Children - The Ultimate Test

I have been wanting to write more frequently, but between the horrible week I had last week and the negative mindset I was in, I just didn't feel it was a good time to post anything. Can I just say that parenthood is MUCH harder than I ever expected? I mean, I knew it was going to be tough, but tough just doesn't begin to express how difficult this journey really is. Given, the fact that we popped out four little ones back to back has made the whole experience that much harder. We no sooner move on from a stage only to have the next child enter it, and then the next one, and the next one....meanwhile, we are always beginning a new trying stage with our oldest. Its exhausting, to say the least. I struggle daily to keep a positive mindset, to remember to be thankful and appreciate the good in my life, and even more so, the good in my kids. My Mom reminds me now and then that when it gets really tough to just think of the worst case scenario, which would be if we were to ever lose one of our babies. All around me, this continues to happen to different families, and I am humbled and beyond grateful that God has given Dave and I four healthy, active, intelligent and strong minded children. They are a challenge, but they are so beautiful. I tend to always focus on the negative when I think of them most days because lets face it, as children we candidly show the ugliness that is the human nature. We are selfish, ungrateful, defiant, and just down right mean most days. Nothing humbles one more than to see our true selves through the lives of our children. Its like seeing the human race through God's eyes. We grow up and learn social politeness and discretion, but that doesn't mean in our hearts and minds we aren't thinking the very same things our children our doing and saying. It's a great reminder of just how small we are and how great our God is. I keep telling Dave the kids are incredible tools for shaping the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, think how often we are forced to show, " love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control". ( Galatians 5:22-23) Originally, I had this whole blog planned last week of the things I did not expect to encounter as a parent, it was basically a very negative rant. But thankfully God forced me to wait until my mind and heart were in a better place. So now I will share those things, but while also sharing the ways they challenge us to demonstrate the fruits of the spirit, the characteristics that should be constantly growing within believers and becoming more evident in our lives to those watching us. So here goes, my list of things I did not expect to encounter as a parent, (let alone so frequently), and the ways they each challenge me spiritually:

1: A continually messy/dirty house - I did not expect my house to always look like it has been hit by a tornado. Crumbs of every kind of food always on the floors, stubbing toes on toys all day long, the puzzle pieces, games, blocks, and millions of tiny pieces found all throughout the house, rooms in shambles, the bathroom covered in...well everything, the sink overflowing, and so on. This is by far a great test of my "patience" and "joy". Patience in knowing that one day, I will be able to keep up on my home, but until then I just need to accept what is and do the best that I can. And to be joyful despite my circumstances, because a dirty home means happy healthy kids are at work.

2: Everything, and I mean everything, will be broken - a day does not go by that something in my home isn't broken. Whether it is a toy, a picture frame, a glass, or even as simple as a straw, something will be broken. Whenever you think your house is child proof, it is never child proof enough to endure 4 small children, and especially never enough to endure a Landon. This definitely strengthens my patience, but even more so, my self-control.

3: The smothering - to be constantly touched, smothered and needed all day long by 4 dependent children, it becomes very overwhelming and VERY annoying. But then I'm reminded they want to be with me because they love me, and when I think of how much I "love" them, it doesn't matter that they are interrupting whatever I am doing, or that I am not getting my "me" time, because its not about me, its about my kids. God thinks of His children and their needs every minute of every day, why should we be any different?

4: The selfishness - I did not expect all children to be so selfish at such a young age, but it is the true nature of everyone, kids just haven't learned the beauty of sacrifice and selflessness yet. Each time they express their selfish nature its an opportunity for me to show them "kindness" and "goodness" in return. Nothing can change the heart completely until a person has given their lives to the Lord, but in the mean time we are training them and instilling His ways in them, preparing them for God's work.

5: The deliberate defiance and disobedience: I expected this, but not at such young ages and not so consistently. We have three strong minded children so far, one that is the extreme case  of a strong-willed child, so our battles are endless. They test the waters daily, pushing buttons and going toe-to-toe with us to see how far they can get before they break mom and dad. Sound familiar? That's what we do to the Lord daily! These situations provide us the opportunity to grow in gentleness, patience, self-control...among other things.

