At four you are....

happy
energetic
smart
funny
serious
intense
busy
busy
busy
sweet
loving
mischievious
busy
joyful
busy
curious
busy
mine.

double click photos to enlarge

Changes: Graham and Isaac's rooms (Double click photos to enlarge)

Because baby is on his or her way, we have done some moving around in our house. Graham's new room is the old homeschool room (you can see how it used to look here). I moved a lot of the vintage cowboy stuff from Isaac's room into Graham's room. Kept his signature star above his bed.


I painted this dresser and gave it new hardware, it used to be Dave's.


Isaac's room pretty much stayed the same, but I gave him the bedroom set that Graham had on his bed.

Love that linen lamp shade I got at a garage sale.



I bought this bulletin board at a thrift store and spray painted it white, distressed it and covered it with burlap.

On being a stay at home mom...

Someone told me once that I was "lucky" to be a stay at home mom. Something in that statement jarred me a bit. There was an implication that things in my life were so "perfect" that I was lucky enough to be able to stay home, and that other moms "had" to go to work and couldn't make that same choice.
Staying home with my kids has been a choice. It's a choice I have consciously made. And although I feel blessed to be the one to watch my children grow every day, it has not come without it's sacrifices. Mostly, those sacrifices have come (for us) in the form of financial sacrifices. We don't have any of the "frills" that many other families have. This is not to say that we don't sometimes spend the money we do have needlessly or foolishly. But, there are many things we live without. And it's worth it. It's worth every dollar we do without because I am not working full time. But these are sacrifices all the same, and they are sacrifices we chose to deal with.
Today I watched a staff meeting in the hospital cafeteria as I wait for my dad to recooperate. There was a small gathering of nurses, one of which held a newborn baby girl. I knew this mom was preparing to go back to work, and that this was her first staff meeting after her all-too-short maternity leave. I thought about how much she would miss. When you are with your children all day, every day, there are a million little inteactions that could never be replicated in the two or three hours of "quality time" most working parents get with their children.
I love being the one to hold my four year old in my arms a million times a day if I want to. I love being the one to teach them. I love being the one that's there when they are hurt or need comfort.
This is my choice, this is my calling. Lucky? no. Blessed? yes.