I asked myself and the Lord this question today as I sobbed while taking a shower at 1:30pm. That was the earliest I could get myself cleaned up since Mark was at Upward Basketball all day (he is in charge of it at our church) and all three girls were at home with me today. By 1:30pm today, I was emotionally worn out from trying to keep my kids from tearing the house apart. Times can be so challenging with three small girls, although I’m very thankful for my family.
Victoria is the least of my worries these days. She is coming out in her personality and is so pleasant to be around. The only thing she does that stresses me out is that she spits at me when I try to feed her spoonfuls of food. That gets quite aggravating. I just do the best I can and pray that she gets what she needs from nursing and her juices. Other than that, she is a joy!
Oh, Elyssa and Natalie! They are a challenge at every turn it seems. They play really well together at times, but then they fight quite a bit other times. That grates on my nerves, as you can imagine. There are a few too many hormones in our house and I’m starting to really tell it now! They both have very different personalities but when they behave, it’s fun to see what cute little girls they are becoming.
Elyssa is really starting to become more emotional and sensitive. I’ve tried not to laugh when she gets so upset about the silliest things. I guess I was that way once before (I probably still am!). There is quite the dramatic flare to this little girl. I believe she could be a good actress one day!
Natalie has such a funny personality. However, she is now in her “terrible 2’s” and she has begun to rebel against authority some. I’ve had to be more assertive with her when she disobeys or starts to throw a tantrum. She is a little quicker to straighten up than Elyssa, so I’m thankful for that. I think Natalie will be the “ham” of the family. She is a jokester, for sure. She is always singing and acting funny. I think her middle name will really describe her as she grows! Her middle name is “Joy.”
After reviewing how thankful I am, I’m left with a string of questions. Do you ever feel tired of disciplining? Tired of being stern all day long so your kids behave in your home? I feel so many times that I never get to just be “me.” I can’t just let my guard down and enjoy my surroundings. If I do let my guard down, my surroundings get pounced upon by my two oldest kids!
I find myself yearning for a few years down the road when my kids are older. I’m praying by that point, they will have calmed down and started behaving better. I would love to have a much less dramatic home and just enjoy being around each other instead of my constantly having to yell, “No ma’am!” or “Stop it!” or “Put that down!” or “Get off of that couch arm!” … and the list goes on!
All day today Natalie kept asking to go to the potty. She didn’t want to sit on the training potty. No! She wanted to sit on the BIG potty! For those of you who don’t know her, she has only gone “potty” on the training potty a few times. So, she is still in diapers and I have been hoping that she would be ready to be out of them soon. Today when she kept asking to go potty, I thought … “This could be it! Maybe we are close to having her out of diapers!” Well, I kinda think she was playing more than anything else, unfortunately. I never saw her “do” anything in the potty. She would sit on it for a minute, get up, close the lid, then open the lid and sit back down. However, I think for her to want to be on it is good. Maybe soon we will be able to have another child out of diapers! Wouldn’t that be bliss!!
In the midst of having a kidney stone to deal with last week, there was some sunshine in my week. Our church started recording its second CD with Integrity Music and I was blessed to be able to sing on it. After my kidney stone attack on Wednesday morning, I recuperated enough to attend the recording session held at our church that night from 6-10pm. We had a huge mass choir that night and the recording went very well.
I prayed that the rest of the week I would be able to attend the ensemble recording sessions that I had been asked to be a part of. Thankfully, my body cooperated! So, I was busy recording Thursday night, Friday night and some of Saturday. While I was at Integrity on Saturday, we decided to also record my solo on a song called “We Cry Out.” That went very well and I’m excited to hear the final product.
Make sure that you go to your stores in May and buy a copy of the CD!!! It will be titled God Hears. I think it will be an awesome album and you’ll be glad you invested in it. There will also be companion products available for churches that wish to purchase them. We are praying that many will be brought into God’s presence through this special recording!
Here is a funny video that I took while we were in the studio. I thought you might get a laugh from it as I did!
PS – If you would like to purchase a copy of our church’s first CD with Integrity Music, contact our church directly at http://www.northmobile.org/. The name of the CD is called Believe. I sing a solo on the title cut and was also blessed to sing background vocals on that CD, as well.
Well, for those of you wondering … my stone has NOT passed yet. I had another “attack” yesterday morning. I was miserable and had to take a pain pill. It took about an hour for me to have any relief at all. I just laid on the bed and moaned while Mark tried to keep all the girls from bothering me. Elyssa was at school so she didn’t have to hear her momma in such pain. Natalie probably wondered what in the world was wrong with me, but she didn’t seem too worried about my condition. Mark came in and checked on me every few minutes. He would try to make jokes to lighten the mood, but I wasn’t a very good audience.
I got in to see a Urologist yesterday afternoon and he let me know that my stone was still very close to entering my bladder. It is just a matter of time. He also informed me that I have another kidney stone in my left kidney. PLUS, I have a few in my right kidney. Oh, Lordy! I’m going to have to go through this multiple times? So, thankfully, they are all very small. No surgery will be needed, but unfortunately, I just have to wait these suckers out. In the meantime, I covet your prayers on the passage of my current stone.
May it’s passage be quick and painless!
PS – For those of you wondering … kidney stones are as painful to me as labor. However, with labor, you at least have a few minutes to recover in-between contractions. My experience with kidney stones has been that of constant, stabbing pain around my left kidney. It is a terrible pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone!
