Thank you Lord for coffee

Caffeine is such a blessing.  I know that sounds silly - but really, as a mom who tries to "squeeze" a lot in, then doesn't get a full night's sleep or is woken before dawn by an energetic toddler or fussy baby, coffee is a lifesaver.  I know God provides for us in strange ways, and seriously today I am thankful for coffee.  It's like I can go from zombie-mom to ready-to-go-mom in 15 minutes when aided by my hot liquid stimulant.  I know we are a coffee-addicted culture (in part thanks to me), and I try not to spend $4 on an espresso drink except for special occasions, but I'm just trying to be grateful for those things that make my life a little easier.
So I finally weaned my baby boy, no thanks to his cooperation.  Much to his dismay he only gets cows milk bottles not, even though he still tugs on my shirt after almost 2 weeks of quitting cold turkey.  He's 14 months as of yesterday, so I figured it was time whether he agreed or not.  It's exceedingly nice to have my body back, even if my cup size is back to a "B" :-)  I don't have to worry about when I might need to pump, where I might leak if I forgot a nursing pad, when he might wake up in the night wanting to eat.  I do feel a little sad though - my baby is not really a baby anymore.  He does stairs, eats real food, says a few words, and has a mind of his own!  Lord, please help me (and him) to adjust to the changes we are going through as mother and son, and grow in your grace with each other.

Soren had a sleepover at his Aunt Kate's house last night, and then today he's gone to work with her at the preschool where she teaches.  I couldn't tell who was more excited for it - her or him!  She couldn't wait to introduce her special nephew to her coworkers, and he couldn't wait to have a real sleepover at his fave Auntie's place.  He told me all day that he was going to throw the ball for Saint, their fetch-obsessed dog.  I can't wait to hear how the last 24 hours was for them, when I go pick him up today.  Thanks Aunt Kate!

Does "monthly" measure up?

Maybe it's a good goal for me to aim to post monthly.  As a mom, if I do something monthly it is probably something that appears on my list of priorities, though not at the top.  There's a pathetically short list of things I get do daily...such an exciting list: pee, eat, drink coffee, change diapers, feed/clothe/entertain children, clean house, drive, pray.  Weekly I get to add a few more things: read, do something social, work, exercise, laundry, volunteer, watch a show, go to church, take kids out and about.  Then monthly, I can expand it even further: there's where I think blogging will appear, right alongside journaling, mopping, and cutting 3 people's hair and nails (can you guess who are the three? ;-)

So I posted in December, now I'm posting for January.  I want to share about what a great visit we had to the Broomfield Rehab Center yesterday - we go to visit the residents in the alzheimers/dimentia unit once/month, and yesterday we made Valentines (albeit a little early, but now they can decorate their rooms).  Soren is such a sweet kid, all the seniors there LOVE to touch his hair, and hear him talk to them in his darling voice.  He made valentines for like 8 of them, and put smiles on their faces.  He actually gets excited to go!  Not quite sure if that's because he actually likes to visit them OR because we hardly ever do craft projects at home...creativity is not my strength!  Then when we got home, I got an email from one of the other moms who went thanking me for organizing our visit, and telling me her heart was full of joy yesterday afterward.  Lord, it's times like these that I love following you, and I thank you for blessing me with the opportunity to share these seniors with my children and vice versa!

The other fun thing we've been doing with the kiddos is going to community food share as a small group to help sort food monthly (see, it all happens monthly....is monthly enough Lord?)  The older kids help sort, and the younger kids hang out while we mommies and daddies help the food bank sort the good from the the bad, and into food groups.  It's an easy way to bond as a small group and build relationships while serving those in need and set an example of helping others for our kids.  I so worry about them growing up in an affluent "bubble", and don't want them to turn out spoiled or thinking they're entitled to all they have. 

One final note: Anders started walking the week before he turned 1, at my mom's house in MN. Go little monkey!!