The list could go on forever, such as the continuous pile up of laundry, the excessive use of toilet paper, the repeated questions and continuous chatter, the fighting, the tiresome routine of loading and unloading them in the car whenever you need to go somewhere and then attempting to accomplish that task while trying to maintain control over your kids, the hour long task of trying to get them to go to bed at night, the disposal of bodily fluids all around the house, the weekly overflow of the toilet, the flooding of the bathroom floor after a bath, the daily spilled drinks and meals, the crumbs I find in my bed at night, the headcounts every 5 minutes whenever you go anywhere, the constant need for entertainment, and most of all, NO BREAKS. I am with these kids from the moment I wake up to the moment my head hits the pillow each night. They all nap but Hayden is not on the same schedule, and even when she is, that is my only time to accomplish anything around the house. There are so many things I did not expect to endure as a parent, and it is draining, mentally, physically and spiritually. But I have said it before and I will say it again, they are the perfect tools to help form us into the people of God we were meant to be. Now, remembering this in the midst of it all is not easy, but it's the perfect test to our "faithfulness" when it comes to spending time in God's word and on our knees before Him. We need Him, in any situation we need Him, but even more so when it comes to being the shepherds and stewards of other lives. I am humbled daily at how small and incapable I am, and am so thankful for the ever present help, guidance and comfort of my heavenly Father. So, here's to another start of a week, another attempt at taking on the world of parenting...The kids have been up since before 6, I found Landon in bed with a bag of cereal, and since I started writing this blog I have already been asked a hundred questions, been screamed at, had a cup thrown at me, started laundry, dealt with the kids fighting, fed them all breakfast, changed two diaper, dressed Landon as Spider Man only to be punched shortly after (because apparently I'm the bad guy), and now he is currently playing with a ball in dirty mop water. Yes... today the fruits of the Spirit will be tested and shaped in my life yet again, and I know the same will be true for you guys! Have a great day everyone, praying for you, your growth and of course, your sanity. ;)

And so it continued...

So, the day did in fact NOT get better after naps yesterday. When the kids woke up, Landon and Hayden were so grumpy I decided to just skip the gym and let the kids stay home and play outside. After dinner, I started the kid's baths, and while grabbing a towel I noticed there was more of the green goo from earlier on the closet floor. Thinking I missed a spot, I wiped it up again and continued on with baths. Landon was second to be bathed, and his big sister joined him midway through. As I was taking Landon out of the tub to dry off, Kyleigh yells, "EW, someone farted!! ugh, it stinks! who farted?!" and she just continued to repeat herself for a few minutes as I got Landon dressed. When I came back to the bathroom to get Kyleigh out, D.J. says, "There's poop in the bathtub!" Sure enough, Kyleigh and I look over and the water is a new shade of green and there are chunks of....well you know, floating around. Landon had left Kyleigh a nice present before he got out of the tub, hence the "fart" smell from earlier. All I can say is...EW. I snatched Kyleigh out of the tub and had her wait to be bathed all over again. Dave said he would clean the tub, but of course my squeamish hubby came in and says ,"I've got it, I've....<insert gagging sound>" covers his mouth, and leaves the room. So I clean up bodily fluids once again, because what would my life be like if I didn't have to do that at least twice a week. ;) I re-bathe Kyleigh, then D.J. and send them off to watch their movie from the library before bed. But, I noticed when I grabbed another towel, that green goo was back again. After further "investigation", I discovered that it was not from the tiny little bottle of shampoo I had originally assumed, but an entire bottle of dog shampoo had spilled all over the shelf above the floor and was still leaking through. There was green shampoo all over everything on the shelf. Grrr.... that explains why it was such a weird smell, at least now I know the shampoo from the hotel was not that crappy after all! LOL

Well, we got everyone in bed and the rest of the night went smoothly. This morning started off a little better, minus the fact that Landon was walking around the house before 6:00. I anticipated seeing him come into the room with a kitchen knife or some scissors one of us forgot to put away or to find more markings all over the house from a pen or marker left on the counter. But when I finally rolled out of bed, I walk out of my room and find Landon sitting in his bed with a bowl of animal crackers he had helped himself to. I was in shock, I'll take it! If that's all he got into and he didn't just take the bag but put them in a bowl, that's a good morning for Landon! LOL Of course after that, as i was making Dave's breakfast and lunch, Landon was going a mile a minute, he didn't stop "talking" for the entire 20 minutes it took for me to get the food ready. He was acting like he was on speed, he kept handing me things and walking around in circles trying to find something else to hand me, talking the entire time. It was actually pretty funny....though I'm wondering if he got into something else before the animal crackers that made him so "awake". LOL I took a picture to capture the moment, though I found him in his bedroom, not the living room. :)

Now, the kids are all watching Blue's Clues and I am going to get in my devotions and prepare for the day. I think its a park day, get everyone outside and away from the house for a bit. Not to mention, its Jonas' last day here, and I'm really having a hard time with that. :( It's definitely going to be an emotional day. With that said, I hope everyone has a wonderful day!! Two days to the weekend, woot woot!

