Almost Human

It's amazing how a decent night's sleep can make me feel almost human again.
After a major regression on Gideon's sleep over the weekend, last night we had our first (since birth!) what I would call "normal" night of sleep with him.  He fell asleep around 10, and slept until 2:30.  I nursed him (and fell asleep in the recliner) and then put him back in his bed around 3:30.  He settled in right away.  (Most times I have to pat him for several minutes and give him the pacifier.)  He slept there til 5:30.  Then I was lazy, since Paul was working nights, and I put him in bed with me til my alarm went off at 7.
He's been in our bed a LOT the last couple weeks, and whereas it's better than holding him in the recliner all night, it's still not the same as out-like-a-log, soaking-the-pillow-with-drool SLEEP.  So even though I didn't go to bed til midnight (first chance in a while to fold laundry and clean our bedroom!), I still got over 4 hours of unaccompanied sleep.  Bliss!
And I feel like I could conquer the world this morning!  Here's hoping that last night was the first night of a new normal!

Rhodes Report 2013

(Better late than never!)

What a year 2013 was!  There were ups and downs, surprises and blessings, challenges and changes, and through it all – God was, and is, ALWAYS faithful!

Let’s start with what stayed the same:  We still live outside Ottawa.  Paul still works at AGC (just finished his 14^th year!).  I still stay home with the kids.  We still attend Ottawa Bible.  Our parents are at their same homes, and doing well.

Now let’s talk about our biggest change:  We had another baby!  We were very, very surprised to find out in April that I was pregnant.  Zadie wasn’t even a year old yet, and even though we were fairly sure we wanted another baby – we weren’t expecting to have two so close together (20 months)!  But God loves surprises, and we were thrilled to welcome another boy into the world on December 9^th.  We named him Gideon Robert.  Gideon has the eating thing figured out (he’s gaining about a ½ pound a week!), but we’re still trying to establish days and nights.  He sleeps all day – despite the noise and chaos of his brothers and sister – and will sleep at night…..only if he is snuggled with someone.  But he’s been more alert during the day, and I think (fingers crossed!) we may be making headway to him enjoying his space in his own bed at night.  We’re very proud to have another future warrior for God.  (Gideon means “mighty warrior.”)

Zadie continues her reign as princess of the house – like it or not, she IS the princess.  She turned 1 in April, and is a sassy, spirited little girl.  She still doesn’t have a very big vocabulary yet, but she communicates her wishes (demands) very clearly.  Her words usually make no sense to us, but she regularly will walk up to someone and “give them the what-for” – and it’s obvious that, to her, whatever she’s saying makes complete sense.  Zadie adores her baby brother, and is constantly petting on him and mothering him.  (Honestly, we were a bit worried, as she would get jealous whenever I would hold other babies or children.)  She’s a big girl, and holds her own very well with her big brothers.  She’s also a girly-girl (oh my!), and loves clothes, shoes, and jewelry.   We love our beautiful little girl.

Jacob turned 4 in October.  We started pre-school curriculum with him at home.  He already knew a lot of basics, like colors and shapes and numbers, from learning them alongside Nathan.  He’s coming along with learning his letters, although we had to get creative to entice him to want to learn, which we did by playing matching games with his flash cards.  He is slowly progressing on violin (slow because we aren’t diligent about daily practice); he can now play the first line of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”  He started his first “official” year as a Cubbie in Awana this fall.  Our hearts were overjoyed when, in February, he asked Jesus to forgive his sins and come into his heart.  Jacob has a sensitive spirit, yet a stubborn will, which is a unique combination to learn how to parent!  We are very proud to have him as our son.

Nathan turned 6 in September, the same month we started 1^st grade with him at home.  We are minimalistic on our curriculum this year, for two reasons:  1/ We knew that welcoming a new baby in the middle of the school year would take up a lot if my teaching time, and 2/ Nathan has no interest in reading, so I wanted to allow plenty of time to focus on that.  So we are pretty much just doing phonics/reading and math.  Homeschooling a very strong-willed child means daily battles.  If Nathan doesn’t see the point of something, he will argue it to death, or else flat-out refuse to even try.  So progress on reading is slow.  He would rather try to hurry through it by guessing, which makes it take twice as long.  (Try convincing him of that, though!)  He can read simple words and stories, but since it takes effort, he’s not keen on it.  He enjoys math, because it makes sense to him.  He’s working on his addition tables and counting money.  Nathan started his 2^nd year of Sparks in Awana.  He is coming along with his violin, and gets excited when he masters new songs or skills with it (even though, as mentioned earlier, he argues it to death while learning it!).  He has nearly a dozen songs memorized, and is pretty adept at playing by ear.  We’re starting to teach him to read music, and I think his ability will really take off when he figures that out.  He’s lost 7 teeth – but 3 were in accidents, so are slow to come back in. :S  He is a huge help with his little sister and baby brother, and with chores around the house.  We are proud to have Nathan as our oldest son.

