Productivity

Today was a super productive day for me. Those feel few and far between these days. The girls at work tell me I have twins but one is just bigger than the other. So between my "twins," working full time and just keeping up with daily tasks, it seems I never get any "extra" done. I had to recently view my "weeks" a little differently to mentally help me out.

I have two "weeks" that my life rotates around. I am coming to the end of my good one. The good one is where I only work 1 day out of 7. My one day falls smack dab in the middle of my good week--3 off, 1 on, 3 off. I get very productive during that 2nd group of 3. My bad week is quite bad. I work 5 12 hour shifts in 7 days--3 on, 2 off, 2 on. I am very unproductive on those 2 off and the first 3 of my good week as I am recovering from the bad.

That is what made today feel so good. I unpacked 6 boxes and found homes for everything in those boxes. I hung pictures up in several rooms of the house (although I still have a lot waiting to go up). I bathed both girls. I made all 3 meals today (this is rare, Ralph has been doing almost all the cooking). I had time while both girls napped (at the same time!!!) to spend some time in the Word. Ralph did the grocery shopping and ran quite a few errands. After dinner, he cleaned out the fridge, freezer and pantry while I just assisted (how cool is that?!). Oh, and did I mention I almost blew myself up with the grill? No? Well, I'll have to tell you about that later. Did I mention I blogged too? Yeah, you probably figured that part out already.

Now we are relaxing, drinking coffee, surfing the web at oh, 11:30 at night. No wonder I struggle getting up at 4:45 am on my days to work! Oh, well. I was pretty excited about all I got done today and had to share. It probably won't happen again for another two weeks. It is starting to look like home here. I found some of my "favorites" in those boxes. Things that speak to my heart that I love having in my home. Hope you all had a great day today (probably yesterday as you read this) and another good one tomorrow (today).  

And what is a good blog post without pictures? I just realized today that I took similar pics of both girls at 3 months. How cute are they?! Nugget is on top and Zita on the bottom. Nugget's reminding me a bit of Benjamin Button. Not sure that's a good thing.

What do you see?

So the next couple blogs will follow a theme (I think, don't hold me to that). Answered prayer. What do you see when you pray? Today I needed rest. Ralph needed a break. I told him I had the girls, he should focus on something else today. I told God I needed rest today.


Then I looked around. I see meals merging as the clean up from one never seems to be done before the next meal rolls around. I see our floors littered with toys, crayons, crayon pieces, food, crumbs, papers torn and scattered by the girls. I see piles of diapers waiting to be washed next to a pile of diapers that never made it to being folded and put away. Ditto with the girls clothes. Ditto with our clothes. I see pictures waiting to be hung. I see knick knacks piled up waiting for homes.



I put Nugget down for her nap. Then Zita is not content anywhere but Momma's arms. Tylenol does not help. Teething tablets do not help. Colic tablets do not help. Shushing, jiggling, bouncing, walking--none of these help.

This is transparency people!

Do you know what helped? Quietly, calmly sitting in the rocking chair rocking. You know what? That strangely looks like resting. Forced resting because otherwise I would have been multitasking despite my stated "need." I was able to spend some quality time with my baby rocking and praying because God saw fit to give this unworthy momma what she asked for--a fussy baby. *teary grin* This was more restful than reading. More restful than mindlessly watching TV or a movie. My heart had to be quiet. My mind was quieted. My hands were quieted. My feet were quieted. I told Zita we were going to have some "Jesus time." It just looked different than my plan.



God sees things different than we do. His ways aren't our ways. But this I know, He loves us and does know what we need. I needed a fussy baby today so that I would slow down and rest. How did God meet you in your life today? Was it as unexpected as my meeting today?

Our Girls

Thought the grandparents and aunts and uncles would enjoy a couple snippets out of our days from this summer.

Zita

A certain great aunt of mine has put in a special request for more pictures of Zita so I decided to dedicate a whole post to this special little girl. I didn't think I'd hear too many complaints!

Above is Zita at 3 months. She went on her first camping trip, loved  her baths and went to her first pool party! She was a busy little bee in June!

At 4 months we find her enjoying baths with her big sister, hanging outdoors and catching naps in her walker.

Five months has brought us bigger smiles, her first tooth and rolling over! She loves her big sister, no one gets bigger smiles out of her than Nugget. They make each other giggle and bring such joy to our hearts!

 

Now that fall is here and so is the rain, I'm hoping to get better about posting. We've made some super yummy food we haven't shared with you. I've started several projects I can't wait to show off. In addition, I have yet to finish Nugget's rag doll! We've been so busy living and settling in I've slacked off in sharing it all with you. I hope to get better at that.

Hope this helps a bit, Auntie Donna. I have taken pictures of her--just been bad about posting. Thanks for the gentle nudge to share! Love you!

A Down Day

I ended up working 16 hours yesterday. I had a good group of patients, wonderful staff I hated to leave in the lurch, and then there was the lure of double overtime. :) As a result, I am exhausted.

Today, I read some. Played with my girls. Took advantage of a gloomy day without rain and went for a walk. While we were on our walk we found some wild blackberries. As you can see below, Nugget loves blackberries (all fruit really). We came home tired but happy with stained fingers and faces (and clothes) and feeling victorious.  

Victorious, you say? Why, yes, victorious. Because, you see, we manage to lose and find Nugget's precious Blankie from Great Grandma. We were on our way home for nap time and Mommy discovered we had lost Blankie along the way. A moment of panic ensued on my part, and praying furiously, I turned the Mack truck of a stroller around and we began our hunt for Blankie while Nugget munched happily on blackberries. It was thankfully lying on the ground along our route around presumably where she dropped it. All is well in our world. I must admit, I was a little scared of the nap time-toddler-no Blankie combo and quite relieved not to have to face it. Zita blissfully slept through it all.

Here is a cute video I shot today on my phone of Nugget "reading" herself the grocery sale ad. I missed some of the best part but it's still cute. She's growing up fast. *grin*