Thoughts on Three

Milestones.  I missed them.  I have yet to sit down and put Peter's birth story in his journal.  It's here on the blog, but not in his book.  He smiled lots in week 5, but I didn't captured a photo until this week (week 7).  I'm too busy drinking in this babe.  With Cora I had endless hours to look at her and think about her and write about her.  With Judah I had less time, but still more than now.  Now my hours with Peter aren't endless and so I find myself hoarding up the uninterrupted minutes where I can look into his eyes and he can look into mine and I rarely reach for my camera.  Maybe my smartphone...

Peter has crossed out of the newborn phase in terms of sleeping all the time and now is busy with things to look at and wiggles to be had.  Cora and Judah dealt with the chaos of a new baby in their own ways, both acting out and sweet in turn.  They find each other easier and harder to play with as the days roll on.  Frenemies.  They want to share a room together and often I find then both in Judah's crib (which he can probably get out of, but thankfully has not tried hard enough) looking at books and pretending together.  And yet, in the blink of an eye, it becomes a fist fight, or an elbow fight with screeches and screams and someone, often Cora, because Judah is a tank of a child, ends up in tears.

I have to be careful and carve out time for them.  Judah and I rock in the recliner together and sing Michael Jackson's "Rock with You" and have wild conversations about trains and cars and trucks and things that go.  Last night, Matt and I watched him assemble his dinner in an elaborate display and then declare it was a car track and play with it.  We just had to laugh.  Cora and I spend time reading and talking together and finding, oddly, more time for little projects because there is less time for projects.  I can't explain it.  Maybe I am more willing for them both to do messier things because I know how much they love it and want them to find joy in creating something in the midst of a day that is often not about them at all, but just about getting through. 

The house is...well...always in some state of disorder.  Even when we had the luxury of someone over to help me clean it once per week, by the end of the day, we had descended into kid chaos again.  But hey, the toilets were clean!

Matt and I have been on one date since the birth of our third baby and man, do we need to keep that up!  Finding someone to keep all our littles is proving the biggest challenge of all.  It's hard to find someone that we like who is reliable and available and sometimes when we do, something happens that cancels our date anyway.

My mantra is "Roll with it, Baby" and I have that song buzzing in my head when the decibel level gets too much and I am tired.  Sometimes I don't roll with it and yelling ensues, but thankfully these little people are quick to forgive if I am quick to say I am sorry.  Do overs are the best.

So I'll end with this.  Listen, enjoy and roll with it.

Beckon Lovely 12/12/12 - a reply from Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Way, way on back (months last forever around here), I sent a letter out to the internet-o-sphere, (and through the actual post) to Amy Krouse Rosenthal about the film she released on 11/11/11 (and then promptly retracted 5 days later).  A silly thing, a sincere thing, a sorta fangirl thing, a request.  To bring the film back! Pop on over and read it.  I'll wait.

Did you read it?  Well not too many days later I got this!!  A letter from Amy KR! 

Included was a transcript of a TEDx talk she was going to deliver on 12/11/12 entitled 'Beckon Lovely and Save the World'.  Imagine my giddiness!  And yet, I had to keep it on the D.L. so as not to spoil her surprise.

So go on over and give her TEDxTalk a listen.  It's OK.  I'll wait.  I'm patient like that.

And now, it's time.  To make lovely.  To call it into your life, into your relationships, into your heart, into your words.  And what better time than now, in the Advent season, when lovely is all around us?   As we anticipate the coming of the light and the celebration of the coming of the Light of the world, Jesus.

Amy's call to action is to "Make the most of your time here" and I couldn't agree more.  Plant your post-its with me and let's bring on the loveliness!

Here's the lovely that Cora and I made together today, as gifts to bring loveliness to others.

What's your lovely?