The Best of 2008

I saw this idea on a new friend's blog. I loved it, so here's mine.

The Best of 2008

1. Elizabeth moving into her big girl bed.

2. Baking Valentine's cookies and delivering them to Elizabeth's (and my) friends.

3. Will being born!

4. Dedicating Will to the Lord on Father's Day.

5. A summer at home getting used to having 2 kids.

6. Going to Disneyland with a two year old.

7. Celebrating the 4th of July with my little firecrackers!

8. Potty training Elizabeth!

9. Enrolling Elizabeth in dance class and watching her become a part of a class.

10. Watching my husband live out his lifelong dream of coaching on the floor of Pauley Pavilion.

11. Planning and throwing a huge surprise 40th birthday party for my husband! Happy Birthday Babe!

12. Celebrating Thanksgiving with family from near and far.

13. Watching my kids get into Christmas.

14. Going for walks with my kids.

15. Watching God continue to work in myself, my marriage, and my family.

All glory to our Heavenly Father for a wonderful 2008. Despite the difficult times that so many of us are experiencing, He is good and able to do far beyond what our minds could ever imagine. Here's to a fabulous 2009!

P.S. I apologize for the formatting on this post. I've tried for an hour now to fix it, but I just can't get it right. Oh well. Enjoy the maze!

If you give a man a bottle of tea...

Have you read those children's books entitled If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or If You Give a Pig a Pancake? Well, here is my version...also entitled What I Spent My Morning Doing.

If you give a man a bottle of tea, he's going to want it chilled.

So he'll put it in the freezer to chill quickly.

But then he'll forget about it.

And in the morning he'll find that the bottle has exploded in the freezer!

So then he'll try to clean it up (I really did appreciate that, Honey.)

Finally, he will come to you and tell you what has happened.

And then you'll go into the kitchen to inspect things for yourself.

You'll see that he has done a decent job of cleaning up, but that there are still some glass particles in the freezer.

So you'll grab a sponge and try to reach them.

But then you'll realize that you can't reach them because the freezer door doesn't open all the way because of the sliding glass door.

So you'll have to pull the refrigerator out so that you can open the freezer door all the way and clean up the mess from the exploded tea bottle.

While the refrigerator is pulled out, you'll look behind it and notice that the floor is extremely dusty (that would be six years of extremely dusty!)

So you'll get out the vaccuum and the mop and the 409 and clean it up until it is perfectly clean (because the Monica in you can't not let you do that!)

And then you'll push the refrigerator back in and try to remember what it is that started this whole mess.

Oh yeah, if you give a man a bottle of tea...

Vacation!!!

Tonight I start my Christmas vacation. Tomorrow I will sleep in (at least until the kids wake me up), eat a leisurely breakfast (without worrying about spilling it while driving), play "Princess" with my daughter and her new Little People castle, and nurse my son whenever he wants (instead of listening to the pump drone on). Tomorrow I will not rush, I will not stress, I will simply enjoy being a stay at home mommy, at least for a few weeks. Tonight I start my Christmas vacation. And tonight I return to my blog. Welcome back to me!

My Little Oski Bear

Six months old! Wow! Where did the time go? Didn't I just have a baby? I can't believe how much I love him, and how much my heart has expanded to love him just as much as I love Elizabeth. I'll post about her tomorrow, but for now, let me brag about my boy.

My Kids

These are my kids. There are no words to describe the love I feel for them. It is endless, boundless, and beautiful. I never knew I could feel so much love inside of me. They are amazing, and I am so very proud of them.

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above." James 1:17

Cinderella

My two year old's new favorite song is a new one by Steven Curtis Chapman. She asks for it by name when we get in the car ("Listen Cinderella please") and then we listen to it over and over again until we have reached our destination ("Listen Cinderella again please.") I don't mind because, as those of you who know me, I love any song by Steven Curtis Chapman, and the words to this song are so precious. It's the musings of a father, watching his little girl play the part of Cinderella. Although burdened with the worries of adult life, he decides to dance with her, knowing that this moment won't be here forever. Here is the chorus:

So, I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms

For I know something the prince never knew

I will dance with Cinderella

I don't want to miss even one song

For all too soon, the clock will strike midnight

And she'll be gone

As I watch my little Cinderella dance around the room while I nurse her brother, I treasure this time with her. She is so spirited, so excited about life, and so free to be herself. She reminds me that fairy tales do come true.

