Great Things about having 3 under 3

I am the proud mommy of 3 little kiddos- a 2 year old, 1 year old and a 3 month old. It’s crazy! But it’s also so much fun.

Here are some of the great things about having babies so close together:

1.    There’s never a dull moment: Like….literally. There’s always something going on. Whether it’s mass hysteria, or the kids are playing nicely together, there is never a dull moment. Our house is alive with toddlers yelling and learning to say new words, diapers being changed, tantrums being thrown, toys being played with, babies crying, kisses being given and an endless supply of little giggles. Never a dull moment.

2.    You are already knee-deep in all things baby, so it’s not really that much more challenging to add another kid or two to the mix. Diaper changes? Already happening, no big deal. Tantrum throwing? A daily occurrence anyway, why not add more! Sleepless nights? Hey, what’s a few more kids keeping you up at night!

3.    You get great use out of the baby gear and clothes you have! We have only had to buy a few new things since our first was born. If you are doing cloth diapers, it’s well worth the investment for sure! Anytime my oldest needs new clothes I really don’t mind doling out the money because I know that her sister will be able to wear it not too long after!

4.    They always have a friend: My goal is for my kids to always be close- to treat each other with love and kindness and to be really great friends. And as the two toddlers have gotten a little older, they have become such great friends already. They love each other and they love to interact. Of course, they are not always nice to each other and sharing isn’t something they always choose to do. But they are learning. And it’s so much fun watching them play together.

They seriously always want to be together 

(for better or worse, but always together)!

5.    Predictable Nights: I am a homebody. So is my hubby. We haven’t always been this way, but slowly we have grown fond of spending a quiet evening at home. Because we have three little bits, we are afforded that luxury night after night. The kids go to bed at 7pm and we know that the next few hours are ours. It’s really quite great.

6. Always an excuse: Not that we ever want to get out of doing things (uh hem)....but if we did, it's a very valid excuse to say we have little kids that need us. Sorry, not tonight. Maybe in 5 years?

7.    Afternoon quiet/nap time: My kids are young enough that they still take afternoon naps. It’s a glorious 2-3 hours of quiet time that I have most days to relax, nap if I want to, or get things done. It’s my time, and with 3 very needy individuals vying for my attention all day long, it’s a much needed time!

8.    People come to us: Most people are aware of the struggle of taking 2 toddlers and a baby out of the house. And if they aren’t, well one visit with us and they will be! And while I do enjoy getting out of the house sometimes with the kids, it’s really nice that most people will insist on coming to MY house to visit. Of course, this may be because they can make a quick escape if things get to crazy, or maybe they aren’t interested in cleaning up the mess that the kiddos are likely to make. But regardless, I’m grateful that people choose to come to us since it’s always a struggle to leave the house with my crew.

9.    We will have these crazy busy sleepless baby and toddlers years out of the way in one fell swoop! It’s kind of nice to think that we will not have to do the baby thing all over again when these kiddos are older.

They wake through the night and are early risers. They are lucky they're so cute :-)

Now obviously there are drawbacks to having 3 so close together. I’m not going to paint an unrealistic picture here and tell you that having several young kids is a piece of cake. We all know that the baby and toddler years are some of the craziest.

It’s challenging enough to get sleep with just one kid, let alone 3 of them! You may save money on small items that the kids can share, like clothing, but you may have to spend more on big ticket items, like cribs and strollers. Currently all three of our little nuggets are in cribs! Life is a whirlwind and sometimes it takes every ounce of yourself to just keep your head above the water. Laundry. Has anyone mentioned how much laundry you need to do when there are 3 tiny people that make HUGE messes?! It’s insane. So yeah, there are indeed negative aspects to having stairstep children. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. And on some days (okay, a lot of days), the negative outweighs the positive.

See...obviously we aren't all always happy!

BUT…I wouldn’t trade it. Eventually these hard days with 2 tots and a baby will be long gone. Plus it’s a joy and a blessing to watch these kids experience life and learn together.

Besides, this was a post about the GREAT things about having 3 under 3, not the terrible things!

My little stairstep Loves

Always a Spectacle

Leaving the house is always a big deal. Not just because there are 3 little people to wrangle into the van, a diaper bag to not only fill up but to remember, and bribery that begins the instant their butts hit the car seats (“if you don’t throw yourself onto the floor in public today, I will give you some chocolate! Mmm…you LOVE chocolate!”).

It’s a big deal because with 3 kids under 3, we are always a spectacle.

