Letting go of expectations....

Today was just one of those days.  A day where everything seemed like an uphill battle. 

It started out seemingly normal, except for some mild crankiness from our oldest.  Crankiness turned into whining (Oh! How I deplore whining!).  Whining into crying.  Crying into rudeness, talking back, and a general mean-spirit.  This resulted in Josiah spending much of the morning sitting in the corner, sulking, and waiting for his heart to change.  All this before Daddy whisked out the door for a full day of meetings. 

Alas, the heart did change, though the sulkiness somehow remained.  Expectation #1:  A true heart change results in a happy, easy to care for child.  WRONG!  While Josiah did repent for his bad attitude, his sulkiness remained.  Thankfully, in this moment during the day, I did indeed listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  I asked.  I dug.  I nudged.  And I finally uncovered what his little spirit was wrestling with.  He missed his Grandma & Granddaddy from North Carolina.  He had to say goodbye to them on Sunday as we traveled back to NY.  And to him, saying goodbye meant "I'll never see you again." 

Its moments like this today where God is teaching me a valuable lesson.  My life isn't about my agenda.  It isn't about my expectations.  It isn't really about me at all.  But its about learning to live sacrificially.  Learning to love sacrificially.  Did I have other plans for this morning?  YOU BET!  Did I really want to deal with a difficult child most of the day?  DEFINITELY NOT!  Do I like being inconvenienced?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  But it's not about me.  It's not about living for myself, but demonstrating God's love to my children.  So here's to letting go of my own expectations.  Letting go of my own ideas on how the day should go (which can often be unrealistic).  Letting go of what I think is the necessary agenda, and letting God's agenda play out instead. 

Abby, Jojo, and Granddaddy

Abby & Grandma

 

Jojo and his two cousins, Shaina & Lea

So long October, hello November

Wow, has it really been over a month since we last posted?  Much has happened in that short period of time.  October always proves to be one of the busiest months of the year for us.  Two birthdays in our immediate family (Josiah turned 4, Bryan turned 36), 3 birthdays in our extended family (Mama Scott, Lisha-Bryan's sister, and Joshua-our nephew), 5 doctor appointments scheduled for just this month for our family, and then of course, Hurricane Sandy. 

This has by far been one of the most memorable Octobers for us in years--and that is probably the case for most in the Northeast.  Seeing the devastation from Hurricane Sandy has been heartbreaking.  We've seen Josiah even respond to the weight of this storm & its aftermath.  And we are so thankful that in the midst of it all, God is our hope forever and always; He is the rock that makes all our footings firm!

October also represents a milestone for me in that my first baby..... really isn't a baby anymore.  Josiah IS officially, officially a big boy.  Not only is his independence growing day by day, but in 10 months he will begin kindergarten.  Wow.  Makes me treasure my days at home with him all the more.

Well, finally our birthday post to our sweet son Josiah!  Josiah, you continue to amaze us everyday with your generous heart, your fierce competitive spirit, and your love for games, knowledge, and fun.  Happy birthday (well, on October 11th) to our baby boy!

As part of his birthday celebration, Josiah and I went to Eleni's Bakery--a nut-free bakery in NYC!  Josiah LOVED these fancy cookies from the Upper East Side.  Delish!

  

One of our close college friends spent the day with us on Josiah's birthday!  He loved all the extra attention from Christine--and the awesome dinosaurs! We love you Christine!

 And of course, Grandma Kim wanted to make sure we got Abby her own gift as well--a baby doll stroller! (and its a good thing we did!  As we found out on Bryan's birthday, Abigail threw a fierce fit when she was not allowed to open Bryan's gift!)

 Josiah excited to receive his lego sets from Mommy & Daddy.

 

 Big boy put together his ambulance with very little help from me! Way to go!

 Preparing for Josiah's birthday party a couple of days later.

 Our sweet guy with his German Chocolate birthday cake! YUM!

His birthday buddies--Aiden & Samuel.

Thanks to all our family and friends for making Josiah feel so loved & blessed during his birthday week!

Well, so long for now...and happy election day!

Some recent videos of Abby

Here are some recent videos of Abby.  It seems like there is always more to video when your kids are younger versus older--sorry Jo!  I've been meaning to upload these since last month--you know how that goes.  Well, better late than never!

Here's one of Abby singing.  She LOVES to sing!  She has even begun singing along with the worship songs we play in the car.

Here she was last month singing her ABCs. 

