Reflections on Parenting

This post has been brewing over several months and with another epiphany today, it became time to write it. From a Christian perspective, I've often heard it said that parenting helps you realize the sins in your own life because you see them displayed in your children. While that's true - already I've noticed Nora's selfishness, impatience, quickness to anger, and other sins I often un-proudly exhibit - I've also found parenting teaches me so much about my own relationship with God. This was a surprise to me, as I had only been told to expect to see my sins, not my Savior.

I've been convicted on many occasions through my short response to Nora's whines or cries that seem to be without reason (from my perspective). How often do we whine or cry to God about insignificant, meaningless things and yet God is never short with us. He is always compassionate, caring and listening. He doesn't always fix or take away whatever is bothering us at that moment, but he never responds with "you're just being ridiculous," which is sadly how I've responded to Nora at times. This realization has helped me to sometimes stop and change my response in these moments, though I wish I could say I responded in a more Christ-like way every time.

Tonight, God showed me more truths about our relationship when I put Nora to bed. She's getting her third and fourth teeth and isn't eating well, so nap time and bedtime have been a struggle. I had tried putting her down three times with no success and had given her food, milk and Tylenol. Still, when I left her room the last time, she started screaming. I knew she was probably standing in her crib and had thrown her pacifier across the room. I felt defeated and, with Levi at work, I felt I had no other option but to let her cry.

As I stood outside her room listening to her cry and yell "Mama" - which she will only say when begging me to save her from sleep - the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. This scenario is just like the one that plays out between us and God. We often beg for God to save us from something that He knows will ultimately be for our good, just as Nora was begging me to save her from the sleep that I know will be for her good by helping her grow and learn. I pray that by seeing this picture played out in my life that I will trust God more fully, knowing that He always works for the good of those who love Him.

I've only been a parent for 12 months, yet I have already learned so much spiritually. I'm thankful for this sanctification, though it's often hard, and I look forward how much more God will use Nora to teach me about Him.

Oh, how I long for the day when I in Heaven am made perfect like Christ. Come, Lord Jesus.

House Tour

Here's the house tour in pictures after we moved a few things. I'm sure you'll see more as I get the chance to decorate. We're starting to settle in, albeit slowly since we haven't had time to organize things beyond everyday function. Lord-willing, though, we will have many years here in which to get everything just right!

living room

kitchen

kitchen

1/2 bath downstairs

random shower in the hall closet...that will have to go

living room

living room

sun room (playroom) off living room (not much sun with the blinds closed - sorry!)

entryway/stairs

dining room

upstairs landing - that red paint has got to go!

full bath upstairs, original tub & knobs

original sink/radiator/medicine cabinet/glass towel rack

guest room, it's bigger than the picture shows

original glass knobs

master bedroom

my closet with original built-in

sunroom off the master (office)

linen closet

Nora's room, it's actually almost twice this big

1 Year

Our baby is one year old! I'm 10 days late in posting this, but because of our move, Nora's party, Levi getting his wisdom teeth out, three new wholesale coffee customers plus our largest single wholesale order to date AND us hosting Easter in our new house I hope you'll forgive me. It's been a busy few weeks to say the least.

Weighing in at 16 lbs. 9.6 oz., our tiny preemie baby is in the 5th percentile for weight on the adjusted growth chart (as if she were born on time) and 55th in length. She's long and super skinny. I have no idea where she gets that. ;)

Nora sprouted several more teeth this month and now has three with three more on the way. She's going to look more like a toddler than a baby very soon. I'm going to miss that gummy smile of hers. She's also getting more mobile and can push her walker toy around all over the house. She pulls herself to a standing position whenever possible, and I know it won't be long until she's running around!

Nora's babbling is starting to sound more like language and she's very vocal at times! When I try to get her to say Mama she says Na-na. Close and adorable. She's been saying dada for awhile, though I'm not sure if she has made the connection to her daddy yet.

We recently made the switch from formula to whole milk and she seems to love it. There hasn't been much progress on her eating table food, though, since she now thinks it's fun to throw every piece of food off her tray for Molly to eat. Surprisingly, we've discovered the dog likes cheerios and graham crackers. Who knew?!

Because of our busyness, I just realized that I failed to take many pictures of Nora this month. But here's a cute one of Nora with her BFF, Piper. We love her parents and hope the girls grow up to be lifelong friends.

Nora's Nursery

I realized recently that I never posted pictures of Nora's finished nursery, mostly because it didn't ever get finished. I've been waiting on some final touches that still haven't happened, but with the impending move I decided it was time to take pictures anyway. I love how her little room turned out, and I hope to recreate it in our new house.

Nora loves her room - especially the books that can be pulled off the shelf.

Levi's hang board is still proudly displayed above the doorway. This is the only spot in the house where he could put it in order to work on his rock climbing skills while watching TV so we left it there when the office became Nora's room.

On the Move

Well, despite how unreal it feels, I guess it's time to tell you we're moving. In less than two weeks we will close on this beauty just across town:

It will be our "forever" home, and we're still in shock about how quickly and smoothly the process has gone. We had been keeping our eyes peeled for a new home for about a year, but nothing had even interested us enough to look at it in person until this house.

It's always been our dream to live in a historic home near campus, but the more we looked the more discouraged we became. Many of those houses are rentals, they rarely go up for sale and most are outrageously priced or the ones we can afford are too small for our family to have room to grow (not to mention lacking garages and yard space for Molly).