Filing out of the van is always an ordeal. When I’m by myself with the kids I open up the side door, climb into the van and unbuckle the toddlers. Then I carefully lift the baby’s car seat out and set it on the floor while I get back out of the van. I grab the car seat in one arm and help the toddlers out of the van. Then with my free hand I hold Pax’s hand and he holds Jaelyn’s hand. Spectacle.

I am blessed to have children that are pretty well behaved a lot of the time. I haven’t yet had an incident where one of the toddlers lets go of a hand. Yet.

 (Tots in the back row and the baby in the middle row)

We fill up an entire cart with little bodies. If we’re lucky we can find a cart with one of those nifty attachments; either the double seater or the tiny car in the front. The kids love the tiny car! As we walk hand in hand into the store, or as I push the loaded cart, we get looks of adoration and we get the crazy eye. You know the crazy eye. That look of utter bewilderment with a little bit of annoyance thrown in. I’m sure I’ve given that look pre-children. “Oh my gosh, are you insane? Why would you take them all out by yourself?!”

 (Basically no room to even buy anything)

We get comments. Lots of comments. OH BOY, the comments.

“Are they all yours? “

“Are they twins” (referring to the toddlers)

“You sure have your hands full.”

“You are SO busy!”

“Wow, your life must be crazy right now.”

“You know they figured out how that happens?!”

“Got your own little day care, huh?”

And my all-time favorite “Pretty soon you’ll have your own tv show! Are you trying to compete with the Duggers?” (because 3 kids equals 19).

The list goes on and on and on. If I go out with all three kids, it’s guaranteed my little entourage will draw some looks and a few comments.

We aren’t just a spectacle when we go out either. Turns out, we are quite the ordeal even at home. Right now life is a whirlwind. I’m sure many can relate. Life is just crazy and chaotic. It doesn’t always seem like it in the day to day, when we are at home and in our element and doing our normal 3 kids under 3 thing.

But when we are around other people- people with no kids or people with older children, I realize how truly hectic and crazy life is right now. When I take a moment to sit and observe my surroundings, ya know…those rare moments when I can sit and breathe for just a second, I’m amazed at how insane it all seems to be. I wonder how I am keeping my head above the water.

I look at the overflowing dishes, the piling laundry, the toys scattered throughout the house (and why, for the love, can’t they just keep their toys in the toy room?! It’s a toy room for a reason, right?!) and I feel overwhelmed by it all.

(The infamous toy room. This disaster literally takes them roughly 11 seconds to complete)

 I see these 3 little people, so dependent on me for everything, so very needy and sometimes extremely whiney and sometimes all needing me at the same time, and I feel exhausted.

And then Pax, little mama’s boy Pax, runs up and kisses me on the arm and quickly runs off again. A real kiss. A lip-puckered-with-the-actual-smacking-noise kiss. Any mom can relate to a slobbery kiss from a little boy- especially a little boy who had previously only done the open mouthed kiss. A real kiss. On my arm. From my son.

And then there it was! My heart completely melted.

 (My baby boy. Energetic, furniture climber, rowdy, cuddly, mama's boy, heart melter)

I survive this crazy spectacle of a life for those heart-melting moments. They are rare in the day to day. Let’s just be honest here. The minutes and the hours pass slowly and sometimes there really isn’t any physical reward for all the hard work. But the love that I have for these children is overflowing and never ending. And at the end of the day, when all 3 kids are fast asleep and I think over the day’s events and I wonder how we can continue doing this day after extremely long day, I look at those sleeping bodies in their 3 little cribs and I know. I just know that I can do this because I love them. I can do this because this spectacle of a life means something. I’m their mom. I’m the biggest influence in their lives right now. I get the amazing and very scary job of molding these tiny people and  helping to shape their characters and tell them about Jesus and pray pray pray that my influence is positive and Christ-like.

So yes, we are a sight to be seen. We are a spectacle. We are a little bit crazy right now. And most of the time I’m overwhelmed and a little scatter brained. But…BUT this is my life and this is an amazing life. So when I get those inevitable comments from people about how crazy it must be with these three little ones, I smile and say “Yeah, it’s crazy. But it’s fun too and I love it!” And that’s the honest truth!

A Baby Story

It was a birth story I didn’t expect for a number of reasons. For one thing, we weren’t having our third child in a foreign country like we had originally planned. Circumstances had brought us back home early. Way early!

But there was a comfort in knowing that our baby would be born back home, where I knew what to expect, where I understood the procedures and what people were saying. There was security in knowing that our other two kids would be taken care of by family.

And it was this comfort and security that I would need as our baby was born and then quickly taken to the NICU.

