Scripture Memory in 2011--Partnering to Remember

As Christmas ends, we often turn our thoughts toward the New Year, and how we would like to do things differently or better. Call them goals or resolutions, many of us hope to improve ourselves in some way in the new year.

My husband and I do not often make New Year's Resolutions, but this year we are both working towards a goal of memorizing the book of Philippians. A friend of ours, Tim Brister, has put together a 16 week plan that has us completing the memorization by Easter week. You can read all about it here: Partnering to Remember--the 2011 Philippians Memory Moleskine. If you are interested in participating, it is easy to download the PDF and set up your little memory verse notebook. Tim helps with the set-up of a memory moleskine.

I have referenced this before, and Tim makes use of it as well, but my pastor Andy Davis's booklet on Extended Memorization of Scripture is very helpful for projects like this! Our church is encouraging its members to take part in this memorization 'project', and Nathan and I hope to encourage our small group and Sunday School class to participate as well. Can you imagine what a blessing will come from a group of believers partnering together to memorize God's word? I am very excited about it.

This may seem like a daunting prospect, especially for me since I am expecting a baby any day now. However, though I may not have time for in-depth Bible Study during the early (sleep deprived) newborn days, I have 6-8 times a day that I will be nursing--and what a wonderful time to review and meditate on Scripture! My memory moleskine is pocket sized and perfect for reviewing during midnight nursing sessions :-)

Just in case anyone is interested, I have posted pictures below of my notebook (I followed Timmy's set-up, but I did make my cover a little more 'girly'--it helps distinguish between my notebook and Nathan's notebook). I am praying for the Lord to bless this endeavor, and I would love for you to participate with me! Let me know if you decide to, and we can hold each other accountable!






Two last notes: Tim has a post up today with some Tips for memorization and meditation. Also, I bought my Moleskine notebooks on Amazon.com (in packs of three), and I have one or two left if any local readers want one. Blessings to you in the New Year!

Quick (last minute) gift- perfect for neighbors and coworkers!

This is simple, delicious, homemade gift that can often be found in your pantry!

Chocolate Popcorn
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon





Stir ingredients together. It may help to use a wire whisk to remove lumps, though that is not necessary.


Package as desired, with the following instructions:

Melt 1/4 cup of butter.
Stir in 1/4 cup of chocolate popcorn mix.
Pour over bag of freshly popped popcorn. Enjoy!

For my neighbors, I am putting 1/2 cup of mix in a ziploc bag tied with a bag or two of microwave popcorn. You can also use Mason jars or resealable plastic containers. My neighbors are getting small gifts, but it is something fun that they can enjoy for a night or two!


I will put these goodies in a brown sandwich bag that I decorate with ribbon, but I don't have a picture of that. I hope you enjoy this idea, and that you have a blessed Christmas!

I deserve the coal--thoughts on Santa Claus

Please forgive me for the shameless promoting of my husband, but he recently wrote a great blog post about Santa Claus called "I deserve the coal." I think it adds to the discussion that Leah P. started this week. Check it out here. Merry Christmas to you all!

Ribbon Spool Photo Christmas Ornament

If you're looking to make a personalized Christmas ornament  (for you or grandparents) with stuff you have from around the house, consider making a ribbon spool photo ornament. I saw on this on a blog Two Little Chickadees.

This is a simple, homemade ornament (which are my FAVORITE types of ornaments).

Take an empty ribbon spool and trace two circles, one for the front and one for the back, on scrapbook paper. I just used some nice, quality wrapping paper.

Hot glue a ribbon (or whatever you want to use to hang your ornament) first, before you glue down the decorative paper. I glued an end of the ribbon on each side so it would hang evenly. (see above picture)

I also cut a strip of paper to glue around the middle (where the ribbon used to be). I just didn't want to be seeing raw cardboard.

I then cut out a picture that was taken recently of the family. One side I put pictures of my girls.

The other side I used a family picture of us all.

I will add 2010 somewhere on this ornament soon, probably by cutting out numbers from magazines and gluing them on.

Although I see cardboard in this picture from the inside cardboard, you really don't see that when it's hanging on the tree. You only see it because of the angle I was taking this picture.



Grandparents would LOVE this for their tree, and we plan to make a few to give the grandparents as well.
I think it would be great to make a nativity ornament as well, with the city of Bethlehem, Jesus, sheep, shepherds, angels, etc... Possibly made out of little felt pieces? If we have time, I'll try to make that as well.

