It's been WAY too long!

Well, I don't even know how many people will see this post, since it's been so long--almost a year?!--since I posted.
However, lately some mommyhood things have happened where I've thought to myself "Maybe I should get back to blogging", and then I sort of forget the idea after a few seconds because something else happens to draw my attention. I think that I'm going to try it out again because I am feeling like it could be a good outlet both for sharing what's going on in my ever-challenging, but ever-rewarding life of being a mom and for the opportunity to express all the ways I am seeing God work in our family! I ask for your encouragement and even accountability to ask me when I'm not posting. :) I think it will help me stay focused & get these things written down where I can go back to them & refer to them years from now.
All that said, on to the "important stuff."
Gemma is now a year old, and she is quite the little charmer! She is very sweet & good-natured, and I often find her entertaining herself or observing the goings-on of Hannah, myself, Keith, or our animals. That keeps her quite busy! Currently she's pulling all the DVDs & videos off our shelf, which is actually okay by me, since she is apparently done with her nap for the day. :) (It was one hour. Ha.)
Hannah is almost four (yikes! How did that happen?!) and she continues to be my little fireball, both in regards to energy & attitude. We definitely have had our power struggles, tantrums, and breakdowns; and that includes Hannah! ;) At the same time, she is VERY imaginative (case in point: she discovered a long piece of blue yarn the other day and proceeded to pull it around, calling it her "hair," just like Rapunzel in the movie "Tangled." She still hasn't given it up!) and she also loves to play with her various fancy dresses. Most mornings before she comes out of her room, she changes out of her pj's and makes her entrance wearing one of her "wedding dresses", as she calls anything that is made of velvet, satin, or has flowers on it.
She is also very smart (if I do say so...), and every once in awhile, one of her arguments is so convincing and well-thought-out that I just changed my mind! :)

I think that today, for the sake of time, I won't go into too much detail about the latest...challenges...with Hannah's behavior or the like, because I sort of feel like starting over from scratch! Today we spent a wonderful morning & early afternoon going to Starbucks & Target, walking to a park, and just thoroughly enjoying a very sunny day--one of the first "full-sun" days we've had this spring!! When we got to the park, we came upon a big group of kids who all had disabilities of various degrees. I wasn't sure what Hannah would do, and I was glad to see she accepted them as any other park-goers! It was really neat to see all of the kids--of various ages--enjoying the park with joyful hearts. I found myself so close to tears just watching all of the kids with disabilities, who I later found out were from the class at the local high school. I think I was moved by how excited each of them were about being at the park, enjoying the day, and how much like Hannah they were. The sweet innocence that exuded from them was astonishing, but I heard the bittersweet thoughts that told me some of them would never advance much beyond Hannah's age in terms of development. It gave me pause, because I realized (maybe for the first time in the almost-four years since Hannah was born) just how blessed & fortunate we are to have two healthy, well-developed children. Please don't misunderstand me; I realize that if we had/have a child with disabilities, we would adjust. God would equip us for that parenting challenge, just as He has for the challenges we face with the children we have! It was just a good moment for me to be thankful, and yet somewhat awe-inspiring to see the happiness of these precious children who in some ways, because of their innocence, will never face the same frustrations or pain of this life. It's an odd dichotomy to face, I'm sure, to be "thankful" for their naivete in some ways.

Anyway, that may be too much for a Wednesday afternoon, but it was on my heart since we left the park, and I thought it'd be a good way to start back up to blogging regularly. My fresh goal is to be thankful every day for the children I have, and yet to know that EVERY parent has a tough job to do: correcting, encouraging, inspiring, and most of all, loving our children to the best of our abilities. Beyond that, we have to trust God to give us the rest of what we need, because we certainly can't do it on our own! :)

Thanks for reading!