Great thought...

I am reading the book "The Shack." I have heard a lot about it from a lot of different people. I am not very far into the book yet but I definitely appreciate the author's writing skills. I love reading well written words. I guess that makes me a nerd...Anyway, here is one quote from the forward that I like:

"I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside."

What was I Thinking?

Why did I start a blog when I have a newborn baby? Did I think that I would suddenly have lots of extra time to sit at the computer? I don't know...but I do know that I am going to set a record for the shortest blog entry tonight. Kyla is very grumpy today and I missed my moment to blog earlier when she was finally napping because I couldn't remember my password to sign in. I think I lose some of my memory every time I have a baby. If that's true, then I don't have much left...

NAK

A friend of mine recently taught me a new term--new to me anyway--NAK. It means "nursing at keyboard." I must admit I am getting quite proficient at typing one-handed. It seems the only time I have to sit at the computer is when I have to sit down to nurse the baby. I found out that there are other tasks I can accomplish while nursing if I have to like shopping at WalMart with all four kids just for a box of diapers. I wouldn't recommend this but if you don't have a choice--the toy aisles can be very entertaining for the other children for the 20 to 30 minutes it takes to nurse the baby. I can also race Mario Kart on the Wii, help my three year old in the bathroom, and sleep while nursing the baby. Now I don't necessarily think this is a talent worth bragging about. It is amazing though how we adapt to life changes. We just do what needs to be done.

I remember when we had our first baby almost eight years ago--I was overwhelmed and sleep deprived. I had a hard time keeping up on housework. Now I have a newborn, a 3 1/2 year old, a just turned 6 year old, and an almost 8 year old. I think I keep up on the housework better now than when I only had one. Maybe this is an example of practice makes perfect. I am by no means perfect (just ask my husband :) but I have definitely improved and matured and grown as our family has grown.

And now, I have to burp the baby which is a two handed job at this point so I will have to sign off for now.

Valentine's Day

Today was Valentine's Day. We celebrated by going to Costco--our first whole family outing since Kyla (our fourth child) was born two weeks ago. We had pizza for dinner to celebrate and I am going to share a box of chocolates with my husband and kids. Kevin (my husband) and I told each other how much we loved each other and we gave the kids bubbles and sweethearts. It may not sound like a very "romantic" day but it was a day of being together and appreciating each other. After all, isn't that what Valentine's Day is about? It seems like every holiday we celebrate has us feeling like we should buy stuff to show the important people in our lives how much they mean to us. I think spending time often goes much further towards accomplishing this purpose than spending money--and it's much easier on the budget.