Santa Stories

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on "The Santa Question". Here's a compilation of everything we received on the blog and Facebook...

KC...All you need to do is look at other countries who are not as heavily churched as the USA to see how confused they are about Christmas. Many people living overseas have NO IDEA that Christmas is about Christ. They only see Santa and reindeer and think that Christmas is all about getting presents. This says, at least to me, that as Christians, we need to be going above and beyond to show the world the true meaning of Christmas. We cannot afford to have the world miss the real meaning of Christmas.

The Watczaks...Santa is as welcome in our house as Buzz Lightyear and Thomas the Train, which is to say that he's just another fun character. I agree that I don't like the "sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake" part and he doesn't come down our chimney, but I DO like what Veggie Tales has to say about St Nick and Loving because God loves us and Giving because God gave. They are going to see the red hats around town this time of year and I feel strongly that I'm not raising the kids who are going to ruin the fun for another family, so we say that it's someone dressed as St Nick and talking about giving gifts the same way we do because we're showing people God's love. But really, I have NO problem with families that DO Santa because I've always thought that if your Jesus story is threatened by a man in a big red coat, your Jesus story is too small.

Krista...There is a great Veggie Tales Video -Saint Nicholas - that tells the story of St. Nick. The music is also wonderful and one of the songs we have added to our family's Christmas carols. We also do not emphasize Santa. Christmas is Jesus' birthday and my hope is that everything we do will point my children to the Savior.

MMS...We wrestled with the Santa issue. We both grew up believing in Santa, but we didn't feel good about it for our family. Santa is portrayed as God-like: he sees you when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, etc. We also don't like that the stories say you better behave or Santa won't give you gifts--that's the antithesis of the gospel of grace. Anyway, we visit Santa and take pictures and all, but the stories we read, the songs we sing, etc. are all about Jesus. The presents don't come from Santa either. And we definitely don't use Santa as a "threat" to encourage good behavior. We emphasize every day that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday at Christmas. In short, I guess we treat Santa like a character the kids would see at Disney World. He's not watching us or coming down our chimney; he's just a character in stories. Hope that makes some sense!

Lori...As my daughter is only 7 months old, I haven't had to face this dilemma yet, but I already know how I am going to handle it. We will not be encouraging her to believe in Santa Claus, and these are the reasons why:
1.) I agree with my parents, who chose not to raise us to believe in Santa Claus because they didn't want us to feel betrayed and like they'd lied to us all those years when we got older and realized he's just a mythical figure. They didn't say, "don't believe in Santa Claus", they just didn't emphasize him, so to us he was no different than Superman or the Smurfs.
2.)To me, one of the ways we as believers can be a light during Christmas is to emphasize Jesus instead of Santa. I have no problem with Christmas traditions such as a tree, presents, and stockings, but I avoid Santa in my decorating and give the Nativity a prominent place because I want it to be clear Who we believe in.Perhaps I feel so strongly about this because I lived in the Czech Republic for 5 years, and there, children are raised to believe in Jesus as nothing more than a fictitious Santa-like figure. I certainly want my children to be able to distinguish the two!
3.) I WILL be teaching my children that for many Americans, Santa Claus is a part of Christmas and will teach them the history behind it.

The Roberts Five...no, we don't believe in santa. our children are ages 2, 3, and 4, and they all know that santa is like a character in a fairy tale. they know mommy and daddy give them their gifts on christmas morning and that christmas is all about jesus' birthday.

