I’m Blessed

I love this time of year when the wheat is ready to harvest.  We don’t grow wheat anymore, but our neighbors do, and it’s the prettiest crop you could imagine.  It almost seems to reflect sunshine and wave like the sea.  I’m sure this week all those fields will get cut down and put to sleep for the year.

I got a nap yesterday.  I do not even know where to begin to tell you how wonderful that was.  Ingrid hasn’t been wanting to nap longer than 15 minutes for the last week or two.  She was too big for her cradle, but with the bedroom remodel going on upstairs, I didn’t want Solveig out of the crib yet.  Our pack n play is so low to the ground it hurts my back to lay her in it, and she hates sleeping in there anyway.  The thing is on its last leg.

So my sister in law dropped of a spare mini-crib of theirs on Saturday.  When they lived out East in a house with tiny bedrooms, she put her twins in mini cribs so they would fit in the same room.  So Knut got this little crib up in our room in place of the cradle.  The cradle moves every time Ingrid tries to roll over and I think that’s been what’s been waking her up.  That’s why she’s been sleeping with us so much.  It’s fine, I just don’t get the kind of sleep I like when she’s with us.  As she’s more mobile, I’ve been really nervous about her being in the cradle as well because she’s about ready to crawl out of it.  We just needed a new solution until the kids’ room remodel was done…hopefully soon.

The first night she slept in the new mini-crib she slept like a rock.  So I slept like a rock.  Then she slept like a rock for her nap after church, so I slept like a rock for a nap after church too.

It’s a good trend.

When Knut was setting up this mini crib, we were trying to decide how low to put the mattress.  After it was set, we set Ingrid in there to see how she looked in it.  She squealed, and Knut said, “She’s almost ready to pull herself to a stand.”  I said, “She’s been trying but she’s not quite there.  I’d give it another week.”  Much to our surprise, in the next 10 seconds she pulled herself up to a stand right in front of us in the mini crib and she practically screamed with her delight in the accomplishment.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on her face when she got to the top.

Oh we’re blessed.

Don’t you just love how little kids, and especially babies have such un-checked joy?  It’s so uninhibited, so automatic, and such a reflex.  They just scream with joy if that’s how they feel.  It’s times like that when I think of Jesus’ words about the kingdom of heaven belonging to such as these.

Oh, we all need more kids in our life, and the unchecked, uninhibited joy they have.

I try to look at the good things of me doing less physical things around the house.  I’m reading to my little kids more.  I was sitting on the couch the other day just thinking about each of my kids’ personalities, and how I always want to remember the beauty of each of them.  Little Solveig has been mothering me a lot.  Nothing melts your heart like seeing concern in the eyes of a 2 year old.  She comes and snuggles me a lot.

I love snuggles.  She seems un-phased when I cry or lose my temper as it happens from time to time. Especially since the accident and I’m feeling overwhelmed by the stuff I can’t do.  She always just calmly comes over and holds my hand.  It’s so not her job to settle me down, but she takes it upon herself and does it so well.  It’s one of those guilty/proud moments as a mother.  You’re so proud of them for having such a big heart, and so guilty that you had an imperfect moment.

Silje’s off to Prairie Girl Camp for the mornings this week.  We’re so blessed with some friends who loaned us her costume.  As God was raining down the blessing of a used costume, He said “why not make it purple, since that will really make her smile.”

And so it was.

We’re blessed.