I love having a baby in the house. Samantha is such a joy to look at, and is cute, and cuddly, and the kids are in love with her, too. There is rarely any sign of jealousy. I'm sure my kids have moments of jealousy at times, but it is something we've never really struggled with...ever. When I was pregnant with Logan, people kept telling me that Kaylee was going to be so jealous. Honestly, I refused to really even listen to that. IF it were to be the case, we'd deal with it, but I wasn't going into having a new baby and labeling my older child jealous. It's not the way I roll. I fully beleive words have the abilty to give life or death, and even add to bad behavior (or whatever).
When we had Logan, Kaylee was far from jealous, especailly at home. When we were with her grandparents, if she wanted their attention, she would ask for Logan to be put somewhere (like with another person) and then go on with what she wanted. At home, she just understood he needed attention, and all was good.
Fastforward time...When I was pregnant with Samantha, I was told Logan would be jealous. (Hmmm, this is beginning to sound familiar.) I would recount how they said the same thing with Kaylee and how it was not how it happened. Yeah...but Logan is different. Oh really? Again, I refused to hear it.
So how jealous is Logan? So jealous that he frequently comes up while I'm feeding her and he kisses her head, or comments on how cute she is, or brings her his trains to introduce her to Sodor and all inahbitants thereof. Yeah, really jealous. *wink, smirk*
Samantha is really starting to smile, and boy, it just steals my heart. I'm not all that excited she stays up late...early...late...whatever you want to call it. We're usually up until 1 or 2am. Sometimes she has a really hard night, and we see numbers like 3 and 4. Yikes! As hard as it is, and I do get frustrated sometimes, but I'm trying to see past the situation to the future. She is our last baby. I absolutely love the baby stage...love, love, love it. So I'm trying to just soak up those moments with her, savoring every feel of her because I know all too well these days will fly by.
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Lately I have been in super kicked up cleaning and organizing mode. Truth be told, I sort of live in that mode, but recently it has been even more. No, I'm certainly not pregnant and nesting. Certainly. But with 3 kids, 2 dogs, my job, and all else, for my sanity I have decided the house must stay clean and organized (you know, as much as is reasonable with 3 kids and 2 dogs). Kaylee got a new organizer for her room, which she is really excited about. It helps her help me keep her room clean. Logan has bins that his cars, trucks, trains, etc fit in, and he occasionally does a decent job of helping pick up. Sam also has bins. You'd think her toys would stay picked up since she can barely even hold onto something, but oddly enough, I end up picking them up everyday as well.
Our house wasn't like in shambles before I went on this kick, but if we were having people over, it would normally take a while of cleaning to get ready. Honestly, it was usually a stressful time. And if someone would stop by unannounced, I'd normally be embarassed and spend half the time apologizing for the mess.
I'm done with that. It's more than just wanting things to look nice. This past year, our pastor has really been focusing on encouraging us to serve where we can, how we can, with what we can. It would be easy for us to say, "Well, we have a small house. The kids are little. We don't have enough money." The list could go on, but really, if ministering to someone means inviting them over for a meal, we can do that. If it means having another mom friend and their kids over, we can do that.
Honestly, I feel the more we have opened ourselves up to seeing opportunities to bless, the more the blessings have poured on. Multiplied. Yes, I fully understand this is biblical. I know it's the way God does stuff. But it's awesome to see it playing out. Often, I find my eyes tearing (or pouring waterfalls, whatever) at God's incredible blessings in our lives.
So...coming back to my point, I want my house to be a place where we can minister in whatever ways we feel called, whenever we feel called. A clean house also ministers and blesses me. ;)
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As I close...some pictures:
1 comment:
I feel the same way about a clean house. Especially that it blesses me and helps me feel more peaceful, and thus closer to God. My house definitely looks like there are 5 kids living in it. There are toys in every room, but it's not disgusting. The dishes are done, the floor is swept, the toys get cleaned up and dragged back out many times a day. . .It's clean enough that I'm not embarrassed about it!
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