David Murphy...I was raised to believe in Santa Clause, but I was also raised to believe in the Birth of Christ...so the 2 ideas have a...lways been infused together. My family celebrates the holiday season both ways. The First way is having my nieces and nephews understand (and celebrate) the birth of Christ, and how He was the Son of God. Christ was OUR Gift from God for them and for everyone on earth. He is/ was the greatest gift to receive.
Then we move over to Santa Clause (ho ho ho). Many people use Thanksgiving as a day of thanks, but also utilize Christmas as a day of thanks as well. Most of family members know that he's not real, but they adore the fact that get gifts for being extra good (i.e., school, chores, etc.). The biggest believer in our family is my sister Angela, who is mentally handicapped. She talks about him non-stop and always talks about being a good girl for Santa Clause to stop and drop off presents, but at the same time...she knows that we buy her the presents for Santa Clause lol. It's a battle to never be won, but it helps to re-kindle a bit of youthful happiness and joy to see someone believe so effortlessly. She does also understand about being good and bad, and that God is always watching over her. She freely talks about it. Even my nieces and nephews that Santa is not a real person, encourages the happiness from My sister's belief in Santa Clause.
I guess it is easier for people to believe in someone that is watching over them and visits once a year, then it is to believe that God is watching over us 365 days of the year.
I try to make the little onces (from 11 years of age and younger) understand the true meaning of Christmas, but inform them that we should have this kind of spirit throughout the whole year. To always be kind and gracious, to be giving and loving, and to always remember that there are people less fortunate then us.
Even though my family is extremely poor, and struggles to afford even the littlest pieces of food to make sure they eat every day...the amount of kindness that pours in from the community to my sister and her children is very overwhelming. People tend to do extra-ordinary things for other people. Not necessarily for Santa Clause, but for the feeling of being present in the moment of being able to give things selflessly...without the need of retribution. I wish people would be more like this year round. That is my only thought. Christmas can be every day...and not just once a year. It's like every day is filled with Random Acts of Kindness.

And some further reading suggested:
Washington Post
Jon and Mollie's blog
Rachael's blog
Santa, Are you for real?

Keeping Christmas Simple and Christ-Focused (as much as possible :)

I really appreciated Leah's post on "What do you want for Christmas?" because it very closely echoes my heart as well. We undoubtedly want Christmas to be about Jesus' s birth, not about the presents. I'll admit, though, that I absolutely love the Christmas season and have so many traditions that I want to do with my girls just because they are fun. And some of those have nothing to do Christ's birth. So I thought I'd share just a little about how our little family tries to keep a balance and keep the focus on Christ.

--- We make a big deal about the Christmas story and read it often. We request every book at the library that deals with the nativity and read them together (over and over :) and discuss them. Some that my girls have particularly enjoyed are: "Mortimer's Christmas Manger," "Room for a Little One," and "Who is Coming to Our House?" We also read each version of the Christmas story in all of our different children's Bibles. This has been a lot of fun for the girls and they both LOVE any book they can find that has Mary and Baby Jesus in it. I have also tried to extend the story so that they get more background, including Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Anna and Simeon.

--- I try to ask them regularly, "why do we celebrate Christmas?" (Because it is Jesus's birthday!) My Mom usually does a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake that Karis looks forward to decorating and eating. Like Leah, we don't talk about getting presents, (and they have no idea that they will be receiving any!) but we do discuss giving presents to others because it is kind and just like the wise men gave gifts to Jesus. My girls get very excited about giving presents to Daddy and wrapping presents for their cousins. Karis has even come up with some ideas for giving to others all by herself! She was bound and determined to take cookies to our next door neighbor and pestered me about it until I finally made time to do it! They have been thoroughly confused the few times people have asked them what they want for Christmas and were so surprised and delighted this Sunday when some sweet members of our church brought them some small gifts :) I am sure that as they get older and start to remember Christmas morning at the grandparents' each year, then it will be harder to keep the focus on Jesus's birthday and giving, but that will definitely continue to be our goal each year.

--- My husband and I have decided to keep our little family gift exchange very simple to avoid distracting the girls from the real reason for celebrating. We just give them a book (usually the next level of Bible that Karis is ready for) and a CD (because our girls absolutely LOVE Christmas music and it is really hard for them when we put it up for the year!) Last year we got them The Big Picture Story Bible and the Songs for Saplings CD: Questions With Answers. This year we are giving them The Children's Everyday Bible and Seeds of Praise CD. We also do simple stocking stuffers of things they need (like a new toothbrush, socks, gloves, etc.) and something fun (this year it is fingernail polish for Karis and play dough for Karlie). Now I have to be honest with you and let you know that the girls end up getting spoiled rotten at their Grandparents' houses, with lots of presents and super fun stockings, but they get spoiled there pretty much anytime they go visit so it doesn't take away from the season too much... they just see it as the fun of being at the grandparents' houses!

--- We have presented Santa to our girls as something fun and "pretend" that people like to talk and sing about around Christmas time, much like Frosty the Snowman. Next year I plan to get some books about St. Nicholas and try to delve into the historical tradition a little more, but for now, Karis has been happy to see Santas everywhere and just know that it is a fun story people like to read and sing about during the winter time. When she gets a little older, I'm sure I will have to discuss with her about the fact that some children actually believe the stories and that she shouldn't spoil their fun by telling them it is just pretend, but it hasn't been as issue for us yet :) She views Santa more as a decoration than anything else.

