Apples to Oranges

So the funny thing about writing a blog, is you want to be honest, transparent and personal, but then you dont' really want anyone to be that personal with you. Thus I have about 5 blogs started that will never be finished haha. But this, I think, should be shared, because it may help a mom out there that is just exhausted.



I love my son an indescriable amount. It came on somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd trimester when I got to see him moving on the ultrasound screen and I fell head over heels in love. I knew that no matter what I would love him to pieces :)


The other day he threw his banana, peaches, kiwi, yogurt, grapes, cheese, eggs, and toast on the floor without taking one bite. And yes I offered all of that, one right after the other. Was he sick? Nope. Was he not hungry? Who knows? Either way, I burst into tears sitting at the table and cried. He looked at me with a sweet smile and patted my head. Then after the crying fit, we practiced walking in the living room and he took a few steps and then squatted to the floor and crawled toward the window so he could stand by the ledge and watch the squirrels outside. And I thought to myself ugh, when is he gonna walk? After I put him down for his morning nap, I felt defeated. Is he taking a sippy cup perfect yet? No. Is he walking yet? No. Is he eating perfectly? No. He calls every animal a d-duck, and waves bye bye at people at random times (none of which is when we are actually leaving) Uh oh. Is he going to be behind?? Or worse....did I fail him by not working with him harder/longer/sooner...or better?



As I cleaned up his morning breakfast disaster, it hit me. Why does he have to eat all that stuff? Does he have to be walking perfect? Where did I get these ideas from?



I remember being a teacher and feeling like so much is pushed on little kids at a young age. Now I know some kids really do grasp things earlier and thats fantastic, but I know my child is fantastic too. Maybe instead of practicing walking he would like to watch the squirrels. So that afternoon we went walking again, but then he found a rock on the sidewalk and decided he'd rather sit and explore that. And I let him :) The most valuable lesson you could ever learn is to never compare your child to anyone elses....or to a textbooks set of rules. So are we still practicing the sippy cup? Yes. Are we still practicing walking? Yes. And are we still exploring food alot? Ha, oh yes. I'm so proud of him for always exploring, even if that means it takes some time :)




Today he drank a 1/2 ounce more than he usually does from his sippy. Hooray!



He showed a little less fear when standing. Hooray!



And he ate like a pig for breakfast AND lunch today. Amazing!



No more stressing. :)







With love-

Sarah

He is Risen!

What a weekend!


Saturday we headed to an Egg hunt at Viera High School with a few of Jackson's friends. He loved it, although didn't understand the concept of putting eggs in the basket, and instead just shook them :)






This Easter, I decided that instead of doing the normal rat race, I would cook Easter dinner and have both sides of the family to our house :) We had a wonderful time! In the morning Sam and I headed to church with J and my Dad came over to hide Easter eggs and do his 27th annual Easter egg scavenger hunt :) Each year he would leave an empty basket with a note on the dining room table, and my sister and I would follow notes from one place to another. It was an absolute blast and I would LOVE going from place to place. This year we carried on the tradition by doing it for Jackson. SO fun. However I'm still waiting on the pictures from it from Dad :)





After the egg hunt, and dinner Jackson was WORN OUT but too wound up to fall asleep so Sam and I headed out for a wonderful family walk. And then it hit me. I never take pictures. EVER. I didn't get a family shot, I didn't get a shot of my first ham....NOTHING. I promise to get better at this. I've never been one of those people to take pictures while life is happening...I always just participate in it. However then I never have them to look back on. So I've decided that however annoying it is, I really need to stop and take pictures. Loads of em.



Either way, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your family and took time to stop and reflect on Jesus' sacrifice for us. He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!



With Love-
Sarah

Recent Thoughts

So for the past few days, I felt like I should write something Easter-y in my blog to: 1. reflect on Jesus' love for us. 2. to talk about my faith and express my love for Jesus.

But.
As per normal, I can't think to write anything and I definitely don't want to write preachy because well, I am horrible at it, I'm no smarter than anyone else and well 9 times out of 10 people hate it :) So....


Here's random recent reflections that I've been blessed with as of late :)

* "I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." -Jesus, This is proof that I really should stop worrying.
* I've found a new respect for Jesus' mother lately. I can't imagine watching my innocent son persecuted his entire life and for his life to end so dramatically. Savior or not, he was still her baby boy.
* So being a Christian, I realize God really wants me to love alot more...and I need to work on that majorly...specially when someone cuts me off in traffic :)
* He really is good. So good in fact that he gives me so much that I don't deserve, and it keeps on coming. We are on one income and somehow are lacking for absolutely nothing. That is beyond ridiculous!! Am I bragging? NO. Only boasting in Christ and his ability to create everything from absolutely nothing.
* Missing church really hard for me. I've heard people say that "they don't need a building to worship God" which is absolutely true. But the church isn't a building, it's people. And lemme tell you, not going for a few weeks really makes me dull! Iron sharpens iron. I can't wait to go back this Sunday :)
* Praying for Jackson can be overwhelming. Haha. I pray for his future, his present, his life, his health, his walk, his everyday life and the list goes on....Thus I've decided to pray for one thing each day. :) Again, thanks God for the order you bring to everything :)
* Joy comes from the Lord.
* He speaks to us everyday. Everytime I ask him for direction, guidance or even a random question like "where on earth is my cell phone" he answers. People laugh at me, but if anyone knows where my cell phone is, I believe he does.
* He is living. I've often heard this is a time to remember. Yes, remember the events that happened, but he is just as much alive and living now as he always was. Thankful for that :)

So despite me wanting to write something Easter-y I definitely think I failed. But Jesus isn't just Easter-y, he's there all the time. Or I guess I should say, all the time we are there, and able to reach out to him and speak to him and walk with him. He's always been there.



