Brilliant Ideas In the Middle of the Night

I keep coming up with these amazing ideas for blog posts during midnight nursing sessions and forgetting about them by the morning. I'd write them down, but there's a fear that maybe they only seem brilliant because I'm half asleep and if they saw the light of day, their brilliance would be gone.

Each and every day I'm reminding myself how fleeting these moments are. There will always be time to write another blog post, speak at another event, come up with another book idea. But Cohen and Claire will only be little once. I don't want to miss out on soft, squishy skin, elbow dimples, tiny butt cheeks, sweet sing-songy voices or goofy grins. 

 There's a time and season for everything. This season is full of life and lessons, challenges and beauty. This season is precious. The beauty of it weighs on me like a branch heavy with fresh blossoms in full bloom. The fragrance of these days is potent (and not always in a good way), and I know that just as a tree flowers momentarily, these moments are here now and gone tomorrow. So I'm breathing it all in just as deeply as I can. 

  (Claire in the dress my Grandma bought for me when I was a baby - her first grand daughter)

My Winnipeg

source

This past weekend my parents moved out of the house I spent the first 24 years of my life in. On the corner lot in a quiet neighbourhood in the suburbs of Winnipeg, I spent my days building snow forts in the front yard and running through the sprinkler in the back.

On the weekends we'd go downtown to shop at The Bay, taking the skywalk across to Portage Place mall, or wander through The Forks Marketplace listening to buskers and eating mini donuts.


Now, only a mile away from that home, I'm raising my family in a quiet neighbourhood by the river, filled with tall trees,shady parks and familiar faces.


But for me, Winnipeg isn't about the memories. It isn't about the cool coffee shops we (finally) have, or the great arts and music scene, or the historic buildings. And it's definitely not about the weather.

For me, Winnipeg is about the people.

My parents, brother and sister-in-law, nephews, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins-ascloseas- siblings, and dear friends - Winnipeg is home because of these dear ones.

I always said growing up that I wouldn't stay in this Canadian prairie city called Winnipeg. Not because I don't like it, or have somewhere else in mind, but because of a love for adventure, travel, change. And though it's home now, and always will be in a way, I still tell God quite regularly that I'd be willing to move. I don't want to move for the sake of moving, but if there was a reason, a call somewhere else (preferably somewhere near the ocean and mountains!), I'd go.

But in the meantime, we're happy here. Even my Alberta-born husband has a soft spot in his heart for this land-locked city. And it certainly helps that we get to play at the family cabin all summer long!

Linking up with the Influence Network Linkup.

Life Lately

 My parents got Cohen a sandbox for his first second birthday, which is only two weeks away! Lately I'm taken with (and in denial about) how my baby boy is becoming a big boy. It brings me so much joy and a bit of pain too. His baby soft skin is covered with toddler scrapes and bruises. His wobbly steps have turned into running feet and instead of depending on mommy and daddy for everything, he's becoming so independent. Raising this little boy is such a privilege.

Lately I haven't had enough time with my handsome hubby, but I've been admiring him a lot. His hardworking, non-complaining, passion-filled way of going after his dreams is an inspiration. I feel so blessed to be married to him, and to raise our sweet babies with him. And I can't wait for our date night this week cuz I just really like the guy a whole lot.

Watching some of my favorite people, loving on my children has been blessing my socks of lately.  Cohen and Claire are so blessed to have amazing grandparents AND great grandparents who adore them, pray for them and would do anything for them. I'm so grateful to share this journey of parenthood with these incredible people.

 Lately I've been taking a little time on my own as well.  An evening walk with my camera, or an hour sweating it out at boot camp - this time alone really does fuel the rest of my week. Taking time to reflect on life, pour my heart out to God, or simply sit in silence has been keeping this busy momma somewhat sane.

And last but not least, lately I've been treasuring spring turning to summer. Green covered trees and blossoms bursting to life are my daily snapshots. Planting tomatoes, cucumbers and basil, mowing the lawn, allowing the sun to warm me through - I love everything about this season and my soul is soaking it all in, finding life in it. Finding breath in it. Finding God in it.

