Contentment Lessons from a Toddler

It's nothing new that children as small as Lucy can hear something you say once, and then repeat it at the appropriate (or inappropriate!) time. But during the last few weeks, God has used her to remind me of a very important lesson just with the simple fact that she has been repeating something I say.

Often when we are grocery shopping together and we get ready to finish up and check out, I say, "Okay! We have everything we need.. we can go now!" I never realized how often I say it or how much she is understanding.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting, making a list of the gifts that we had bought and the ones we still had yet to buy while she was playing in her playroom. I must admit, I was slightly stressing over all that we still "had" to do on the budget we had. Don't get me wrong, we drastically cut back this year... mostly out of necessity.  I was worrying that by making a simple Christmas budget this year, we would leave someone out or hurt someone's feelings... I worried that I wasn't doing enough for my own parents and in laws when they have all done so much for us... I was thinking that maybe we should buy Lucy another small toy...

Enter Lucy with her pink shopping cart and a purse on her shoulder.
"Mommy! Look! I have EVERYTHING I need! I have everything I need, Mommy!" 
I look down in her shopping cart and I see her sippy cup of milk, her favorite doll, and a book--and a hot dog bun from her kitchen set.
At first I just smiled at her in disbelief, knowing she couldn't possible be reading my mind but still knowing that the One who made her did.
Luckily, I recovered and said something like, "You sure do! are you having fun?!" to which she replied, "YES."
And she wheeled around, happy as can be, and went about her playing in the other room.

In the past couple of days, she has said this phrase several times and each time, I try to really HEAR her and be reminded, that "YES, she does."  SO DO I. SO DO WE ALL. This year, we have enjoyed several new, fun experiences with Lucy since she is a bit older and more able to understand--but even with all of this, I realize, "Enough is enough." Meaning, we have enough. What we can afford to do is enough. Praise God, she is not quite at that point where enough does not feel like enough. But she will be soon, because she is human. My prayer is that we will continue to reinforce the fact we are happy and healthy and loved with what God chooses to PROVIDE for all of us. And we have enough. And if we were to be totally honest, enough is kind of an understatement. We have more than we NEED.

Because massive amounts of stuff or not, (preferably not!) we have Everything we need!

Thankful Thursday

 

Giving Baby Sister a Kiss...

or maybe trying to talk to her, I'm not sure. Lucy thinks she is literally inside my belly button. So she has started poking her finger in any time it is exposed (which is NOT very often.) :)

Wordless Wednesday: Happy to be....

The Mommy of this little girl!

(with one more on the way!)

25 Weeks!

We're growing!!!

I'm a little stunned at how fast this pregnancy is going by! Last night I was laying in bed with multiple pillows (Have you ever tried to prop yourself up to sleep because of a cold and try to keep your back comfortable while still sleeping on the Dr. approved 'side' WHOA!) and I was saying to Lance-- "I'm only 25 weeks!" And then I realized how only 15 weeks remain and so many of those will be taken up with the Holidays! WOW! It will be baby time before we know it! 

So all that to say, I haven't been great about keeping up with the stats-- other things keep

taking my attention :)

25 Weeks Pregnant

Gender: It's a GIRL! Abigail Grace.

Due Date: February 20th (but probably a bit before that since she will be scheduled-- so maybe Valentines Day!)

Cravings: Ice Water; Orange Juice; an occasional sweet tea (With a lot of ice!)  Fruits of any kind but especially red grapes, strawberries (too bad they're NOT in season and hard to find!) and definitely PINEAPPLE! Other than that, whatever my body is craving/ needing that day--but I also find myself wanting a lot of vegetables. I've always loved them but now I feel like I could eat them at every meal! Eating is so much more enjoyable in this trimester than it was in the first, that's for sure! Another somewhat strange craving I have is bagels. Some days I HAVE to have a good bagel. (Really missing Bruegers here in GA!) 

Movement: Definitely! She moves most in the evenings when I'm finally quiet and settled down for the day

but last night, I thought for sure she had friends over for a dance party!

Funny Moments:

Every time Lucy catches a glimpse of my growing tummy, she says, "Do you have my baby sister in there?" Last week on Halloween she woke up with a terrible stomach bug and we were sleeping in the same bed, (at my mom's house) and as I jumped out of bed to try to get her to the trash can, she vomited, cried, and then said, "I need a drink.... do you have my baby sister in your tummy?"  It was pitiful but so sweet that she was still thinking about it at a time like that! She has made this pregnancy so much fun with her little anecdotes. I can't wait to see what she really thinks of little Abby.

Stuckey Halloween 2011

This year my mom made Lucy's Belle Costume for Halloween. It was beautiful and was a HUGE hit with Lucy. She kept saying, "Mommy, I'm a REAL princess!" She was able to wear it to two parties and then she was sick with a stomach bug on Halloween so I don't think she even has a clue what trick-or-treating is but we still had fun. Lance was a trooper and dutifully handed out the candy I had bought and was able to meet a few of our neighbors. And yes, one little girl actually did the whole, "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat, if you don't, I don't care..." well--you get the picture. We were both shocked that kids still do that. Things don't change that much I guess. :)

Here's a few pictures from our Pre-Halloween celebrations:

 She really was happier than it seems... we were in my parent's tree-house so she was a bit distracted. 

 Not a very good picture of "the bump" but it's there... I promise. 

Princess Belle Stuckey

Personally, I'm glad Halloween is over. It was fun and all, but I'm tired of having to avert Lucy's attention away from scary decorations every time we go somewhere. Even the big spiders in the Publix bakery were troubling her. She is SO my child. :) 

( I did teach her, "They're not real. They are happy spiders for decoration.") 

And so she said it every time after that. cute.