It was a very different labor and delivery than I had experienced with my first two kids. For one thing, I went into labor on my own. No induction needed this time. It was also the fastest labor and delivery. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the baby came down the birth canal so fast that she aspirated amniotic fluid into her lungs.

“It’s a girl!” I heard my husband excitedly proclaim. A girl! Another little girl. Oh my goodness…the joy overwhelmed me and the tears started flowing.

“Eliza. Her name is Eliza” I whispered.

I turned to see her with the nursing staff. The nurses had informed me that they give the baby to the mom immediately after delivery, but I still wasn’t holding my new baby. Why wasn’t I holding her yet?

After delivering a baby you anticipate hearing that first cry. You hold your breath and eagerly await that newborn wailing, which indicates her lungs have expanded and she can breathe! It’s such a miracle, it’s such an amazing moment.

But the seconds went by and I didn’t hear her.

You never want to assume the worst, but really you just can’t help it. Why isn’t she crying?!

The words wouldn’t come out of my mouth, but apparently the nurse could see the look of panic on my face. “This is normal. She’s doing just fine” she said to me.

And then the nurse caring for the baby let us know that she just wasn’t able to breath very well on her own and the little cannula that they had for her wasn’t enough. She needed to go to the NICU.

It all happened so fast. It was shocking. I didn’t even know what time she was born, how long she was or how much she weighed. All I knew was that she was very very blue, and she wasn’t in my arms.

I was scared.

No mother ever expects her baby to go to the NICU. I had drastically different expectations for our stay in the hospital. Little miss would room in with me. I would get some quality bonding time with her before going back home to the craziness of having two toddlers. Just mommy and baby for 2 days. I knew I would miss my tots, but I was excited to have this time away.

Suddenly though, it was nothing like I thought it would be. Our little girl was on a cpap to help her breathe, she had an umbilical line and was receiving antibiotics and fluids, and she had a nasogastric tube in her nose. She just had so many things connected to her and she seemed even smaller and more fragile than a newborn typically does.  It was weird to have just delivered a baby, but not be able told her when I wanted to, not to be able to feed her, to receive updates about her from the nurses and doctors.

I don’t know what would have happened if we were still in France when Eliza was born. I don’t know what the hospital there was like, how the doctors and nurses would have responded, what the NICU there was like. What I do know though is that I was so grateful to be back home where I was comfortable, where I understood what the medical staff were saying, where I knew my other two kids were being taken care of by family. There was security in being home. And I was grateful that, for whatever the reason, God had brought us home when He did.

And after only 3 days in the NICU, Eliza was well enough to go home. It was such a joy to be able to bring her home and have all three of my kids in the same place! I thank God for my little miracle baby and for her quick recovery.

Eliza Grace, born January 28^th at 10:43 a.m. 

She was 7lbs 6 oz, 20 inches long, and my 3^rd miracle baby!

The Calm in the Storm

People always talk about the “calm before the storm”. Not necessarily in relation to the weather. More like their lives. Everything is all fine and dandy, going smoothly, working out just right. It’s inevitable that a storm is up ahead, right? Something terrible is brewing just around the corner. At least that’s the way it seems a lot of the time.

I guess, in any given life, there are bound to be periods of calm and periods of chaos. It just comes with the territory of being human and living on this earth.

I am currently experiencing one of those so called “storms”. Things have suddenly taken an unexpected turn. The plans we once had, the direction we were headed mere days ago can suddenly be seen in the rear view mirror, instead of looming up ahead.

We are currently in France, studying the language so we can be effective ministers of the Gospel in West Africa. Or, at least that’s what we were doing last week.

This week we are heading back to the States.

Chaos. A Storm.

I just took the Littles to the nursery. Their second to last day going there. The house is in utter disarray. Things are half-packed, piling up. The floor is covered in snacks and food that the kids have dropped on the floor and then trampled as they played. Suitcases are laying about, ready to be filled up. Clothes are needing to be washed- just one more time in France. The house needs to be cleaned, the rest of our belongings need to be packed, loose ends need to be tied up here and plans need to be made for there. It is utter chaos. There is a storm a brewin!

And yet…here I sit, writing a blog and drinking my coffee while everything around me goes undone.

I feel calm.

Two days left to get everything accomplished. Typically when I think about a deadline so close with so much still to do, panic sets in. I scurry around doing a thousand different things because I’m so bombarded with everything that I just can’t settle on what exactly needs to be done first.

But right now, in this moment, calm. I feel calm. I feel peace. God’s peace.

I will admit though, that these last few weeks I have felt anything but calm. Fear gripped me. I cried a lot. I pleaded with the Lord. I felt somewhat abandoned. I begged God for answers, for understanding, for help.

