Clay's 2-Year Pictures

Here are some of Clay's 2-year pictures. We were very pleased with how they turned out because the morning of our photo session he woke up with a yucky cold.  Thank goodness for a good photographer & photo editing!

Where to begin?

I had to take a hiatus from blogging for a few weeks for a multitude of reasons.  Everybody is okay - nothing serious to report.  But, there have been a few developments since my last post.  (Which I can't believe was about snow!  Where does the time go?) 

First, I am expecting another BOY!  I found out at the end of January that we will be adding another son to our family.  We are thrilled!  I still don't think Clay has any idea what's coming, but we keep giving him little reminders that another baby will soon be joining our party of three.  Speaking of Clay, he is two years and four months old.  The past few weeks have been a little difficult.  We're in the midst of the "not so nice" two's.  I don't want to call them "terrible" because they haven't been that bad, but his moodiness catches me off guard sometimes. 

Overall, Clay is a joy and so funny right now.  He speaks in full sentences most of the time, but his words are not always clear.  So I might understand a noun or a verb, but not the whole sentence.  He hears, "Buddy, Mommy doesn't understand what you're saying" a lot during the day. 

He really likes dinosaurs right now.  His favorite dinosaur is Tricerotops which he pronounces "Fitter-pots."  He likes to make houses for "Fitter-pots" out of blocks.  Here is one example:

Looks cozy, doesn't it?

He has transitioned into a toddler bed.  For the most part, he has done really well with it.  However, because he can climb in and out of the bed by himself he sometimes has difficulty staying in it to take a nap or go to sleep at night.  We're slowly making progress.

Life is busy these days, but good.  I'm really going to try to keep up my blog posts.  I know I've said it many times before, but I really mean it this time!

Frolicking in the Snow

  

Then, it's time to head inside for lunch!

Snow Days

Like most of the Southeast, The Pinsons have been snowed in the last couple of days.  Technically, we could get out if we needed to leave.  But, when you're stocked up on milk and other groceries, why try? 

I have enjoyed being huddled in the house for a little while.   My energy levels are up and I am taking advantage of my second trimester "feel goodness" to cook and get some stuff done.

Yesterday, I baked homemade Italian bread and put together a splendid homemade chicken pot pie. Everything was delicious. 

This morning I made Cape Cod Apple Nut Carrot Muffins and they were scrumptious as well.  

Marta has inspired me to make some freezer meals for future dinners.  (She is another blogger who always inspires me with her creativity and photography.)  The witching hour of 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. is one I try not to dread everyday, but sometimes I just can't help it.  Clay tends to be extra needy and whiny while I'm trying to prepare dinner.  I think make-ahead freezer meals would be a terrific solution.  Gee, wonder why I haven't thought of it before?  Maybe because I don't have a ton of freezer space.  Oh ya, that's right.  I'll give it a try and see what happens.  My freezer needs to get better organized anyway.  I think I'll shoot for next week...

Here are some helpful tips for freezer meals from the Sisters Cafe (recommended by Marta), which is where I found the oh-so-yummy Cape Cod Muffin recipe. 

Just because my maternal hormones are flowing so intensely these days, I'll post a picture of Clay on this day one year ago.  Oh my goodness, look at those adorable cheeks!

Christmas Holidays Quick Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  We opened gifts with Rob's mom a week before Christmas (since she is in town and we were traveling later that week).  We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my parents' house.  Then, we headed to Chattanooga on Christmas afternoon to celebrate with Rob's dad and stepmom.  A few days later, we flew to the beach.  Whew!  It was busy, but lots of fun and very memorable!!!

Here is Clay at Rob's mom's house ("Grandma's") enjoying the new fancy, schmancy model train set she gave him - it is truly spectacular!:

Enjoying Christmas with Nana and Pops (my parents):

White Christmas

Driving to Chattanooga...

Rob happily driving in the snow



 The Beach - St. George Island, FL

This trip was much easier for us than last year.  Clay didn't eat sand!  It was the first time I had been to the beach during the winter.  There were abnormally chilly temperatures, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.  I think my favorite part of the beach was renting bicycles and riding them around the island.  You forget how fun it is to ride a bike and enjoy the coastal scenery.  I felt like I was ten years old again!

  

Clay amusing himself with a shopping bag

He also enjoyed finger painting with Grandma

I turned 31 the last day we were there.  We celebrated my birthday on New Year's Eve with steaks and grouper and a delicious chocolate mousse cake.  Yum!!! 

