5 Minute Friday- REST

Once again I join in with a large community over at Lisa-Jo's blog for a Five Minute Friday!  I encourage you to check it out. It's not just for moms, there's encouraging words for everyone. Let's face it, who doesn't need a little encouragement now and then?

REST

It's something I can't seem to do but it's always on my list. Right after that load of laundry, that meal for the kids, that last bit of cleaning that I've put off all day. On the off chance my "check things off the list" personality just gives in to moments of calm and peace, I'm better for it.  It's a reminder that I need it. That I thrive in it. It makes me a better mother, a better wife and a better person in general.

I often forget that the Lord commands us to go and do and that hand in hand there's plenty of scripture that he commands us to rest.  "Be still and know that I am God."  How can you be still and not find rest? That's just one of many.

We live in such a fast pace world. It's more natural to me to be talking on the phone and making lunch for the kids while checking my email than it is for me to sit down and soak in a moment of doing nothing.  It's uncomfortable. It's sometimes boring.  It's ESSENTIAL.  I'm working on being intentional about still time. Being intentional at picking up that book I've been trying to read for 3 months at night instead of continuing to clean, fold and fix. The world needs me rested and joyful in order to fulfill my purpose. So here goes...

STOP  

Home

There's this thing on this blog I follow called Five Minute Friday.  It's been a fun thing to explore and I'm finally mustering the courage to go there, to write for 5 minutes and to see what comes out of it. If you'd like to check out Lisa Jo's blog, you can here: http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/

Home
"When you return to the familiar, the unchanged, you realize just how much you yourself have grown."

Over the years I have returned to the house I grew up in numerous times. My parents have lived there for almost 30 years. It's the first place I found home. Not because of the walls, the familiar cracks in the sidewalks where we rode bikes each night from the warmth of spring to the chills of fall, or the corner room I spent years in as I learned who I was navigating the teen years, but because of the love and the lives that inhabited that house with me.

Now as I'm learning to fly outside of that comfy place of love, I still find myself recalling those familiar moments in that home. And I remember that a home is so much more than the place. It's not confined to a house. Home is that places in my heart where the memories and the familiar live. It's the places where the love and the living and the everyday and special moments reside. Home is big enough for the past and the present and whatever the future holds. Home isn't a place, it's a part of me that goes wherever I go.

I pray that as I raise these little humans, I can instill that home inside them. That they know they can always find the love, the laughter and the comfort of home wherever they are. And they can come back no matter how they have grown and find just that.  Just like I do.

The Years are Short

I don't recall where I heard it exactly, but it sticks with me and runs through my head at least 22.5 times a day. 

"The days are long but the years area short." 

Oh my, how true this is. It comes to me in the quiet sweet moments and in the screaming, loud, chaotic moments that make up our days. My world was rocked last week as we celebrated with my little E man. He turned 4. FOUR. As in, four whole big years ago we welcomed him into the world on that snowy Sunday morning a week before we thought he would actually arrive. It's been 4 years since Klondike (aka: the white wonder dog) lost his place as our child and became our dog. It's been 4 years since we drove out of the parking garage at Baptist Hospital forever changed and drove down West End with everyone else whose lives were the same.. they were simply taking a lunch break at noon on a Tuesday.  But not us.. not our lives. We were now responsible for a small, helpless human handpicked by God to be raised by us.  To this day it still perplexes me at how the world goes on as usual when miracles like this happen everyday. Amazing. 

When I ask how 4 years have gone by so quickly, my Mr. Literal simply replied, "Well, I had 4 birthdays mama! Now I'm 4!" And oh the excitement in his voice. He's so proud to be growing up. So eager to be big and do things like "go to high school and have my own iPad and be able to watch the Monster Truck movie whenever I want to". (Yep, exact quote from my 4 going on 40 child)  

Gosh I wish I could explain to him that growing big isn't always wonderful. It's not as glamorous as it seems. Somewhere along the way the magic changes into reality and you have to actually be "big".   And the "big" years last longer than the "little" years. You can't go back, no matter how hard you try.

Here's to you my son. Here's to your enthusiasm at little things, your tender heart, your passion for mighty machines and how you can light up a room with your garage door dance. (That's his signature dance move, ask him about it next time you see him!) May you always carry the same if not more joy with you as you grow to be that big boy you long to be.  Hang on though, soon you will see... "The days seem long, but the years are short."   

Life before... them.

So I warned you, I might sit and stay a while on the mommy topic. Who can blame me, it's my life! Day in, day out, most nights- two or three times- and weekends. It never stops.  I heard a celebrity on a talk show today (No, I don't usually watch them but today the boy is at school and the girl is napping for more than 30 minutes, let's call it my "lunch break") an expecting celebrity was asked how she was handling the fact that she was about to become a parent.  Her answer was "I'm sort of dreading it. I like my life, I like the way things are. I don't want everything I know to disappear and become a new life."  My first response was to roll my eyes. Then I stopped and thought a moment.  Other than the "dreading it" part, I think I might have uttered those words in fear a mere 4 years ago.  Among the feelings of excitement over baby blankets and little boy things and the joy of the unknown approaching, I had the fear.  The reality set in. The "what have we done" crept up in my spirit. And then I had him.  That little face down bundle that took me 2 hours of pushing to finally meet changed my world. And I can't remember what in life could have been more profound, more amazing, more miraculous and more wonderful than that change.

