2007 Goals Revisted

In early January I blogged about my 2007 Goals (my "not resolutions"). Two months later I have to admit that so far I haven't done so well. So, in light of my "excuses" and maybe plain lack of resolution/energy (or something to that affect)... I decided that I really needed more people to know what my specific goals where. How else would I have accountability and how else would others know how I am really doing through this very big transitional time in our family's life.

My confession is that each day so far has been a huge struggle. Sometimes I am so tired, not so much physically as mentally and emotionally (although better eating habits and more exercise would probably help). And sometimes I am hindered by my need but evident lack of organization (Ian would say sometimes I'm a bit OC about having things clean or in their "right place"), time to self (I think all new moms and dads have a little less of this) and wisdom on how to correctly balance all that needs to be done for E , for Ian and for myself. Even though everyone says that a new baby turns your life around, taking care of E cannot be my "excuse" for not doing what I know I need to do. Honestly though, even before E was born I was not were I wanted to be (and I should probably say, knew I should be) ... spiritually or personally. I'm not just being "hard" on myself during a very life changing time... instead it is as apostle Paul wrote, I do what I do not want to do and do not do what I want to do. Instead, before E was born I let other "tasks" and ambitions take precedence to preparing for what I knew would need loads of prayer and strength beyond what I could come up with on my own. And now, I continue to find myself starting two steps behind and barely able to move myself forward, all the while still not doing what I want to do and doing what I do not want to do. (I know... again, me, trying to do it on "my own".) But don't get me wrong, all is not a "loss". God gives me grace!! E has grown so much! She is a wonderful baby girl! So full of joy (as her Chinese name says "Heart Full of Joy")! And just that fact is a testament that He works in her life (despite my "bad" parenting) and that He works in mine, too. E is very important (yes, and understandably taking care of her is very time consuming), but she cannot be my life. Only one should rightfully take that place... and if that is lost in my current season of life, than no matter how well I care for her, I am not taking caring of E the way I should be.

I don't want to make excuses or just "complain" about my current situation. I want to progress, even if it's excruciatingly slowly, in making this year a treasured and memorable year while still continuing to grow personally. So without further ado (and by all means - take this sharing of my list as permission to ask me about, "grill me" from time to time, or just keep me in your prayers)... here are my Goals for 2007:

• Have a mentor (and possibly mentor in turn) to talk through life with, to help keep me accountable, to encourage me to live life with excellence and joy.
• Memorize Romans. (I thought this would be easy since FBC is going through Romans, very thoroughly and slowly... but since I'm often in the cry room and can't hear the message or we're out of town.. I'm now about 2 chapters(!!) behind. blah)
• Read a Christian book a month (in order to spur on growth and thoughtful thinking of how I live). I've already chosen the 12. I didn't want to be overly ambitious.. plus I hope to really give myself time to process what I read.
• Enjoy E and really experience her as she grows up by documenting each significant milestone and all those lovely everyday moments through taking pictures, journaling and scrapbooking. Otherwise, with the current state of my ability to remember things, I will have forgotten what has happened and when. How sad a day it will be if I wake up one day next year and not have noticed where the year went.
• Get back into some kind of ministry. When I was pregnant, many ministries that I was part of went to the wayside. But I knew there would be a time that E would mature enough that I could and should again be part of the body of Christ, using my gifts. And even as a baby changes many things, it does not change my passions. Instead I need to discover how to be true to those God given desires with the season I find myself in.
• Create a doable prayer habit and prayer life with E . Prayer in my life is always on a roller coaster. But if there is one thing I would like to pass on to E , is a habit of prayer in all circumstances. So in order for that to happen, the model (Ian, me, others in her life) need to not just have a prayer life (as if it was a separate life.. or even part) but have a habit of prayer. I say "doable" because I can't be unrealistic in dreaming of a perfect prayer regiment... but instead I need to learn how to prayer in the everyday. Meaning prayer during the diaper changes, during her fussy days, etc.

That's all of them. Few and fairly simple... but not easy.

A Mobility Milestone

On Saturday... E turned over once from her tummy to her back all on her own. This was her first big milestone in being mobile. We returned her to her tummy to see if she would do it again (because I actually had missed it... Ian was watching her at the time). Alas, only one show for that day. Maybe today during her tummy time she will go again.

What a big girl! Soon, she'll be flipping back and forth and doing the "trying to crawl" butt in the air move. Oh my!

4 months old and sprouting!

