Growing Pains, Pangs, and Peace

If only I could write without having to think of a clever title, intro, or conclusion, blogging would be ever so much easier and definitely much more frequent for me!

So we’ll just dive right in. My apologies if it seems rash and absent of smooth transitions. :-)

Ryan got the promotion!!!! His knowledge and ability and ideas were tested to the core, and he passed with flying colors. We are so excited, and I have sensed such a peace in his spirit ever since. I haven’t even told him this, but I feel like he had so outgrown his old position that he was feeling chafed in his physical  inability to move into the leadership role he was so ready for mentally and spiritually. It was more stressful to be second in command than it is to be first in command. Does that make any sense at all? I am just so, so proud of him.

It seems that this promotion opens up so many doors for our family. Even though it requires more responsibility, he is in control of his schedule, which will ultimately lead to more time together. There is potential for more income down the line, and that inspires a whole host of possibilities. Time will tell. But in the meantime, we are very thankful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got our daughter back from her grandparents’ house, and there have been additional struggles with bedtime. It’s almost insane how weird it is that Ryley is such an energetic, sweet, healthy girl during the day, but bedtime seems to be a nightmare. The tummy has seemed a little better, and now it’s just dealing with unfounded fears and anxiety. I kind of wonder if she maybe gave herself an ulcer, which the medicine healed?

It’s almost like, because we have sheltered Ryley so much, she cannot process the world as it is. We have set such a basis for a universe of butterflies and fairies that when she hears about tragic news stories, or people that we know that have died, or people that are just plain mean to her, she simply can’t handle it. So those things stick with her, and her mind drifts into fears of death and sickness. She became so afraid of throwing up that she was making her stomach sick. And the sicker she felt, the more afraid of throwing up she became. And that is a spirit of fear. The icky, horrible, satanic spirit of fear that wants to do nothing but cripple us.

So at my parents’ house and also at ours, we have all been drilling the Word of God right into the center of her heart. We’ve had long talks with her during the day encouraging her to so fill her heart up with thoughts of the Lord that there’s simply no room for that spirit of fear.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Phillippians 4:8

The other problem is that when Ryley was little, we started letting her crawl into bed with us early in the morning. Well, over time, it got earlier and earlier until she started waking up at 1 or 2 a.m. and crawling into bed with us. Sometimes she’s sleep-walking, and sometimes she’s awake. It depends on the night. But we were too tired and lazy to deal with it back then, so we grew accustomed to it, and now we rarely wake up at all. And now we have a little girl who only wants to sleep with us (or her grandparents), and her sleep cycle is only 3-4 hours long.

But we’re learning to deal with one thing at a time. I did some online research about child insomnia, as well as the benefits and negative effects of co-sleeping, and I learned that co-sleeping’s not as harmful as the western world has made it out to be. But I couldn’t find anything about what age it should stop. So we decided to not fight that battle just yet.

Right now, we just need to get her to go to sleep in the first place. And as much as I fought against it, one trick seems to work. Soft John Michael Talbot worship music, vitamin B, a glass of milk, and one of us sitting with her in her room while she’s drifting off. I fought it. I thought, “She’s seven. This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to sit here.” But it’s been a week, and it works. And she’s actually been sleeping longer and ending up in our bed less and less.

Plus, she’s still pretty little. As much as we try not to baby her, maybe she still needs it a little bit. ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryley and I went to our city’s free KidSpree this last weekend, and she had lots of fun…

We waited 30 minutes in line for the pony rides. But she loved it!

Except for when the ponies pooped! Check out Ryley’s face…

She got to make her own top…

And try out instruments at the musical petting zoo…

Pappaw’s girl…

Mammaw’s girl…

I think she looks pretty good!!! :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some funny Ryleyisms of late….

Ryan and I were looking for something in our garage, and we came across my piano trophies from the little competitions my piano teacher signed us up for in grade school. There’s a whole box…not because I was that great, per se, but just because there were lots of competitions.

Well, Ryley was in awe.  “Mommy! Why on earth don’t we have these on display in our house?” :-)  She was so upset with me!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were at dinner with my aunt and uncle the other night, and Ryley was being very talkative, like usual.

My aunt leaned over and whispered, “You talk a lot!”

Without missing a beat, Ryley leaned back and whispered, “That’s my gift!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan and I really enjoyed our week alone. Not that our friendship needed rekindling, but it sure was nice to talk without being interrupted and actually be able to express a complete thought for once! It was really, really nice to just be best friends. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for putting up with sleepless nights and talkative days for an entire week. ;-)

It is so good to have Ryley home, though. She is such a tremendous blessing, and we are absolutely crazy about her. It’s hard to believe that she turns EIGHT only one day from now. Many birthday surprises are in store. Stay tuned!

(1st birthday)

 

(2nd birthday)

(3rd birthday)

(4th birthday)

(5th birthday)

(6th birthday)

(7th birthday)

Busy as Bees

Ryley is still living it up with my parents in Oklahoma, and she doesn’t return until Thursday. We are really starting to miss our sweet girl, and she misses us too, but we know it’s good for all of us to have a bit of a break!

