A Whole New Thang!

WARNING: This is a long post, with no pictures, hope you have some time. It even has chapter headings.

Gangsta'
So my husband had to laugh at me yesterday because apparently I've picked up some gangsta' slang, and he doesn't think it really suits me. I don't know what he's talking about. I was certain that I was really pulling off the whole gangsta'-from-the-ghetto thing pretty well. Maybe not.

Props
My husband laughed when I said, "I had to give this mom in church props...". Anyway, besides my new habit of using ghetto slang, I really did have to give a thumbs up to this mom who was in front of us in church yesterday. She has three kids, girls aged 6 and 2, and a son who is 4. Her son was getting restless half way through the message, and was starting to stir up trouble with his two sisters. It escalated until the point where people in the near vicinity were doing the disgruntled turn and glare. At that point, the mom (who is also pregnant with No.4) picked up her son, put him on her lap and started to give him a back massage. He settled down quickly, and she continued to give him a massage until the service was over. He didn't make another peep, and the two girls coloured quietly without disturbance. I had to say to myself, "Smart move lady!". I've been hearing more and more about infant/toddler massage, and here was evidence that it can also be used to settle a restless child, quietly! If you think about how a back massage relaxes your own body, it certainly makes sense that you could use it to relax a child. Of course, the child will have to be one that will sit and enjoy the back massage, and it may not be fool proof, but hey - worth a try, don't you think? I'm definately going to remember that.

New Baby
I was totally THRILLED that Erik, Amber, Hailey and JAYDA were also in church on Sunday! I don't know what it is about Jayda, but every time I've seen a picture of her on Amber's blog I have been moved to tears. It was no different seeing her in real life in church yesterday. I guess maybe I just think it's so special that Amber, my friend since... well, almost since we were born, now has two daughters, sisters. I think it also just seemed like such a long wait for this little one, now that she is here and just so perfect... well, just another example of God's amazing miracle of life. Even Ryan said that she really is perfect. She doesn't have that "newborn" look to her, she is already so beautiful.

Exhaustion
This past week was basically one of the worst I've had in a long time. James just wasn't sleeping or napping regularly, and I was absolutely exhausted. In fact, I was tell-husband-to-pack-bags-and-leave exhausted. Yes, at one point during the middle of the night when James was crying I actually told my husband that he could pack his bags in the morning and leave. How bad is THAT?! I did apologize later, because I knew I was speaking out of anger, frustration and pure lack of sleep. I'm so thankful that my husband has thick skin in situations like that. He did forgive me, and we are still together. (wink, wink) Some nights like that I just lose all control over my tongue, and I lash out at anything within hearing range - because I certainly can't lash out at James. The word exhausted has a whole new meaning to me now. The books are sure right when they say you won't know exhaustion until you are a parent.

New Scheduling
The worst night was Friday, when James was up every hour from 8:30pm until 2:30am. When he finally fell asleep, he woke up at 6:30am, and didn't nap more than an hour for the rest of the day. (insert scream and hair-pulling here) I was flipping out! What was going on? I prayed, and prayed just for enough energy to pull me through. Saturday evening we went to a local restaurant for supper with Ryan's parents. Due to the rain, and the fact that it was buffet night, the place was packed and we had to wait a long time for food. I was getting nervous about how James would handle it. At 7:00pm the place had pretty much cleared out, and I was walked around with James resting on my shoulder. He was out like a light by about 7:15, and stayed asleep while we put him in his carseat and took him home. When we got home, even though he was due to eat, we just put him in his room in his carseat. He slept until 10:30pm, and seeing as we were still awake, it didn't bother us one bit to go and feed him as usual and then put him in his crib. He slept until 3:00am and I went in to feed him again. He then slept until 7:00am, but stayed happy in his crib until 7:30am! WOW! We were stoked. He then napped in the morning before church from 9:00am to 10:00am (we had to wake him to get ready for church). He then napped from 1:00pm - 3:00pm. He was happy and content all evening, and we decided we would put him to bed last night at 7:30pm again. This is an hour earlier than usual. He went down fine, although he woke up at 8:30 and complained for some reason, so I had to do the pick up/put down thing. It worked the first try. Then last night was much more like his usual pattern, the one that we liked! He was up at 11:30, got fed, up at 3:30 and got fed and then up at around 6:30 - but happy to be in his crib until about 7:00. All in all, I think this new schedule is going to work out fine. Of course, I'm not crossing my fingers on this yet - you just never know, tonight may be a whole new story!

Encouraging Words
Even though James went down fine last night, I still broke down (still tired I think) after he was asleep. Somedays I just wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I wonder if he will turn out okay, and if he is truly happy. My husband did the perfect thing for me at that point. He just wrapped me in his arms, and told me how great a mom I was, and that he loved me and that James loves me. He told me how much he appreciates all I do, and he told me that it is evident by looking at James that he well taken care of, healthy, and content. It felt so great to be told that from my husband. So often I feel like no one notices how hard I work to try and be a good mom, so when it does finally get mentioned it renews my strength and my will to go on like nothing else could.

Bible Reading
Our Bible Study group is taking the book "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer. We are really enjoying it a lot. The book has challenged me to think about being more knowledeable of the Word. I decided it was time to read through my Bible in a year. There is a schedule for that in the back of my Bible, so I have been doing that for about a week now. I currently have three days of catch-up reading to do, and I should be doing that NOW instead of blogging - but hopefully I will do it right after this. It already makes me feel better knowing that I am reading the Word daily, and filling my mind with it. I would highly encourage you to do the same thing. It feels so good. The idea is that by knowing the Word, you can use it to protect yourself from lies that the devil may try to tell you. The devil has been trying to convince me that I am not a good mother, and a terrible wife and friend, so I am going to surround myself with the Word, and watch as the devil flees from it.

Conclusion
Well, if you made it this far, I commend you! I guess I had a lot on my mind this weekend, and I just had to get it all out. I hope you have a blessed week!