It's a Boy!

To all of my blog viewers,

A belated birth announcement

Michael William Liskey III (AKA Will)

Born April 4, 2008

8 lbs. 12 oz.

20.5 inches long

Here are some photos of the now one-month old! Enjoy!

Update

Well, I'm 2 centimeters dialated and my body is ready to go! They will induce labor on Friday morning if I haven't had the baby before then. So one way or another, I will have a baby by Friday!

Thank you to all who have been praying for me during the last nine months. Your support and encouragement have made this pregnancy so doable. God is good, and this baby is proof of that!

Pregnant Forever

It is at this point in the pregnancy that you begin to feel that you will be pregnant forever. As people are making plans for the next few weeks, I am in limbo thinking, "Will I have had this baby by then? Maybe I will still be pregnant." My husband said today that for sure we will have the baby by Memorial Day. (He has such an odd sense of humor.) But to be honest, there are days when I think I will be pregnant forever.

I really thought I would have had this baby by now. I don't know why, but I really thought he/she would be coming early. Maybe it's because I'm so big, and so I figured when the baby hit a certain weight, it would begin the labor process on it's own. Or maybe it's because I so desperately want to go into labor naturally and not be induced this time, that I forced myself to think that he/she would be coming before my due date. A bit of my own brainwashing to be honest. At any rate, my due date is Tuesday and I have had no indication that this child is anywhere near ready to come join us on this side of my cervix.

Last week I was at peace with the baby not coming yet. I was treasuring my time with Elizabeth, and I was thankful for the extra days I got to work to earn as much as I could before going unpaid for a long time. But the other day, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I realized that I am now tired of being pregnant. I'm tired of looking like a blob, having to pee every twenty minutes, battling leg cramps during the night, and not fitting into anything (not even my maternity wear) anymore. Nine months is long enough. I have no idea how elephants do it.

However, I am sure that by this time next week, I will be looking back on today with a reminiscent smile thinking, "Oh, those were the days when I could sit at the computer for more than 2 minutes and blog." And so for today, I will be thankful to still be pregnant and acknowledge that I will not be pregnant forever.

Still Waiting

For those who are checking my blog to see if Baby #2 has arrived, the answer is...not yet!

Basic stats: 1/2 cm dialated, head down, but cervix is still too far back.

So we continue to wait. And that's okay.

Waiting

Waiting. It's a lot of what life is made up of. We wait in line at the grocery store. We wait for a package to arrive in the mail. We wait once a year for our birthday or Christmas to come. We wait for a lot.

It doesn't surprise me that Elizabeth has already learned to say the word "patience." I must say that to her at least ten times a day. Although she doesn't quite know what it means, she knows that Mommy uses it a lot, so it must be an important word. She, at 23 months, has already had to experience a lot of waiting in her little life. I'm sure her next few words will be, "Just a minute, Mommy," as that is my other form of the expression "patience" to her.

The other day, a student in my classroom asked me what he could do when he was done with his test. I told him to sit down and wait. He looked at me and courageously asked me, "Why?" And I responded with a similar dialogue as the beginning of this blog. "Because life is made up of waiting. You won't always be entertained in this life. Sometimes you simply just have to sit there and wait." Perplexed by the philosophical nature of my answer, he went back to his seat and waited.

Why am I writing about waiting today? Because that is now what I am doing. We are patiently awaiting the birth of Baby #2. Part of me wants this baby to come now. My body is done being pregnant. And yet part of me, the part that is writing this blog, is content to wait because I know that life as I know it will be so different once this baby arrives. When I wasn't pregnant, I used to look at other pregnant women and feel envy, thinking "Oh, what a special time in her life this is." Now that I am here, I want to remember that thought because this is a special time in my life. Never again will I feel this child moving about inside of me. It is a surreal feeling that cannot be replicated. I want to do as Mary, the mother of Jesus did and treasure these feelings within.