Oh yeah! I also walked downstairs after nap time yesterday to discover this:

Needless to say, we spent a good half hour cleaning the playroom last night... how on earth do kids play and create THAT?! I would go NUTS! at least its in the basement where no one else can see it LOL

The Library...

What a morning! Landon has been NON-STOP since the moment he woke up. Into everything, disobeying, throwing tantrums (and household items like the scale). It was a risk to take the kids to the library this morning, but there was no way we were staying home with the way things were going. So, off we went to story time. Landon actually did REALLY well while the big kids were in story time. We played puzzles, looked at books and played on the computer...we looked like such a loving pair (haha). However, once the kids were let out, the three big kids sit at the computers to play games and Landon was off. I tried to coax him to come with me to pick out a movie, which he did. He got his movie and proceeded to toss several more from the shelf onto the ground, or place them in a completely different section. Then he had a 10 minute obsession with trying to get into the bathroom with his brother and Jonas. After that he made his way to the books and continued his toss and scatter game. I tried to round up the kids as we headed to check out our books, all the while losing Landon every few seconds. We make it to the desk and I turn to find Landon pressing the handicap button on the door and leaving the library. Once I retrieved my wandering monster, I finally gave the lady my library card and hear in return, "Ok, you have a $12 fine". Um, what? I brought the books back two weeks early, where the heck is the fine coming from? When I ask her she replies, " there was green marker throughout three of the books... we actually had to charge you completely for the first one, but you get to take it home with you." Are you kidding me? When did this happen?! Sure enough, she brings me one of the books, and there it is...green highlighter, all over miss Fancy Nancy.

So now we are the proud owners of Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes...actually I am based on the label. Of course, I paid the dues...after all, I have been stressing that Landon learns only to color on PAPER...he didn't technically disobey. :P As I'm paying for the books, I hear another librarian scold my kids for running around. I didn't even say a thing, they will listen better to her anyways. So, we finally leave...praise God. After finally arriving at the house, the kids head to the backyard while I go in and start lunch.

I walk into the bathroom at one point, and notice the same smell from last night was still really strong in the bathroom. It smelled like some type of cleaner or something, which I had assumed Dave used in there after cutting his hair. But no, of course it couldn't be something that simple, not in this house. ;) I look in the closet and find green goo all over the floor, toilet paper and some clothes that were in there. Someone had managed to get ahold of a tiny little bottle of shampoo and make a masterpiece. They could have at least picked something that smelled better, that stuff STUNK.

Lunch was distributed, and the kids are now napping...well, all but my boys because day three of Landon in his big boy bed is still proving to be a pain in the rear. I have been in there about 6 times since I started writing this blog. The last of which I walked in to find Landon had removed a poopy diaper, and had poop all over his chest, legs, butt, feet and hands as well as D.J.'s sheets. There is just no end with that child. I truly believe I am being punished for something, I have to be. That or God thinks my patience is in need of some serious work. So, now that I made it through the morning, I am going to finish up my lunch and start to clean this house, for the 50th time this week. At least its therapeutic...mindless effort while working in silence, I'm ok with that. I was going to skip the gym today, but I believe I will need it. LOL Praying for a good afternoon, and realizing my devotion on being thankful for God's many blessings in my life was without a doubt given to me this morning so I could focus on the greatness of God in the midst of all this chaos. :) I am thankful for healthy kids who daily remind me what an amazing sense of humor our Father has...as well as the incredible patience He shows us daily!! Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

Transitions - cribs, careers, and more

If I NEVER have to put together or dis-assemble another crib again I will be ecstatic! We have had to do both 13 times since we have been married...13 TIMES!! I always leave the seen with my nerves shot and my head pounding. Hence why the last section of the crib is sitting in my living room waiting to be dis-assmbled...I refuse to do it right now because I may throw it threw the window. Whoever designed those things needs a good kick in the rear...that or I need to hire someone to do it next time. :P

Now that Landon is officially in his big boy bed, I have already been in his room for disciplinary reasons about 7 times since I put him down for nap time today, and I am currently listening to him jump on his new bed. It's going to be a fun adjustment period...

