The Littlest

On February 23rd we welcomed out newest little girl into our family.  She was born 8lb 4oz and 21 1/2" long.  My husband and I know have three precious little girls.  V is 4 years old, A is 2 and now L is 3 months old.  There is never a dull moment in our house.

I knew that having three children would keep me busy but I had never imagined I would be this busy.  It seems like I am constantly up and moving around.  A is now potty trained but sometimes needs a little help, L has to be supplemented with bottles now three times a day and I have been trying to help V learn how to read.  I also have been trying to sew a lot of ready made diapers for my etsy shop so that I can be ahead of things. I also have my daily normal duties such as feeding everyone, keep the house clean and trying to find a little time for myself every night to either watch some Doctor Who or read a good book (see below). Even though I am completely exhausted by the end of the day, I would not change a thing.  I am grateful for every little scream and laugh.

I have been blessed that my older girls love the newest little addition but they love her a little bit too much.  I have to constantly keep an eye on A because she loves to hug and kiss L so much that she sometimes hurts her and irritates her.

I always thought that I would be one of those mothers that could manage everything and not be stressed.  Boy was I wrong!  I constantly feel like I should have done more with the girls and that I should have everything together.

Over the last month or so I have learned that it is ok to be stressed and frazzled.  I have also learned that it is ok to not be the perfect parent.  I have realized that I am human and that I am going to be making mistakes.  A few days ago I started rereading the book Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.  There is a passage that I would like to quote that has helped me out lately speaking on parenting and matters of the heart.

"You must do all that God has called you to do but the outcome is more complex than whether you have done the right things in the right way.  Your children are responsible for the way they respond to your parenting.
Determinism makes parents conclude that good shaping influences will automatically produce good children.  This often bears bitter fruit in life.  Parents who have unruly and troublesome teenager or young adult conclude that the problem is the shaping influences they provided.  They think if they had made a little better home, things would have turned out okay.  They forget that the child is never determined soley by the shaping influences of life...Your child's heart determines how he responds to your parenting."

At the end of the day I am reminded that Christ loves me even if I don't spend a lot of one-on-one time with my kiddos.  I am reminded that Christ forgives me for the times I make mistakes.