So although I can't wait to meet the little one causing this earthquake of movement inside of me, I will wait until God appoints our meeting time. His timing is perfect, and I know that this child will arrive on the exact date that He has determined. And so as He has called me to, I will wait patiently.

Where Have You Been?

My husband hates when I ask that question. It implies accountability, and sometimes I think he thinks I'm checking up on him like his step-mom or father used to do when he was a teenager. I tell him I'm just curious and want to make sure he is okay. I don't mind the question because to me it implies that someone cares about what I've been up to, what I've been doing, and where I'm going. So tonight, I'll tell you where I've been.

On Monday, I thought I was having contractions already (I'm currently 36 weeks along in my pregnancy). So since then, I've been...

• to the doctor's office for him to tell me that I'm not having contractions.
• to two different baby stores to purchase those last minute, extremely important items that you can't leave the hospital without (a carseat being one of them)
• to the store to buy Dreft, size 1 diapers, food, and other essentials that will be needed once baby is here
• to the car wash (I want my baby to come home in a clean car, I decided)

In short, I've been like the Energizer bunny this week, getting ready for this baby. Some call it nesting. I call it panic. Suddenly I'm realizing that my life is going to drastically change in a few weeks, and I'm doing everything I can to prepare for it.

And in the midst of all of this, I look at Elizabeth and I realize my time with just her is limited now too. And I am sad about that.

So many emotions. So much anticipation. In a few weeks, it will all be over, and a new life will be mine to care for. Life is happening, and I am right in the middle of it.

Tantrums

As Elizabeth has her daily tantrums, and as I patiently wait them out, wondering when this phase will be over, I wonder if this is how God views me when I'm having a tantrum. I don't always get my way, but I always want it. And when I do have my tantrums, does God just sit there and think, "Oh, you big faker. Get up and move on with your life!" I doubt it. The Word tells us that He is a loving and compassionate God, and I have evidenced in my life times when He has comforted me the most, times when I have been throwing my own tantrums. Instead, He consoles me with His word, with the words of others who have been before me, and with the wisdom that He is in control of my life, not me. He does not look upon me with disdain or disbelief. He helps me to dry my tears, get back up, and move on with my life.

Thank you, Lord, that you are a better parent than I am. And thank you that I can learn about parenting from You.

Sweetness

It doesn't get any sweeter than this.

Tonight as I was putting Elizabeth down for bed, she sang her version of the song I always sing to her, "Jesus Loves Me." She only knew a few of the words, but it was so sweet to hear her try and sing along with me. My favorite parts were the big breaths she took before each verse started.

Thank you, Lord, for sweet moments like this.

Beware

Beware of what learning a lesson from God will do to you. Beware of thinking you have learned that lesson and that you can move on with your life. Beware of being overconfident in yourself and not in the Lord.

I was struck by the enemy this weekend. After coming to grips with my full-time working situation, I thought I was doing well. I blogged about it, I talked to friends about it, I was at peace about it. The enemy knew this and hit me in my Achilles heel, right when I wasn't looking. I won't go into major details, but basically I have been in a funk this weekend that resembled my old days of depression. Thankfully, only a few people had to deal with the fall-out from this (my husband and my mom), and praise God that today's sermon was the medication I needed to get out of this funk. I am better now, but I know that that won't last long if my eyes are not on the eternal prize.

Also, beware of Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Covered Pretzels. As good as they taste, they are not a satisfying solution to depression.

One Little Heartbeat at a Time

To all my mommy friends:

I dedicate the chorus of this incredible Steven Curtis Chapman song to you.

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, and you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

Happy Heart's Day!

Perspective

Sometimes I think the Lord gives us a small peek into His big plan. It isn't an overarching view allowing complete comprehension, but it is a keyhole that pacifies us until the complete plan can be revealed. He doesn't have to give it to us. He is God and He is Lord. We are not on a contract basis in which I trust Him only if He tells me what's going on. I trust Him because He is God and He is Lord, and if He chooses to give me some perspective on His plan, that is just icing on the cake, so to speak.