Despite that, we are having an awesome time with the behavior chart! the kids are on their third day of no time-out or spankings, they REALLY want those toys LOL I'm trying to teach them that their reasoning to behave should be to please God and show His love to others, but you know...that will come in time. For now, the behavior is under control and the mood in the house has been MUCH more peaceful, praise the Lord!

However, once again, as things are starting to run smoothly, something has come up to create a change in the Freyre household. No, we are not pregnant, surprisingly this time it is actually the "loss" of a child...I was informed today this will be Jonas Ba-bonas' last week with us. We have all really grown attached to him so this is going to be a tough one for us! :( I will be watching my best friends little one come October, so I need to find something to fill the time in between...and I am leaning towards trying to pick up a part-time job (If I can talk my hubby into it). I haven't worked in over 4 years so it should be interesting but I am actually pretty excited about it...not the best case scenario but we can still make it work. :)

I always thought the 20's were going to be a fun time in life, but I have heard on several occasions that they are looked back on as some of the hardest years, and I truly believe that is what we will end up doing. I look forward to the years where we are more established and past the "pushing through" stage, when school is finished and the official career begins. I am thankful for the many ways God has blessed us so far, and I know we have grown so much because of the different struggles we have faced. God will continue to provide the strength and perseverance needed to get through these years, that I am sure of! So for now, let the new transition begin! :)

Peanut butter, puke and spilled soda

I forget what it was like to sleep in, those days where you could just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling until your body and mind were both equally awake enough to get out of bed. Today, like any other day, we were "pleasantly" woken up by our heavy footed Landon carrying a big box of blocks and hitting every wall and doorway along the way. This was after we had already put him back in his bed at least three times, starting around 5:30. He managed to wake all of his siblings up by walking in their rooms and playing with toys, talking or yelling, and turning off their fans. A few minutes later we hear, "MOM! Landon's in the bathroom!!" That was our cue to officially get out of bed. Dave's typical response to anything Landon does is, "No more kids...." LOL I can't blame him, Landon is enough birth control for even the most patient parent. Which leads me to our experience with Texas Roadhouse last night...We decided to go out to dinner last night with Dave's parents, so as we were all getting ready, Landon comes into the bathroom like this...

That would be peanut butter all over his face and hands, apparently he couldn't wait until dinner to eat. ;) We arrive at Texas Roadhouse to a 30 minute wait, but thankfully ti was gorgeous out last night so we hung out outside and let the kids play in the rocks. Of course it starts off with them throwing the rocks, including Landon throwing one in the middle of a group of people. Once we stopped that, Landon started filling Grandpa's hoodie with rocks while D.J. was decorating the tree with them. He attempted to throw one into the tree branches only to start running because it was coming back down towards his head. (LOL) Then D.J. finds what looked like an old broken gum ball, and Kyleigh decides to put it in her mouth, it only took a second for her to reveal it was disgusting as she spit it out of her mouth. All I could think was, why and ew!? Then they all snuck behind the bushes to play...a few minutes later Kyleigh comes out with what looks like a cover for some wires and D.J. walks out looking like his pants had just been adjusted...after peeing...He never admitted it, but we are pretty sure he peed behind the bushes at Texas Roadhouse... Ahem...at least the 30 + people outside didn't seem to notice anything, as far as we know. Once we managed to get seated, we made it through dinner fairly smoothly, minus Landon's few tantrums resulting in spouts of screaming and chunks of rolls being thrown all over the floor. As we were cleaning up and getting ready to leave, Hayden manages to knock a full glass of soda all over the table, herself and her poor Daddy. Her arms shot up and she started crying, and poor Dave's pants were soaked. With that, we left the building, loaded up and went home! That was a pretty mild experience compared to most though, so I can't say too much. LOL The rest of the night went fairly well, minus the 1:00 A.M. wake up to Kyleigh puking. I walk in to start cleaning up the first round, only for her to start throwing up all over my feet. Not sure why, but God really has it out for me when it comes to children and their bodily fluids. ;)

On the upside, my two big kids earned a full days worth of stickers on their behavior chart yesterday, woo hoo! One day, no time outs and pleasant kiddos! (with the exception of Landon of course) Now its time to go make some breakfast and hold my breath as I wait for the kids to show us what they have in store for the world today! Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday! :)