Love, Love, Love.....

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If there's one thing I know, it's that parenting has taught me so much about God's unwavering, unconditional love for me.

I love my husband, very much. I love my family and friends. But the love that I have for others is so different. It is an equal love. There generally is some give and take. The love I have for Georgie is consuming. It is completely unconditional and undeserved. I love her because she is mine. Not because of anything she has done or is going to do. But because she belongs to me.

Some nights, especially when I've watched a sad movie, or read something emotional in a book. I just want to go in to Georgina's room while she is sleeping, and wake her up and just love her. Cuddle her, play with her, make her smile. I just love her so much. But that kind of love is very selfish. It is all about me, enjoying her. The best thing for her is not be woken in the middle of a restful sleep. So I don't.

That got me to thinking about God. Why He doesn't give us blessing upon blessing. He gives us just what we need. But He doesn't bestow present after present upon us like a guilt-ridden parent. He knows that we need to learn how to earn our way, so He doesn't let us win that million dollars in the lottery. He knows that we will be better for the trials, even though He hates to watch us in them. He loves us enough not to spoil us, to only give us what we need, not what we want.

Some days with Georgie she only has a small sleep. She normally sleeps for at least one and a half or two hours, and is much better for it. But occasionally and for no apparent reason she might decide to only sleep for forty minutes. And this always seems to happen on the days when I could use a nap too! But (mostly) on the days when she wakes up screaming and upset I go to her. I comfort her despite the fact that I might want to have space to be away from her. Because she needs me and I love her. And if I can't get her back to sleep we play and laugh even though I know she will be grumpy and unhappy later on in the day because she could have slept more.

And God does that too. He comforts us and helps us, even when we are doing things that He doesn't like. He continues to take care of us and bless us even though He knows that the path we've chosen is not the right one and will lead to unhappiness.

He is good. All the time. He is the best Father, the best parent. And it doesn't always come easily. But He loves us enough to love us unconditionally, unselfishly and extravagantly.

This one's linking up with Jess for I blog on Tuesdays... come check it out!

Sunday Song: Fancy a giggle?

Shane made me listen to this song this week, and oh it made me laugh! I could just picture myself doing it. By The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Conell.

5 Things I know

1. I wanted to go to the pool. I have been desperate to go for a swim ever since it opened a couple of weeks ago, but held off because Georgie and I have been sick. Now, today, when Mum said she would look after Georgie this afternoon (because she's still got a runny nose and isn't well enough yet) it is raining. Raining! Not fair! It is cold and wet and miserable and it's like winter is taunting me, saying 'You only thought I was gone'.

sadly, not today

2. I though the rain might mean that Shane got to stay home today, which would have been lovely, but alas, he is stuck in the shed doing maintenance.

3. Rainy days are made nicer by the fact that today is my churches monthly Kids Play morning, so I get to go along and drink coffee and watch my baby play while I chat to other lovely ladies, and we alternate between moaning about our children and watching them with pride, instead of watching Georgie bang at the screen door wanting to go outside.

4. No matter how much she frustrates me, or drives me crazy sometimes with her busy, busy little hands that won't leave anything alone, there is still nothing like walking in to a little girl who has just woken up and gives you the biggest grin. It is the nicest part of the day (closely followed by the end of the day when she goes to bed).

That smile makes everything better

5.  I know that the Government is far from perfect, but I am still very very grateful that we live in a country where I can be given a little bit of money because I stay home looking after my child. We just got all our Family Assistance for the last financial year (we elected to get it in a lump sum) and it is really, really nice to actually have savings again!



Linking up with Shae at Yay for Home for Things I know today, and Glowless for Flog Yo Blog Fridays.

Thankful that pain is temporary

I don't tend to talk too much about it. But I suffer from pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. It's not terrible- there are many worse things that can bother a woman during pregnancy. But it hurts. This time around it's a little bit worse too.

It's generally not too bad during the day when I'm doing and moving. But by the end of the day, when I stop a little, the pain starts. It gets worse when I've had a day when I've done too much. It's in my right hip and stretches down my leg to my knee. I have a bath almost every night to help with the pain and it does help, but when my muscles relax I have a really hard time getting around. The sharp jabs of pain can floor me sometimes, and there is a dull ache that creeps down my leg as the pain gets worse. It's really hard to sleep. I wake myself up when I try to roll over in bed sometimes, and getting up in the middle of the night can occasionally drop me to the ground (thank God Georgie is a good sleeper!). But most of the time, it improves during the morning and then goes downhill in the afternoon.