So again, I sit in a quiet, clean house with storm clouds brewing, feeling like I should be doing something Joy-like…yet just not able to put my finger on what that is! Light some candles? Make some coffee? Watch Anne of Green Gables? Give myself a pedicure? The possibilities are endless, and overwhelmed, I choose to sit blankly and stare into space. Oh, and blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week before the 4th of July was a busy one. Like, the kind of busy that you can hardly believe is happening all at once, and you can see it coming, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to change any of it.

Wednesday, June 28, was Ryan’s first day as acting general manager of his restaurant -- “acting,” meaning he has all the responsibility but doesn’t officially get the title until he has his big panel review this week. He has worked so stinking hard for this, and I am so proud of him! I’ll never forget when he texted me on the evening of the 27th:

Pray for me. Troy’s gone. It’s all me now!

So naturally, that Wednesday was a big day for him as he stepped into his new role, answered for some things he wasn’t prepared for, etc., etc., etc.

Wednesday, June 28, was also my company’s moving day. Yippeeee! And until Tuesday night, my co-workers and I were all still in denial that we were actually moving. Because though we had a U-Haul booked, we didn’t actually have a lease signed until Wednesday morning. So I didn’t actually  start packing my office until the truck arrived…. Yeah…. Smart move.

This picture was taken on Tuesday sometime, because of course, Vacation Bible School happened that week, and it made more sense for Ryley to come to my office each afternoon than for me to pick up Ryley from VBS, drive her across town to daycare, and then pay for it. I put her to work. She was fine.

Here are my co-workers feeling the strain of our move….

And arguing over strategy….

And relaxing.

 

I look back at it, and it’s amazing we stayed sane in the mess of figuring out our new facility. For instance, the only option for Internet is a T1 line, and they are 3-4 weeks out on T-1 installation. We have a digital phone system that is dependent on a stable Internet connection, so phones cannot be installed until we get our Internet up. So right now? We use wifi cards for Internet on a need-to basis, and we have our company calls forwarded to a random cell phone, for which we can’t agree on a ringtone.

But look how pretty….

I really, really love our new office so much better than our old one. And I am very happy about my new desk and space!!! :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The very next day, my mom arrived for a visit! And the day after that, we headed to Nebraska for a mini-reunion with my extended family at my grandma’s house.

Ryley and my cousin Cora are buddies. :-)

Ryley and my mom swam at the hotel…

Then we sat on my grandma’s patio and waited for a storm to roll in. There was a tornado warning to the west, and they were expecting large hail. None of it ever came. Just high winds and rain.

It was fun all being together. :-)

Ryley swam some more….

 

And we did fireworks on Sunday night.

Before we left, we had to get a four-generation shot! My grandma, my mom, me, and Ryley.

And as we drove away, my family waved their hankies…So silly!!!

That evening we watched a fantastic fireworks show here in our suburb, and it was very good!

Ryley and my mom flew to Tulsa on Wednesday night, and they have been having lots of fun.

My brother and sister-in-law drove up there this weekend, so Ryley got to see her adorable twin cousins too!

How I wish we could have been there for the fun!!!

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving Ryley such a wonderful time this week! We love you!!!!!

Twinkle, twinkle

Yesterday evening we watched our little girl pack up her carry-on bag and wave good-bye as she and her Mammaw boarded a plane to Oklahoma for a whole week of fun!

Whatever will I do without my girl??? The house is sooo quiet. No sound of TV, no fast footsteps up and down the stairs, no random piano-playing while I’m on the phone. And when I put something somewhere, it stays there.  The house stays clean! My goodness, do I miss her!!!

We’ve had a full few weeks; I know I must say that every time I blog! But once again, it’s true. So with tornado sirens blaring in the open window next to me, and while I wait for the green clouds above our house to open up with hail, I will attempt to recount our special moments with brevity.

***(Sidenote: I find it funny that, being in the roofing business, I root for hail. Big hail. Destructive hail. The farmer’s granddaughter in me has to clarify that we only want hail in the city – not on the farms where the crops will be destroyed). :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most importantly….

For many, many months, Ryley has been bugging us to be baptized! Our church only does it a couple of times a year, so when they announced they were going to do it on June 26, Ryley jumped at the opportunity. It was so very special, and my uncle Paul captured the event with beautiful pictures:

Ryley was thrilled to learn that Pastor Eric, her children’s pastor, would be the one to baptize her!!!

Isn’t that an amazing picture???

A new creation in Christ! Pastor Bagwell prayed for her…that she would continue to follow Jesus all the days of her life.

I love this picture! We celebrated with ice cream at Cold Stone. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryley’s telescope from her grandpa has spurred an interest in outer space, so we did a little research and learned that Denver has its own observatory! It is super cheap ($3/person) and is totally worth it. Ryley was more excited than she was at DisneyWorld. Ha ha.

We sat through a lecture about comets, which was highly entertaining….

Then we climbed up into the observatory where we saw the 20” telescope, which was something like 100 years old!

Science nerds unite! I got yelled at for using the flash to take this picture of Ryley viewing Saturn. But it was worth it!

Then we went home and found Saturn on our much smaller telescope. It was so very cool!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though I’m not even close to being done blogging about the last few weeks, I unfortunately must stop here for now….Ryan just got home, and we are due to have dinner with our friends Chris and Taryn who are moving away to Texas, much to our disappointment!

To be continued….