Family

Life is ....

You can fill in the blanks with all of the cliches that you have heard over the years ( I prefer "...like a box of chocolates") but one thing is for certain, it is the personalities of our kids that make it very interesting.  As we strive hard to teach them what they should know, develop a schedule, etc.  it becomes very clear that what worked with one will not work with the other.  There are those things that work with both kids but the moment you try to put them in the box that "should work" they will soon jump out as if to say "try again".  It is what stretches the patience to its breaking point sometimes.

Patrick is a very energetic, loving, enthusiastic and a little compulsive.  Sometimes we have to stop and clean the soccer ball before continuing.  He doesn't like it when Eliana moves the blanket that she is sitting on so that it becomes "messy".  If he is not ready to go to bed, getting him to stay in his room can be a challenge.  He is ready to tell you exactly where and what you need to be doing and what he needs.  We love him more than I can imagine and there is nothing I would rather do than come home and "play trains" or "go to the park"

Eliana has all of my stubborn traits.  We are kindred spirits in that way.  She is also amazingly happy and joyful, talking without words at every turn.   This little 3lb 6oz premature child is growing like a weed and will soon be playing "rough house" with Dad and Patrick.  I can't wait! Unlike Patrick who loved cuddling with mom or dad, Eliana loves to squirm and is not fond of sitting still.  She could stay in the bouncer for a long time.

One thing is for sure...when you mix the 2 personalities you get a God given amazing result.  Already the brother and sister adore each other.  Patrick looks longingly at the video monitor and whines to mommy "Mommy, Eliana is still sleeping".  Eliana can be fussy but when she sees Patrick (the human pacifier) all is well.  For Eliana, as long as Patrick is in the room, life is good.  For Patrick, the ultimate pleasure is to have all four of us together, but as a consolation prize he loves have his little sister around.  Even if she is just sitting there watching him.

I think they made a word for what I described and that word is "Family".  It is a wonderful gift that God has given us and I want to cherish it every moment of every day, even when "no" is the most common word I hear and "I want..." starts every phrase.

Know what I mean??????

LOVE

How much does God love us? It is one of those incomprehensible attributes of God. Yes, we can understand love to some extent but when you really ponder some of the outcomes of His love it can get overwhelming. I guess we could choose to dwell on questions of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but that is just avoiding the real question which is "Why do good things happen at all?" After all, we have done nothing to deserve them. And that is the real crux of the matter, isn't it? God's demonstration of love shown by putting our our family together was not by chance, not because we are good people or because we somehow deserve this family, but by design before the earth was even created. Whether you think the earth is billions of years old or thousands of years old you have to admit that is a pretty cool fact to ponder. I love this family more than it makes sense. The love of a family really doesn't make sense at its messed up core. After all, we make mistakes pretty much every day and every day we find something else that we could have done better. We also find something else that another family member could have done better. So why love? We love because God loves us and that is the only reason that allows it to make sense. We have the ultimate example of love on Easter which hopefully won't get lost in the Easter bunnies and the Easter candy but will shine through to a really messed up world. Here are some pictures of the recent photos taken at Alta Laguna Park in Laguna Beach that I absolutely love. Enjoy!!