Focus on Family - April 6

Well, Jeffery is gone this week until Friday evening. To be honest, it's really not that much different than what our regular days are like, since Jeff has been working so many hours, most days he leaves for work just after the kids are up, and he comes home after the kids are down for the night. I've been keeping Alexander up until 9:00 p.m. or so, so he can have a bit of time with Jeff. I'm trying to keep Isabel on her schedule, though, so she usually sees Jeff only in the mornings.


And it's not just home life that Jeff is missing out on - he hasn't been able to participate at IGNITE (youth group) for over a month now, and Thursday nights he usually gets together with his accountability group, but he hasn't been able to do that either. I'll be glad when work slows down a bit, so Jeff can finally breathe.

Sunday was a rough day for Alexander. It started out just fine, going to Sunday School at church without a fuss, and waiting patiently in the nursery after the service was over while I breastfed Isabel. After church, we went to my aunt and uncle's home in Ancaster to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday, which was April 2. This is where it all began. While playing with his uncle Andrew, he slammed his face in the carpet and now has a carpet burn on his forehead. Later in the evening, he got poked in the eyeball, he tripped on the carpet in his bedroom, and his toes got run over by an office chair (the ones with the wheels). Needless to say, he went to bed that night without a fuss. Either he was tired, or he was trying to escape from receiving any more pain.

It's been a great week for Isabel - well maybe more for me. She slept through the night twice since last Wednesday! Thursday night and Monday night. I was able to pump two almost-full bottles as a result. YAY! She usually doesn't leave me much to pump.


Isabel has become discontented being anywhere but my arms again (though I suppose that if there was someone else holding her, she would be fine there too). She's okay in the swing in the morning, as I posted last week, but after her ONE NAP - yes, my 3 month old baby takes only ONE nap a day - she is picky. I try to move her around from the swing to the couch to the bumbo to the vibrating chair (that doesn't vibrate), but she's not happy in any spot for too long a time.

When I put her on the couch sitting up, she tenses her legs and straightens them out, as if she's trying to stand up, but when she relaxes her legs, her head has fallen down the height of the couch enough for her to be laying down, and she gets frustrated with that. But she doesn't want to try to sit up anymore; it's as if she has given up on being able to sit up straight for any length of time.

Isabel always gives a small smile after Alexander kisses her - as long as it's not too slobbery.

Alexander has been much better with staying in bed after I put him down for the night. After we pray, I always tell him that I love him and to stay in bed, and he says, "uh-huh". And he stays in bed! The only exception this week was the evening that Jeffery came home after Alexander was in bed; he came out of bed to give Jeff a hug and kiss, then he went straight back to bed. That was really sweet - I couldn't spank him for wanting to see his dada (that's what he calls Jeff).

My favourite time of the day is very quickly becoming Isabel's bath time (other than bed and nap times). It lasts about five minutes or so, but it's wonderful to see her smile and splash around in the water. She likes the water warmer than I thought a baby would like it, but as soon as her feet touch the bottom of the bathtub and feels the water, she's gets this huge grin on her face, and after I wash her and rinse the soap off, she wiggles around and kicks and splashes, all the while with this impossibly adorable grin on her face - it's great!


I've been busy this week - making more cards for Saturday's craft fair and getting the closet ready to be my craft area. Unfortunately, I've hit a snag with the closet. The shelves that held our books is anchored to the wall, and there are plastic covers that cover the screws that anchor it, and I can't get the covers off the unscrew the screws! Which I am taking as a sign, by the way, that I shouldn't even try. If I try, the shelf will probably fall apart or fall on top of me or do something dreadful, knowing my luck.


I was really hoping to be able to get the closet empty (no shelving or anything) by the time Jeffery gets back. Maybe I'll wrangle help from some man who knows what they're doing... It is rather embarrassing, though, knowing that I can't even take off these annoying little plastic covers... it is making me feel as if I'll never be handy. Well, I am a bit too clumsy to pull that off anyway.


Until next week, then... I pray that you recognize the blessings God showers on you - and give thanks and glory to Him.