Overall, it was a great few weeks and I'm so thankful for our wonderful families.  I am already looking forward to next year when we will have another little one with us!

I'm Venting

As I sit here typing and listening to the swish, swish, slosh of my washing machine I am also trying very hard to lower my stress level.  My adorable, sweet son has put me through the wringer this morning.  As I've vented to my mom (Hi, mom!), my mother-in-law, and my husband, I can't figure out the origin of Clay's unusually grouchy behavior about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.  Leaving the house, getting in the car, coming back in the house, taking a bath, eating a meal, getting his diaper changed, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, going to bed, etc., etc., etc.  You name it, he doesn't want to do it.  I try to tell myself that this is normal behavior for a two year-old male.  He's just being contrary.  Plus, I think he's really tired.  We just returned from a trip to the beach and there was a lot going on over the holidays.  But I'm tired too - and pregnant.  Mommy needs some mercy.  Maybe God is trying to teach me patience?  If so, he has placed me in an advanced course.  I'm okay with that.

Clay is taking a much-needed nap right now and I'm going to take some time for myself to read and take deep cleansing breaths.  Thank goodness it's Friday and it will be "Daddy to the Rescue" tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Sunrise on the beach.  New Year's Eve.

Edie & Life in Grace

After falling off the blog wagon again due to the hectic pace of the holiday season, I am once again ready to post more often.  I'm feeling refreshed in this new year.  Ready to tackle some projects at home and in my heart. 

I originally sat down this afternoon to catch up on the past few weeks with pictures and commentary, but before I started downloading pictures from my camera I decided to check a few mommy blogs that I like to read periodically.  The first blog I clicked was "Fly Through My Window"   If you've never browsed through Darby's blog, I highly recommend you do so.  Darby is a stay-at-home mother of three who is always inspiring me.  She lives a life full of faith and hope, and she takes beautiful pictures!  

Her Jan. 4th post about her "blog friend," Edie, really struck me.  Edie is another well-known mommy blogger whose blog "Life in Grace"  details her life as a mother of four who gave up her career as a family practice physician to become a homeschooler and a blogger while also becoming "a self-proclaimed goddess of the domestic arts."  I had never had the pleasure of perusing Edie's blog until this afternoon.  Darby's post was in support of Edie and her family after their house was destroyed by a fire a few days before Christmas.  Their entire house burned to the ground in the middle of the night.  Miraculously, the entire family was able to get out without anyone getting hurt.  As Edie so beautifully wrote on her blog, "Only God can save 6 people and 2 dogs without anyone getting so much as a singed strand of hair.  I cannot plumb the depths of his love and mercy." 

As I was reading Darby's post I tried to imagine myself in Edie's shoes.  My entire house burns to the ground a few days before Christmas.  I still can't fathom it.  Even though the contents of your house (excluding people/animals) are "things" they are still your things.  Precious, useful, sometimes expensive things.  It makes me shiver.  All the baby pictures, family heirlooms, etc.  All gone.  Shiver again.

I kept browsing around Edie's blog and I came across a post she had written about homeschooling in her "Confessions" category.  Homeschooling is a fascinating subject to me.  I don't think I have the tenacity and willpower to do it, but I am amazed by the many mothers who do - successfully and willingly - teach their children at home while also managing to cook meals, clean the house, and have a life.  It's awe inspiring! 

My mother-in-law and I recently had a conversation about the trials and tribulations of staying at home with your children.  To sum up our discussion, it's a very, very difficult job that doesn't get status and respect from society.  It can make you feel like you're going crazy some days.  As many moms have said over time, it's a thankless job.  If you were going to pay someone to watch your kids full-time, it would cost a fortune.  Good childcare isn't cheap.  You would happily pay it because you want the best for your children.  And yet, for some reason, if it's the mother staying home the role isn't viewed the same way.

Despite all these somewhat "negatives", I believe it is the one of the most important jobs you can ever have.  I consider it a privilege and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. 

I have re-posted Edie's words here on what homeschooling has taught her.  I think they speak for themselves.

(http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2010/09/what-homeschooling-has-taught-me-about-myself.html)

What homeschooling has taught me about myself.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.”

