The Mighty Henry

My little guys is 22 months today. Can you believe it?

In two shakes he'll be 2. Unbelievable.

I supposed I should be better about journaling his monthly milestones. Not so much for the general public but for myself. For being a lover of writing, I'm not very good at writing all those little tidbits down.

April is actually a good month to write about what's going on in the life of Henry (as if the facebook status updates aren't enough for you) becaue April has been the month that Henry as decided to finally talk.

He's saying real words......that I can understand. I'm just a little excited. It makes communicating a whole lot easier, let me tell ya. He still babbles that cute baby babble. The kid has  a lot to say. It was probably really frustrating to him that nobody had a clue what he was saying.

One day, the light bulb went off. He said, "cars" while playing with his cars. I did a double take.

Than came shoes, J J (our dog Jackson), nana (banana) and baby. He had only been saying mommy, daddy, hello and bye.

So the new one lately is "cracker". Today he blew me away with "cheese". He was trying to say "waffle" this morning. I know other kids his age have been talking for months. But this mama is very proud and excited that we can have these little convos now. (That's my cool lingo for conversation!)

April was also the month we moved him out of his crib and into a bed.

"Why so early?" you may ask.

We couldn't keep the little monkey in his crib, that's why. It was rough going at first; but he actually caught on to this new concept quicker than I thought. We never actually find him in his bed when we check on him later in the evening; but he goes to sleep pretty quickly and has, for the most part, quit knocking on his door to get out.

So 22 months has been monumental. I was kinda hoping he'd have more hair by now; but oh, well. At least he doesn't look completely bald anymore. My goal is to give a two year old update which means I better go write a five year old update for Lily, since she turned five about four months ago.

Now what would an update be without some super cute pictures?

She Did A Real Hack Job!

Let me start off by saying.......A green thumb I am not. My dad can attest to the fact that I can kill just about anything......and have! Let's not even talk about the two beautiful Japanese Maples I killed a few years ago simply becaue I never watered them. Horrid, I know.

Really it's not hard. Dirt. Plant. Water. Sun. Nature takes care of most of it. Plants don't water themselves, though.

When we moved into our house almost a year ago we were pleasantly surprised by all the mature plants and flowers it had. It also had not been taken care of in three years so it was a bit jungly. I was immediately happy to see eight rosebushes in my front yard. Only a few had blooms. Half of them were a pretty good size and the other half were pretty sad looking.

I enjoyed the blooms that summer and watered them occasionally. Fall and winter came and everything died.

"Oh well," I thought. The roses were nice while they lasted. We were debating on just pulling them out and doing something else in that space.

Then something very unexpected happened. My neighbor from two doors down, Sheila, who I hadn't met before, walked up to me one day as I was getting Henry out of the car. She just came out and said, "Can I prune your roses for you?"

I wanted to hug her. Yes! I knew I needed to do something with them; but just didn't know what.

She got her tools and pruned away.

I learned something about pruning roses. I had been doing it all wrong. I hadn't pruned back nearly enough. As she cut and snipped away, I was surprised at how much she was cutting off. She went on to tell me that you should really prune your rosebushes back in January and if we had, she would have cut back even more!

A few weeks ago, I noticed several blooms on 4 of my bushes. Not just 3 or 4. A lot. Recently, the bush with the most buds, began to bloom. I have bright pink roses coming in. They are gorgeous and ridiculously huge!

I was a bit giddy when I saw that pink bloom; but when Sheila was hacking away at the bushes, I wasn't so sure. It seemed like she was cutting way too much. There was almost nothing left.

I could not help but think that that is how God has been pruning in my life and how the refining process works in our life as Christians. If God just did a little snip here and a gentle cut there; there wouldn't be much to show for it later. Oh, I'm sure we'd be blessed and could very well be happy; but we'd be missing out on so much more.

If Sheila had just snipped back my roses a little, as I had been doing, the rose bushes would still be alive; but there would be few or no blooms. Just a little shrubby plant, dying a little more each year. She hacked away at them, though. Now I have bushes overun with buds ready to burst open.

