day tripper

Today were had a visitor that hasn’t been in our home for a while.

The afternoon nap.

Oh how I’ve missed the afternoon nap!

Ruby has been really grumpy around tea time for the last couple days and so I thought she might need some catch-up sleep. she didn’t need to be asked twice.

That afternoon-nap hour is magical. Somehow you can get more done in that hour than you can do in a whole day with a little one running arround and leaving a trail of chaos in their wake.

I’d love the afternoon nap to hang aorund for a while. I’d get involved and catch 40 winks myself. I think those on the continent have got it right with the siestas.

Sadly the afternoon nap was only a day tripper. The consequences of an extended stay would involve long term hyperactivity at bed time. And that my friends is not an option. So we bade farewell to the afternoon nap and saw him on his way before we got used to having him around. He’ll probably pop back at some point. But only as a day tripper.

doing nothing and thinking too much!

So I’ve been housebound for four days with some stupid virus that has made my body hurt. There’s been a lot of time of doing nothing. A lot of nothing. Of course when you’re not busy doing everything and anything, you get the space to think. And reflect. And dream. I spent an hours looking ikea.com decorating my house in my head.

I missed Chloe’s first sports day. Uh.

Thats her on the right. My baby can run!

And for another first, She’s on her first school trip to the zoo today. Which means her first coach ride. I hope hope she’s not sick.

All these ‘firsts’ got me thinking of how fast she’s growing. How fast both my girls are growing. I tease chloe sometimes with a mock cross voice saying that she’s supposed to stop growing up so quick. Then she tells me that I make her feel bad for growing so I then I stop. I call Ruby ‘Baby’ and she reminds me she’s ‘Ruby Lizabef stuuuuuad’. I stand corrected on both accounts.

The fact is they’re not babies anymore. Man alive, ruby’s not even a toddler anymore.

You know your baby is not a baby anymore when:

1. You realise you havn’t been to Mothercare in a long time.
2. You fall into bed at the end of the day without that dread of the night ahead.
3. You don’t flinch when your child is up to the eyes in mud when you know you’d once have freaked if anything unsterilised was within 5 feet of your little darling.
4. It takes you less than 5 hours to leave the house.
5. You’re swapping baby furniture for full-on single beds.
6. At the dinner table your child tells you they have a boyfriend (or girlfriend). And then you gently tell them they don’t.
7. You get the awkward questions!!

fathers.

A shout out to my dad on father’s day: I love you, I wish I was closer today so I could come by and give you a hug.

A shout out to my dad’s dad on father’s day: I love you grandad. I hope you’re feeling better soon. I’m praying that you have peace for tomorrow and that the doctors have some good old common sense!

A shout out to my babies’ father: I love you. Thankyou for giving your time to the girls. Thankyou for monkeying around with them. Thankyou for Tommy the Turtle.

I have a love-hate relationship with fathers day. I love it because it’s good to honour good parenting. But what about when there’s not so good parenting? What about when there’s no father around to do the parenting? Where does father’s day leave that person? That’s where the hate part of the relationship comes in. It’s a good day for some, and a really painful day for so many others.

Whatever experience you have of fathers, there is a Father that loves beyond our understanding.

For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17

fickle.

I remember being a kid and one of my friends mum’s saying that it was a girls’ right to be fickle. I was mortified because I thought fickle meant fake, but I was wrong.

fick·le/ˈfikəl/
Adjective: Changing frequently, esp. as regards one’s loyalties, interests, or affection.

I’m less mortified now. Possibly because I am only too aware of my fickleness. Not with all things I hasten to add. I havn’t changed my loyalty, interest or affection from my husband in the nine years we’ve been together. Nor have I strayed from Home and Away or pepperoni pizza as staple favourites since childhood. However, I do like to shake things up now and again. You know what they say – “a change is as good as a rest”. Though I’m not sure who they are…I do find that it to be true. My poor husband often comes home to find one of our rooms mid-way to being completely moved around. In a word: Chaos.

So now is the time to confess – for those who don’t know me – that this is my third blog. Third. To see my first and second blogs http://www.heather.steward.wordpress.com and http://www.alifethatlaughs.wordpress.com, you can find them on my blogroll to your right.

This new blog marks a new road my family are embarking on. As of last week The husband and I took on the role of Children and Youth Directors of our church. Full story to come soon. Soon, but not now.

Walking down this new road is going to make a full life a lot fuller. Fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.