In the last 31 days I have:
1. Welcomed a BEAUTIFUL baby boy, William David Declercq, into the world :)
2. Packed up my house, toddler, newborn, and husband and moved 6 hours north to MICHIGAN! Finally!
3. Submitted an application to become a Bradley Method instructor
4. Successful caught Evelyn's first poop in her big girl potty (TMI? whoops)
Evelyn, by the way, absolutely loves her new baby :)
5. Ate way too much chocolate
6. Biked over 100 miles
7. Changed approximately 288 diapers (and then washed them too mind you.. eek!)
...there's plenty more but I think that's enough to please the 6 people who actually care to read this :)
The real purpose of this post, though, is about something I learned this January.
I think any parent will agree that welcoming a new baby into the world, whether it's your first, your second, your third, or your tenth, is an incredibly challenging, humbling, and life-altering event.
There are days when I just look at Will and think, how blessed am I to have such a perfect, healthy and thriving baby? Or I'll watch Evelyn sprint back and forth for absolutely no reason whatsoever just screaming and laughing with such JOY. God has given us everything we need in life and MORE. We have a home, health, income, family, church... we have it all. How could I ever complain?
But there are also the days where I go to bed at 1 o'clock after feeding Will for 2 hours straight and as soon as my head hits the pillow... Evelyn screams for me. And we're up until 3 watching a movie and then Will's ready to eat again. So then the next morning I drink way too many cups of coffee and get a bill for a $400 X-Ray we thought was covered by insurance, and then a transmission sensor needs to be replaced on our car, and I have 6 loads of laundry that need to be folded. How the heck am I supposed to keep up?
And then there's Evelyn again a cross the room. Hiding under the laundry basket. Giggling.
Life has so many ups and downs. Positives and negatives. Good and bad.
We can write a check, not even blink and pay our bills. We can sleep in on Saturday and have grandma and grandpa willingly take them for a few hours if need be. And what wrong with ODing on coffee or knowing every single line to the movie Monsters Inc???
I think it's what you focus on that you get more of.
God gives us challenges for a reason. I learned that somedays you just have to be lazy. Eat a bowl of ice cream. Just make sure the kids are fed and clean.
And then other days you need to be thankful for the ability to do the things like pay bills, clean the bathroom, or fold the laundry. God didn't create you to be lazy.
But most importantly, EVERY day you need to remember to thank Him. Thank Him for the challenges. Thank Him for the dirty diapers (okay, maybe not..), and Thank Him for all the reminders that we truly are blessed with everything that we need.