God's been hacking away at me lately. He's been asking me to step out in faith in a few areas of my life. In one area, especially, He has been asking me to have Huge faith! It's been uncomfortable and I don't know what the outcome is going to be. It's making me seek Him more, though. It's causing me to ask what God's will is for my life right now, for my family. It's requiring me to make some really hard choices. It's causing me to turn down roads I never thought I'd venture down. I have been learning what it means to rest in Him because left to my own devices, well...... I'd just be freakingn out.

So, with each hack, with each uncomfortable stretch, He is in it. I know it's for my good. I know that what is best for me is what He wants for me. I might feel, at times, like the rosebush that's pruned back in January to almost nothing; but I know that pruning will produce amazing blooms and blessings in my life come spring.
 
Trust.

When you can't see what's around the corner.

It's hard.

Though I have a good idea what my roses will look like by the end of spring, I have no idea what my life will look like when I step out in faith. Thankfully, as a family, we can step out in faith together. Change can be uncomfortable. (That is probably a huge understatement!) Yet the change will be as God has always intended. It's never a surprise to Him.

Why I Blog

Wow, I have been MIA lately with the ol' blog. Honestly, I'm blogging all the time, in my head. If only I could immediately transmit what I'm thinking I want to blog about directly from my brain to my computer! I would be the blogging queen.

But alas, the kids, the dog, the dishes, the grocery shopping, life, gets in the way.

Just so you know, it's 9 p.m. and my dishwasher has not yet been emptied, the sink is full of dishes, toys are strewn across my livingroom floor and the decorations from a baby shower I threw TWO DAYS AGO are still neatly piled on my dining room table. Let's not even talk about the laundry spilling over the hamper. Nope, not even going to go there.

I'm ignoring all of it. I am going to write. Then I'm going to bed with a clear conscience, knowing I did something really productive.

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I like to blog/write and why I love to read blogs. Why do I enjoy reading about the lives of perfect strangers (Though, some are not strangers.) Why do I feel the need to share my life happenings with other people?

I think sometimes why I don't blog more often, besides the lack of time, is that I second guess why I blog. I question why on earth anyone would want to read about my boring life anyway?

The other reason, I'm coming to realize, is that I want to be completely honest when I write; but I'm afraid.

Why?

Oh, there's a million and one reasons.

You really put yourself out there when you speak your heart, share your fears, admit your failings, recount those little moments in life that make you laugh. You are there for others to either adore or criticize. Or even worse, ignore. Oh, and you can't take it back. Once it's out there, it's out there. In black and white. No takebacks.

But here's the thing. The blogs I love to read and go back to over and over again are exactly what I fear people won't want to read. The heart speaking, fear sharing, flop failing, funny moments of life. Whether I know you personally or not, I relate. I connect. I know someone else is going through the same stuff. And even if I read a blog where someone's life is completely different than mine, I love that too.

So......if I like to read blogs like that, I can write a blog like that.

There's a little more to it, though. Since I was very young, I loved to write stories. I loved to daydream and make up all sorts of scenarios in my head. I still do. When I was in the 6th grade my teacher gave us the black and white marbled composition book. That was the beginning. My love of writing sprouted and has been growing ever since. Oh, there have been some times where my writing has been all but dormant. For awhile I even thought I had forgotten how to write. God has given me a desire to write, though. That's the best reason to do it, don't you think?

So I will write about my family. (What I love to talk about the most.)
I will write about being a mom with all the joys and frustrations that make up mommyhood.
I will write about what God is teaching me; what He is showing me. I think about this subject all the time. I should be writing about it!
I will write about how an elementary teacher with almost no homemaking skills to speak of has a become a stay at home mom who is now into all things homemaking, with a beginning garden and sewing machine!!
I will write to encourage others.
I will write to connect with others.
I will write to journal about this amazing life God has given to me.
I will write because I love to write. As simple as that.