a poem

landis, you sing and dance
and lately, you wet your pants.
four weeks of skittle treats
and yet you hold your own
(or not)
your teacher says that when you're twenty
you'll be fine and potty plenty.
and so your undies to the shelf must go.
(for now)
i guess if it means you're still my baby, i'm happy.

We Celebrate Half-Birthdays...

It's hard for this Mommy to believe that Landis is already 6 months old! And while I didn't throw him a party, I do celebrate it whole-heartedly! So, let's just get a little low-down of what this last half- a- year has looked like for our little guy...

He sleeps...(I don't know one

person who doesn't feel this

delight when a baby is asleep

on your shoulder, do you?)

He gets a tooth and cries

(if only I could look so

cute when I cry!)

He eats...they always have

this face at first, don't they?

He has tummy time...(because

every "good" Mommy insists

on this, right?)

(notice the cute quilt made

by Gran)

He still has "snuggle with

Mommy in her bed" time, but

we're working on that!

And he has "just plain

cute time" (combined with

sitting up time)

It's so nice to have a boy around the house!

The Traveling Sweater

Last weekend, Landis and I traveled with Luke to Washington, D.C., so Luke could attend a conference for work, and so I could rejuvenate (I did this last year with him, and it was wonderful!) We were there during a huge cold blast that seemed to affect much of America, so layering was essential. As I packed for this trip, I came across this cute, white, hooded zip up sweater with pom-poms all over it in Landis' closet. I had forgotten about this treasure, seeing as how in San Antonio we hardly ever need that many layers. I threw it in the suitcase knowing I would use it, and I did. I got to thinking, "Where has this sweater been?"

You see, it originated in Naomi's household (my sister in law and amazing friend), when she bundled up her 3rd child, Selma, during the cold winter months in Spain.

Then, our dearest friend Lory requested the precious sweater for her 3rd hearty little boy, Blake, and he filled it up quite nicely.

Then Lory in all her goodness, sent me a huge tub of darling little boy clothes when she heard my 3rd was a boy, and low and behold, the darling little sweater appeared, and Landis fit in it beautifully!

(see The Jefferson Memorial in the background?)

So now it has traveled the world. I wonder who it will adorn next winter? Maybe our next new niece or nephew, who is coming in August?

*By the way, the beauty of hand-me-downs is their story, and the memory of the child who last wore it...I always think of who the outfit came from when I put it on my child! And I love that!

He Is There

Recently, my mom and I found ourselves out to lunch, just the two of us, with out kids! (thanks to an amazing husband who values his time with his children, and who also understands the sanity it brings me to have a break now and then!)

For as long as I can remember, my mom and I have made it a point to go out to lunch together; it's always been our bonding time..we can enjoy our favorite food together, and then dive into each other's lives with gusto! Admittedly, sometimes when I was younger I dreaded the deeper questions thinking, "what is she going to ask me this time?" But it was always good.

So at a favorite Mexican food place (it's always and only Mexican food), we chatted it up. With lots of topics covered, part of the conversation went somewhat like this...

me: "Landis is sleeping terribly at night. I think we're at the point to let him cry it out. We tried the other night, and it only made me mad at Luke. I don't know why, but when Landis is screaming in his bed, I get mad at Luke...."

mom: "May I offer a suggestion..."

me: "sure.." and so on...

more kid talk, Julia's funny, Amaleah's lovely, etc...

mom: "So, how are you?" (which means, "How is your walk with the Lord?")

me: "Well, I've had like 3 quiet times since Landis has been born. I've tried to keep my Bible open during nursings, but it just doesn't always work. I feel really distant from God. You know, it's like when you haven't talked to a friend in a long time, it takes a while to warm up again, and you just feel really distant."

mom: "But He is still there, Gab, you know that. He's not distant. He's there, believe the truth."

me: "I know...I know...thanks."

Something about that conversation has stayed with me...it was my mom's simple words that just encouraged me. She didn't call me out for not having a quiet time, she reminded me of the truth, and helped me to resist the temptation to start feeling like God wasn't there. And it worked. It brought me back to the truth. My mom is good at that, and I'm so thankful for that.

Breaking the Rules

Recently I was thinking about our life with 3 children, and I started to think about all the things we have done differently with this little darling boy, and it made me laugh. Pretty much, we're breaking every rule out there, but I'm so less stressed out! For one thing, Landis is taking a nap in his swing as we speak...and he does this almost all day for naps! I would have neverrrrr done that with my girls. In fact, when Julia started to fall asleep in the swing I'd wisk her out of there soo fast and make sure she stayed awake for her whole wake time, and then put her in her bed to cry it out (which she faithfully did for at least 30 minutes!) Next, I have about 6 pacifiers laying all over the house...my girls weren't big fans of them, and now they both are finger suckers, and Landis takes a paci, so I make sure there's one with in reach in every room! Now this is not so much a rule-breaking, just a difference. He's still sleeping in our room, he still nurses about every 2 hours during the day, with the occasional 3 hours thrown in there. And, we hardly ever lay him down awake, which will give my mom a heart attack as soon as she reads this (sorry mom!)...

All this to say, we are surviving, and so is he! In the past I really followed the book with everything, and worked hard, with sweat and tears, and getting my girls to take their naps in their beds at a very early age, and had to listen to screams for a very long time, and it did stress me out. And even though I still definitely believe in all that jazz, it just hasn't fit into our lives yet, and I've realized that it's okay. And kind of nice. I think I'm enjoying this baby so much more because it's not making me mad that he's not doing what I want. I've realized that this time around he really has to do what fits best into our family; I can't spend all my time right now training a wee baby.

So, the lesson here is this: enjoy your newborn, enjoy the snuggles, enjoy the quiet when they fall asleep in their swing, and remember that this won't last forever, they will sleep in their bed eventually, and you will miss these days eventually...