The words that I continued to hear over and over again where “wait and see”. 

Wait and see?! What kind of an answer is that?! That’s not what I’m looking for. Don’t you get that I’m tired of waiting? I just want answers! I want to know what’s going on. I want to understand all of this.

Wait and see.

I’m discovering that God knows best. God’s timing is best. It doesn’t always seem that way. In fact, sometimes it seems the complete opposite. We question, “Are you sure you’ve got this God?” We give Him our input, our thoughts, our opinions, even our demands. We accuse. We argue. We fight Him all along the way.

But God just wants us to wait and see. He’s got it all figured out. His plans are bigger than our plans. His ways are better than our ways. It doesn’t make sense. And you know what, I’m starting to see that it doesn’t have to. It doesn’t have to make any kind of sense to me. I would like it to. But more often than not, it just doesn’t work out that way. And I need to be okay with that. Because the truth of the matter is that God has never let me down. Not once!

Wait and see. That’s what He’s telling me in this moment. As I sit in the middle of the storm and feeling nothing but calm.

This morning my coffee cup reads “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6”.

Ironic? No, I do not believe so. It’s God’s way of showing that He really does care, that I don’t need to be in control and know everything. I can sit in His peace while the world around me goes dark in the storm.

Just wait and see what happens next.

Will you give baby the breast: On preparing to have a baby in France

Fumbling to communicate. Every appointment is exactly the same. She speaks a little bit of English. I speak even less French (though I must give myself some credit, because after 3 months of French class, I can actually understand and communicate some). I rack my brain for comprehension.

Okay…she said that in English, right? Shouldn’t I know what she’s talking about.

We look at each other, both with the same confused expression. Both with a slight grin, knowing that we want to be able to communicate so desperately. After all, this isn’t some casual conversation with an acquaintance. Having a baby is a pretty big deal. Medical information, knowing what to do and how to do things, getting labs and ultrasounds, registering at the hospital…all of this is pretty important.

Focus Sarah. She’s saying something. She asked a question. No, she is telling me what I need to do.

I stare at her for what seems an inappropriate amount of time to stare at someone without saying anything.

Ah yes! I understood one word and the rest just sort of came together. She will do my group B strep test here and I will need to carry it to the Lab myself. Oh, how fun. That doesn’t sound awkward at all. 

I’m grinning now. Inwardly I’m applauding myself for understanding that. How did I know what she was saying? I must be pretty smart! I must know French better than I think. I will have to remember to tell Phil how smart I am!

I have to keep reminding myself to listen, to focus. It’s so hard to understand what she's saying, if I don't just miss it all completely. If I don’t automatically know what is being said I tend to just tune it out. That’s why listening to dialogue in French class is always so difficult for me.

Will I give baby the breast? What does that mean? She hands me a pamphlet. Oh! Breastfeeding. Will I breastfeed my baby. Well, yeah…I had planned on it.

She just looks at me, shrugs, and continues to ask other questions. Or gives me more information. I can’t be certain.

I’m just going to be honest, I would really prefer completely understanding what is going on when I see the midwife or register to have my baby at the hospital. But, it’s also not been too bad. Luckily I have not been in a situation where the person I’m talking to doesn’t speak one word of English and I can’t understand anything they are saying in French.

(Okay, well there was that one incident at the hospital where the receptionist and I couldn’t communicate at all. I’m pretty sure we had some major miscommunications about paying for my visit. I thought she said I didn’t need to pay her. And so I didn’t. I’m still not sure….)

And so while it hasn’t been the ideal experience that I would have liked, it’s still working out. I have a midwife that does monthly check ups, I’ve gotten two sonograms, I’ve had my labs done, registered at the hospital, and just overall have had an okay experience. I’m healthy and the baby is healthy, and so the few miscommunications and embarrassing grins are just a part of the story.

Here are some things that are different here than having a baby back home (mind you, I haven’t actually had a baby here yet. Still 2 months away):

Modesty: I was warned about the modesty, or lack-there-of, before coming to France. Here is a little snapshot of what it’s like when I go to see the midwife:

I go into her office, which also happens to be the exam room. We go over medical information, I give her my recent lab results. She asks me to step on the scale and then tell her how much it says (really?! You trust me to tell you exactly how much I weigh?!). Then she motions for me to get undressed from the waist down. She doesn’t leave the room. There’s no curtain, no gown, no white paper blanket that I lay over my lap. There’s no pricey dinner, where we get to know each other first. Just plain ol awkward nakedness in her office.