We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.... 1 John 3:16

Baby's First Flight!

This past weekend we were blessed to be able to visit Richmond, V.A. and be a part of Sam's sister's wedding! VA is absolutely gorgeous and the weather was incredible....everyday cept Kat's wedding day of course in which ithailed. Yes..hailed as in nickel sized ice balls from the sky. Anywho...it was beautiful and fun. We saw grass (yes, REAL grass!) and got a chance to be away for it all for awhile.

First of all, I always get nervous before I fly. Usually it's because I want to make sure we get all our luggage and carry ons assembled, that we are on time and of course that our plane arrives safely. This time around I was nervous that somewhere over South Carolina my 11 month old would have an inconsolable meltdown with 40 mins left in the air. So I packed accordingly. Both carry ons were filled with new toys and books, and we toted a lunchbag with 3 meals 2 snacks and countless bottles. Sam and I being the novice parents that we are had purchased tickets with connecting flights each way. Yes...thats right connecting flights. And before you get out the "I told you so" comments...Jackson did AMAZING. He had a complete blast and made friends with every stewardess, and neighboring passenger on the plane. The only hiccup was some squealing on the second connecting flight home which Sam and I remedied with a constant goldfish in his mouth :) So proud of my little man once again.

Once we arrived, our schedules were jam packed full of wedding festivites. Having Jackson off his schedule was a little difficult for all of us, but he pulled through pretty well and only had a meltdown during the rehersal dinner in which we had to scoot out early to put him down way past his normal 8:00 bedtime. The day of the rehersal we even got a chance to play in the park some. :) Even Aunt Katie and Uncle Billy got to play too :)

The wedding day was a murky one, with tornadoes and hail but Katie really shined! She made the best of it and we just moved the wedding indoors. Her colors were red and black and she and Mike were introduced with Dropkick Murphy's in the background. Defintely very her :) I love Katie so much. It's amazing how you can have a sister who is exactly like you and exactly different at the same time. Either way I am so thankful we were able to visit her and see her get married. Best wishes to her and her new husband Mike!

The Wood Casa

I decided to post a picture (finally, I know) of our house! I know many people have asked and I just keep forgetting to do it so here it is...:) And Sam haha.

Seriously this house is SUCH an amazing blessing. Everyday I wake up and think how is this possible!? To God be all the glory. He truly organized this in such a beautiful way. Now I'm not gonna lie...we haven't decorated much at all. haha. But hey, baby steps :) And the yard? Well we (meaning Sam and my dad) spent an entire weekend on it and only put a dent in it. But with time, patience and alot of love...it's going to be perfect! It's a 3 bdrm, 2 bath with a little nature preserve behind it.

We've done some painting and haven't really done the bulk of it. I'm sure having an almost 11 month old has something to do with that :) Either way, I have complete patience in adding our own touch to it. Decorated or not...it's our home :)

Thoughts on sand

Thursdays have always been a tougher day for us. It could be because the week has worn on us, or maybe the promise of Friday is right on the horizon. Either way, the minute Sam walked in the door last night, we decided to pack up our things and head to the beach for some great quality time. It's amazing what an evening "away" can do for you and your family!

So, it's no question that Jackson is growing up so fast. Each day I see more of his personality begin to emerge and I LOVE it. He is Curious. Yes, with a capital C. He is FILLED with wonder. Everything fascinates him. Last night it was the wind, the sand, the waves, the birds the shells, his fingers and toes...and the list goes on. He had to touch, see, hear, and yes even taste (haha!) everything. :) Watching him be so enamoured with everything inspires me.

In Psalm 139 it says The Lord has fearfully and wonderfully made us. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what fearfully made means, but as of late, I am beginning to understand what wonderfully made really means. Our amazing Pastor spoke on this very topic during Christmastime. About how often children wonder and this amazing hunger of wonder teaches them so much. That wonder leads to wisdom. He spoke of how as we get older many of us explore less and less, and ask someone else and "google it." And in getting our information secondhand we begin to lose that wonder. I believe we were created to explore and experiment. I think we really are wonderfully made.

Seeing Jackson explore the sand with his fingers and crunch it his hands was a great reminder. We decided to get down in the sand with him and build, bury and write in it. It's amazing how much you can learn from an 11 month old. :)

With Love, Sarah

To blog or not to blog?

Normally I am aganist all things technology. Or perhaps I should say, all things technology are against me. I never figure out how to find anything online, load anything up and forget using a smart phone. But lately I've really enjoyed reading other people's blogs (which I can only find when someone gives me the direct link...ha) so I figured I would enjoy writing my own. Therefore family and friends can get a glimpse into my world and follow the most popular Wood family member: Jackson. Although I enjoy writing, I wouldn't say I have a God given gift for it, so thanks in advance for using grace and discretion when reading. I hope you enjoy reading mine, as much as I've enjoyed reading all of yours :) With love- Sarah :)