About the Baby:
Lydia is doing fantastic these days! She is such a happy baby. I am so blessed by her smiles and laughs every single day. She has still been completely random with her naps lately, but we're going with the flow. The hardest thing for me right now is that she's had trouble lately being away from me. She screamed
and cried in the church nursery a couple weeks ago to the point that they had to page me to come back to get her. And last Friday Brent and I tried to go out to dinner for his birthday & had my mother-in-law stay with Lydia, but she cried pretty much the whole time we were gone. I don't know if it is separation anxiety or what. She is usually fine around the house if I put her down somewhere to play and even walk out of the room. Who knows. Regardless, I do love that she finds comfort in being with me!
Lydia is learning all kinds of new skills these days. She continues to do well with rolling (when she feels like it). She loves to kick at things and can aim to kick a specific target like the bar on her play gym or my hand. Lately I've noticed her getting a lot better at reaching for and grabbing objects. She used to mostly reach out with both hands and bring them together in front of her to grab something. Now I see her reaching to the sides with just one hand, rolling and grabbing toys that are lying next to her, and reaching to pick things up off of the floor from a sitting position. Oh yeah, did I mention that she's really getting good at sitting too? I've only seen her sit unassisted for a couple of seconds before toppling over, but she can sit very well nestled between my feet.
About Me:
I've been feeling frustrated lately by all of the things that demand my time. It seems hard enough to balance being Mom, Wife, CedarCreek Employee, and Housekeeper... then trying to include Friend, Student of the Bible, Daughter/Sister/Aunt, Ambassador for Christ, Home Group Leader, or just plain "Sarah" ...it can feel overwhelming at times. But I've realized that the frustration is my own fault. Firstly I need to re-prioritize and make sure that God comes first. I've been struggling to come up with something fresh and exciting to do with that relationship, though. I browsed through my bookshelf and found a book I read a long time ago called "Becoming a Woman of Faith" and Brent encouraged me to do some journaling (which I haven't done in ages), so I think I'll start with those things.
Beyond that I am reminded of a blog post my friend Kim wrote about how we DO have enough time to do everything that God desires that we do. I just need to give my time over to Him and let Him direct me. In doing so, I can be sure that I will be managing all of my "roles" in the right way at the right time.
More stuff:
Visit to Cinci - Lydia and I took a roadtrip, just the two of us, to go visit my mom last week. She had been on a 10 day mission trip to Haiti and was really bummed that my dad would be gone on a business trip when she returned. I hated the thought of her returning to an empty home after such a cool experience, so we went down for some fun girl time! It was a good time hearing about her trip and hanging out with my sister-in-law and nieces. I really loved the special Mommy-Daughter time... both with my mommy and my daughter!
Brent's birthday - We returned home from Cinci early afternoon on Friday because it was Brent's birthday. Lydia gave him lots of slobber while I gave him a new computer mouse, chair mat, and some shirts. As mentioned before, we went out to dinner as well but Lydia was not a fan of being left out of that fun. :) We're planning to have a family celebration for Brent & his sister Natalie's birthdays after we return from our Myrtle Beach trip.
Myrtle Beach - This will be our first big trip with Lydia... not only a very long car ride, but also a whole week away from home! I'm excited and a little nervous at the same time, but mostly excited. :) I need to start making a list of everything we need to take for her - likely including her entire wardrobe. A baby can go through a LOT of clothing in a week! I think there is a washer & dryer at our place, though, so we should be fine. I'm not sure how relaxing our beach vacation will be, but I'm sure it will be a fun adventure that we'll always remember.
