'Teach them diligently to your children...'

'5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.'

Deut 6:5-7

I always wonder whether Chloe takes in the things that I try to teach her about Jesus. I sometimes wonder whether I talk about Him enough. I like this verse because it tells us to talk about loving God as we walk through life with our children. It takes the pressure off having formal times of 'let me teach you about Jesus'. It should be natural in the normal course of life.

This evening was really encouraging for me. There was a loud thunderstorm and Chloe for the first time ever was quite freaked out by it. She is naturally very brave and so put on a courageous face ('Mummy I'm a bit scared of the banging') but I could tell she was close to tears. I put some music on my iPod for her to listen to so she couldn't hear it so loudly.

A few minutes later Chloe called me again but this time with real tears and said, 'mummy, when the music finishes I'm going to be scared again.' I reassured her and gave her a cuddle. She then said to me, 'Remember Jesus lives in my heart.' I said that was right and He would make her brave. She then tearfully asked me to pray for her, which of course I did!

It makes me so happy to think that Chloe's automatic response to feeling fearful is to think of Jesus. We have only had a few conversations about the Holy Spirit living inside of her so I feel like it must have been God that has allowed that truth to stay with Chloe. I now have a peacefully sleeping little girl :)

If his grace were an ocean...

I've been listening to 'How He Loves Us' on the Passion:Awakening worship album. It's a song that has helped me to look up to God through hard times in the past. At the moment I'm feeling a little anxious about things; mainly financial and relational. I know we're about to go through a potentially difficult season again and I sometimes let that affect how I see the future. I lose my hope. But this song is reminding me of God's great LOVE and that he will never put me through anything I cannot bear. Here are some lyrics:

When all of a sudden I am all aware 
Of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realise just how beautiful you are 
And how great your affections are for me

Oh, how He loves us...

If his grace were an ocean, we are all sinking.

Knowing that all I need in life is God's love is so freeing. It is all encompassing and eclipses all the worries and anxieties that have been burdening me. Thank you Jesus.

Bye bye baby

In the last few weeks Livia has been really changing. She has started crawling, sitting more confidently and even pulling herself up on things. It's been weird to get to that stage again of being careful what is left on the floor and where are the potential hazards? We will soon need stair gates back up and fragile items moved beyond her reach.

When Chloe was at this stage I was really excited (although she didn't crawl until 10 months, so Livia has beaten her by 2 months!). I was willing her to get to the next milestone and felt concerned if other babies in the antenatal group got there first.

This time round I feel really sad! I have so loved having a baby again and have appreciated how simple their needs are. A baby generally needs feeding, cuddling, sleep, changing or perhaps medicine. Toddlers and children are so much more complex! I have loved how easy it is to occupy Livia and make her smile. She perfectly content with games of peep-bo or being given a new toy to munch on. I love how she smiles at me when I make silly noises or faces. It's great to put her down and know she'll still be there when I turn around again.

But those days are already slipping away and I know I need to embrace this new stage. I may not have a tiny baby anymore but she is still a baby for a few more months. I think I'm finding the reality of not having anymore babies quite hard to face (not that I have to make that decision yet). Livia is still very cute when she plods into the kitchen after me and gives me a big smile. 

I have a couple of friends who have just told me they are pregnant so I will just have to enjoy their tiny newborns to get my 'baby-fix'! 

Name nerdiness

I have posted before about how I am a baby names nerd. I love reading blogs, forums and even you tube videos about baby names. There's something so special about choosing someone's name for them. What a massive (but fun!) responsibility! My first thought when someone tells me they're pregnant is: what will they call their baby?? And when someone announces their baby's name I love finding out their reasons for the name. I don't necessarily judge names; I find it interesting how we all have our own naming styles (and sometimes don't realise it!).

I'm sad that I can't talk about Chloe and Livia's real names (for the sake of privacy & because I work as a teacher). But those are two names I really like too! I would say our naming style is slightly modern with a European twist. I like to use uncommon names but not really unusual (Chloe is an exception here! = very common). I would say top 100 but not top 25 (if you want to know how popular names are, check out the Office for National Statistics).

People don't realise that they often favour certain letters/sounds in names. These help names to 'go' with sibling names. Our two girls have 'eh' and 's' sounds in their names. I haven't told my friends that I like to analyse their children's names but here are a few observations. I have a friend who uses names with 'm' and 'o' sounds. Another friend who has 'ee' sounds at the end of names. Another who likes double letters. Another who has 2 syllable names with the stress on the first syllable. Are you bored yet?!

So there you go. More goes into naming than you realise! We didn't think to ourselves 'we need names with these sounds in them'; it just happened naturally. I haven't even gone into themes (nature, occupation, surname-names, granny chic etc) or length (all 3 syllable etc). There are lots of reasons for liking names. What makes you like a name? Really interested to hear!

Edit:

Reading this back I realise maybe I should have put in some examples but it was difficult as I don't really want to list other children's names. I'll give you a couple of made up ones.

Oscar and Ava - strong 'ah' sound at the end.

Juliet and Lauretta - strong 't' sound.

Benjamin and Oliver - noticeable 'i' sound and same syllables.

Michael and Simon (my brothers!) - 'i' and 'm' sounds.

Family dynamics

As Livia gets older I'm really enjoying the way our family works together and interacts. The girls seem more individual now that Livia is older and developing new skills; it's lovely to watch their relationship forming. On the one hand Chloe is fiesty, outgoing, imaginative (and bossy!). Livia is my bundle of smiles; a bit more timid but just as determined and interested in everything. Usually Livia will crawl around the living room exploring what Chloe has left out and stopping to laugh at her sister as she bounces around in her own pretend world. Chloe is very fond of being the centre of attention and sees it as her job to get Livia to giggle (usually a good thing until she ends up jumping on her or trying to pick her up!).

Currently one of my favourite times of day is story and song time before bed. The girls are both bathed and in their pyjamas. J takes Livia on his lap, I will cuddle up with Chloe and they both sit as good as gold as we read together. Then they both get under the covers in cot/bed and we sing a song (about God!) before they sleep. Chloe loves to be stroked on her arm or back whilst we do this and Livia loves listening to us sing. She never fails to give us a huge smile! I don't know another time when they are both so quiet. Then kisses and cuddles before J and I get a well-deserved rest :)