 Linking up with Blair at Wild and Precious

Sometimes I forget

Sometimes I forget to go outside for a walk after the babies have gone to bed instead of watching t.v. and eating chocolate. But last night I went for a walk to the river at the end of our street. Had I not gone I would have missed all of this:

It's so easy to get stuck in our routines that we forget to take those few extra steps and be amazed at what we'll see. To chase our kids around the backyard instead of sitting back and watching them play. To stare into the eyes of our baby and communicate with them on a heart and soul level, instead of hold them while surfing the web on our phones. 

To take a different path. 

To say yes when we normally would say no. 

Two Months

Claire has officially been rocking our world for 2 months now and what a blessing she is. Cohen was a pretty easy baby, and Claire is perhaps even easier. She has been sleeping for 5 and 6 hour stretches at night and continues to eat like a boss during the day (every 2 hours). It makes for a busy day, but hey, if it means she sleeps longer at night I'm all for it.

This little one is a smiler! Oh man, all you have to do is get in front of her and smile and she gives it right back, dimples and all. She's also started to make some serious conversation with her mama, daddy, and her grandparents. Claire sure does have a lot to say.

And guess what?!? Little miss rolled over for the first time at 5 WEEKS!  Can you believe that?  So advanced for her age. ;) And then again at 6 weeks (both ways) and every week since. In the last few days she's be putting weight on her legs while I hold her too. She is seriously so strong, especially compared to Cohen at that age.  I don't think I ever really realized how much Cohen's torticollis was affecting his strength until I see how strong Claire is, especially during tummy time (which Cohen hated).

I finally feel like life with two is doable. It took a good six weeks before I started to feel this way and there are still many moments where I wonder. But now that its actually warm enough for Cohen to play outside and run around, he's been SO much happier. It makes a world of difference if he gets exercise and fresh air in the morning and he's been getting a lot of it.

Birth Height: 21 inches
Current Height: 25 inches

Birth Weight: 7lbs 14oz

Current Weight: 12lbs 5oz

See Claire's One Month update here.

Linking up with Blair for Life Lately Linkup

Chipping Away

Motherhood is chipping away at my rough spots - and there are no shortage of those. If marriage holds up a mirror, reflecting back how selfish I can be, motherhood is one of those magnified mirrors, the ones that show ever pore and fine line.

But what better place to be refined than in the safety of marriage and motherhood? 

Yesterday I was praying, asking God to help me be a better wife to Alex. It truly is my hope that I can become more patient, more forgiving, more encouraging to my husband. But when he came home and conflict arose, as it always does in this crazy life of parenting little ones, I snapped. And instead of choosing to be patient, forgiving, encouraging, I lost my cool. There were tears and doors slamming and I may have even dropped the f-bomb under my breath. Real mature, I know.

And reflecting back on those moments it's clear God was answering the prayer I prayed earlier that day, asking him to change me. But when I prayed it, what my heart really wanted was for my husband to change, my circumstances to change and for me to be able to stay the same.  Being the all-knowing and all-loving God that He is, He gave me an opportunity to respond to conflict differently, a chance for me to be that better wife I want to be.

This time I got it wrong.  But hopefully next time I won't.

And the beauty of being refined through family is that there is a next time. 

There is a second chance. There is grace.

My husband won't walk out on me because I responded childishly. Thank goodness.  

My children won't stop loving me because I was impatient. 

In the safety of these relationships God does a work in us, molding us, shaping us, and ultimately making us more like Christ. How gracious of Him to allow us to learn these hard lessons in a safe place - a place of love.

Cabin Time

We spent the weekend at my favorite place on earth - the cabin. It was just the five of us, and Claire's first trip there. It's amazing to me that she will grow up going to the same place both my mom and I spent our childhood summers.  What a blessing.

ps. Claire was with us, I promise! But every time she was awake I had my hands too full to be snapping photos.