--- Have any of you done the Jesse Tree for Advent with your children this year? I didn't have it together this year and just now got all my ornaments made, but it is something that I am very excited about doing with my girls next year. Basically, each day you read a passage from the Bible and place an ornament on the tree -- Each ornament represents a different story, starting at the beginning of Creation and working all the way to the coming of Christ Jesus. Each reading shows how all the Old Testament points towards the coming of Christ as the Messiah.

So those are a few of the ideas we have for keeping Christmas simple and Christ-focused as much as possible. I would LOVE to hear more suggestions from all of you!

Do you believe in Santa Claus?

Oh, that pesky fat man in his red suit, giving all of us Christian moms a moral dilemna - to Santa or not to Santa? That is the question. Isn't it? :)

I'm being tongue-in-cheek here to pose the question to all of you readers. Do you believe in Santa Claus? Please comment here or e-mail us with your Pro-Santa, Anti-Santa or a-Santa thoughts. Once we get a good amount of responses I'll compile them all and post them on the blog.

What do you want for Christmas?

Do you find yourself asking this question? Can I challenge you to stop asking it?

I was talking with a friend last week about Christmas at their home and she shared with me what a tough time she was having with her boys focusing too much on the gift giving aspect of Christmas. She was frustrated that their countdown to Christmas was a countdown to the day they get to open all their gifts. She wondered what she could do about it. I challenged her to think about how she and her husband were presenting Christmas to their boys and if that had anything to do with their materialistic expectations. When I told her that my boys don't know they will be getting any presents for Christmas, she was really surprised.

My boys don't know they are getting anything for Christmas because we just don't talk about it. I have made a conscious decision not to say the following to them: "What do you want for Christmas?" "Maybe you could ask for that for Christmas" These kind of questions/statements imply that Christmas is about what you want or what you're going to get. They set our children up to expect gifts and to associate the day with getting stuff.

Instead, we try to talk about Christmas in term's of Jesus' birthday. My kids' Countdown to Christmas is a countdown to Jesus' birthday. We talk about what kind of cake we will make for Jesus, how we will celebrate the day. They have eached memorized a Bible verse that they will say before singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. These are the expectations I'm trying to build into them as they think about Christmas.

But we will be giving them presents for Christmas. I've heard lots of different ideas of how families do Christmas gifts in their home. I'd love to hear what you do in your home. For us, I have bought stocking stuffers for everyone (Chicago Bears socks, a Lighting McQueen car, and candy). I also bought each boy pajamas, a hat and mitten set, a Kung Zhu hamster, a book, and a board game. Their daddy bought them a Lighting McQueen Cars set. Pretty simple.

So, my challenge to you is to think about how you are presenting Christmas to your little ones. Our words are powerful and can direct our children towards or away from the Cross even when we don't realize it. Begin today to direct your conversations away from "what do you want" and towards "who's day is it?".

A week in the life of the Finns

My first caveat to this post would be that this week is not a normal week for the Finn family...but truthfully, I am not sure what is normal right now and what isn't! Of course with the holidays there is a lot going on, so nothing is truly normal right now:-) But anyway, here is a glimpse into our week.

Monday--My doctor's appointment day. I am going to the Ob/gyn once a week now, and I have appointments scheduled on Mondays through January 3. I am praying that I don't make it to that last appointment, since that is after my due date, but we'll see. Thankfully, my husband, who is a professor at Southeastern Seminary, does not have Monday morning classes (and the semester is over, too). This Monday he watched the kids while I went to the doctor. When I came home, he had created a castle for them in the living room out of a card table, chairs and lots of blankets. We played in that for a good part of the day.

Tuesday--The kids and I went up to campus to attend a going away party for a friend who is 'retiring' from work. Before we went, though, we made special cards for Mrs. Penny using glitter and stickers, and the kids had a blast. After making an appearance at the party, we went to lunch with Daddy and then ran a few errands around town before heading home for naptime.

Wednesday--I watched a friend's 6 month old little boy all day at the house, so we stayed home and played and enjoyed the idea of having another little baby around very soon! One of Nathan's students/good friend/babysitter of the Finnlings came over to eat dinner with us last night as well.

