I just spent a good portion of the last half hour reading my friend's blog. Thanks Emily for your wonderful writing style and your hilarious accounts of day to day life. I now have a renewed desire to write in this blog with a purpose, at least most of the time. I have to confess that I hadn't started a blog until just recently because I am terrified to write in it. The blogs that I read are so creatively written and are so interesting that I've been thoroughly intimidated thus far. So far I've mostly included pictures, but I want to include more of my thoughts and ideas. So here it goes....

I've decided that I'm going to focus my writing efforts on documenting my journey to fulfill the following four goals:
Becoming a better mother
Keeping a more organized and clean house
Staying in shape and losing weight
Finding joy in life

So, to start, I need to summarize where I am in each of these areas at this point in time. I have two beautiful children, Candace (3) and Joshua (6 months). I love them dearly and I am so grateful they have joined our family. Candace is one smart cookie. She keeps me on my toes and always has something to say. I love how quickly she learns new things and how tender her heart is at times.

A funny story from yesterday - We had James' brother (Chad) over for a picnic. He is single and becomes Candace's slave every time he visits. He is a wonderfully attentive uncle who caters to his neice's every whim - as evidenced by this overheard conversation.
Candace - "Let's go dig in the dirt by the window."
Chad - "Maybe we can do that later."
Candace - "Maybe we can do that NOW."
Candace and a defeated Chad, grab their buckets and start for the window.

Joshua is a delightfully mild child with a keen interest in his older sister. He loves to watch her every move and giggles almost constantly in her presence. He's almost sitting up now and is threatening to become mobile soon.

I love being a mother. However, I lose my patience easily and I am not as attentive as I want to be. I thought James and I had figured out how to discipline our daughter, but she continually throws us curve balls and outsmarts us. Right now I am frustrated with one particular thing - Candace has lately had a hard time staying in her own bed ALL night. (Contrast that with her infant brother who has been sleeping through the night since shortly after he was born). I am tired of getting up at night with a three-year-old. We never had problems with this before and I am at a loss of what to do.

My house is a disaster most of the time. I have been doing better recently, but I have a lot of room for improvement in this area. The thing that really disgusts me about this situation is that I had a wonderful mother who taught me good work habits and excellent cleaning skills, both of which I choose to rebel against more often than not. I know what I need to do, I just need to devote more time to this.

As for my weight issues, I have been running and swimming with my younger sister, Stephanie, on an off now for about 6 weeks. I am, however, still just as heavy as when I went in to deliver my second baby. I have a long way to go.

This entry was not meant to complain in any way about my situations, just to provide a honest glimpse into the areas of my life that I wish to improve in. I will choose to find joy in life by doing the small things that I know keep me in the proper perspective.