This home, however, was in our price range, even bigger than we had hoped and in great condition (for being 92 years old!). It still has many of the original fixtures, including glass doorknobs and corner china cabinet built-ins. It has a detached garage, a basement for Oklahoma storms and a yard for Molly. It's not exactly in the area I had hoped, but it's still near campus we can hear the bells from the Student Union, which always brings on nostalgia.

We're very excited about our new home, but we're also very sad to leave our current one. We've built relationships with all of our neighbors and we have lots of memories in this house. It's where we brought Molly and Nora home, and it was our first big purchase as a married couple. After being excited to find our next house for so long, Levi and I agree we were both surprised to be so sad to move.

At the beginning of the year, our church asked us to prayer big, "impossible" prayers and to share them with the pastors on index cards so they could pray for us, too. Although at first glance it may seem shallow, I asked them to pray for a larger home for our family but for me to not idolize that. It wasn't the home I was needing the prayer for - it was the not idolizing it part.

Now that Levi and I have jobs we love and have started our family, our "forever" home seems like the final step to settling down. The pinnacle, if you will. The ultimate satisfaction in my life. But I know that, in fact, Christ is the only one who brings true satisfaction, and this home will not fill the void in my heart meant for Him, no matter how hard I try. I believe this is part of why I'm so sad about moving - not because I'm disappointed that the house won't satisfy, but rather I'm allowing myself to feel and realize that a house (or car, or child or job) is not what satisfies. I'd say God has answered - what seemed to me - my "impossible" prayer request.

We will move away and make a new home in this new house and build new relationships with new neighbors and keep relationships with old ones. It will be wonderful and God will do great things and He has already provided for us so abundantly. I'm thankful for all He is teaching me through what seems to be just a business transaction. For me it has been so much more.

11 Months

Nora is just one month away from turning a year old! She's developing quite a little personality and knows exactly what she wants (and will let you know). This month was big for her developmentally - she started pulling up to her feet, waving, clapping and she cut her first tooth.

Though she's been capable for awhile now, she just started feeding herself saltines and graham crackers, though she's not interested in feeding herself any other foods. Just today (a few days past the 11-month mark) she fed herself a bottle for the first time because I wouldn't hold it for her while she was in her car seat on the way home. Finally! I've been waiting months for her to do this, and I'll be encouraging the use of this skill at every opportunity, though I know I'll now be picking the bottle up off the floor every two seconds.

Nora enjoyed her first trip to the park this month and loved swinging and going down the baby slide. She laughed and clapped the whole time. I'm looking forward to many more park trips as it gets warmer!

She has also become quite attached to this purple blanket. I tried to get her to attach to a small lovey, to no avail. I guess this is just one example of her exerting her independence. 

Until next month's big 1-2, I'll leave you with this picture of our little Valentine (I wish you could see the adorable heart-shaped elbow patches on her shirt!):

DIY Coffee Table Makeover

Since we moved into our house almost 4 years ago, we've had the coffee table I grew up with (above). It's a hexagon shape, which fit nicely along the curves of our sectional couch. However, the legs were wobbly and would occasionally fall off when Molly laid down or rolled over into them. I'd always planned to replace this table eventually, but it was never high on my priority list of home projects. That is until Nora started pulling up.

When the table was in my parents' house and I was in elementary school, my toddling cousin who was just learning to walk toddled toward and then fell into one of the corners, splitting open the skin on his cheekbone just below his eye. It was this experience that made it so important that we get a new table as soon as Nora started standing. 

A round table seemed like the logical solution, and it would fit nicely with the sectional. There are plenty of round coffee tables out there, but I didn't want the "mass-produced" look. I had seen a wooden cable spool used as a coffee table on Pinterest and I couldn't get it out of my head. I had no idea where to find one, so I started looking around online. Most of the ones I could find on eBay or Etsy are only available for local pickup and, of course, they're not around here. So, as I started reading some blogs and forums I discovered a lady who had gotten one for free from Lowe's. I could barely get there fast enough.

When I went down the electric aisle, I found just the size I was looking for. It was a little taller than I needed, but the perfect circumference. There was a bit of cable left on it and after offering to buy the remaining cable in order to get the spool, the store clerk said he would just remove the cable and I could have the spool - for free! I almost died right there in the aisle. I could feel the excitement and wonder sparkling in my eyes when I turned to him and sheepishly said "I can have it?" I couldn't believe it was that easy! He seemed bewildered as to why I would want something so commonplace (in his world), so I explained my project. 

Once I got the spool home, it sat like this for a few days while I decided how I was going to refinish it. I didn't like the new wood look, but I didn't want to stain it either. I finally decided on a tea stain using a tea base followed by a steel wool and vinegar solution. This ends up giving the wood an aged look, as if it has been weathered for years. There are about a million online tutorials that tell you how to do this, and I read several before starting, but here is a simple one I referred back to a couple of times: http://www.instructables.com/id/tea-staining/. It's a really easy process.

After cutting the spool down to size and staining it, the most difficult part of the whole thing was putting it back together! It turns out the center is not just one cylinder of wood pieces, it's several individual pieces that have to fit in a groove on the insides of both end pieces. Needless to say, the rebuilding part took some patience, but we did it. Check out the finished product: