Perfect Timing...

I am a planner.  I've always been bad about trying to manage things in my life, according to when I think the timing is best, instead of letting God have control...particularly when it comes to my children.  I was a teacher at the time when Matthew and I first decided we were ready to have kids.  So of course, I tried to plan for the perfect timing of when our first child should be born.  And if you are a teacher, you know that the perfect time lies somewhere conveniently between late March and summer time.  I knew I wanted to quit teaching to stay home, and of course I just knew I would become pregnant right away, so obviously I knew when the best timing would be for me.  However God had a different plan.  It didn't happen right away--it took the average 6 to 9 month span that the doctor tells you about.  This placed the birth of Mason in mid-December...right smack in the middle of the school year!  God worked things out though.  I was able to resign at that time without incident, and there was a teacher who stepped in and took over my class that following semester, and everything worked out fine. 

Then after some time, we were ready for baby #2.  My new and improved plan was that this time it would now take us that "average 6 to 9 month span that the doctor tells you about", so of course we waited for Mason to be just the right age for our kids to have that perfect 2.5 to 3 year age span.  But again God had a different plan.  Little did we know that this time it would take us more than a year-and-a-half of waiting, in addition to a small amount of medical intervention, before I could become pregnant with Ellie.  And Mason was nearly 4 years old by the time she was born.  But God worked it out again.  Because Mason was older, he was a great helper, and he really had an understanding of this new little sister he was about to have.  Watching his excitement was priceless.

So now I'm at a point where I'm again making my plans about a future baby #3.  But of course, it just seems like I was pregnant with Ellie not too long ago, and she is still my little baby in my eyes.  And with Mason going off to school in the fall, I really want to have some time to devote just to Ellie, as well as have some time to do some volunteering in Mason's classroom.  But you know, this won't be a problem because we now know it takes us "more than a year-and-a-half of waiting, in addition to a small amount of medical intervention", to become pregnant.  So I should have plenty of time to use toward these other important things while we wait on baby #3, right?  Well apparently God is showing us His sense of humor through life's little ironies, because after only one month of not even really trying, we have news to share that Mason and Ellie will have a little brother/sister later this year, and it appears as though Ellie might even be sharing her birthday, as the baby is due to be born at the end of October...right at the time of Ellie's 2nd birthday. 

So now as I worry about losing some precious alone time with Ellie, as I worry about how she will adjust to not being the baby anymore, and as I worry about how Mason's transition to kindergarten will go with another big adjustment for him and for our family, I am reminded of how God's timing is always perfect.  It certainly was with both Mason and Ellie.  They wouldn't be who they are if they were born at any other time, and I so much love who they are.  And so I'm confident His timing for this child is perfect too, as He continues to show me that He is in control of perfect timing...not me.

Love...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Stuck!...

Ellie enjoys being in tight spaces. She has recently learned to climb up onto the couch in order to hurdle over the back of the couch, and then lower herself down into the small space between it and the wall.  She especially likes it here since there are only about 4 inches between the couch and the wall.  The only downside is that she hasn't figured out a way to pull herself back up.  We were enjoying a snack on the couch this afternoon, when I left her to go into the kitchen for a moment.  After a few seconds I heard her crying and came back to find her like this:

Of course, I immediately rescue her (and when I say 'immediately', I mean after I first stop to snap a few pictures of her predicament).  But what do you think she does next after I get her out?  That's right...she turns around and gets behind the couch again:

And...we're back where we started...

Fifteen Months...

This week, Ellie will turn fifteen months old.  I love her silliness, mischievousness, and sweetness all in one! 

Stuffed Animal Stories...

Today I decided to get caught up on a chore that I have neglected for quite some time...washing all of our sheets!  As I was putting Mason's clean sheets back on his bed, I realized just how much extra junk sentimental treasures that he sleeps with at night.  I found two pillows, 12 stuffed animals lining one side of his bed (his "buddies" as he calls them), and 6 blankets (not counting his sheets and comforter) that he keeps lined up and stacked on top of each other on the other side of the bed.  When I asked him if he needed to sleep with all of these things, he said "Of course!"  Oh well. 

Speaking of stuffed animals, for the last several days, after Ellie wakes up from her naps, I've come in her room on several occasions to find that she has made her baby bed into some sort of animal jail between the rail and the wall.   I guess this is what happens when a girl gets bored waiting for Momma to come get her out of bed.

This Is How We Roll...

Ellie got this doll stroller for Christmas, and so far the kids have enjoyed it more for themselves than they have for dolls and animals.  Ellie and Brennan (one of the boys I babysit) constantly love to climb up into it, and Mason loves to push Ellie around in it.  Here are some pictures of them rolling each other around in the stroller...and also Mason's dump truck!

Settling Her Down...

When Mason gets tired he likes to twirl his fingers through his hair or mine...he always has.  But now that Ellie's hair is getting a little longer, he's discovered that she also likes to have her hair twirled.  I came into the living room today to find him holding her in his lap on the couch, twirling her hair in his fingers.  I asked him what he was doing, and he sweetly said, "I'm settling her down before her nap." 

She was so relaxed, she turned into a little pile of mush, and her feet were dangling off the couch like a limp rag.  She loves her big brother!