If you had asked me ten years ago what I’d be doing with my life in 2010, the last thing I would have answered would have been homeschooling my children. I was graduating from residency in family medicine after a long and grueling education, with all the hopes and dreams of building a successful practice. During those years, I already had two children and somehow survived the schedule, mostly on big dreams and little sleep. I learned some things about myself—-that I was strong and smart and determined. I was decidedly self-sufficient. I was sure about everything back then, even the strength of my own faith.

Life seemed to me a fairly predictable equation: I had ‘put in my time’ and was ready to reap the benefits. And there were so many benefits to being a professional in a field that is generally highly respected. For several years after graduation, I worked to establish a name for myself. I enjoyed the interaction with my patients and my colleagues and loved the way my life was unfolding. I made a nice salary, dressed in the latest fashions, got my nails done regularly, attended trips and meetings that I could easily justify as ‘necessary’ to my career. Often these things took me away from my family. I didn’t bat an eye. Stevie, my podiatrist husband, worked across the hall—so I got to be his work wife and his home wife. It was all kinda Mcdreamy. He was the hottie in green scrubs and I was his hard-working wife—-his equal in nearly every way. He looked at me different back then. Sometimes, in the monotony of stay-at-home mothering, I wish I were her again. All the things that happened to me as a result of being a doctor served to ‘polish the vessel’, so to speak. The vessel was shiny and perfect on the outside. But the treasure was hidden away.

Little did I know then that God is in the business of shattering vessels, so that His treasure—-Christ—-can be poured out on others.

My perfect shiny life would soon come crashing to the ground.

Fast forward three years and here are some of things I’ve learned about myself while homeschooling my children.

I am impatient. I don’t have the fortitude to stick with tasks like I should. I am weak and undisciplined and lack the courage of my convictions. I talk about self-control but don’t have very much. I teach my girls to treat people with kindness but then I lack compassion with my own family. I am a hypocrite and a real honest to goodness sinner. I struggle with contentment and then get angry with them for their discontent. I see in them my own sins and failures and then withhold mercy when they need it most.

This task of teaching my children has broken me.

They see through all my charades.

I can’t hide myself from them.

And this intimacy has exposed every frail part of me. The selfishness. The lies. All my broken dreams. Even the weakness of my faith.

They don’t see a shiny perfect vessel. They see the real me, the shattered pieces of a life undone.

Self-sufficiency is being put to death in my life. I must learn to lean on Another.

And yet……

……miraculously, they love me unconditionally. They applaud at my meager attempts to be a ‘joyous mother of children’. They forgive me so easily and still say that I’m their best mom. Despite my faults, they somehow see through to the Treasure. They glimpse the beauty of a life broken and spilled out for another. It’s as if they see me through the light of His cross. In a million unspoken words, they know. They know and are thankful. That in my frailty, He is strong.

So when we confess our sins together at His altar every Sunday morning, it is no small thing.

We say with surety and conviction and sometimes with tears, ’We have not loved God with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.”

Oh the sting of truth. I hear their small voices echo with mine. The voices of my very dearest neighbors. The neighbors against whom my gravest sins are committed. She holds my hand and we know.

We wait eagerly for the absolution. Those precious words of life that restore husband and wife. Mother and child. God and man.

“God in His mercy has sent His son to die for you and therefore forgives you all your sin, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

It’s the assurance of these words, and not my own clever life and career, that I’ve come to depend on.

It was always supposed to be this way. And perhaps this is what it means to be ‘saved through childbearing’.

Maybe my ‘schooling’ has only just begun.

Post-Edit: This story is my own. I don’t pretend to know the ways and means that God uses to work repentance in all His other children. We are given tremendous freedom in Christ to choose our paths and I am not writing this to incite debate on working mothers vs. at home mothers, traditional schooling vs homeschooling. Whatever he uses to crush our self-sufficiency and self-righteousness is good for us. The tools he uses may be different for you. The path is worn and the process is painful no matter the means. But take heart. If you are drowning in what seems like the mundane, remember that God is using you to serve your neighbor. And it is a divine, high calling.

I thank the faithful Lutheran pastors who have helped me see the beauty of the doctrine of vocation.

I thank Edie for her honesty.  Today was a difficult day with Clay and I struggled to stay patient in the midst of his fussy tantrums.  After losing my patience and feeling terrible about my behavior, Clay still wanted to curl up in my lap and give me a big hug.  His unconditional love when I felt the most unlovable really moved me.  I couldn't imagine why he would want to even be around me.  But, I'm so glad he did.  A hug from him was exactly what I needed and wanted at the time.