Parenting treasures

Last night, this little girl walked into our bedroom in the middle of the night.  I half woke as I saw her standing beside me, reaching out my arms she slid into bed beside me tightly snuggled.  Sometime later I woke up a bit more and we put her back into her bed.  It reminded me of when I was a four year old.

The memory is clear as if it was not that long ago... but I remember waking up in the night, feeling scared I would head off to my parents bedroom.  Relief would always wash over me as I saw my Daddy asleep.. he too would reach for me and just like my daughter, I'd snuggle in next to him knowing I was safe.

What a treasure it is to know that my daughter feels safe to come to Mummy in the night.  I delight in this bond we share and I hope one day to share those night hours snuggled up with any other children God chooses to bless Ben and I with.  After five, I never again turned to my parent in the night for that safety and security, these days come to pass. I deeply treasure this stage of our parenting journey.

This Journey

Since I've started feeling a bit better healthwise Katherine and I have been enjoying spending time exploring outside every day.  Since Spring has come it has been so much nicer then during the freezing winter months.

With Spring, I have also started falling in love with my birthday present. My darling husband bought me a nice SLR camera.  It has been so much fun learning what the symbols and buttons mean on my camera.  Katherine is a beautiful but unwilling victim. She thinks camera's are a joke. :D  So I was thrilled today when I was finally able to get a photo of her smiling and NOT running!

Katherine's funniest line for last month has been "I can't sleep!"  A couple hours after we had put her to sleep, we were getting ready to crash when Katherine walked into our room and announced that she couldn't sleep.  Ben and I couldn't help having a little laugh about that!

Ben and I can hardly believe that in just two months our little girl is officially the big 2 that she keeps talking about.  It's funny.. it feels like she's always been in our lives and yet she is such a little person and it's only been two years. hmmm

This photo leaves me rather meditative.  A picture says a thousand words.. I'll leave you to think about the 1000 words you can see her.. It makes me think of her future and my job in guiding those little feet.
~*~*~*~

Family Matters & Priorities

My family w the grandkids in 2013

Most of my readers are probably aware of the fact that I grew up in a large family... I grew up in a close knit independent family.  Probably  a lot of families have this tendency, but if someone isn't well instead of picking up the phone to call a doctor we call our parents or our family naturopath.  Yes, my oldest sister studied naturopathy and continues to research and study in that field.  We were raised with strong values and often enough strong opinions on our family world view.  The Family World View often impacted the individuals who had wholeheartedly embraced it and were carrying it on.

In 2011 I got married to my Darling. I had been one of the family members who had picked up and carried my family of origin's Family World View.  This FWV included the belief that soy sauce, yeast flakes etc were not to be consumed.  My dearly beloved didn't have the FWV that I carried.  He had an entirely different family world view that he had embraced. Needless to say there were things I did and believed that his family world view didn't agree with.  There is really no need to go into the nitty gritty of the family rule books and the clashes that naturally occurred when Ben and I married.

Ben's immediate family with his new SIL

Ben quickly realized that marriage signified huge changes.  He was wise enough to realize that for marriage to work he and I both needed to let go of our individual family world views/rule books/cultures and forge our own together.  Ben led the way in showing me the importance of ignoring criticism from our families of each other.  It has always amazed me to see him unequivocally back me to his family & friends even when I may or may not have deserved either his support or loyalty. I have never anticipated, expected or asked for his backing.

Today I am thankful for Ben leading the way in showing me the need to keep my focus and my heart where it really mattered... Together we've worked and will continue to work together to work out what matters for us.  Finding our world view together without losing our individuality in our marriage.  I've chosen to let go and embrace us and our life together. It's wonderful.  So wonderful to let go and embrace the reality of what life is and what potential we share as the household of 'Ben and Cherith'.


I'm learning ever so slowly to prioritize my man and my daughter over anyone else. To listen to his advice before I listen to someone else.  To always have his back and defend him as a wife ought to do rather then listen to anyone put him down or criticize his decisions.  Life is a journey and it's ok if my husband is imperfect.  It's ok if he puts soy sauce on his food, it really is no one elses business.

This man and this little girl are and should always be my priority.  What they think of me is more important then what anyone else things.  In our spouse & God alone should we find emotional fulfillment.  I am so thankful for the man that God brought into my life and daughter He has given us.