And now I live within this new life and embrace it. On the "mama can we cuddle on the couch and read a book" days and the "I don't want dinner, not gonna eat it" nights, I feel the change. I feel the love. I feel the time slipping away from me so quickly that it takes my breath away sometimes. I had the same feeling a year ago before baby girl came into our lives.  But this time, I knew to embrace the newness because once I saw her it didn't matter. It came with it's own set of worries and experiences.  I've learned that after that first big jump, there will be a constant change in the air. And I know now not to be afraid of it because the Lord will take it and make it beautiful. All my fears and all my joys.. right there in His hands.  Will somebody remind me of this every now and then as the years unfold? ;)

And she's back....

There are times in life that we recall something and it seems as though it happened yesterday when, in fact, it's been years. This site is one of those things. I could fill in the blanks of the last 2 years but I fear it would be a mix of boring and busy so I'll refrain. Instead, I'll just pick up here, where I am. I feel a tug in my soul to re-visit the blogging world. Why? I don't know yet. Maybe the Lord has a plan for me that I don't yet see. Not that it would be the first time this has happened. 

The first topic I'll dive into is motherhood. I may just sit on this one for a while so if you're not a mommy, feel free to check out now. If you are a mommy, I imagine you are sitting down right now and breathing. Either it's bedtime or nap time for the little ones, or your husband has the children in his care for you to steal away for a few sacred minutes to just be.  Or if you're lucky, it's those 5 minutes in the day that your children are entertaining themselves. Whatever the case may be, enjoy your moment.  I understand those moments all too well. 

I read two articles recently about mothers. One was "The top things not to say to a working mother" and the other "The top things not to say to a stay home mom". Both of these articles disturbed me. Not because of their content, but because they even had to be written in the first place. As I read each one, I had a sudden urge to grab a megaphone and run outside screaming, "Why can't we just encourage each other?".  At the end of the day, we are all moms and we are all trying to figure out how to best love our children, best support our families, and be the best we can be.  Whether we wear heels or socks all day, we are all connected. We all love our kids. We all make the decisions that are best for our family.  We all wear many hats and beat ourselves up over silly things.  It makes me wonder if every one of those people saying the things in these articles was to walk up to a mother and say "Hang in there, you're doing great", what kind of difference could that make? 

So for all of us who carry daily mommy guilt to the office or to do that next load of laundry, I say this: "Hang in there, you're rocking it!". We're not perfect but we're doing our best. And at the end of the day, that's what matters.  

And He Sings!!

Everett got to spend a day with his Pops a few weeks ago...they sang Old McDonald and now he sings it all the time!

Big Boy

Everett has done some major growing in the last few weeks. It's amazing to watch him transition from a baby to a little boy practically overnight! Here are some of our latest life lessons...

We learned to climb the stairs



We experienced snow for the first time


His First Valentine's Day


First ride in our new car seat!


And, most recently we enjoyed sitting at the table with the big boys and girls when we went for a visit into the toddler classroom. They were having cookies for snack. Everett hasn't really taken to "real" food very well so I said "Sure, give him a cookie. He won't eat it." Two cookies later he had a big smile on his face! He enjoyed his cookies very much and even took bites instead of crumbling them up and throwing them on the floor.




We're two weeks from his first birthday... I cannot believe it!!

Baby + Doggy = Funny

It always helps when Daddy holds down the doggy . . .
They are best friends!

Santa

Santa came to school today and Everett got to meet him. He was relatively unimpressed and only tried to pull his beard (which was very real) twice. He sat with Santa and didn't even cry when mom and dad stepped away to take the picture! I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see if he really likes Santa or not!

Christmas Time is Here!

2009 is quickly coming to a close.. hard to believe! We've had an eventful month in the Thorington house. Everett is now 9 months old and doing all that comes with it! He's got 3 teeth, the third of which just popped in tonight. He's refused to have anything to do with crawling but loves to walk around holding on to anything he can.. He's beginning to try "big people food" gradually and so far is a fan of green beans but hates sweet potatoes.. Every day we look at him and wonder what has happened to our little baby and when did he become a little boy?! Here's the month in pictures...

Everett & Daddy playing with blocks!

Halloween and other Fall Fun

It was a quiet Halloween for us! Everett had both sets of grandparents come to him for trick or treating.. he was the cutest little caterpillar and he LOVED his costume. He is now 8 months old, my how time is flying! He's able to pull up on things and has his first tooth! No crawling yet but we are SO close it's scary! Here's our little man..

After Dinner Conversations and Catching Up

It's been a while since an update so I'll try to get everything in here! Everett will be 6 months old next week... we've hit MANY milestones in the last 2 months!
First, we're eating cereal/baby food now! Here are some pictures of our dinner time fun..



