Sunday, February 23, 2014

Joss @ 6 months

Joss @ 6 months
 Weight: 14lbs 9oz (20%)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (38%)
 February 13th was Joss' half birthday and we woke her up singing "Happy half birthday to you!!" and she gave us that big gummy smile that we love!

 What's for dinner?
The big milestone at 6 months is that we are eating!  At a little after 5 months we started adding food into her diet.  She has had apples, bananas, pears, prunes, avocado, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and peas.  This time around I decided to take my sis-in-law up on using her Baby Bullet and I have made all of my own baby food.  I absolutely think it is the easiest thing ever- it's cheap, it's healthy, and it makes me feel a little Suzy home-maker-ish which is so fun! Joss' favorite is probably avocado and prunes (thank goodness, because girlfriend needs her prunes).  The only ones that she has made a grumpy face for at first were sweet potatoes and peas, but now she seems to like both!

 Chunky Legs and No Chompers
By the looks of these thighs this girl is growing just fine!!! I love her rolly legs and have not had that experience with my other two girls so it is so precious.  I can't get enough of it!  I have a hard time believing she is only in the 20% in weight.... she seems huge to me! 

She loves her food and everything else to go straight to her mouth but to our knowledge she is not teething.  There are no signs of Joss getting chompers anytime soon but she sure is enjoying gumming and drooling all over everything.

 What's Up?
Joss is!! And she is trying to sit so tall and proud to play with her toys!

Joss proves nature wins.
This smiley, happy girl has showed us something.... a baby is who she is!  With Ivy we parented very structured as a Babywise baby.  We found great success with this but life felt a little rigid, especially when she didn't sleep well unless she was in her bed and it was meltdown central if we weren't right on schedule.  So with Tula we jumped ship.... so we thought... and had a very laid back baby. Slept in the car seat, stroller, bouncy seat, swing, in our arms, pretty much anywhere if she was ready to nap she could nap.  Joss was bound to be that way as baby number 3..... well, it just so happens nature wins and Joss is a routine kind of girl and she pretty much set that up herself.  She naps and eats like clockwork and at 7pm she is ready for bath and 7:30pm lights out and girlfriend is snoozing.  All is grand until that set wake up time that routine babies LOVE and she is wide eyed bushy tailed and ready to go at 6:30am whether it is Tuesday or Saturday, this little lady is by nature a routine, on schedule baby!  We can't complain because it is good that she is predictable and a wonderful sleeper but we are going to keep working on tweaking that early bed time and early wake up just in time for summer! We are ready to play in the setting sun and sleep in.... just a touch!

Overall we loved celebrating a half a year of this little one's life!  We love you, Jossie Mae, and are so thankful that you are in our family!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Am I Raising Pagans?

My mom sent me this excellent article regarding raising pagan children.... without even knowing it.  It really resonated with me and has sat on my heart, lingered in my mind, and pinched the tip of my tongue since I read it.  I've had it all wrong since becoming a mother and am hell bent.... excuse my language.... on fixing it....NOW.  I have encouraged, pleaded, and made my children obey and make good choices "because the Bible says to" and "because it makes Jesus happy" and "because that's what you do if you are a Christian."  Eeeeek..... do those motivations keep me turning to Christ?  No, unfortunately they might even frighten me.  I would dare to say I am embarrassed by the Christians who beg our society to "behave" for those same reasons.

 But I'll tell you what motivates me- Christ's love and grace.  That I am never going to be "good" without Him.  I know that I wake up and need Him, crave Him- or else I will have a loss of a day.  I want my kids to know that kind of love and dependence and they learn it from yours truly.   I have to model this daily. I have to model asking for forgiveness and grace and mercy in front of my girls. {Talk about being broken.... in front of an audience}  I have to model welcoming the Spirit into my heart to guide me and equip me with those wonderful fruits to be able to be Christ-like in a pagan world.  I want my kids to grow up and be an example of Christ's love and joy to others that they meet rather than a recording of Biblical laws and rules.

So I asked myself the real question- what can I do to provide opportunities to be joyful and loving rather than having a fire and brimstone sort of life? I can be joyful when we bake together.....and half the flour is spilled all over the table and our birthday cookies turn to crisp.  I can allow them to love on each other and help each other.... even when it takes so much longer than me helping.  I can provide opportunity encourage friends, teachers, and ministers through cards and hugs.  I can show them how we clean out our gently used items for fire victims in our community.... even when this is a taxing project with miniture pack rats who throw fits to see their hardly ever used things given away.  I can let them be the light and smiles with elderly, even their great grandparents.  And I can give them the reason why..... not because the Bible says so..... but because that is how He loves us.  And the most promising part, when we miss an opportunity to be joyful and loving Christ's grace is enough to wipe that slate clean and try again. 

It's my goal, my heart's most strongest desire to never again use the Bible or my own Jesus as a scare tactic to motivate obedience from my girls.  But rather teach them that our only need is for His love and grace, because without Him we can never be "good."