville.

We have been watching a duck's nest across the street. This nest has 20-22 eggs in it! We have been reading about how eggs hatch and how long that process is.

Well this morning I looked out the window and saw little baby ducks running around! They must have just hatched early this morning. I walked the girls over to say "hello" and "welcome" to the babies. Some bright yellow, some a light grey, all little fluff balls full of energy. Today is a new day for these ducks and the mother. Today is a new day for those having to rebuild their homes and lives. Today is a NEW DAY! It's spring. Take some time to spring clean your internal house. Dust off the foundations, clean them up and even rip them out and start over if that's what you need to do. Make this a new day.... a new season.... a new start ..... and create some new beginnings.