MOPSing

This has been an INCREDIBLY long week. I have been weary in the work, but not weary of the work. Work? What work? I don't work, right? I'm at Stay At Home Mom! (Just joking! We all know the truth of that statement!) MOPS--Mothers of Preschoolers--is in the planning stages for the 2006-2007 year. I'm in charge of Finance, Hospitality, and Publicity. This week, it has felt like I've had a full time job in addition to my "job" as a mom. It's been rough, but I feel like the bulk of the work is over. That is what I was shooting for--bust my rear for a week and not be crazy busy for the week before the first meeting.

This year's theme is "Fresh Air." Do you know how convicting that can be? To be leading other women to live lives that are saturated in the Fresh Air of Christ? It has been challenging to me, and so inspiring. I have released the belief that I can do it all. I can't. No one can. I don't want to try. But, I will work hard. (Especially if I know it is short lived!!)

So, I'm alive. I'm thriving. I'm going to wake up tomorrow and breath Fresh Air. Christ died to give it to me.

Shots of the week

Ok, so I have a $200 camera and I'm not a photographer, but I can tell a difference in my picture taking lately. I was pretty happy with these shots :)

It is amazing how much Hannah has changed in just one week. She actually sounds like she is trying to have a conversation with us rather than just repeating "mamamamamama" and "dadadadada" all of the time. And when she talks, her voice gets high pitched and she starts giggling as though she just said the FUNNIEST thing. In ways hard to describe, her personality is starting to really shine through, too. She has discovered her tongue, and will sit down, stick her tongue out and lean back as far as she can. Weird. And when she is around six month old, she pets their head like a dog. (We'll have to work on that one.) It has been a very rewarding week of mothering. Praise God for the opportunity!!

My birthday

Yes, yesterday was my birthday. I'm three cubed. :) My husband gave me the BEST present ever--himself! Yes, my top love language is quality time and my second is service, so for my birthday Jeremy took the day off from work to be home with me and to take care of the house/Hannah so that I could stamp and scrapbook all day! My parents sent me money to go out to lunch and then we got a babysitter to go out for coffee ALONE that night. (Our weekly babysitter was in the states for a month, so date night has been hard to do lately.) We talked for 2.5 hours and I had the BEST latte! Hard to believe I had to come to Korea for a good latte. And so here I am, three cubed plus a day with 20 beautiful cards made and the cover (and most important) page of Hannah's scrapbook almost finished. What a WONDERFUL birthday!

Finally

After an almost three week silence, I'm back. The past three weeks can be summed up as a battle of priorities. Quite obviously, the blog never won. August 3rd was Jeremy's birthday. Hannah & I celebrated by going back to the ocean while Jeremy was at work :) Jeremy & I celebrated the next day in his favorite way--pizza and a movie on the couch. (Well, he prefers the theatre but wouldn't you know that he got home at 6:30pm on a FRIDAY that week??). Then there was Hannah's 1st birthday, complete with a party of 35+ at the park in 95 degree heat. What friends we have!

MOPS planning has started full force. A week ago we had a nine hour planning/fellowship time. It was intense brainwork with no nap. I was so tired afterward! Of course, I'm still full time in baby development--we are half way through in week 17 already! I can't believe it! I have my second appointment on Thursday, and we should be scheduling the ultrasound within the next couple of weeks. Jeremy is completely convinced it is a boy. Likewise, most other people I talk to think it is a girl. Just the opposite with Hannah--Jeremy was convinced it was a girl and everyone else thought it was a boy. I'm so interested to see if he is right again. I never have "feelings" about those things.

Hannah is quite the accomplished walker, which has been wonderful for me. We've been able to go to the park to play, she can walk around the BX and toddle around the house. She loves books. I'm interested to see if she will continue that trend. We are still working on signing and saying words. The only "word" she can say is "Uh-oh!" and she says it quite frequently! It almost always means she has dropped something. I wonder if that trend will continue as well...After two straight weeks of 3-4 night wakings, we have had a full week and a half of sleeping 13 hours a night. I love that so much. Her 7pm bedtime is what makes mommyhood possible for me right now!

I've been going through intense battles of priorities and schedules. I feel like I'm in the classic "I can't possibly get everything done" frame of mind that almost every single SAHM on the planet experiences (dare I say EVERY mother on the planet??). I know that God has SO MUCH MORE for my life than that! It is almost humbling to me that I have something so small tripping me up so badly! But, it is just the arena in which God wants to teach me to COMPLETELY rely on Him. I suppose I should be thankful that He is teaching me this through schedules rather than through a terminal illness or something severe!

Ok, if this is much longer, it will be a novela and not a blog. I'm alive! I'm getting bigger! I'm getting older! HA!