What I thought.... and what it is

I have been pondering lately all the things I thought life with a kid would be like. You know, those thoughts we all have before kids where we mentally (or oftentimes verbally) note what we will or will not do as parents?

• "I will never let my kid throw a fit in the middle of Kroger."
• "My kid will not talk back to me."
• "I am not letting my kid use a pacifier."
• "I will never complain about my kids."
• "I will not let my kid watch tv, their minds need better stimulation."
• "I will always clean my house, I would never let it get that messy."
• "I will continue to blog even after kids, I mean how hard is it to blog? Why does everyone quit once they have kids!"
• "My kid will be on a schedule and sleep. We will not revolve around him!"

Yada yada yada...or whatever your particular thoughts happen to be. The point is, we all have pictures in our head of how it will be (really about every new stage of life, not just kids). And then reality hits. And man, it sure does not look like the picture in our heads.

• My kid may have thrown a fit in all kinds of public places.
• My kid just may tell me "NO!" quite often.
• Our pacifier might have been a lifeline the first year of his life.
• I may complain about fits or lack of sleep or lack of personal space from time to time. 
• The kid may watch tv first thing every.single.morning so mommy can get ready. 
• He may also watch Elmo many other times in the day. It just depends on how our day is shaking out. 
• The house might look like a war zone from time to time... maybe more time than less. 
• The poor blog might have weeks of neglect quite often. 
• My kid may sleep awesome. He may go a few months not sleeping at all. Who even knows anymore. 

Parenting takes you by storm. No matter how much you prepare, you just cannot prepare. You are parenting a tiny human. And tiny humans are very unpredictable. And they are full of life and personality and sin. The Lord desires to teach us a ton through them. And that is gonna look way different for each one of us.

So what would I say to someone trying to prepare for this crazy journey called parenting?? Sure, read the books, take the classes and hear the advice. Soak in as much as you can of course. The more you know the better.

Then prepare your heart and mind for the truth that your situation will be your own. And no one but the Lord can help you with it really. 

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21)

Breathe and remember that the Lord has called you to this, and He will bring you through it. There are a million and one ways to raise a kid. Yes some are clearly better than others, but many are great. Don't get caught up in trying to be the best parent in the eyes of the world, or your church, or your friends, or facebook. Aim to be the best parent you can in the eyes of the Lord. One full of humility and love and grace. ^"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matt 6:33. 

So yes, parenthood looks different than I pictured it for sure. My kid disobeys me all day long right now (Yay toddlerhood!). But the Lord has given soooo much grace and blessing. I also didn't picture how my heart would almost explode every time those tiny fingers play with my hair, or those little arms wrapped around my neck, or that sweet little voice said "wuv you". I didn't picture nights filled with "tackling" mommy and daddy in the living room floor and laughing so much I cry. I didn't envision adoring every new 'trick' he does or getting to share a smile with my beloved every time we are amazed at how smart he is. The grace abounds. I was too wrapped up in picturing how perfectly I would raise a tiny human, I couldn't picture how the Lord would use one to raise me closer to Him. 

It may not be what I thought... but what it is... is so much more. 

Silly boy!

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Nights I love

Tonight I came straight home to start cooking dinner. Mr.Pate picked up the boy from daycare. When Griffin came in the door and saw me, he ran into the kitchen saying "Momma!" Melt my heart.

We ate one of my favorite meals (porcupine meatballs) and then the boys played while I got the kitchen cleaned up. Then Uncle D came over to eat and we all played. For the rest of the night we played and watched the WKU basketball game (yep even me! I hate sports but I love my Tops!).

Griffin would try to say "Go Tops!" And it was precious. He spent the night looking for Big Red on the TV. Hahaha!

We also did lots of running and hiding, and Griffin jumping out saying "rarrr" when you got close. So funny.

I love sweet laid back nights at home. So sweet. Love this family!

Dancing Fool

I do not think Griffin Pate can go longer than two minutes without busting out some dance moves. He really is a dancing fool!

We ate at Chuy's tonight. Every few minutes Griff would hear the music and lift his hands to "dance" (think raising the roof). Then he would look at me and say "mommy, hands", and wait for me to dance also. It was super funny. I am sure the Pate table looked uber cool with our dancing table tonight ;-)

And for your viewing pleasure, so proof the boy loves to dance.

Love my little dancing fool!

20 months!

(Or 19 months 3 weeks actually?!!!)

Time sure does fly! It has been forever since I did an update on all of Griffin's milestones and personality at this stage, but better late than never.

Griffin is almost 20 months old! Seriously the time just keeps on speeding up! As I feel like I say with all stages, this is such a fun age! Haha! He is just a hoot I tell ya. His personality is so fun to watch develop. He is smart and loves to laugh. His laughter is contagious. We are in full toddler-hood around these parts, so while things are more fun than ever, defiance is stronger than ever at times! Hehe! Here is a glimpse at our little man right now:

• Stats: He weighs in at 22 lb 2 oz and is 32 & 1/2 inches long. 

• Sleep: He is sleeping through the night (Praise the Lord!) with almost no interruptions. He typically goes to bed at 7:30-8pm and wakes around 6:30-6:45am. He is taking one nap a day (started around November or December with that) usually from 12-2pm (longer if at home). We had a really rough patch during January and had to CIO for a night, but after that the boy is back to being a solid sleeper.
• Eating: Griffin is a pretty good eater. He loves cheese, milk, tomatoes, oranges, apples, beef, pretzels, and popcorn right now. He likes sauces and dips (loves Chuy's creamy jalapeño dip!). Loves bananas in the morning- ick!
• Talking: He loves to talk! He is saying more and more and I love it. He says "move me" for excuse me. Precious. Haha! There are lots of little phrases that are so cute I wish I could bottle them all up to remember! Ha!
• Signing: Griffin still signs some, but not as much now that he can say most of the words he can sign. He still signs more, all done, animals signs, and weather signs (wind, rain etc). He still signs please all the time!
  
  Potty Training: We are easing into potty training with Griffin. He will tell us when he needs his diaper changed usually, so we figured that's a great sign that he is close to ready. We have a potty chair and Griffin sits on it often. Fun times ahead!
  
  The Little Things:
  Griffin still loves to play with my hair. He hates for me to have it up and immediately says "mommy, hair, off" meaning put your hair down woman! Haha! He is all boy and he and daddy do all kinds of crazy playing that worries mommy! Ha! He loves to tackle, loves when we get his belly, and is usually great at cleaning up. He is loving coloring these days, and enjoys play dough too. He still loves loves loves to dance. He is Elmo obsessed. He has started talking about himself and calls himself "fiffin".
  
  When I am trying to get Griffin to listen and follow directions, I will often say, "griffin what did mommy say?" His response is "no,no,no" and then "obey". Apparently mommy says those a lot! Hahaha!
  
  He will now point to the floor next to him an say very forcefully, "SIT MOMMY or DADDY SIT!" So funny. He loves to go knock on glass doors and say "knock knock, hello". He loves to be chased or to hide. He likes to take his socks off and put them on his hand and use it as a sock puppet.
  
  We are taking him to the ENT on Thursday to be evaluated and talk about tubes. He has had quite a few ear infections, and they just don't clear up well. We are just hoping for wisdom on what is best for him.
  
  I can't believe this boy will be 2 years old in just four months!! Crazy!!