On Thursday I was given a little bit of perspective. After coming to peace with not being able to job share and letting go of that dream, I was informed that my current administrator is not allowing job shares on our campus. So even if I had tried to job-share at my present school, I would not be allowed to and would have to find another school to work at. Not an impossible task, but also not an easy task, especially with a 2 year old and a newborn at home.

So maybe God was protecting me. And maybe He has even greater plans for me than just job-sharing. Or maybe He doesn't, and He simply wants me to continue to trust Him. Either way, I'm thankful for the bit of perspective He has so graciously bestowed on me. It may be only 1/32 of the picture, but that's 1/32 more than what I had on Wednesday.

Charma

Elizabeth has developed a liking towards Parmesean cheese lately. "Charma, charma!" as she calls it. She will dip anything and everything into the pile of pale yellow dust-like particles: noodles, carrots, sandwich crusts, her fingers. I had to draw the line at pancakes, however. That was just a little too gross for me.

I'm not sure why she likes it. Perhaps it's the cheesy taste. Perhaps it's the novelty of dipping and being in control of her food. Or perhaps it's the fact that after she eats "charma", we have to get the vacuum (her very favorite toy!) out and clean it all up. I'm not sure which reason it is, but she loves it.

She loves "charma" unconditionally, without reservation, without reason. It doesn't matter what she eats it with; she loves it. It doesn't matter why she eats it; she loves it. I hate to connect everything to a higher meaning, but I sure wish I could love people the way Elizabeth loves "charma."

Do as the Occasion Demands

1 Samuel 10:7. "AND LET IT BE THAT WHEN THESE SIGNS COME TO YOU, THAT YOU DO AS THE OCCASION DEMANDS; FOR GOD IS WITH YOU."

My friend, Yvonne, shared this verse the other night at a girls' night out. It struck me and stuck with me. I love the part that says, "Do as the occasion demands." For me, what the occasion demands is for me to work full time next year. Although it is not what I want to do, it is what is required of me at this time. And I cling to the last part of the verse, "For God is with you." He is with me, He is with my daughter, and He will be with my new baby. As long as He is with us, we will be in the center of His will.

Hope this verse brings as much hope to you as it did to me. Thanks Yvonne!

Getting It

Today's sermon was sooo meant for me. Thank you, Lord, for the way you speak through our pastor right to my heart. It is days like today that remind me that I am your child and that you care so much about me.

So the message today was about choosing to glorify God despite your situation. Hello...did Pastor Tom read my blog last week or what?! The Israelites didn't do this. They wanted God to fix their situation, and then when He did, they glorified Saul, their new king, not Him, their eternal king. They didn't get it. And consequently (as I'm sure Pastor Tom will take us through in the next few weeks), they will pay the price for their narrow-sighted vision.

I want to get it. I want to be in a place where I can glorify God in whatever situation I am in. I want to be able to glorify the Lord whether I am working full time, part-time, or staying at home. I want to be able to glorify Him whether my children are obedient or not. I want to be able to glorify Him whether my husband is loving or not. I was there earlier this week, and then I let myself focus on my situation instead of on my loving Father. Today I was recharged, but I think the key is continually renewing my mind and focusing on Father.

I pray every night with Elizabeth that she and the new baby would come to know Jesus at an early age, that they would love and follow Him everyday of their lives, and that they would glorify His name in all that they do. I think I need to add myself to that prayer.

Submission

Today I am learning another lesson in submission. My husband and I have had the "talk" about whether or not I can work part-time again next year, and after looking at all of the numbers, it doesn't look like it will be possible for me. This mortgage crisis is affecting us all. I am so sad...I so badly wanted to stay at home with my babies next year.

But I can tell God is working in me. In the past, when things have not gone my way and I have had to submit, I have gotten angry and blamed other people (usually my husband) for the situation. But today, I am subdued. I don't know why. I am sad but also at peace. I think after 5 years of marriage, and many other lessons in submission, I am starting to understand what the concept means.

