Silence

Psalm 62:1 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone."

So after a few rough days I have had with Alyssa, I have felt a bit overwhelmed with my parenting (unrested maybe?). I was just doing my bible reading and remembered a devotion from not long ago that I had flagged, so I read it again. I am going to copy it for you to ponder:

Most babies don't sleep through the night in the first several months of life. Many others don't catch on for the entire first year--or even longer! Once they finally settle into some kind of decent pattern, other challenges kick in. Like disciplining a two (or three)-year-old, potty training and answering questions, questions, questions. Sometimes just the noise level is enough to send you over the edge. Where is peace? Where is quiet? Where is restoration?
In the above verse, the word rest literally means silence. Ah. Beautiful silence. When is the last time you heard it?
Sit on the stairs late at night after --finally-- all your children are in bed. Listen to the stillness of your home. Turn off the radio in the car after dropping the children off somewhere and take in the quiet. In unexpected moments of aloneness--when your sitting at a red light and your baby is asleep in the car seat, when you wake early for some reason one morning and no one else is yet stirring--resist the urge to fill the silence with noise. Pray. Listen. And let your soul find its rest in God alone.

Just thought this may help you today as it has helped me!

Tracy

I am SO tired of this!

Last night Alyssa and I were sitting on her bed reading her bedtime stories. When I finished my book I sat it on the foot board on top of the other books, but the books accidentally fell off onto the floor. Alyssa got off the bed threw her hands in the air and said "UGHHH, I am SO tired of this...come here Mommy I show you what you do. Look at this big mess, the books are all over floor. You clean it up right now, Don't throw books OK? No throw books." (after I cleaned up my mess and told her it was an accident) "Come on, you have to go to bed, I cover you up." (she took me in my room put me to bed and pulled up my covers) "No get out of bed again, I see you tomorrow, have good night nap."

But Unfortunately that was not the first time she used this new phrase. I think that was the third time Sunday she used it.

Yesterday afternoon she looked out the back door and said "Daddy, I am SO tired of this, you got grass all over!"

After supper, I got some cookies and milk to eat and she said "Mommy, I am SO tired of this, you eat too many cookies!" (OK that one is definatly worth noting)

So now I know the phrase I have been over using lately...But really, I am SO tired of a lot of things she is doing lately too :-)

Milks Favorite Cookie...

OK, for this entire week Alyssa has been trying to figure out how she is going to eat her Oreos. This is a very important matter when it comes to the Phillips family. I personally eat mine with a glass of milk and a spoon. I put my Oreo on the spoon and hold it in my milk to get just the right sogginess before eating. My older brother, Troy (who is the most serious Oreo eater) drops some in the bottom of his glass, adds milk, waits quite a few minutes and then drinks the milk (at least this is how he did when I lived with him :-)). My younger brother, Todd just shoves them in his mouth - the whole thing at once! So onto my little Alyssa, after much trial and error:

Night one: Tried Mommy's way and used a spoon, dropped in her Oreo but left it too long and wondered why it fell apart. So basically drank it like Uncle Troy, but did decide she didn't like it this way.

Night two: Without any instruction she wanted me to untwist it...odd since no one in my family does this, then she dunked it and ate it. Still not satisfied.

Night Three: She untwisted it herself, licked the filling off and then ate the cookie. She had decided this way is best.

So I guess she has created a new way (at least in our family) to eat her Oreos. Oh, Daddy isn't much of a sweets eater so he hasn't been joining us for our Oreos. But when he does, he just eats them normal...with a glass of milk. I know this is some seriously useless information for you, but enjoy it anyways!! How do you eat your Oreo??

Walking...

Walking Already? Seriously kid you have got to stop growing up so fast ;-)

Here I am Mommy!!


Oh what precious sibling love...for now.

OK, notice the completely blue sunny skies...Alyssa insisted she needed her rain boots and rain coat. I tried to tell her it was warm enough that she didn't even need a coat. Oh well, that suggestion was coming from someone who daily thinks she should nominate herself for "What Not To Wear"!!

Check out the cheesy smile.

Doctors and Dentists

So we have been busy the last few days with Aiden's 6 month check-up and Alyssa's first Dentist Appointment. The above picture is of them all ready to go to the dentist early this morning. I wish the regular camera had sound recording because Alyssa had just said "I love you stinky boy". Maybe we better stop being so descriptive of his diapers before the poor boy gets a complex.

Alyssa did a great job, she jumped in the chair and our Wonderful hygienist, Kim started her out by letting her try on her looking glasses. And then they counted her teeth.

Waiting oh so patiently while Kim got all her supplies together. And no I am not the only Mom who has taken pictures during the first exam :-)

What a great job she did, she followed instructions very well and sat very still as I had previously instructed. The funniest part (sorry, I had already put the camera away) was after she finished the top teeth and Alyssa sat up to rinse & spit. Kim said OK, lay back down so I can do your bottom. Oh my dear Alyssa then laid on her stomach with her "bottom" in the air...honestly she has never paid that much attention to detail in her life!! Anyways, her check-up was great and besides some crowding (go figure she got my mouth) she is doing an excellent job taking care of her teeth. Oh, my cleaning was after hers and I was due for full mouth x-rays so Todd took her into the hall right outside the door during the pictures...after about the 15th picture (they took 18) Alyssa yelled "Mom, how many teeth do you have?" She then came in after the x-rays, stood by my face and said "Lay very still, be careful, I am so proud of you Mommy" What more do you need from a days work!!