Medical records: In France we are in charge of our own medical records. We are to keep a nice little folder with all of our information, and we take it with us to whatever appointment we have. When I get a sonogram done, I need to retain the information so that I can give it to my midwife. When I get my labs done, I keep the results myself so that I can share them with my midwife. All off my medical records are MY records and I am the one in charge of them. When I eventually go to the hospital to have my baby, I will need to bring all of my records with me. There is no sharing of records among the medical professionals, each person is responsible for their own stuff

Nursing a baby: Ho hum. That’s how I would describe the attitude towards breastfeeding here. Granted, I haven’t been here long. But from what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, it’s just not something that is highly regarded. Great if you want to do it, but it’s not something that is really pushed for or advocated. And breastfeeding in public…I’ve just not seen it at all. Even when the midwife asked if I was going to give baby the breast, she didn’t seem at all happy about it, didn’t offer up any more information than the pamphlet she gave me.

Hospital Stay: The minimum time to stay in the hospital is 4 days. Longer if you have a c-section or other complications. This, however, really only applies to those that are residents here or have the SSI card here. Foreigners that are paying out of pocket can actually opt to stay just one or two days- though it’s crucial to let them know well in advance that you are planning on staying a very short amount of time.

Different midwife for everything: I have a midwife that I see for my monthly check-ups. She is the one that monitors my weight and blood pressure, and writes me the prescriptions that I need for my lab work, vitamins, ultrasounds, etc. She is the one that I bring all of my lab/ultrasound results to. However, she is not the one that will deliver my baby. I also see a midwife that only does ultrasounds. That is her specialty. I have seen her twice now, and each time she gives me the results directly and tells me exactly what she sees as she’s looking. This is very different in the States, where the sonographer is not allowed to give you your results; the doctor must do it. So that was kind of nice. And then there is a midwife at the hospital- she is the one that will deliver my baby. Chances are, I will not meet her before D-Day.

A different midwife for everything.

Nothing is included: I have heard that it’s very important to bring your own things to the hospital; sanitary pads, baby items, everything. They don’t provide these things, or if they do they are limited (again, I haven’t actually had a baby here yet, so this one is just hearsay).

Cost: The cost of going to the midwife, having ultrasounds and blood work done is quite a bit cheaper here than back home. Like…Quite. A. Bit.

 It is €23 for each midwife visit (which is almost $29) and only €70 to have an ultrasound done (which is about $87). Those are significantly cheaper than back home. Granted, I never used a midwife back home. But I would assume it’s more expensive than $29. When I had my first ultrasound done for this pregnancy back in Texas, it cost me a whopping $280!!

These are just a few of the things I have noticed in my journey of preparing to have a baby in France. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, just different. It’s not what I’m used to, but really…what is these days?!

I am blessed to have a very healthy pregnancy and to be able to communicate with the different medical professionals that I have seen- even if just a little.

And ya know what, it’s super awkward and frustrating at times- but it’s not terrible. And I’m learning how to do things that are uncomfortable. I used to hate talking on the phone when I lived in the States. I think…if I went back home, I wouldn’t mind making phone calls anymore. I think I wouldn’t mind doing a lot of things now, because I’ve proven that I can make it through some pretty uncomfortable situations!

Thanks France!

Living in the Unknown

These past few months I have been living in such a way that I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I don’t mean that I don’t know what I’m making for dinner, or I don’t know what I want to do next week. I literally mean that I have no idea what is coming our way.

There is a scariness in not knowing what the future holds. I know that none of us really know what the future holds. This is true. We have no idea what tomorrow will actually bring. But we have a general idea. We have plans for tomorrow and next week and next month and even next year.

But this week…I have no clue what our lives will look like next week. We are in the middle of one of those crazy God moments. When everything is completely out of our control and we have to trust the Lord to lead us down one path or another. We know what we want to do. We’ve planned for what we want to do. And then when something big happens in life and you can no longer count on your plans, it gets a little scary.

We are in France right now, studying French for when we move to West Africa. It’s all been planned out. We will stay here for a year, then move to West Africa and begin our ministry there. We planned what we would bring here to France; things we would need immediately and things we would eventually need for Africa. We’ve planned for having a baby here in France, planned for what our lives will look like once the baby is born. We have plans for our toddlers, on teaching them French and living in various countries and cultures. We have plans for how we will communicate with our families and friends and supporters while we are so very far away. We have plans for how we will deal with homesickness and culture shock and loneliness while we are away. We have all of these plans that we have put in place for where we are at in life right now.

And suddenly we found ourselves uncertain of all of these plans we so carefully orchestrated. Suddenly we are at a cross roads of staying here or returning home. After nearly 4 months in France we now face the possibility that all of these plans we have made for our lives, for our kids’ lives, will suddenly be all for nothing.

