JOY IN THIS MOMENT

When Liza was an infant, she would wake up around 2 or 3am and no matter what I did, she would stay awake for a solid two hours. Every night. It was like as soon as the 2 hour mark hit she was fast asleep, but could not fall asleep before that. When she was about 6 months old I started to do some serious research on sleep training and finally realized crying it out was an option and worth a try. It had never occurred to me before, I think partially because I would run into her room at the first sound she made when she was first born, because I didn't want her to wake up Sophia. And then for some reason, I just continued to do that. Well after a few nights of sleep training, I had a baby who became an excellent sleeper. We can lay her down wide awake and she can talk herself to sleep and if she happens to wake up at night, she is able to put herself right back to sleep. She doesn't need a nuk, she doesn't need a bottle, she doesn't need rocked. But, after I got her sleep...

Last night Sophie woke up to a really loud thunderstorm around 3am. Thunderstorms are her biggest fear. And fireworks. Every night before she goes to bed she asks me if there will be any fireworks or thunderstorms that night. And when they happen she quickly becomes hysterical. We are at my parents right now, and I've been sleeping in their newly renovated basement so I had no idea what was happening but quickly heard her sobs on the monitor and ran upstairs. This was probably the most scared I've ever seen her because it was one of those thunderstorms that booms and roars and lights up the sky. So when I got upstairs and looked at my weather app to see that the storm wasn't going to stop anytime soon, I asked if she wanted me to stay and sleep in her bed. Of course she said yes, so I ran back downstairs and got Liza's monitor and cuddled up next to her. She stopped crying immediately and within the minute she was back asleep. Even though it was so loud and bright, beca...

For as long as I can remember my dream was to be a stay-at-home-mom. And then around my freshmen year of high school, I knew I wanted to be a nurse. And now, the Lord is showing me, I am both. And this is my dream come true. Although, lately it often does not seem like I am living my dream when I am up a lot of the night tending to my sick babies, wiping noses all day long, and dealing with constant fussiness. So I'm so thankful to the Lord for this reminder! Last night, Wes and I went for a walk on Purdue's campus and we walked by the nursing building. Such great memories from Purdue and I'm so thankful for my education that I received from there. I've been missing my work as a nurse. I know the Lord called me to it, and I love helping people feel better and serving them when they are sick. But I also know for this season it's so important for me to be home and to focus 100% on building my home and family. So last night, as we sat outside of the nursing building,...

Some nights, Wes gets home from work at crazy hours of the night. It's like I become Jekyll and Hyde- you never know what girl I'll be when he gets home. And I don't like that about myself. I wish I could always wake up and be cheerful and happy but most nights I am stressed about not being able to fall back asleep and the amount of sleep I'm missing by being awake. I wish I could wait up for him, feed him, and sit across the table from him while he told me about work. But this is just not feasible. So I'm working on at least being respectful. The other night I was so beyond tired and just not myself and Wes told me "you are just mean". That really struck me. I never ever want to be a mean person, let alone a mean wife!!! Probably the best book I've ever read on marriage is "Love and Respect" which is based on Ephesians 5:33, "However, each of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. " It ...