yawn!

For a few days now I have been thinking about posting this - sort of a "where we are" note. Mostly because I've been struggling to keep up with posts in light of everything going on. Finally after this weekend, I decided to go ahead and give a glimpse. What's going on you might ask?

I'm tired! Now I know I get at least a little grace with an 8 week old. Holy cow - can you believe that Nicole is already 8 weeks old. We have her 2 month checkup on Friday. I can't wait to find out how much she weighs... it'll be a lot I'm sure. And I think she's seriously grown an inch in a week. Her little 3 month outfits are almost too short. Ok, who am I kidding, they are also getting tight around her super cute big Buddha belly. Crazy. But... on the other hand she's a pretty good sleeper. Now we are going to have to work on naps I fear. She's not a napper like Megan was. She likes little catnaps - but hasn't' really organized a nap schedule. Once again, yes I realize she is only 8 weeks old and "schedules" are something we build up to. But she is sleeping between 5-7 1/2 hours at night. A bad night is a 4 hour of sleep night. A good night is a 7 1/2 hour sleep night. Last night - 7 hours.

It's a HUGE blessing... not only because I'm tired - but because the Lord knows that I need every ounce of sleep I can get in order to muster up every ounce of of patience to match the wits of of a fiery big sister.

I'm tired... The baby is exhausting in her own right, but the reality is - wow, my sweet little toddler has found a new way of expressing herself. It's been an challenging couple of weeks. Today I was reading a blog post and it offered me a lot of encouragement as the writer made a statement about how frustrating it is when you "don't see the fruits of your discipline". About every hour I find myself wondering, Lord, what are we not doing correctly. Surely If we were doing this "right" then this stage would pass.... yeah, reality check - sinful, wilful folks we people are - the big ones and the little ones. We went through something like this a few months ago (with all out throw yourself on the ground, kick and scream temper tantrums) and with some changes in our discipline (aka - getting really serious and consistent) Megan turned over a new leaf. And suddenly it's like she decided to once again try us in other areas and turn up the disobedience to a whole new level. OH MY GOODNESS! Today at lunch Megan got a little sassy and was not listening and I had to give her my "teacher look".... Let's say, it's somewhat effective. I think some of the adults were a little shocked at my ability to have a piercing stern look. :^) It does usually stop Megan in her tracks, for a second at least because she knows that look means a line is being crossed. But still, it's exhausting. And just because Megan is aware that she might be crossing a line... that doesn't mean she will stop. Oh talk about being Willful.

So even through the exhaustion we plug away trying desperately to be consistent, prayerful, and loving in our discipline as we work to train Megan's heart to love and follow God obediently (which includes obeying your mother and father).

So - I'm a little overwhelmed and haven't had a chance to work on getting my camera hooked up to my new laptop so I'm amiss in getting some updates posted. But, at least you know why. Tonight I just needed a little vent. So you know where we are, what we are dealing with, and how you can pray for us.... pray for our patience for sure - it's hard to be loving, consistent, and firm when you are tired and irritated.

And in the midst of all this I'll try to get some pictures of our precious (and sometimes trying) little girls.