Thursday--We stayed home this morning to keep dry and warm during the snow/rain mix that we are getting in Wake Forest. This afternoon I am working childcare for the graduation reception at SEBTS, so Nathan and I will platoon watching the kids.

Friday--It is the day of fall graduation ceremonies at SEBTS, and all of the Finns will be involved today. We are starting off the morning with breakfast out, and then I will take the children to work childcare for graduation while Nathan gets the privilege of wearing his regalia in the snow/ice and participating as faculty in the graduation. We may also eat lunch out, depending on when graduation ends, and then the kids and I will be back home for a nap (I'll need it!!). Tomorrow evening is a Christmas party for me and Nathan while the kids stay with a sitter.

Saturday--I don't think we have anything planned! There are a lot of little things that we want to finish before the baby comes (painting our half bathroom is the biggest one), and hopefully we get a lot of those items tackled on Saturday. Generally, though, we will be at home and resting.

Sunday--We gather with our church body on Sunday, and at this moment are planning on having several members of our small group over for dinner after service Sunday morning. That will take the place of our evening small group meeting, so after lunch we will have an afternoon/evening of rest!

Whew! Just typing out my week makes me tired, and I haven't finished it yet :-) Of course, all of this could change if the Lord should decide to send me into labor...though my house probably isn't ready, I would not object to such a thing happening!

So please tell us--what is going on in your life this week? We hope you are enjoying these glimpses into our lives.

This week with the DeLongs

The holiday season is such a fun season! But it can potentially get really busy, so I try to work hard to keep a balance between fun holiday activities and sticking to our normal routine that keeps us sane :) Here is a quick run-down on what this week looks like for the girls and I:

Monday: Like I mentioned in my last post, I am super blessed every other week by a young teenage girl who comes to play with my girls all morning so that I can get things accomplished. This week, her sweet Mom offered to tag along so that I could actually leave the house and get some Christmas shopping done by myself! How fun! I had actually completed just about all of my shopping online already (yay for great online deals!) so I really didn't have much of an agenda -- just browse around for fun stocking stuffers and do my grocery shopping for the week in peace. Oh, how nice! When I got back, the girls napped and then we did our holiday activity for the day (decorating Christmas cookies) and then fixed dinner.

Tuesday: We stayed at home and kept to our normal routine -- lots of laundry, dishes, reading together, singing Christmas songs, and playing with baby dolls and holiday decorations. We were going to make cinnamon- applesauce ornaments, but never got around to it (hopefully tomorrow). Karis really wanted to share some of our cookies with our neighbor, so we braved the cold to walk over there right before naps.

Wednesday: Mark is off work and I have an OB apt. so the girls will have a Daddy morning! I don't even know what he has planned, but he likes to take them out of the house and do something fun. Hopefully we will get to making cinn-applesauce ornaments after naps and maybe take the girls to look at Christmas lights before bed.

Thursday: Another stay at home day with out normal routine! I'm planning to help the girls make Daddy a special craft for a Christmas present, but I haven't decided yet what it will be! (I'm not a super crafty person, but my girls love crafts and they make great keepsakes so I am trying! :) I'm getting ready to search the internet for ideas, but if you have any great suggestions, please let me know! I am also planning to try out this Coconut cookie recipe with them.

Thursday nights, I usually fix dinner for several college guys in our church and then we have our normal Bible Study. The girls love having our friends over and get to play with them for a bit after dinner and then sing songs together. But they go to bed before we start the Bible Study.

Friday: Our big day out every week! We always go to soccer class with Daddy at MVP Sports and then to the library and then any other errands I've saved up. We are all usually exhausted by the time we get home and immediately crash for naps and then read our new library books all afternoon til time to make dinner.

Saturday: Mark works on Saturday, so it is just another day that I try to be productive as well! I plan to take the girls to the Farmer's Market and stock up on some good meat and eggs and then let the girls help me wrap a ton of Christmas presents once we get home. We'll finish up our project for Daddy if it isn't done yet and I'll need to prepare something for the covered dish at church on Sunday. Mark gets off a little earlier on Saturdays, so we'll do something fun with him after naps.

Sunday: Meeting with our church family, covered dish, and white elephant gift exchange! It will be a fun day fellowshipping with our friends!

