This Thursday

Things in the O'Brien world have been not so chaotic lately. Actually it's kind of a nice break. Easy going, relaxing, calming...what more could a pregnant wife and mother to a toddler ask for :)

Over at Angie's Blog I tend to find inspiration. During a recent visit to Angie's blog I found Lindsey's Blog. Many people might agree to disagree that Angie and Lindsey are very different people. After become a loyal blog reader to both sites, you'd be amazed at how similar these two woman are. Both of them are truley inspirational. So today, this Thursday, I'm feeling compelled to write on faith after reading Lindsey's post. I'm a little dissappointed in the things some readers have said in their comments to her.

I'm a Christian. At least I'd like to believe that God thinks I am.

I'm a normal imperfect human being. There are somethings I've done in my life that I'm happy with and other things I'm disappointed in. I'll spare you the details of each and every event but let's just say there are many on the each "The Good" and "The Bad" side.

Since the time that Rory and I began our attempts at making a family, I'd say my faith took whirlwind turns. When I'm in struggle mode it's very difficult to keep my head up high and "believe" that everything is just gonna be alright. What can I say, I'm just being honest. Sometimes I get mad at God and I demand answers of "why." I think at different points in our lives all of us have been there in one way or another.

When Ava was born, something changed. It's kind of like when you get married. People will tell you while you're engaged "things are different when you get married." You ask them, well what is it. They can't explain. Their answer is usually "I dunno, but something changes." That's kind of what happened after I had Ava.

I can't truthfully say that most days I don't do my best to strive as a "perfect Christian." I do strive to be a decent person in society, a good wife, and a good mother. When you have a child your priorties change. I want to be a good role model for my daughter (and future twinlets.) I want her to grow up with happy memories of sunday school lessons, family dinners, annual family vacations, etc. I want the work that I've done here to influence my children to be good people.

The older Ava gets the harder it has been on me for us, as a family, not to be involved in a church. I can say that I'm not really impressed with some of the churches. Why is it okay that some Christians can go to church on Sunday, sit in the pew with their perfect posture, and pretend to lead the perfect life. Then, no sooner do they leave church they are cutting off the old lady in the left lane of traffic for driving 5 miles under the speed limit. I just have a hard time with those who put themselves on a pedestal, yet they are no different than you or I.

I don't preach that I'm perfect or that I have no faults.

I love scripture. I love sharing with people the things I'm grateful for. I love God.

How many churches did you attend before you found the one you love? How do you deal with imposters within the church (besides prayer ;) We all know that would be a common answer?)

Love, Love

This posts speaks for itself. Just make sure your volume is up :)

Where's Waldo?

Let me rephrase that title before I go any futher. How about "Where's Ava?"

Many of you know that Rory and I chose for Ava to go to a Montessori School. We both had been impressed with the Montessori way from the beginning and were very interested in the method. Before Ava started the school we had been practicing some of the methods at home. Allowing her the freedom to sleep in a bed and not a crib was one of them. We made this successful transition when she was about 9 months old. We bought an antique bed from an auction. It was a dark wood color so we painted it white and Rory cut the legs off of it. That way it basically sat on the floor. When we bought the bed it looked like a twin size bed. When we attempted to put in a twin size mattress it didn't work. Length wise it did but not width. We cut open the mattress and cut the coils down so it would fit. Ava now had her own "custom" bed, and she didn't have any trouble at all with this transition. She always slept great in the bed and never caused us any trouble with it.

A few months ago, while she was sleeping her diaper leaked. In the 19 months we've been blessed with this child this has only happened a maybe a handful of times. All of the times had been prior to her "custom" bed. It was my mistake that we didn't have a waterproof mattress cover on the bed so we had to throw the mattress away. Not willing to buy a twin mattress and cut it again, Rory and I decided to just buy her a normal toddler bed. We thought about a twin but that is too high off of the ground for our comfort, even with side rails.

Yes, I'm still a first time mom and worry about these things.

Needless to say, Ava got a new toddler bed. I'm not too sure she likes it. Every morning when Rory wakes her up, he's learned he's on a manhunt. It turns into a game of "Where's Waldo" or in this case "Where's Ava?!?"

We've gotten a little heartfelt joy over her ability to find comfort no matter where her head is resting for the night.

The proof is in the pudding.

Monday Mayhem

In all reality there is no mayhem today, it's just a typical Monday. The day after the two days that I lay on the couch and bribe myself into at least getting up to shower. Pathetic, I know. The "twinkies" keep getting bigger and bigger. I have a picture to prove it. ;)

I am 9 weeks and finally got a tenative due date of October 5th. Baby A and Baby B are both "thriving" and doing great. Rory and I have decided that they will get the same treatment as Ava and at 16 weeks we'll do the 4d ultrasound to find out the gender of them. I'm excited to begin the countdown. It helps me keep my mind off of...well...puking my brains out. Zofran has not been quite the lifesaver as it was with Ava, then again, she was solo so there was not as bad of hormone spikes. Speaking of hormones. Poor Rory. He was so nice and made lasagna with garlic bread the other night. MISTAKE! While he and Ava chowed down on this nice Italian meal, I secluded myself to the bedroom for 2 hours with the window open to try and escape the smell!

I'm getting nauseous thinking about it. Moving on.

Ava has become a little acrobat lately. Here's an example:

She likes balancing on things, jumping off of the arm on the loveseat, scaling the dining room chairs...We need to put her in a padded room. Thankfully she has not hurt herself. Rory and I try to stop her, but kids are quick. They do stuff before you know it. We have hemmed and hawed about signing her up for the Tumblebus. It's a school bus that has been converted into a mini gymnastic rec center. After this weekend, I think we've finally concluded...she will have a monthly membership :)

Now this wasn't bad was it...only 3 days since my last post. I'm trying to get better. Now go out there and find that miracle drug for me that takes morning sickness away :)