Our Happy Girl

Charlotte modeling the new outfit given to her by Raleigh and Mindy. Perfect fit!

The Days of Discipline

[Victoria] We're getting Charlotte on a new schedule and it's amazing how well it's working for her, and for us. We've been blessed to have a baby that has slept through the night about eight to nine hours since she was around 6-7 weeks old. Now at twelve weeks this week she's started sleeping 10-11 hours a night. It's an incredible thing as a parent to be able to put her down for the night at 8pm after a 7:30am feeding and get to sleep until she wakes up at 7am. AMAZING!! I'm not sure if it's because we allow her to "cry it out" during naps - which she still gets four of each day - and at bedtime, or if we just have a really good sleeper on our hands, but I'll count my blessings regardless.

Although, somehow even though it's been like this for weeks now, the times she cries before nap time and bedtime (rarely even ten minutes) are getting more difficult for me. I would think that I would get more used to it and even immune to it after time. But, I guess I expected it to slow down or stop all together and now that it hasn't, I think something might be wrong with the equation. When in reality, that's just the life of an baby. The alternative would be to rock her to sleep each time she goes down and to never let her fuss or cry for anything, but then that would be a life for me of getting absolutely nothing done and feeling ruled by my little one. My belief is that we are supposed to lovingly discipline our children and teach them with godly leadership, and that teaching them that they aren't the center of the universe is the start of this process. After just about every nap and each morning she wakes up with a huge smile on her face and is rarely fussy during the day until it's mealtime, so I'm fairly sure we have a pretty well adjusted baby who know's she's loved and well cared for. But, it's still difficult each time to hear her laying there in her crib crying, even if it is only for a brief 5-10 minute period.

I wonder if that's how the Lord feels with us when he finds it necessary to discipline us for our own good. Is it hard for him when we cry out and the discipline feels painful. Knowing the great love he has for his children, I can imagine it is difficult for him like it is with me and Charlotte. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to do - sometimes quite the opposite. In my Bible study recently, our teacher made a comment that "we should not think of love and suffering as incompatible". How very true - for it was by the suffering of Christ in his death and resurrection that brought us the greatest love we could ever know in our salvation. The author of Hebrews talks about godly discipline in Hebrews 12 and how the Lord disciplines those he loves, going on to say in verse 11 that "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." That's my aim for Charlotte, to help produce in her a harvest of righteousness and peace. It never says it's easy for the one who is doing the disciplining, and I can't neglect my duty as a parent to bring her up in this way by backing out when it gets too hard for me. So, I look to the days ahead when there will be no more crying at nap time and bed time and will savor the smiles and coos and lovie cuddles I get with her each day now. And I will continue to look ahead to the day when all the crying everywhere will cease to exist, when our Lord returns and draws all his children back to himself. Revelation 21:1-5.

TWMHTHS #3: Breakfast? Dessert? Breakfast-Dessert?

[Pete] I have been too busy to post a good note on food (The Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach) for a while. So let me update you on a recent enjoyment of mine: Amish Friendship Bread (pdf). If baked correctly it is a solid 2 Run HR: A dish of great merit... but just a little bit better.

Here's the thing. It is the culmination of a 10 day fermentation process. It is best when it is slightly undercooked in one portion of the bread. So far we have yet to master that ability exactly but we're getting closer.

My wife gets tired of the constant fermentation process and need to bake once every 10 days. She feels like a slave to it at times. Understandable. But she can't help from eating it too! So I've made some myself it is so good. If you get a starter from someone and you like it, keep it going. You never know when you'll crave it but don't have the ability to start it up.

We eat through the two loafs of bread pretty quickly. Amish Friendship Bread and coffee (my current favorite) make for a quick and easy start to the day. Heat up the bread slice you want for 15 seconds on high in your microwave and you'll be able to melt some butter on it giving it more flavor. But if not, it is still an easy breakfast.

Smith's don't stop there. We like the stuff à la mode ("in the style"). If the bread is still warm when you scoop the ice cream on it'll steam nicely. Just a good vanilla bean ice cream will do. French vanilla ice cream is too sweet. No more toppings are necessary. You do not want to make it too sweet although I imagine a little dazzle of caramel or some toasted pecans would be good too although it has yet to be tried. I'll update the post if I am able to try it. The toasted pecans are Victoria's idea and I think it would work well. Caramel I'm just not sold on yet. Probably too sweet. Maybe a brandy cream sauce normally used with bread pudding would be a good try too. Regardless it makes for a great breakfast or desert or breakfast-dessert.

Tastes So Good

Charlotte at Two Months and a Couple Weeks: Making Great Postcards

Pleasantville

"The Boss has Arrived" Bib

Hanging with our friends

Yay!

Our little one getting some tummy-time.

The Crying

[Victoria] I think one of the hardest parts of being a stay at home mom is the crying. Crying at nap time mainly. But, since Charlotte gets four naps a day, it ends up being a lot of crying. I know everyone has different perspectives on the whole "cry it out" thing. I believe ours is a bit of a balanced view, but we do allow her to put herself to sleep and if that means crying for ten minutes, we're okay with that. She does great during the day and is very active and playful during her play times, talking and smiling lots. But the crying is tough.

As a mother I'm home all day and its my job to decipher what the cry means. If it's a cry I need to respond to or just a cranky stubborn cry and how to handle it if I do respond. I find myself second guessing my decisions all day and wondering if that decision I made will have any lasting effect on her. As it turns out, if it is a loving decision, the only lasting effect it will have is a baby who knows they are loved and are pretty well adjusted - with the common minor quirks from a slightly neurotic mother.

In the midst of the crying and decision making, I find myself turning to the Lord more and more in prayer and to His Word. I was out for a walk yesterday and was taking that time to pray. I found myself thanking the Lord for Charlotte for a number of reasons, but the biggest one was that she is bringing me closer to the Him. Not because of the warm fuzzyness I get from her coos and smiles that makes me praise him - which, indeed I do. But, because of the hard times that cause me to call out for help to the only One I know can truly help me in my time of need. Because no two children are alike and no one parenting style fits every kid, the only One that knows how to handle my particular challenge perfectly is the One who knows me perfectly. I call out to Him when she cries, I call out to Him when she's not eating well, when I'm afraid my milk will stop coming in, when her schedule is all erratic and she won't sleep well, when I feel like I'm never going to feel normal again or get my prepregnancy body back (not talking weight here, but it seems like EVERYTHING inside is all twisted up and turned around now), when I work through all the relationship changes that take place after one has a child...I just know I can't do any of this without Him. I don't know how anyone can do it without him. We are told in John 10 that he is the good shepherd and those who believe in him are his sheep. He intimately knows, cares for, protects, and lays down his life for his sheep. He knows my challenges and knows me and knows specifically what I need to get through each one and he has never failed me. This is the truth I have to cling throughout my day. The truth I cling to in the midst of the crying.

And That Means It's Nap Time

[Victoria] Charlotte has started "talking" now more and more and I was able to get this one on film. As she gets closer to her nap time, her talking gets more and more animated...she went down for a nap about five minutes after I shot this.

She just had her two month check up this past week and I still can't believe how quickly she's growing. She's still a little one at 9 pounds 4 ounces, but strong and healthy for sure. We picked her name because it was meaningful to me, named after a favorite aunt of mine, but it turned out after she was born we found out her name means petite and feminine. Little did we know she'd match her name in more ways than one.