The Paynes Schedule This Week

This week a few of us are going to post our what our weekly schedule looks like. We've done this in the past, but maybe some of our schedules have changed. Here's what mine looks like this week:

Monday: Free Day. We don't have anything scheduled on Mondays. This week we spent the day at a friend's house. The kids played in the basement and I got to hang out with my friend. I actually scrubbed out her shower for her b/c she has a nerve disease and can't scrub very hard. We also chatted about some things we are working on with our kids. At night I had play practice at church for our Christmas program. A woman watched my boys and did a craft with them. They loved it.

Tuesday: Moms Group. We had Moms Group today at church. We are reading the book "Parenting is Heart Work" by Turansky & Miller. This was a recommendation from a POH reader and I suggested it for our Moms Group. I am enjoying the book. We also did an ornament exchange today (you had to pluck an ornament off your tree to trade with someone - no going out and buying anything!). I ran to the grocery with boyth boys after Moms Group b/c I didn't go yesterday. I love the Aldi that's by our church b/c it has the cart with two spots in the front for kids to sit. Tonight I have a Missions committee meeting at church from 7:30 to 9:00.

Wednesday: Free Day. I think I might be babysitting for a friend during the morning - TBD. Other than that, we have no plans!

Thursday: Bible Study Fellowship in the morning. Then we might have lunch at a friend's house. Thursday night is our dress rehearsal for the Christmas play. My boys will have spent a LOT of time at church by the end of the week!

Friday: Nothing in the morning. Friday evening we are going to the local ice center to see a friend's daughter perform her Christmas program.

Saturday: I teach Spanish from 10 to 11:30 for the team that is going to Honduras in April. Saturday night is our Christmas Program at church.

Sunday: The Lord's Day! We go to Big Church at 8:15 and then stay for Sunday School. I have no duties right now! But my husband Ed is teaching the 2&3 year old class. Then we have our Sunday School Christmas party on Sunday evening with a White Elephant exchange (again, something from your home, nothing bought).

A full week for us!! And we will have graced the doors of church almost every day!

So what's missing from my schedule? I'd really like to implement a little bit of structured time doing "Preschool" with Samuel. And I think I'm going to sign the boys up for a park district class in the new year (Grandma's gift to each of the boys).

What's your next week or two look like? Care to share? E-mail us and we'll post your schedule here.

Leah F's first trimester tips

Meagan gave wonderful tips for the first trimester earlier in the week, and I cannot agree with her enough! Praise the Lord for how He uses difficult circumstances in our lives (like continual first trimester nausea) to bring us closer to Him, to draw us into new relationships, and to glorify Him.

I am currently 37 weeks pregnant, and though I was not anywhere as sick during my first trimester as Meg was, I still had obstacles to overcome (like CONTINUAL exhaustion). Below are some of my tips for those going through this wonderful stage in their pregnancy. Please feel free to add your advice in the comments!

*Drink your water early in the day. Staying hydrated keeps away many pregnancy 'ailments', but if you wait until later in the day to drink, you will spend your entire night in the bathroom. I tried to consume most of my water between mid-morning and late afternoon so that I could cut back on the bathroom visits (I still went regularly!)
*If at all possible, adjust your budget to have room for more groceries and eating out. Your appetite will change, what you want to eat will change, and you may even have times where you plan a meal and then realize you don't want to eat it! You can quickly drain your budget if you do not allow yourself some wiggle room during the sick times.
*In addition to napping when the kids nap, my kids play in their room by themselves for 30-45 minutes in the morning, and I could use that time to rest as well. If your child does not do that yet, start out small and slowly increase the time spent in the room alone. This will allow you to rest, shower, or accomplish a few household tasks.
*Exercise when you can, even when you are tired. This will help you increase your energy, and keep your body healthy for the 'long haul' of pregnancy.
*Know that your hormones will fluctuate, and some things will be really weird, but it will probably pass. With this pregnancy, my skin broke out terribly in the first trimester, and not just on my face. I was bumpy and itchy on my face, upper chest and back and it drove me NUTS! I paid close attention to body wash and lotion products (fragrance free all the way), gave it some time and it went away, thankfully.
*Swap childcare with a friend. It seems strange to encourage you to watch someone else's child during your first trimester, but I find that an extra playmate is often just what my kids need to keep them entertained. Then I had some freedom to rest or work around the house, and on my day without kids I could rest and recuperate as much as I wanted.
*Avoid caffeine, as it can aggravate your already existing symptoms (restlessness, breast tenderness, sleeplessness). On the opposite side, though, there have been occasions where a little caffeine helped ease a headache, so use your best judgment.
*Meditate on Scripture even if you don't have time or energy to extensively study God's word. Put Scripture in prominent places for you to see it (bathroom, perhaps? :-). Pray in small snatches, while doing the dishes, or showering, or throwing up in the toilet. Pray aloud in front of your children for God's strength to make it through the day.
*Begin to make adjustments in the first trimester that will affect your pregnancy and life later. Limit carrying your toddler downstairs (this is hard for me when Baxter says "Mommy, hug!"). Move child/ren into different rooms or beds or carseats early to get them used to that setup. Encourage your child to sit beside you to read books rather than in your lap, as that will get very uncomfortable as your belly grows. Refer to the older sibling as big sister/big brother, or big girl and big boy, and not 'little' and 'baby'.
*Don't be afraid to ask for help (Meg hit on this!), and don't hesitate to hire it either! Pay someone to clean your house, or watch your children, or even run errands for you. Hopefully the Lord has placed you in a church or community that will support you and help you without you hiring anyone, but if you must, just DO IT!!