Okay, it’s not all for nothing. Just because we don’t know what the future actually holds, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t plan for things. We should make plans. Sometimes our plans are God-ordained. He is behind them, guiding them, working them out. Sometimes they are just our own plans- things that we want to do. Nothing is wrong with that. And sometimes, the plans we make are God’s plans but then for reasons that we just don’t know, He changes things. Or redirects us for a time being.

One of the things I love about being in situations like this is that it’s all about God. We may have our wants and our desires, but ultimately what happens depends solely on God. It’s terribly scary, but there is also some peace in it. When everything is completely out of your control and you are trusting God to lead your very next step, the next step that will determine your very life direction, there is something so reassuring about that. If God is the one leading, you can’t mess it up. If it’s all in His hands and you are simply following His direction, there is something so peaceful and calming in that.

I hate these situations, but I also love them. We have found ourselves in these type of situations only a handful of times. It’s stressful just waiting and being uncertain of what next week will hold. But it’s also such a relief knowing that God is the one in control and you will clearly see Him moving and working and leading you. You will know for certain that this is what God wants you to do because it is all completely out of your control and manipulation.

Right now, we find ourselves living in this unknown. Uncertain if we will continue living in France for the next 8 months, or moving back home for a period of time. It’s so scary not knowing if we need to make plans for going home (finding a place to live, figuring out what we will do when we get there, getting all of our furniture and things from storage, etc etc) and starting to pack all of our suitcases here, or if we will continue on in France like we had originally planned. Scary, yet a sense of peace. Whatever happens in the next week or so will prove that God is leading us in that specific direction.

If you find yourselves living in the unknown, waiting on God to make the next move, find peace in that. I know that it can be stressful and overwhelming, and if you’re anything like me and need to make plans for the future it can be quite scary. But rest in the knowledge that it is the Lord leading you and trust that He has your best interest at heart- even if it doesn’t make sense to you at the time.

Making a Home out of a House that is not my Own

We move a lot. Since getting married, Phillip and I have moved 9 times to 3 different States and 1 move abroad. That’s 9 moves in 4 years! To say that we’ve never settled into our own home would be an understatement.

Since having kids we have moved 5 times. I remember moving a few times when we were little. It was exciting and fun to move to a different house, but it was also unsettling. You lose what’s familiar, you lose a bit of comfort for a bit.

I know that my kids have been itty bitty with our moves. Even our move abroad, our kids were only 1 and 2. But I have to believe that major life changes, even for such small kiddos, can be quite unsettling to a degree.

One of my goals in moving is to make the transition as easy as possible. On everyone. To have familiar things at our new place as soon as we get there. This can be quite the challenge when moving to a furnished house or apartment where you can’t really bring much of your own things. This has happened a few times in our moves; twice when moving in with family, when we moved to Texas and lived in a furnished house, and right now as we are living in student housing in France.

But you can always bring small things that are a reminder of ‘home’. By home, I don’t mean a specific location or house or building. I simply mean the place of comfort, security and safety for your family. With all the transitions of missionary life, or just moving around in general, it’s been necessary to cultivate a place of comfort and security wherever we are.

Here are some examples of what I have done and continue to do:

Kitchen items. I don’t know about you, but the kitchen has always been the place to be. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen throughout the day; making coffee, breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner. Currently our living room and kitchen are combined, so we spend an extra amount of time in the kitchen.

Whenever we move I make sure to bring along my favorite kitchen items. All of my spices and cute décor that I have accumulated over the years. Also, my most favorite coffee mug; the one Phil got me for my very first Mother’s Day! And baskets! I try to bring as many of my baskets as I can. I seriously love them and they are useful no matter where we move!

(My favorite salt/pepper shaker and spoon rest)

(I'm sure we can get spices here, but I brought along my 

favorite ones just in case!)

(These are just a few of the baskets I brought. 

So useful for so many things!

Note if you're moving abroad: Collapsible baskets are AMAZING!)

(Our cozy kitchen)

(Some of my favorite hand towels that someone sent to us)

(My most favorite coffee mug! Phillip got this for

 me for my very first Mother's Day!)

For the kids, I bring along their “lovey’s”- which are their favorite blankets and pacifiers. I also bring along some of their favorite toys.

(This is Pax's bed with some of his favorite blankets and bear)

Pax's room. And also the place the kids play in the most. 

It is soon to be Jaelyn's room also...after the new baby is born!)

(Changing table in Pax's room)

(Jaelyn's room. Although, it's soon to be the new baby's room)

(Reading nook in Jaelyn's room. Complete with some of her favorite blankets from home!)