We've also had our first road trip to celebrate our Aunt Kimberly's graduation from Auburn. He did pretty well in the car, only 2 melt downs- both on the way home and both because he was fighting sleep. We are blessed that he loves his car seat and the car!



We also got around to getting him a high chair. He likes it ok most of the time.. he look like such a big boy!



My favorite milestone thus far has been learning to talk... not just baby 'coos' but really trying to say something! Here is a video I took tonight after he finished his squash...



It's amazing how fast the time has gone.. We're more and more blessed by our little boy everyday!

We've Come A Long Way...

Tomorrow, July 9th, is our 4th Anniversary. We don't have any spectacular plans, just a normal day of life as usual but every year we try to spend some time remembering our story. It's been quite a ride through the years of our marriage.. Here are just some of the highlights:

* We've lived in 2 states, Minnesota for 2 years and TN for 2 years. We moved to MN just 2 weeks after our wedding.
* We've vacationed to opposite ends of the US- Key West, FL and Grand Maris, MN (25 miles from the Canadian border).
* We've joined 2 churches as a married couple- one Methodist & one Baptist. Both places have given us friends that we are so blessed to have and the ones we don't get to see we still miss very much!
* We've moved 4 times in 4 years..our first apartment was on the 21st floor of a high rise in downtown Minneapolis- it was 500 square feet and we survived only because we were newlyweds. :)
* We survived Law School- I say "we" because Jacob did the hard studying and I did the working 3 jobs thing so we could eat..
* We lived apart for a month after law school so Jacob could take a course for the bar in TN and I could finish up the school year teaching in MN.
* We've driven a moving truck over 1000 miles cross country- twice.
* We've managed kill & bury at sea 6 beta fish.. Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Leopold, Fiesty, & Henry Fitzgerald.
* We kept one fish alive- Jazmine is still swimming after 2 years..
* We got a dog- Klondike was our trial for kids.. minus being allergic to everything possible we've done ok with him.
* We've experienced having our first child, Everett Thomas. This is by far our most amazing experience yet.

We've had our ups & downs but I can honestly say I married my soulmate, the man chosen by God to accompany me through this life on earth. After 4 years our lives have gotten busier but I look forward to all the busy, crazy, fun and priceless memories left to be made in our lives. Here's to at least 70 more years...

Fun in the Sun

Yesterday we went to Everett's GrandDeb and PapaJim's to swim for the first time. He enjoyed it! He wasn't overly impressed with the water but didn't cry or seem frightened. He floated around (with me or dad holding tightly!) in an inflatable duck for a while and just relaxed... Here are some of his chillin' by the pool pictures..

A week of Milestones

I always heard people say that babies grow right before your eyes but I never though it was literal! Everett is definitely growing and learning daily. This week he moved upstairs to his room and slept all night happy as he could be. I, on the other hand, didn't sleep at all worrying that he would wake up and be scared or would need me and I wouldn't hear him. Despite my fears, he did just fine. He also found his feet this week! He looks at them and thinks it is great fun to splash them in the bath tub. We also have the beginnings of a tooth showing through. It's not hurting him yet, but it's all white and shiny on his gums. It's been quite a week of firsts, all of which seem to push him further and further away from that tiny little baby we met 3 months ago. It's amazing how quickly the time is going by... Here's some recent pictures of our little man!

What A Week...

Everett and I have had quite a last 10 days. Last Monday was my first day back to work after 10 weeks of being a full time mommy. This meant that it was also Everett's first day of school.. (our pediatrician laughed when I said that Everett would be going to school) Fortunately for me, my work and his school are in the same place! I have so much peace knowing he's in the next room and I can walk in to see him whenever I want to! Here we are on our first day of school together.

He's started to adjust. The first few days were kinda rough, but he's learning how to sleep through the noise and play well with others.
At the end of this week of adjustment, we were blessed by visits from all our family for his dedication at church. We are so blessed to be a part of a church family who will help us raise our little boy to be a strong man of God. It was such a special day to share with our church family and our families.
These are all of Everett's great-grandparents..

Here are his grandparents....

His aunts and uncle....

And finally, some of his great aunts and uncles..


Our cute little man ..

Rough Day...

Today is one of the days I've been dreading since Everett was born... 2 month shots. As a person who despises needles, I pray Everett gets his Aunt Tara's strength when it comes to medical issues! He was such a trooper! I felt bad because he was in a fabulous mood this morning... laughing and smiling at the doctor, kicking his legs, flailing his arms.. it was adorable! Then in came the nurse... he was smiling when she put the first one in then that huge pouty lip popped out followed by the silent cry (you know, mouth open, face red, no sound) and then the screams began. I cringe even thinking about it! He definitely has his mom's temper (yikes, unbelievable I know) because he continues to not only cry but scream for 5 minutes until I sat down and fed him. It was a little traumatizing for all of us but we survived! Maybe the next rounds will be better...
When we got home Everett was a little fussy so he took a nap on the couch.. Klondike could sense something was not quite right with him because when I rounded the corner from the kitchen this is what I found...




Here are other moments we've captured of our little 11 pound 4 ounce boy!