Now for my disclaimer--what works for me might not work for you. And quite frankly, I don't always follow my own advice very well; for instance, I have not exercised much this pregnancy and I can feel the difference in my body. As always, these are suggestions that I have, and it is my prayer that they might be helpful to someone. Please feel free to add any suggestions or thoughts in the comments!

First Trimester Tips

Oh, morning sickness! It seems like just a bad dream now that I am in my third trimester, but I vividly remember how miserable I was and how just making it through the day seemed like a huge accomplishment. I was so incredibly excited to be pregnant, but truly wondered if I would actually be able to make it through while taking care of two little ones. This week I am supposed to be giving tips on how to keep your household going smoothly while feeling under the weather for several months, but I have to be honest: I did a pretty poor job of it this summer. My first two pregnancies were not too bad, but this last one hit me much harder and really threw me for a loop. I pretty much gave up and had to rely completely on my family and friends for most of the 1^st trimester. That was really hard for me, but God taught me a lot through it. I’m going to share a few practical tips that I did learn, but just keep in mind that the biggest lesson I learned was to trust God and be humble enough to ask for help!

Random tips in no particular order:

-- If you are lucky enough to find out that you are pregnant before morning sickness hits, stock your freezer!! I usually have about 10 happy days before I am incapacitated and I try to cook up a storm during that time. As soon as I saw that blissful line on the pregnancy test, I threw my schedule to the wind, made a huge trip to the grocery store and cooked all week long: enough bread, pancakes, tortillas, and meals to last about a month. I really don’t know how we would have survived if I hadn’t because once it hit, I seriously couldn’t walk into the kitchen without gagging.

-- Give yourself a break -- I remember so many days during that time where all I did was lay on the couch or floor and read to my girls. I got absolutely nothing else accomplished. My house was a wreck and I felt like a slacker but seriously couldn’t do anything more than that. But at least I knew my girls were happy and out of trouble and I had made it through one more day. There is no reason to beat yourself up for lack of productivity when you can do absolutely nothing about it!

-- Don’t be too proud to ask for help! Your church family is there to help you through times like these and it will bless them as well! One young mother in our church asked if she could keep my girls for me one morning to give me a break. Normally, I would have declined, because the girls didn’t know her that well, but I was desperate enough to accept the help. My girls had a wonderful time and wanted to go back. They ended up going over there every Monday morning for the entire duration of my morning sickness! It started a great friendship with a young family that we hadn’t previously known that well and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! In addition, I cannot tell you what a difference it made in my mindset to know that I could start my week off easily. I had previously felt very overwhelmed on Mondays, knowing it would be so many days before I had my husband’s help again. I also had a young pre-teen girl in my church offer to come over and play with my girls. That began another beautiful friendship and she still comes over one morning every other week! The girls really look forward to her visits and I definitely do! I have been amazed at how God has used my weakest moments to form relationships that I now treasure. Please don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it! God will bless your humility.

-- Switch or stop taking your pre-natal vitamin is they are making you sick. With my first two pregnancies, I was able to take my pre-natal vitamins throughout my first trimester without any problem. This last pregnancy, however, they made me throw up. If I took them, I would spend all day in the bathroom. I decided that they were not doing me any good if I always threw them up, so I just quit taking them. I still felt utterly miserable, but no longer threw up at all. It was definitely worth it to me!

