Inevitably after a baby is born everyone asks, “Who does she/he look like?”  Call me a bad mom, but I usually don’t see anyone in particular in a newborn.  They just look like newborns…

Anyway, here is all three of the kiddos at the exer-saucer stage…I’ll leave it up to you to decide!

Go ahead and leave a comment and let us know who you think the kids look like most.

We have been going through the Biblical story of Joseph using a great curriculum called Bible Study Guide For All Ages. The kids really enjoy it as they get to color as the story progresses and they are really retaining the material because of the pictures and review.

As we have been going through the story I have been thinking about how Jacob’s favoritism of certain sons (ie Joseph & Benjamin) really caused so much hurt between them, not to mention his multiple wives!!  (Kirk always says he couldn’t handle more than one wife, so I guess I don’t have to worry about that:)).  So, knowing that favoritism is wrong how do we go about loving our children equally?

I once met a mom who calculated to the penny how much she spent on Christmas gifts for each child and would give them money to compensate for any difference.  Now I don’t know about you, but I think I would be crazy putting all that effort into being “equal”.  I’m also not organized enough to do such things.

I did hear a quote awhile ago that has helped me think through how I do treat my children:

If you love your children equally, you will treat them uniquely.

I LOVE what that conveys!!  Cade and Ella are SO different.  Ella can try as hard as ever to be neat while she eats, and she will still have a complete disaster when she is done.  Cade, on the other hand, has been a neat eater from the very beginning.  He doesn’t like being messy, and he has even refused to finger paint and do paper mache because he might get dirty.  All of our pictures of Cade in the high chair are of him falling asleep.  All of the ones of Ella are of the mess she made!  I’m just waiting to see what Addie will do!!

At a New Year’s party the kids played limbo.  Ella jumped right in and couldn’t care less that she was doing it “incorrectly”.  Cade sat on the floor and watched because he wasn’t sure if he could do it “right”.

So, with Cade we encourage him to try many things, and he needs a lot of encouragement and affirmation that it’s okay if it isn’t done perfectly.  Ella, in contrast, needs encouragement at times to work to perfect things or take them more seriously.  We love them both, but wouldn’t it be a travesty to treat them the same???

Which, as a side note, you may want to give yourself a break (as a mom, wife, daughter etc) and realize that you aren’t meant to be the same as anyone else.  God loves us equally, but created us (and treats us) uniquely as well.

The other day I purchased Babycubes with my order of diapers on www.diapers.com.  (I have recently fallen in love with ordering diapers online as it is cheaper AND I don’t have to lug a big box home from the store…just fyi some diapers are actually cheaper on www.amazon.com, but I had a coupon for diapers.com at the time).

So, what are Babycubes?  They are this great little invention that make making your own baby food simpler.  I used to filled ice cube trays with pureed food and then pop them out and put them in freezer bags.  This works great until you want to bring it somewhere.  I love Babycubes because they can be frozen, microwaved and then put in the dishwasher and you never lose the lid!

Anyway, the other day I was being a superb mother and was pureeing green beans from our garden (yes, it is 20 degrees below zero here…they were beans that had been previously frozen and were in our freezer).  There I was, feeling awfully good about my diligence when I hear Ella whisper to Cade, “That looks disgusting!!” Keep in mind that Ella is not yet 4, but she definitely has her own opinions!  Cade instantly replies in a whisper (in a whisper because they know they aren’t allowed to say negative things about food being prepared), “Yeah, it totally does to me too!!” Well, so much for my moment (instant?) of goodness.  I think it was easier to hang onto those moments with only one child:).

Our house was on the market and we haven’t had a showing since August.  Now, we have a showing tomorrow…and yes, technically our house is off the market.

So, needless to say, we have been busy cleaning around here.  Making our house look like no one lives in it with 2 pre-schoolers and an infant is somewhat of a feat in and of itself.  Ella, as usual, has been an eager helper.  We have been cleaning bathtubs, washing mirrors and windows, the fridge, and her favorite, the toilet.

What could be better than such a happy, cute helper!  It makes even cleaning the toilet fun!  The ballerina swimsuit is also a must for a wonderful toilet cleaning experience.

I love to read. Fiction, non-fiction, biographies, curriculum, magazine articles, recipes, blogs…I love it all.

It was sometime while I was pregnant that a gracious friend loaned me many books during the days of morning sickness. There was a stack of Randy Alcorn fiction among the stack. I had read Alcorn’s Heaven book, but none of his fiction. I really like the fiction I do read to be stretching, and I tend to stay away from mindless romance novels (sorry for those of you who love that kind of thing).

I read Safely Home, and I have not been the same since. The book takes you into the Persecuted Church in China. It draws you into a real world that most Americans know nothing about. It makes you long for Heaven while making your heart break for brothers and sisters you have never met.

It was while reading that book that my desire to do something huge for Christ was ignited in a way it hadn’t in a long time. I wanted to travel far and wide, talk to anyone who would listen, write books and speak to the masses. Kirk’s passion to travel isn’t real high, I’m not the most eloquent, and I thought writing 8 page papers in college was quite lengthy so it seemed that all that was within me was hitting dead ends.

I prayed during that time that God would reveal to me the great things He had for me to do for Him. I wanted to see God do amazing things as I put my faith in Him. I would come up with great ideas only for them to lose steam quickly. The ideas were from me.

Through some different people, circumstances and Bible studies God has showed me that I am to be the wife and mom He has created me to be. That’s it. No long plane rides or big groups of people. Nothing fancy or unique. The question is, do I have enough faith for God to take care of my needs even when my husband doesn’t? Can I trust God to give me the strength to help train my children when I have no energy left? Do I trust God in a way that allows me to respect my husband even when he doesn’t deserve it?

This is what God has called me to. To those God has called He will equip. If I trust Him daily (many times hourly) He will work through me to be faithful. Am I perfect…ha!!! Just ask Kirk and the kids! I’m not perfect, but I can start again and trust God to transform me to be the best wife and mom I can be.

Really it is blooming where you are planted. Where have you been planted? Are you surviving or blooming? God will equip you to what He

has called you to. If you are a wife…you are called to be a wife to the husband you have. If you are a mom…you are called to be a mom to the children you have. Read Safely Home and know that God has called you.

The kids are excited and we are having fun putting up the tree, wrapping gifts, going to Christmas programs, making Christmas treats and listening to Christmas music.  There is something so fun about hearing the story of Jesus coming to earth through the ears of a child.  As adults, we are so used to the story that nothing surprises us anymore.  The story can cease to be amazing.   Children seem to bring back how odd the reality of God coming to earth really is.  ”Jesus is God?”  ”He was born in a barn?”  ”They brought Him perfume?”  ”He laid where the sheep ate?…P U!”.

It seems to hit me even more the years that we have had a baby in the house.  I now look at Addie and think about how God chose to become completely helpless as a baby.  He was dependent on His creation to feed and care for Him.  So many times we choose to complain about this or that and even blame God or wonder why He isn’t answering our prayers.  I know I need the reminder that He gave everything when He came to this earth that is imperfect and full of sin.  He came to save us…He came to save you.

At times, we have also had fun thinking about how hard it would be to be a sibling to Jesus.  Mary would ask, “Why can’t you be more like Jesus?”, and tattling would be a total waste of time.  Although, I suppose He would be the most selfless to play with.

At any rate, we are having a lot of fun experiencing Christmas with 3 children this year.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.