It means lots of trips to the physio. I go there fortnightly generally. I would go every second day if I could, but unfortunately my bank balance can't allow it. So I make do with being taped up every now and then and wearing an attractive belt when it gets really bad.

It's not fun, but at the same time I try not to make too much of it. Most women have one thing or another than bothers them during pregnancy, and at least my back rights itself straight after the baby's born. It may even get better by about 35 weeks or so with any luck, as I think it did with Georgie.

But it has made me realise how very fortunate I am. I am not the fittest or healthiest person on the planet by any means. I could definitely take better care of myself in regards to diet, fitness and sun safety. But at the same time, I am healthy. If I wanted to train my body to climb Mount Everest I probably could (although not while pregnant obviously!). But I am capable. My body does not hold me back. Sometimes I hold myself back with my bad habits, but my body is strong and well.

For me, this pain is temporary. I know it is. Other people are not so fortunate. Many, many people deal with debilitating pain on a day-to-day basis. Other people's bodies are not so capable. So I am grateful. Sometimes it is really tough. But I know the road I am walking is a short one. This pain is not a life sentence. When this baby is born I plan on working my butt off to try and get back into shape. And I can. And that's a really good thing.

Today I'm linking up with Kate for Thankful Thursdays- come check it out!

You Belong to Me

Some days being your Mummy is the easiest thing in the world. Some days you are just a little packet of loveliness and joy and you are everything that is wonderful in the world. Some days you frustrate me so much I could quite happily just put you down and scream (and to be honest I do).


You are a busy, busy little person. And you are growing madly at the moment. You are not walking just yet, but are so incredibly close. I love watching you do things. You are a bit of a thinker. I don't know how your Dad and I produced a thinker. But we did. You don't just blunder your way into things, you do things slowly. You tend to take your time and are very careful when you try something new.


You are so cheeky, and you are such a Daddy's girl. I get up you and get a cheeky grin in return. Your Dad reprimands you for the smallest thing and you dissolve into a puddle of hurt childhood femininity that completely disarms him. (Glad to see you've got things figured out early)


You love the puppy, you two are such good friends, and Chloe thinks you're wonderful because you feed her so much.


I love watching you grow. You are a sticky, snotty little bundle of pain and difficulty at times, but you are mine and I adore you.


You belong to me.

Father's Day: Lesson Learned

For Fathers Day this year, I decided to take and frame a cute photo of Georgie. I had a really cool, creative idea in my head, it was a great idea, but really hard to execute! Here's how it went.

Okay Mum, I'm here... why?

Oooh Look!

Almost smiling....

Now I'll stand up and try to pull it off the wall

I've had enough now!!

 Finally we got a keeper! It's not exactly the designer shot I had in mind,
but she's smiling and that's all that counts!

Lesson learned: It's generally a silly idea to try and get a 14 month old baby to smile in a specific pose. But we got there in the end! Oh and if you are ever silly enough to try something similar- get a friend to help! Or else holding them in place with your foot tickling them can also work! Oh, and I definitely don't see a career in photography in my future...

Happy Father's Day Shane!

We work

Today has been hard. Just really, really hard. Georgie has been a mega-poop. I have hardly been able to go two feet away from her all day, and even then she's still been cranky! I think she might be a little sick.

It didn't help that at lunchtime when I'd gotten her down for her nap, the fire alarm from the school across the road went off (for 20 freaking minutes) and woke her up way before she was ready to be awake. Plus, it was Shane's first day back at work after a week off. Today has just been really hard work.

But fortunately, there was some work around town so Shane came home tonight. And when he walked through the door a little before seven, it was just so good, you know? The sun just broke through the clouds. Georgie was in the bath, and it's not like she got happier or anything when she saw her Daddy, she was still cranky and tired and very ready for bed... but suddenly it didn't seem like such a big deal. I put her to bed and then collapsed a little because I was just spent and I didn't have anything planned for dinner. But even that didn't matter too much. I ended up making a quick risotto which was really, really good (I'll have to share the recipe sometime soon).

But things were just better, easier, because Shane was home. I wasn't alone. He was funny and made me laugh and he cared about me and he was just there. And it made all the difference in the world.

So today as I link up with Kate for Thankful Thursdays, I am just really thankful for my husband. He is by no means perfect, but he is exactly right for me. And somehow despite all our crazy and our faults, we work.