More changes: 

Paul’s Grandpa Rhodes passed away in February, at the age of 88.  We took our first long trip in the van to Colorado for the funeral.  It was a wonderful service honoring him and his service to the community and his country as a World War II veteran.  We enjoyed the time with all the relatives together, although sad it had to be under those circumstances.  (Grandpa Rhodes was Paul’s last living grandparent.)

This fall, Paul and I both felt God telling us it was time for us to step down from the praise team at our church.  We felt it separately, and when we talked and realized we both had been feeling it, I wrote a letter of resignation to our Elders.  I have been leading worship weekly for 7 years, but we both have been involved in the worship ministry at church for 13 years, so it felt like a huge decision.  We’re not sure why God called us away from that ministry, but we’re looking forward to seeing what He is going to use us for in the future.

Blessings:

Paul has been very involved with a ministry called Men’s Encounter this year.  It is a weekend event that challenges men to surrender every area of their lives to God.  He, along with my brother JC, has helped organize and “launch” groups from the area to go to four Encounters this year.  They started a men’s Bible study following the first one of the year.  It has just been a blessing to watch these men grow and challenge each other and lead their families.  “As iron sharpens iron….” – being involved in these ministries and studies has made Paul an even better man.  Paul encouraged me to go to the Women’s Encounter in April.  I went, and was blessed and challenged.  Some of the challenges I’m still working on.  I returned in July as a server, and we had 9 other ladies from our area go at the same time.  It was an uncomfortable weekend for me, forcing me out of my comfort zones, but one that ended in uncontainable joy:  to be able to share in the salvation of one of the ladies that went with us.  (To find out more about the Encounter ministries, check out www.EncounterTheCross.com.)

In October, we were able to go on a “mini vacation” to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, with Paul’s parents and sister.  The kids loved it.  It was wonderful to be able to go and spend time as a family, and extended family, and also get some couple time for Paul and me.  And the fact that adults outnumbered children made for a mostly stress-free weekend!

We, along with Paul’s sister, were privileged to provide music at two weddings this year.  We love playing the music to set the atmosphere for these most special of days.  We also were part of two community “worship nights” where we got together with musicians from a couple other churches to provide a night of “just worship” as an outreach and blessing to others, where people can sing their praises and connect with God on their own level.   We look forward to doing a couple more of those this coming year.

My sister Carlsie made it home from Zambia, Africa, after two years there with the Peace Corps.  We are beyond thrilled to have our family complete again.  I’m sure she’s tired of our questions about the experience and culture, but we love hearing about all of it!

And I think that wraps up the big news for the year.  As I said before, GOD IS FAITHFUL.  We are privileged to serve such an awesome God who has all things in control, and who knows our future, and who loves us deeply.  And to think that the God of the universe longs to have us know Him!

In HIM we live and move and have our being,

Paul & Rachel

Nathan, Jacob, Zadie, Gideon

Biased.

I have the most beautiful and perfect little girl in the world.
But, then again, I may be biased.....

Overheard:

Maybe after church is done we can have a Finish Up Dinner!  (Fellowship Dinner)

Mommy, when we get home, you need to get in the kitchen and cook me some food!
(Paul informed him that even he doesn't dare talk to me like that, so Nathan shouldn't either.)

Sleep? What's that?

Even as high strung and sassy as our daughter is now, I will freely admit, she was our easiest baby.  She was sleeping through the night by a month old.
I thought our older two boys were bad sleepers.
......Until we had Gideon.
Oh my goodness.  This boy has had days and nights mixed up from the get-go.  His first night, even after the hard work of being born, he was up all night.  And nothing has changed.
Oh, he'll sleep at night.  On me (or Paul).  Or next to me in bed.  Just not in his bed, so I can get some sleep myself.
Now that Paul's back to work, it makes it seem worse because he can't help with night shift most nights.  On his days off, he does make sure I get a nap, but those blissful 2-3 hours aren't the same as hard middle-of-the-night sleep.
My life is kind of on standstill until he sleeps on his own at night.  Because I have no energy or motivation to do anything.
We're trying to keep him awake more during the day.  But even on the few days it seems like he's been awake more, he still doesn't sleep hard at night.
I keep telling myself that Gideon is only 3 weeks old.  He'll figure it out.  So for now, we do the Boppy pillow next to me on the couch (if I put him in it after he's asleep, he still thinks he's being held).  Or co-sleep.  (Despite it's vilification, it's the only thing to do when you're desperate for sleep.)  Last night, I put some rolled up towels under his bassinet mattress so it doesn't lay so flat - maybe that will help - it seemed to for the first 3 hours, after which we were back to the usual routine.  Someday, he'll come to prefer his bed.
Someday......