(Jaelyn's absolute favorite pillow and blanket. Seriously...she will not go to bed without that blanket and needs it 

whenever she gets hurt or upset.)

I also bring our favorite pillows and blankets for our room. 

(My most favorite blanket! My aunt made it out of my old t-shirts; t-shirts that I have gotten from around the world. I absolutely LOVE this blanket and plan on taking it with me wherever we go!)

But more than simple items, I keep to our same routine and generally try to live in the same manner no matter where we are.

For example, our bedtime routine with the kids. It has been very consistent no matter where we have lived, with just a few minor adjustments depending on our situation. We typically do bath time right after dinner, then we get the kids into their jammies, read a few books, sing some of their favorite songs, pray, clean up our toys and into bed!

With moving to France though, we have had to adjust the whole bath time thing. We don’t have a bath tub here. For a few months we were using an infant tub to bathe the kids. Chaos ensued! It just became too much to try and bathe them every night and to bathe them together. So we changed up that part of our routine and bathed the kids separately on different days. But otherwise, everything pretty much stayed the same (we were able to find a small inflatable toddler tub. But it's also too small to bathe them both together, so we are sticking with our new routine for the time being).

(Infant tub for two toddlers? At least they get clean!)

(This toddler tub isn't really that much bigger, but it does allow for more water. And...it's usually just one kiddo in there at a time. This night they insisted on taking a bath together)

(Our only 3 piece bathroom. 

We have two bathrooms with a shower 

and a sink and one with just a toilet. 

Very interesting, France. Very interesting)

I think it’s very important to maintain consistency when moving around, especially with Littles. It takes away that element of surprise and anxiety that they may experience with a big change.

I would say keeping to the same routine is one of the biggest ways that I am able to make a house a home no matter where we are.

Having a “homey” environment is something I believe my kids and my husband need. I also need that. It’s so important to be able to come to a safe haven, a place with familiar things when everything else in the world just seems so chaotic.

Moving to another country where you don’t know the culture or the language can be very unsettling. But it makes it bearable and doable when you have your own home that you can retreat to at the end of the day.

Moving can be very difficult. Never settling down to one location isn’t easy. But there are ways to make it less hectic on the family, and that is what I strive to do for these people that have been entrusted to my care. No matter how many different places we live in and no matter where we end up, I will always do my best to make a house a home- even one that is not my own.

Things you NEVER imagined you'd say....

Ya know, there’s just some things in life that you don’t think you will ever say. And it’s not until you have children that you find yourself saying the most ridiculous things!

I’ve compiled a list of things that my husband and I have said…probably more than once since having kids. I’m certain that as the kids get older and do more ridiculous things, we’ll end up saying even more off-the-wall comments (feel free to add your own in the comments section!)

-       We don’t eat pennies!

-       Pee pee goes in the potty, not on the floor

-       Don’t put your feet on your brothers face

-       Chips don’t go in your ear.

-       No, don’t put chips in your brother’s ear.

-       Please don’t lick that off the floor.

-       Oh, no, don’t lick mommy’s shoe!

-       Don’t put that diaper in my coffee please

-       Put your tongue back in your mouth or your food will just fall right off of it

-       That is garbage. We don’t eat garbage.

-       Wait, where are her undies? She’s wearing a dress, how did we not notice this?!  Hey missy, we never leave the house without wearing our undies.

-       Please don’t step on the baby

-       If you lick the book again, story time is over

-       Are you giving him kisses, or are you sucking on his head?

-       Hands out of the toilet. Hey! Both of you, hands out of the toilet!

-       We cannot go outside until EVERYONE is wearing pants.

-       Don’t let your brother step in your bowl!

-       Don’t put your foot in your sister’s bowl!

-       Why are you licking that?! That’s disgusting. Do you even know what that is?!

-       Stop climbing the stove!

-       How did you get in that drawer? Please get out of there. No! Don’t close your brother in that drawer, he’s trying to get out.

-       Oh, umm…daddies don’t have milk. Only mommies with babies have milk….

-       If you’re going to tackle your sister, do it on the rug. That floor is entirely too hard!

-       We don’t eat chalk or rocks. As a matter of fact, we don’t eat anything that is not food!

-       If you don’t stop licking that rock, you’re not going to get to hold it anymore.

Apparently my kids lick a lot of things….

Once a Month DIY: Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

This simple recipe can be such a life saver. Typically most of the ingredients are probably already in your kitchen. And making it yourself can save you a ton of money!

I love the simplicity of making sweetened condensed milk because…well, we go through it a LOT! Every week we are making coffee creamer, and so we seem to go through this stuff quickly.

