Emily has talked about getting a bike for a long time. Christmas was too early and with her birthday not until October, we felt we had to come up with another option besides gift or freebie. When Amazon had a gold box deal last week for a balance bike, we jumped on it and quickly developed…
Thoughts
Enriched in God’s Grace
This past week I’ve found myself in some incredibly uncomfortable situations, some volunteered for and others blindsiding me. My inadequacies and lack of skills were on display, on repeat. I felt like I was eight years old, twelve years old, fifteen years old, twenty years old with all sorts of memories bubbling up and compounding my…
We Move Forward
For about the last year I have been completely disconnected from the news. Occasionally I’ll run an errand by myself and listen to NPR or Andrew will tell me about a major world event. When we were in Utah I talked with more people were aware of current events and was surprised at what I heard….
Dabbling in Potty Training and Committing to Cloth Diapers
Between high school and my sophomore year in college, I was a nanny for two different families who both went through potty training. Based on my observations from that era, I decided that I would let my child decide when they are ready to use the bathroom. No marathon juice weekends, little toilets, or setting…
This Season
I’m amazed in this era of life how quickly the seasons of survival, chaos, figuring, norming, and thriving cycle through and change. Right now we are bouncing around the norming phase on our way to thriving (I hope!). I’ve jumped headlong into a huge list of projects and Andrew has stepped in to help make things…
We Made It
Andrew’s semester officially concluded today at 11:30 when he arrived home for lunch. The last few weeks have been brutal with a never ending list of deadlines topped off with a baby that won’t sleep in decent stretches. Last night Andrew worked on his last paper until 3am and woke up by 8 to finish…
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…
Present
I’ve been trying figure out my long term direction for awhile now, identifying the kind life I want to live and trying to create it. I’m still at the beginning of this journey that I suspect will last a lifetime, but I’ve decided on these four principles as my starting place: Inspired, Intentional, Simple, and…
Our How of Food
We have been thinking a lot about the food we eat and how it effects us. This journey in nutrition can be convoluted at times (a lot of the time) because so many people have different research, interpretation of research, personal experiences with food, and their own ideas of what works and what doesn’t. The…
Self Talk
Yesterday we met some friends at the park. Emily followed a friend and started climbing up a rope ladder of sorts. She was pretty nervous starting out and asked me to come close. I went over and stood right there but let her do all the work. After a few runs she was growing in…