-- Ginger and honey tea can help settle your stomach. I didn’t want any of my normal favorite teas when I had morning sickness, but a simple ginger tea did seem to help a little bit. I bought fresh ginger at the grocery store and would simply cut off a few pieces and let it steep in my hot water for a few minutes. It was a very mild ginger taste and I would add just a drop of honey as well.

-- Try eating before you sit up in bed. If I sat up, I would not be able to eat anything, so my husband brought me buttered toast and ginger tea almost every morning to eat while lying down. Sometimes it was all I could manage for breakfast, but it was better than nothing!

-- Use paper plates and other disposables. I usually try to do everything all natural and “green-like,” but the first trimester is undoubtedly just a time to survive. Dishes became a huge problem for us because they completely grossed me out and made me sick and I just couldn’t do them. I really could hardly walk in the kitchen without feeling ill. My husband had to completely take over kitchen duty while I had morning sickness so he stocked up on the paper plates, bowls, plastic utensils, etc, and it helped so much! I also gave up on cloth diapers during that time.

-- Nap when the kids nap. This was hard for me, because nap time is when I get everything done! But I found that I if I did not use that block of time to sneak in a nap for myself, my body would not be able to make it the rest of the day. I would have to crash at 7:00 when I put my girls down rather than hang out with my husband. But if I took a nap mid-day, then I could stay awake to spend some time with Mark in the evenings.

Three kids in one room.

Come with me on a mini-tour of our crowded kid's room. But first, let me give you some background. We moved to the UK over a year ago for my husband to continue his studies. We live in a fully furnished duplex that is about 900 square feet, two bedrooms and we now have three little kids. Space is a premium, but I'm quite happy here! I really enjoy the organizational challenge! I also really enjoy using items and passing them on. We moved here with our suitcases only and plan on moving back to the US in a few years with the same. So, whatever we accumulate will be left behind. Here is how having three kids in one room works for us.

When you walk in, this is what you see. Some kind folks at our church gave us the crib and my sister and I painted the canvases on the walls. They used to hang over the twin beds that were here before the baby was born. (The floral one over my daughter's bed and the vehicle one over my son's bed.) Our landlord was kind enough to put in bunk beds for us and now they have to hang on the same wall. I do wish they coordinated a bit better since they are hanging side by side, but they still look nice I think. There is a box of dress-up clothes hidden under the crib. The kids pull it out when they want to use it. Here are the IKEA bunk beds. Even though my children are little, they have done great with the ladder and love sleeping on the big kids beds! Notice I also have a trundle bed on the very bottom. We could actually have four kids in this one room (without any room at all to spare though.)

I use every available inch. I have hooks for their backpacks on the back of the door and another row of hooks on the bunk bed for sweaters and purses.

I found some cheap and colorful ice buckets that sit on top of the wardrobe (closets are not standard in UK bedrooms) to hold hair bows and smaller toys. Each child has one drawer for all of their clothing and they share the single bar for shirts and dresses that need to be hung. I also have some bins in the wardrobe to hold misc. toys. Jonathan and Meredith each get one. We don't have a lot of stuff, but I like it that way.
This is what this side of the room looks like when it is closed.
That's about it! I used to think that having a new baby meant we needed more space. But, actually we have been so pleased with how this has worked out. My children are learning how to be considerate of one another and they love whispering and being together at night. If you are expecting and need a place for the newest member of your family, look around...you might find room you didn't know you had!

Rooms of the House: The Bathroom

We have three bathrooms in our house. To help me keep them clean, I keep a set of cleaners in each bathroom. I bought one of those ice cube holders and the three bottles fit perfectly:

For the upstairs bathroom, I keep the set under the sink. Since my children could potentially get into this, I make sure to turn all the nozzles to "off". I keep a roll of paper towels with the cleaners and then I don't have to carry any cleaning supplies around to keep the bathrooms clean.

I try to make it a habit to clean the sink, toilet, and floor each time that my boys are having playtime in the tub.

Rooms of the House: Kids Laundry

I wanted to share a tip with you today of how I do my kids' laundry. I don't fold much, really. Here's what the laundry looks like when I sort it out of the clean laundry basket:

I put Sam's pants in one drawer, Joel's pants in another, socks and jammies in the top drawer, and undies in the little drawer.

I hang up all their shirts. But I've found a handy shortcut to getting them on hangers and in the closet faster:


Pretty simple, all in all!