Our baby girl is 4 months old this week!! Yes, time has flown by. In one aspect it's like she's been her for years and in another aspect it's like she's only been her a week. But when we read other people's blogs about their newborns (2 weeks old and another at 7 weeks old)... we think "oh yeah, she was that small too just a few weeks ago." Sometimes I can't believe how much (and how fast) she has grown... she doesn't seem to be "eating" that much. But alas all our pictures reveal her maturation into a mini-toddler (or you can say grown up infant...).

Oh, and a very cute antidote... Ian recently has been calling E a sprouting "carrot", which references her hair. I think it's also very fitting for how she has been growing. So she's 4 months old and sprouting! Next week we have our 4 month check-up with the doctor. We'll let you know how much she really has sprouted. My guestimate is that she is abot 15 pounds and 24-25 inches long. We'll see.

If she is hitting the 15 pound mark, we might have to "graduate" her to her crib sooner than we had planned. I recently took a look at the instruction manual for the bassinet that she sleeps in next to our bed, and it states to stop using it after the baby reaches 13 pounds or 3 months. Ooops. We could tell she would need to be moved sooner than later because she can almost reach one end with her feet and the other with her arms, but we thought maybe we could get another month or so out of it while we transition her to her crib AND subsequently to her own room!! I guess the bassinet would be unsafe for infants who can roll over. E can't yet. Of course, this could be hindered by the fact that she doesn't like tummy time and that she has very fat cloth diapers, that sort of prevent her from rolling her hips too well. Ha lol. Anyways, jthis move will be a big step... for her to move to another room. At least just in the last week she's been napping better during the day... (We can actually put her down! Even if she still only sleep 30 minutes. It seems like a lot longer 30 minutes when she's lying down by herself than when she's in our arms)... I guess it's time to start getting her to associate her own crib as a sleepy place, and not just our room and her bassinet (or our bed). Although for Ian and I, that will make the nighttime wakings harder to deal with (and harder to hear).

Then after this next "challenge", we'll be just about at the time to start trying to give her solids or be combating teething pains. Oh the joy of childrearing! :) Fun (ok, sometimes fun... sometimes not so fun, ha lol) and challenging at every turn.

Here's a picture of E "sprouting". We just love her hair!

And another picture of her, Ian and our newly organized pantry of games.

Really, it is organized and not as full as it used to be... it might be hard to tell, but the other 60% of our games are now in boxes in another closet. E is asking, "Anyone want to come over and play some with us??"

Never Before Posted

Here's some more (yep... more!!) never before posted pictures of E . Some from the day she was born to some recent ones from just this last week. As always, enjoy!

Her Birthday... Cute, Pink, and ready for the world! Ok.. but after just a quick nap.

Her first outing... at the end of that first week. That was a doozy of a outing. Let's just say, I didn't get to eat lunch at all... but we learned fast what she could (and couldn't) do early on. She's still so cute and small too. Wow, how she's grown (just look at the pictures below)!

Much more recently... E all wrapped up after a bath.

Just last week, we got ourselves a BebePod... now we can eat dinner at the same time. It's the little things that we look forward to. But isn't she too cute!!

The Wonderful Westfield Mall of Fairfield

This is our new favorite mall. Not because the stores are exceptional... or because of the location per se... or because of the people you'd find there. No. It's all because of this one amenity that we haven't yet to find anywhere else - the Family Lounge.

So you might be asking us, "What the heck is a Family Lounge?". Well in a lots of places, it's just a larger bathroom that a mom (or dad) can take a few children and help them go to the bathroom, without the wait and with the room for strollers and multiple children. But the Fairfield Mall's lounge is different. The fist time we walked in, we were stunned. It is clean, it is nicely furbished and has all the amenities that a parent and especially nursing mother could want.

First, it has a row of changing stations, with special areas where babies won't roll off the changing table. They even thoughtfully added mirrors and mobiles so kids could be entertained while having their diapers changed. On this row of changing stations, there is a small sink next to each station... to clean your hands of course. Then there is the usual family sized bathroom that includes even a kid sized toilet. Second, it has three rooms with cloth curtains for nursing children. The rooms have separate light switches, comfy padded chairs and even reading material. To say the least, a mom could fall asleep in there while nursing! It's that nice. And then to top it off, it has a microwave, a bottle warming machine, a TV (that plays some cartoon movie), couches for the husband and some toddler block toys (like you see at doctor offices) to keep the rest of the family entertained.

So, if you're a new mom in the area or a to be new mom... know that you can get out and about and not have to worry about all the challenges of changing, feeding or getting to the restroom yourself at the Fairfield Mall (BTW, the exit is Travis Boulevard). And, you can probably get some shopping in too!