Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things!

When I talk with my sister, she often says she looks up to me. She is three years older, has a daughter a tad bit younger than my son, and is, in a word, amazing. I can tell her most anything, and vice versa. It's one of those really good things that you want in your life. We can be found -about once a month- crying through our cell phones to one another about parenting, or marriage, or how we ate too much chocolate that day. Every woman should have a person like this in their life. I am, by nature, more on the private side of the spectrum, and I remember asking my sister years ago this question :"What are three things you would change about me?" And, although I don't remember all of what she said, this answer stuck out to me: "Well, I don't know how to say it, but, sometimes you don't let people in very well. You don't let people know you on a really deep level." And she was soooooo right. Spot on. I don't, I haven't, and it's something I will probably struggle with for the rest of my life. So, because of this, I think my family and myself can look like one neat, tidy package from the outside. When, in reality, we have tons of struggles. Case-in-point, our son is what some "experts" would call "hyperactive" and this gets us into a heap of trouble on a daily basis. Like today, when he was overly affectionate in the ball pit and strong-armed his friend into an unwanted hug, and made her cry. Like, red-in-the-face, mommy-save-me cry. *sigh* Because of these struggles, I call on a variety of resources on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis for encouragement, recommendations, and reprieve. In case you are like my sister, and you see my life as admirable, I would encourage you to take a look at one or more of these. You may find something lovely to include into your routine. Or you may just get to know me a little better. Either way, win-win!

He Speaks in the Silence

First, my favorite. Diane Comer, mother to Pastor John Mark Comer of Solid Rock Church here in P-town, has a series on igniting a fire for God in your children (called Hearts on Fire in the link above) that I would send any woman to, but specifically those who are in the middle of training up your child in the wisdom and instruction of the One who loves us best. This series is also the reason we now spank our children, something we thought we would NEVER do. Take a listen, and you will see why we changed our minds. So much godly wisdom and biblical teaching for women on this blog, so no matter your stage in life, I encourage you to check it out. It's called "He Speaks in the Silence" because Diane developed a condition when her children were all very young (newborn, toddler, and preschooler, I believe) that made her go deaf. She could hear fine all her life, and then her hearing slowly faded away. She talks in detail about coping with that, about not being able to hear her child call in the night or whisper "I love you, Mommy" as she hugged them. Really good stuff here. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Babywise Blog

This is a blog that was indispensable when I was a new parent, with a ten week old baby who was up all hours of the day and night and at my breast constantly. I remember going to a group of women from my church at the time, woman who I trusted, and every single one of them had read the book this blog is based around and said to go read it immediately. So I did. If you give me solid, godly, tested-by-fire counsel, you can be sure I'm going to check it out! So if you are a young mom, struggling to get your head above water and need a plan, go here. Delve in and really immerse yourself. Find resources that will make your home more peaceful. This was definitely one of them for me. If you've seen our family in action, this is where we received the good advice of "still and silent" that gets our very active toddler some self-control when he is over-tired or overly hungry. This blog is how our daughter has slept in her crib from day 1 and has gotten herself to sleep by herself every time. This blog is the sh*t.

Rosie the Londoner

Okay, and this one, The Londoner, is simply my guilty pleasure. It all started with the Slutty Brownies post and now I'm hooked. She's a British twenty-something living in Notting Hill who updates every weekday morning. Beware, loves, it's addicting!

A recent development in our home is the discovery that Kiel is gluten-intolerant. His stomach just gets messed up, and it's all tears and explosive toilet episodes. So, to save our family the anxiety, we have made some changes. This cookbook, based on this blog, has been a life-saver in the sense that my son is no longer asking for bread, toast, and whatever other glutenfilled thing that sounds tasty at the moment. I just bought some almond flour online from nuts.com. We can all agree the packaging is pretty darn snazzy, can't we?

 "Go ahead and take a peek inside!" Thank you, Packaging, for telling me how to open a package!

What really got me, "Have a delicious Day and Smile Away!" It's like my new favorite coffee drive-thru, called "A Better Day Cafe", whose tag-line is, "A better day is just a sip away." Keep up the clever, rhyming marketing, people. I'm sold!!

Okay, I'm off to drink some Kiona wine (which I gushed about here) and watch our new Monday night eye-candy, "Revolution" -- the newest show from the brilliance that is J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost. Cheers!