Easter

Nate trekking thru the foot of snow to grill our dinner.:)
Talking about the Easter story with Dad after the egg hunt.
Isaac trying to grab some cake.

Happy Easter! We hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating our Lord's resurrection!

We had a really nice day. My Dad, brother and sister came for the day (my Mom had to work). I am in the bell choir and had my first performance on Easter. Everyone said the bell choir did well and I only messed up once.:) I had to wear black for the bell choir. I felt so weird wearing black on Easter Sunday!

We then had a nice Easter dinner. I had decided last week to grill flank steak for dinner. Well, we got over a foot of snow on Friday! Nate was a good sport and agreed to grill, even in the snow. It was funny to see him running out to the shed and back. Caleb enjoyed having relatives over for the day and of course he loved the Easter basket! He was on a sugar high all day.:)

Isaac is 7 months old now. He is becoming mobile and rolling across the floor. He will scoot backwards too, which frustrates him greatly because he wants to go forward! He is now able to pick Cheerios up and put them in his mouth. He is also a master screamer/screecher. Whenever Isaac screams, Caleb will say, "He doesn't know any better." We are starting to tell Isaac "No" when he screams at inappropriate times. He just kind of looks at us and screams again.:)

Momnesia

So USA Today had a story called, "Babies Can Cause Momnesia." After reading it, I rejoiced knowing "mommy brain" is not some excuse mothers use to explain their ditzy moments. Moms, we are not crazy! I included some quotes from the article.


"But women don't get dumber after childbirth. Instead, like sleep-deprived medical residents who learn on the job, their brains are getting a workout. "You are learning a lot," she says. "Once your mommy brain gets readjusted, you get more efficient, and you become smarter and learn things faster, but it won't happen all at once."
Mothers' priorities often change dramatically while caring for a baby. They need to be "hyper vigilant" about their infants, who may develop symptoms of illness that are apparent only to those who have scrutinized their every coo and cry, Brizendine says. "You're on the mother beat all the time. It requires certain parts of your brain to work hyper, hyper, hyper well. But it requires other parts of your brain to play second fiddle." The cost of that vigilance can be a little ditziness, and that is a price many moms are willing to pay.

Women's plummeting estrogen levels, which lurch from "incredibly high" in late pregnancy to "virtually non-existent" after delivery, can make it hard to focus. While estrogen plays a key role in fertility, it also acts as a neurotransmitter, sending signals in the brain.
Breast-feeding can prolong the mental haze, Brizendine says, by circulating hormones that help mothers relax and promote a "mellow, mildly unfocused" feeling."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-03-momnesia_N.htm


So, if I continue to breastfeed Isaac til he's one, I have six more months to blame my ditzy moments on hormones, right?:)

I was trying to think of the classic momnesia moments I've had:
-gone to grocery store w/out my wallet (done that twice)
-pick up the phone and forget who I was going to call
-walk down to basement and forget what I was going there for
-can't think of the right word when I'm talking-that happens alot
AND
-the first 4 months of my kid's lives are a blur

It's probably true that God gives us this "momnesia" so that we'll have more than one kid! I would be hesitant to have more kids if I could vividly remember the labor pain, nursing problems, sleep-deprivation, etc.:)

So, do any of you have good "momnesia" stories?

3 Year Old Theology

We've had some interesting discussions with Caleb recently. It started with explaining why Crystal (the dog) wasn't at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We told him Crystal was really old and really sick so she died. After him repeatedly asking "Why did she die?" and having to give the same previous answer, he asked "Is she going to be raised from the dead?" Apparently he has been paying attention to his Bible stories about Jesus raising people from the dead. How to answer that question? We just said, "No, she is in heaven and is alive there." He then asked, "Is she barking at Jesus in heaven?" I got a good laugh and said, "Yes, she probably is!"
Some people have been giving us a hard time about saying there are animals in heaven, but I figure God can explain whether there are animals in heaven or not when Caleb gets there.:) We then had the death discussion again when Caleb saw a dead skunk on the road. I then had to answer 100 questions about how did the skunk die and why did he die.

Another interesting discussion with Caleb dealt with Jesus coming back from heaven. Nate read him the story in his preschoolers Bible about Jesus coming down from heaven and taking us to heaven to live with Him. That freaked Caleb out! First he said, "I don't want Jesus to come, I like living here in my house!" Then for the next couple days he asked, "Is Jesus coming after supper, Is he coming tonight, Is he coming tomorrow?" How do you answer that one?! Technically, we don't know when Jesus will come back and it could be at anytime- but that is not something Caleb understands and it just stresses him out.:) So we told him no.

Has anyone had similar discussions with young children? Any good input on how to explain topics like these?