Oh, Aiden weighed in at 18 pounds, 2 ounces yesterday at his check-up. And he is doing just fine, minus a little cold which hopefully is the last one of the season...Spring can get here and stay anytime now. Actually I am all ready for full on summer weather! OK enough rambling...Enjoy the day!

Observations...

So we had to make an unplanned trip to Ford for an oil change today. It was due, but I call the trip unplanned because Todd noticed something leaking while changing the air (or oil?...some kind of filter) and fuel pump this morning. Usually I would do something like this first thing in the morning so we do not run into lunch or naps. So I loaded up the kids and since we were leaving at 10:15 which is almost lunchtime around here we went through Wendy's drive thru on the way to pick up lunch. After I gathered the food, diaper bag, my purse, and Aiden in his car seat and held Alyssa's hand we got into the waiting room. Then I learned how "observant" my little girl is, and that I would never be bored with her in tow!! Here are some of the things she said:

Mommy, that's a farmer (pointing to a man in Carhart Bibs).

He can't tell me to shhhh... he's on the phone.

There is Daddy's car with the stripes (there was a black Mustang with silver stripes).

Let me read your cup...it says "Mommy's cup have a happy ever after".

Aiden has stinky ducks (luckily this was one everyone didn't understand in the room).

That man's working (mechanic walked through).

and of course the best, after she looks a lady and smiles...

"I can't talk to strangers".

Aiden was a good little boy just sitting in his car seat blowing raspberries at everyone that walked by (I don't know if you can tell that is what he is doing in the above picture, notice his shirt is soaked). And of course keeping a close eye on Alyssa and her observations. Impressively the whole ordeal wasn't bad at all, just tiring to them as Alyssa has crashed on the couch and Little Man is asleep in his seat.

Have a Great Monday!

My 10 Things

OK Jaime, here it goes:

10 Things you may not know...

1. I am afraid of thunderstorms, progressively worse after each child I have had.

2. Even though I am a "retired" nurse, not to mention my last position was in surgery...I am not a fan of watching procedures where much blood is involved. I almost fainted once watching a stitch be put in my own toe.

3. I am completely obsessive when it comes to cleaning and clutter - everything has it's own place. I do not allow anything that doesn't belong on my island/counter tops for more than a few hours (just ask Todd about his drawer to where he has to look for his disappeared stuff). You can also ask my brother Troy and the preacher's kids how well I reacted when they decided to turn everything upside down in my room while we were in High School.

4. I love the fact that Alyssa has taken on this "clean" trait as well, she knows EVERYTHING has it's own place and will tell you if that's not where it goes! (Ok maybe this one is about Alyssa).

5. I love that Aiden is a complete Momma's boy, even if it means he just wants to look at me at 2 AM (and all other hours of the night lately).

6. Even though I now know what a blessing it is to actually conceive a child and to become pregnant...I absolutely hated my pregnancies.

7. I do not like to drive on the highway.

8. I don't have a creative bone in my body...all my ideas come from my wonderfully talented Mom - I Love You!

9. I AM a morning person.

10. I always have a stash of Hershey's candy bars in the pantry that I eat smothered in Peter Pan Peanut Butter. (OK, most of you know this).

So here are my 10 things...Enjoy!!

Tracy

The kids...oh and a Dog!

Alyssa is a big helper, most of the time. Here she is saying (and I quote) "Aiden, hey stinky boy, ready to take your bib off buddy? Let's get down!"

As you may notice his high chair is on the opposite side of the kitchen than normal. This is because she just finished a game of highchair bumber cars...Thank You Daddy!!

No my belly is not too big for me to suck my big toe!

Alyssa and Demi soaking in the rays this week. Wish we had this sunshine today...it's raining!!

Here's A Start!

Ok, thanks to some help at playgroup this morning I may actually figure out this blogging thing. So my goal is to no longer bore you with my picture emails (of course they are available upon request :).

Although I am going to repeat some pictures/stories just to have them documented somewhere!

So I will start with a repeat story to bore you from the begining. We took Alyssa to Build A Bear for her birthday and she picked out the pinkest bear they had and got pajamas for it. When we got home and it was time for bed she said, "ok bear let's get ready for bed". She got her all snug in her PJ's and headed upstairs with Todd. Moments later I heard Todd call me upstairs and he said "Don't get Mad"...so I proceeded with caution to her bathroom where I found Alyssa sitting on her stepstool watching her bear "go potty". Being the germ phobe I am I calmly took the bear off the potty and told Alyssa NEVER to put her on the potty again. All I know is that I am thankful the bear wasn't any skinnier or she would have gone through the potty seat!

So we are still trying to get Alyssa fully potty trained, and thanks to having to use a public toilet (and watching me of course) she has learned to flush the potty with her foot. I have assured her this is not necessary at home, but as you can see she still insists.

My Slide Show!