 

 Here's a cute one of her jumping--attempting too that is!  She can actually get both feet off the ground now!

 

And lastly, Abby talking.  Sorry to bore all you non-family members out there with so many videos of our kids! =)

My ears are hurting!

Do any of you have a screamer?  If you do, I know you'll sympathize with us.  We are PRAYING TO GOD that this is just a new phase for Abigail.  Can you hear the desperation in my writing voice???

Yes, you may remember from previous posts that Abigail has already asserted herself as a screamer.  And we were managing.  Correcting, telling her no, redirecting, time-outs, you name it!  Was it annoying?  Yes.  But did we feel like we had it at least in a manageable state?  Yes.

Ask us these questions now.  Is it manageable?  NO! NO! NO!  Abby has recently amplified her screaming.  And mind you, she was ALREADY loud.  Now, she screams so loud that my ears ring for hours afterwards and I swear they almost started to bleed once.  (Okay, the bleeding part is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the gist).  And you know what, it really is starting to DRIVE ME NUTS!  Even calm and patient Bryan is starting to become unnerved by her blood-curdling, ear-piercing, screaming!

No condemning or correcting advice needed.  But, if you are ever with us and you hear a horrid sound coming from our youngest child--rest assured--we are just as irritated about it as you! 

Thankfully, despite all the screaming and pounding headaches I end up with, Abigail Joy is living up to her name--she truly is such a joyful little girl!  We love her to pieces--but seriously wish she would stop screaming.

What's not to love here?

Following in Daddy's footsteps

Don't little girls usually like following in their mommies' footsteps?  Well, probably not all.  I was definitely a Daddy's little girl myself.  So I guess its not surprising that Abby LOVES her daddy's shoes & slippers.

 Here, she had just learned to put them on correctly.  Quite a "feet" for the little one! haha! I crack myself up.

 Here, she found Daddy's snow boats tucked away in a cubbyhole.  They are heavy and clunky, but that didn't stop her from getting them on her feet and walking around with them! Typical of Abby, when I asked her to put them back, she picked up both shoes, started running, and threw them on the sofa at the other end of our apartment.  What a little stinker!

The Joy of Siblings

Now that Abigail is getting older, it has truly been a joy to see Josiah and Abigail interact.  They actually enjoy playing with one another for at least some part of the day (other parts of the day are filled with screams, tears, grabbing, throwing toys, and yells of "NO!"--and the occasional full force pushing/hitting).  We thought we'd share some highlight moments--and yes, these are "highlights".  Don't think that life with siblings is always so peachy! ha!

Greatest toy EVER.  The cardboard BOX.  This has probably been the most played with "toy" all summer (even though I've tried throwing it out almost every week). 

 

Playing in the box together.

"Hi!  I'm Dr. Scott.  Abigail, can you open your mouth for me?  Say AHHH!"

"Okay.  Hold still.  I'm going to use my otoscope to look in your ear."  And Abby loved every moment of being Josiah's patient!!

Watching TV together in the morning.  Abby always run to sit next to her brother on the sofa.

Josiah let Abby play with his precious foosball table! 

 

And here's Abby copying her older brother.  He had been telling his version of "knock knock" jokes--and she was copying his every word and move!

Over the river and through the woods....

It's clearly been a long time since our last post.  We are already half-way through summer, and the new school year is fast approaching.  How have we spent our summer?  Busy, as usual.  But this year has also been, surprisingly, more relaxing than most.  Maybe we've just learned by now how to actually take advantage of time to rest and take a some-what "break" from the ministry. 

We recently returned from visiting Grandma & Granddaddy Scott in North Carolina.  Our kids had a BLAST!  Josiah was in fact, quite distraught over leaving.  Poor little guy.  The kids adored Grandma & Granddaddy's new dogs--especially Josiah, who took every opportunity he could to boss those two puppies around (which gave Abby a nice respite from her, at times, overly-bossy brother).  Highlights from this trip include Bryan getting to officiate the wedding of his brother, Kevin, time in the inflatable pool (some perks of suburban life), and of course, just spending ample amounts of quality time with Grandma & Granddaddy. 

Here are the kids playing in our $8.00 inflatable pool from Wal-Mart.

More pictures of our time in NC.  Josiah and Daddy having fun with cups!

 Abby being silly.  She is turning into quite the clown--always trying to get a laugh.

Here is Abby playing with her Granddaddy!

And lastly, Bryan officiating the wedding of his older brother Kevin!  Congrats to Kevin & Toni!