Here is what you will need:

-       1/3 Cup of Water

-       1 Cup of Powdered Milk

-       4 Tbls Butter

-       ¾ Sugar

-       ½ Vanilla Extract

Directions:

I always add the butter to the water and microwave until boiling (but I suppose you can do it over the stove too).

Then add the powdered milk and whisk until it thickens, slowly stir in the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to whisk until it’s a thick and creamy consistency.

Voila!

It’s THAT simple! And it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week (but I don’t think it’s ever lasted a whole week in the Kemp household)

Once a Month DIY: Hand Washing Cloth Diapers

Cloth Diapers. I used to be so disgusted with the thought of cloth diapers. But then slowly, ever so slowly, my opinion began to change.

My friends talked about all the money they were saving, I read up on the different kinds of cloth, I saw how cute a lot of the patterns can be. Soon I was starting to think about doing it myself.

Just before we moved to France I ended up getting a LOT of cloth diapers…for FREE! Forget the one-time expense of getting a startup stash which, let’s face it, can be a pretty penny! These were absolutely free. I have roughly 45 cloth diapers (pockets and pre-fold covers) plus tons and tons of inserts. I’m in cloth diaper heaven here!

My amazing (and free!) stash!

And with my stash pretty much complete, I decided that once we got to France I would indeed begin cloth diapering!

And much to my chagrin, I discovered that we had shared laundry facilities….that you need to pay to use. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, but I also knew that it was going to take us awhile to get a bank account, get some Euro’s out and get change for said laundry.

In the meantime, I still wanted to start cloth diapering! I was ridiculously excited and impatient to begin. I don’t know what had gotten into me. Maybe it was the cute designs? I’m not entirely sure. But I decided that I would figure out a way to do it without needing French money or coin laundry.

Thus began my hand washing adventure!

It’s actually not as disgusting or difficult as I first thought (and as most of you probably think). It’s pretty simple. I think the hardest part was prepping the brand new diapers that I had gotten. And that’s just because it took more effort since I had to wash/rinse multiple times.

Items I use:
- Tub to wash them in
- Plunger
- Detergent
- Drying rack/clothes line
- Cleaning agent for tub when finished washing

So here is how I hand wash my diapers:

I start by doing a cold rinse (because I'm not using a washer, I actually rinse out and semi wash out the poopy diapers before throwing them into the hanging diaper pail).

And I use my handy dandy plunger and plunge the diapers about 50 times.

Then I drain the water

 (I remove the diapers from the tub just to be sure all of the icky water gets out.)

I then add my detergent and do a hot wash (currently I'm not sure what I'm using. I just bought a detergent that I thought didn't include any perfumes or softeners or anything else. It's kind of difficult to know when you don't speak/read the language. Just sort of have to take your best guess.).

Soon though, I'm hoping to start making my own detergent so I know exactly what's in it!

And again, I plunge the diapers about 50 times. Sometimes I'm full of gusto and will do it more!

If they seem extra stinky or have been sitting for longer than 2 days, then I will let them sit a few minutes and then plunge them again another 50 times or so. Just want to make sure they are good and clean (and don't smell like pee!).

I then drain the icky water again and begin a cold rinse.

 I will again plunge about 50 times (it's a great way to develop those arm muscles!). 

Sometimes I will do a second rinse. It just depends on how sudsy the wash was to begin with and if the diapers still smell a little soapy. Better to do a second (or even third) rinse than having stinky/residue/leaky diapers!

I didn't post a picture, but after I'm done rinsing I get all of the water out of the diapers (sometimes I will roll the diapers up into a towel to get it even more dry before hanging them up).

Then I clean out the tub and sanitize it because it's actually what I currently have to bathe my toddlers in. And I don't want them to contaminate the diapers the dirty diapers to contaminate the children! Yuck!

And then I line dry them (the diapers, not the children)!

And voila! Cleaning cloth diapers by hand!

It's a lot of work, but it can be done. 

And it saves money, so I think it's worth it. For the time being anyway...until I'm too pregnant to be bending over an infant tub in a shower stall!

(Little guy likes to help....and by help I mean pull all of the clean diapers onto the floor so he can trample them and eat them).

I have since gotten an actual drying rack for the diapers (and other clothes I hand wash), so it makes drying a lot faster (because I can hang up more than 5 diapers and inserts at a time!).

We have also been able to open up a bank account here and have since been able to get money out. However, it's very expensive to wash clothes here. So even though we have the option to use coin laundry, I'm still opting to hand wash simply because it's a lot cheaper.


Any questions or comments or other ideas, please let me know in the comments section!