Beautiful on the Inside

In the past few months, Nate and I have started using new terminology with the girls--beautiful on the inside and beautiful on the outside. We really believe that it's important for the girls to know that we think they are beautiful both on the outside and on the inside.

Believe me, we see behavior that's beautiful on the inside AND behavior that's not so beautiful on the inside. But yesterday, we had one of those parent moments that just made us so appreciate the little girl God made Jenna to be.

We were at her open house at school last night and her teacher came right up to us and complimented us on how wonderful Jenna was and how much of a help she is in the classroom. Being a teacher, I know that it's easy to say these things to parents, especially at open house. But then she went on to tell us how Jenna has become such an important friend to a little girl in her class who has Down Syndrome. She described how Jenna helps tie her shoes, reads to her, and helps her with her artwork. She talked about how wonderful it has been to see Jenna develop a real friendship with this little girl and said, "at this age, you can't teach that."

Jenna's teacher was so right. I've always known that Jenna has a soft heart and an unusual compassion for people with physical disabilities, but at that moment, I just thought about how special God has made her. God has made her beautiful on the inside and this is just one manifestation of that beauty.

Am I proud of her? Yes. But I have to give God all the glory on this one. Her loving, compassionate heart could have only come from Him. Beautiful on the inside:)

I 've Got the 30!

There are a ton of kids on our street, and there is a regular gathering of families outside every night. The kids ride their bikes and the parents stand around and talk. We are relatively new to this neighborhood, and the more time we are here, the more I love where God has placed us.

Tonight, I was standing with one of my neighbors when one of the others came up (who happens to be the grandpa type of the street). He said, "I got 20, what did you get?" The other neighbor said, "I got the 30!"

I knew exactly what they were talking about . . . Kohl's coupons! Kohl's sends out 15%, 20% or 30% coupons out to their credit card holders every few months. I usually get the 15% or the 20%, but man, when I get that 30% I stock up! It's so exciting to get that 30% off Kohl's coupon.

So here in our neighborhood, they bank on one of them getting the 30% coupon and take turns using it in the allotted time. They were so impressed that I knew what they were talking about right off the bat, that they let me get in on the 30% off goodness:) I think my day is Thursday to use it:)

I think I'm going to like it here!

Sleep Wars

One of the hardest times when the girls were infants was teaching them how to sleep. I remember coming to the realization that it wasn't working so well anymore to nurse them to sleep or rock them to sleep, and their time in our bed needed to come to an end. I've never been one to love the co-sleeping thing. I realize that it works for other people, but I just don't sleep when a child is in my bed.

I've been at wits end with Jacob over the past week. He's been fussy during the day and incredibly restless in the early part of the morning--4am-7am. So for the past few nights, I've been up at 3:30am and 4:30am working on getting this kid to sleep. Nothing seemed to be working . . . not nursing, not sleeping in our bed, not even the carseat, which he's come to love to sleep in. So last night I decided that it was time to do sleep battle with Jacob.

I've come to realize that his fussiness and irritability in the early morning is because he's not getting enough good sleep on a regular schedule, which is due to his inability to calm himself down or be calmed by me anymore. I'm a huge believer in eating a sleeping on a schedule and that just hasn't happened yet with Jacob.

Just so you know . . . after last night's sleep war the score is Mommy 1, Jacob 0. Yes, I was up at 3:30, but I got him to sleep in his crib, even if it took an hour and a half. I finally figured out what works---swaddling him. How could I not have thought of this before? We quit swaddling him after the first few weeks because he didn't seem to need it, but we're back to it and it worked like a charm. A tight swaddle and a kiki (pacifier to the rest of you) is all he needed and he was asleep in 15 seconds.

Now to work on a good schedule . . . this sleep thing is a hard thing to deal with as a parent, but I am looking forward to when he can put himself to sleep---in the crib!