My friend Pamie told me to find joy in this situation. So here is a list of the things to be joyful about when working full time.

• My working full time will keep my family out of debt.
• My working full time will keep our health insurance at a reasonable cost.
• My working full time will take an enormous burden off of my husband and will show him that I respect him. It will also enable him to pursue his dream of accomplishing his MBA.
• My working full time will allow my children to develop loving relationships with other people who care for them.
• My working full time will make me appreciate my time with my children so much more.
• As a teacher, at least my working full time is only 10 months out of the year. Also, I can be home by 3:30 pm, and still spend some quality time with my children.

I know that the Lord is in control and that He knows my dream. Perhaps when this mortgage crisis is over and the economy turns up, I will be able to stay at home. Until then, I continue to pray and trust in the Lord. He not only knows what is best for me but also for my family. I have to trust in that.

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God...Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:1-8

Initiation

When I was in college, I decided to pledge a sorority to help me meet more people on campus. I went through rush, visited all of the houses, put down my preferences, and waited for a bid. To my joy, I received a bid from the house I wanted to join and began the pledging process. This consisted of one semester where I learned about the sorority, performed menial jobs for the sisters (such as phone duty or hashing), and basically got to know all of the girls that I would soon be calling my "sisters." I survived pledging and after 3 months, I was initiated into the sorority. From then on I was considered a true Alpha Gam and was expected to pull my weight as a sister. I did for three years, and I still keep in touch with many of my sorority sisters.

Last week, Elizabeth, Mike and I all came down with the stomach flu. It started with Elizabeth vomitting all over the couch and newly cleaned carpets in the living room. She then threw up every half hour from 7 pm until 2 am. Being new parents, Mike and I didn't realize until about Throw Up #3 that we had to physically get Elizabeth to the trashcan or toilet since she didn't know how to do this. It was an extremely messy night in which we must have gone through 8 sets of sheets, 4 pairs of pajamas, and what seemed like a million towels. I slept on the side of her bed, waiting for the signs that she was about to vomit, and then quickly would lift her up to the side where the trashcan was. It was a vicious night, and as I watched my little girl go through such horrible pain, I just prayed and prayed that the vomitting would stop and that she would be able to get some rest for her little worn out body.

The next day, I told Mike that we had now been initiated as parents. The last 20 months we been learning about Elizabeth and how to parent her best, getting to know her and her quirks, and performing menial tasks such as changing her diaper and giving her a bath. Basically, we were pledging the fraternity of parenthood. But after that night, I felt we now understood what it meant to be a parent. We survived the yucky stuff, took care of our daughter, and now we can truly call ourselves parents. I'm sure everyone has their "initiation" into parenthood at some point. Some come early on in a child's life; some come later. And I'm sure there are several "initiation" moments that are awaiting me in the future. I just hope they don't all include "holding her hair back."

Big Girl Bed - Part 2

So on Elizabeth's first night in her big girl bed, all of my fears came true. At 1:00 am, she woke up scared and screaming because she didn't know where she was. At 4:00 am, she woke up and ran down the hallway. At 6:00 am, she fell off the edge of the bed. By 7:30 am, when she officially woke up, not only was she glad the night was over, but so was I. I was so worried all night that I didn't sleep a wink. But even though all of my fears came true, she still survived. There were no bumps or bruises, and she eventually went back to sleep all three times.

Last night, Elizabeth's 2nd official night in her big girl bed, I went to bed exhausted and anticipated another sleepless night. But to my surprise, my big girl didn't wake up once! I was shocked! When I woke up 6:30 this morning, I couldn't believe that it was my first time waking up since my head hit the pillow last night. And at about 7:30 this morning, as I was getting my morning toast, out popped a little blond curly head that said, "Hi!" My big girl had awoken.

The lesson here. Well, there are many. But I think the big one for me is that kids are so adaptable to change. What I was anticipating to take 3 weeks, took only 3 days. And the fears that I had, well, they happened, but no one was any none the worse. We survived, adapted, and moved on, as we do in all things in life. And now I have a toddler who sleeps in her big girl bed at night. Yeah!