To My Funny Valentine

Dear Margaret Anne,

Today you are 2 and a half years old. I try to write these little letters to you every six months so I will remember how you are growing and changing. I don't think I will ever be able to capture your personality in one of these little updates, but I will try.

You are coming into your own personality and I have to say you are... hilarious! One of the things I love most about your daddy is his sense of humor and I think you inherited that. I love how you make me laugh several times a day. You wake up in the morning calling out for daddy and I and you are so opinionated from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep... I think you inherited that from me... yikes! You are still extremely picky about what you eat, but you are VERY polite about it, most of the time. If I try to offer you a bite of something, you usually look at it and say "No thank you."

You are also very polite when you get a compliment (and you get lots of compliments). If someone tells you that they like your hair, or your outfit, or that you look SO pretty, you always smile and say "Thank you!"

Yesterday you took communion for the first time. It was very unexpected and it was all I could do not to cry. You came into church for communion and I honestly thought you would get a blessing. But you stood there at the altar with your hands folded just like mommy and daddy and you were so reverent as you lifted your little hands up to Father Rick to accept your bread. I told him that you could just have a blessing and he said "Look at her. She's ready, its time." So he placed the wafer in your hand and you took your first communion. Just like that. I pray every night that you will learn to love the Lord and understand the sacrifices that he made so that you can live life abundantly, on earth and in heaven.  I think you could sense that there was something special about being in church... I hope that continues.

You are so smart, Margaret Anne. It makes me laugh to think that a two year old can be as smart as you are. You are scared of some things, like bugs and snakes, and I am baffled by that because I don't know why you would be scared, but you are. Lately we have had to convince you every night before bathtime that there will not be any bugs in your bath (No idea where this came from) and you say "no bugs allowed!" The other day you said, "Daddy, look at this!" just as clear as day and it was a piece of fuzz that you thought was a bug, so you said "Daddy get it, get it!!" over and over until Daddy got it away from you. I like that you know Daddy is there to protect you and I hope you know he will protect you as much as he can for as long as he can, and I will too.

Little girl, I am so blessed to have you in my life. I feel so blessed that the Lord trusts your Daddy and me to take care of you. I love you, Valentine.

Love,

Mommy

Ordinary

Well, our computer is back, and I will hopefully be posting lots of precious Margaret Anne pictures soon. However, We've gotten (as usual) caught up on the daily tasks that never seem to go away and always seem so monotonous and never ending. It's funny, even Margaret Anne has caught onto our routine and will chant it in order. For example, when she's going to bed she'll say "rock rock minute, hug kiss, go bed." Sometimes, before dinner, she'll say "Mommy, make my dinner, bath, jammies." She knows exactly what is about to happen and usually gets thrown off just a little if things don't happen in that order.
Sometimes I get annoyed at the monotony of life. Get up, get ready, work, home, scheduled dinner and bath, MA's bedtime, then Mommy/Daddy chill time, then bed. Repeat 5 times, then have a weekend that involves activities that are all scheduled around laundry that needs to be done and groceries that must be bought.
Sometimes the monotony of it is overwhelming. Sometimes the lack of freedom is... overwhelming and stressful.
I was reading a post on this blog today and that led me to these verses that were originally posted on this blog.
Here are the verses:

 Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason . . . , takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores. . . ?” [LW 45:39]

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight. . . . God, with all his angels and creatures is smiling—not because the father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.[LW 45:39-40]

Wow. What a way to look at the monotony and the "mundane" parts of your daily life. But in truth, they are most definitely not mundane, or boring, or even trivial, even though they might seem that way to an outsider in a different place in life. And they seem that way to us parents of small children when we are in the midst of going through with all of the little details.
How lucky we are to be able to raise our children. How lucky to clean up their messes and make all of their meals and discipline them even though sometimes it seems SO tasking.
I know I will think about these verses next time I feel so tired of doing all of the necessary tasks, and hopefully I will be encouraged!