Our beloved daughter

20 months on...Our daughter :)

Standing in the shower tonight, I chanced to look down and saw that just as I had crossed my foot over my other foot, so my daughter had done standing beside me.  There are no words to describe the feelings that overwhelmed my heart in that moment.

This week our little girl is 20 months old.  Her new favourite word is shower.  She often brings me my shower cap and then leads me to the shower and babbles vigorously point at the shower begging me to take her for one.

Our little girl is a delight to our hearts.  There are no words to describe how much I am enjoying having my little girl.  Although, Ben and I are noticing that she remembers what we do very well.  One day, Ben playfully picked up her hand and patted his face.. This quickly became her favourite thing, but she did it more energetically and seemed more like slapping!  We've had to remind her numbers of times to be gentle with Dad's face.  She hasn't learned how to say 'daddy' but calls him 'DAD!'

Winter in Melbourne has brought us a few frosty white outs as shown in the photo.  A number of mornings have been frosty white and the mud puddles iced over.  I have to admit though, I am looking forward to the warmer months of the year.

Our little girl absolutely loves going to the park.  She giggles her heart out and has to try out everything.

This week when we went up to my sister's, we discovered she had climbed up the gate and was checking out the four donkeys!  Later on she enjoyed another donkey ride, she absolutely loves riding them!

Tonight as I saw how she had imitated the way I was standing I was reminded once again of the truth that little eyes watch, little feet follow... It's so very important what they see.  

Dear Katy Bug

Dear Katy Bug,

Your first words have so surprised your Daddy and I. Your first word naturally was Mama but the next delighted and amused us.  Thank you, you pronounced as Gak u.

Today you are 15 mths old.  This morning to being up with you lots last night I had a sleep in while you spent time with Daddy.  When I finally stumbled out of the bedroom you stood up and said "Mama, where you are?"  Your Daddy and I laughed as we understood you to mean, Mama where were you?

Yesterday when I got you out of the at church you took off to explore and got two metres away and then turned and looked and said 'Mama?'  I replied, "I'm here!" and you raced back to my side, grabbed my skirt the relief was evident in your voice when you said 'here you are!"

It delights me to hear your words and I look forward to understanding even more of your chatter. On Friday I noticed you needed to use the potty and I picked you up to take you and you stood beside the potty saying ka-ka, ka-ka!  your pronounciation of the Croatian word I use to talk to you about poos.  I'm wondering whether you will soon be ready for potty training.

Despite my sleepiness and crankiness today, I love you my little cheeky girl!  You are the delight of my life and I'm so proud of you for learning to sleep in your own bed.  Your night thirstiness?  Together we'll sort that one out as I encourage you to drink more in the day and not depend so much on the milk you plead for in the night hours.

All my love,
Your Mama

Night weaning

Last post I had said I wanted to night wean. Guess what! It's a heap harder then I could have imagined!

Would anyone have suggestions on how gently night wean?

Currently I'm trying to cut down slowly night feeds and offer water instead. 

Welcome

Since realizing that I was addicted to facebook and that I really didn't want to role model that to my daughter i decided to change the way I run my life.  So, instead of fb I'm going to do the odd blog so that I'm using my brain instead of just reading mindless gossip all day!

In the last week I discovered that the reason why our little girl was nursing all night was because she was not getting enough liquids in during the day and that she needed me to blend her grains and legumes.  So... excitingly enough, she is now sleeping for 4 hour stretches and not needing me to resettle her every hour!  I'm really thrilled and now daydreaming about fully night weaning her so that I can have energy and time to do stuff without her following me around all the time!

On that topic, we have moved her bed into her room and turned it into a cute little toddler room.  It's very exciting!

It looks like Miss K is about to bust six teeth.  Her bottom two molars and the side teeth to the centre ones as those haven't come yet. 

Now that Miss K is getting older she is becoming rather helpful in good ways.  Since I give her fresh apple juice with water (1:3) she has learned to put the apple pieces into the Baby Oscar Juicer and push the plunger.  She also helped me today to make the salad and happily throws anything in the bin for me!  She keeps me on my toes with throwing anything in the bin that's on the floor.  Hence I have become a bit more focused on keeping everything as tidy as possible!

 As K has changed into a little girl the reality of the responsibility I now have especially to start training and teaching her has overwhelmed me.  So I decided the first couple things I needed to do was go off facebook (I didn't want to model computer addiction to her) and start trying to get up early to do my devotional time.  We're going to start fully night weaning tonight so hopefully soon I'll be getting enough sleep to be able to get up before her!

~K's Mama