I feel so blessed to be able to stay at home with little Grace. I think that the Lord wanted me to work while she was a baby so I would never take a day spent at home with her for granted. I hope I never do. Anyway, we have really gotten into a great routine over the past couple of weeks. We go on a 45 minute walk first thing in the morning after Daddy leaves for work. Then we come home and listen to music and sing and dance while we cook breakfast. After breakfast we try to get most of our daily chores done before Grace's nap time so that we can have the afternoon free for playing and other fun outings. After Grace's afternoon nap we usually fix and eat dinner then go across the street to campus where Grace plays by the fountain before bath time and bed time. I was a little scared that I might get bored staying at home, but with all of the fun BCM events that we have been getting ready for and attending and all the other things we have to get done every day I have no idea how I would be able to do it if I did have a job. I am even leading a Bible study and attending another Bible study with some other moms. I also found a MOPS group that I am thinking about joining. So yeah, we are staying active and making friends here in our new town.
One of the neatest things about being a Mommy that I was totally not expecting is how much Grace wants to be exactly like me and do EVERYTHING I do. I guess since she doesn't have an older sibling to look up to I kind of fill that void. Some of our sweetest times are simply doing household chores together. She always "helps" me make breakfast. She always "helps" me pick up toys. She always "helps" me wipe sown the cabinets and do the dishes. She always "helps" by throwing her dirty diapers in the trash can (this one has backfired because we are now finding non trash items in our trash can).
By far her most favorite way to "help" is with the laundry. She can put the wet clothes from the washer into the dryer, put in the dryer sheet and close the dryer door. And I have never seen a human who gets more excited about folding clothes than my child. She spent 30 minutes this afternoon "folding" one pair of her pajamas. I do encourage her to help around the house, but I am not trying to make her a slave or anything. She just seems to want to do anything and everything I do, and these are the things that she sees me do every day.
Now on to the actual reason for the blog...
Last week I gave Grace her first real chore. I asked her to take all the diapers out of the box and put them into the diaper drawer. I showed her what to do and then after watching her put a couple of diapers up left her alone to see what would happen. She actually came and got me after she was done so I could see what she did! She was so proud! I took her picture to document the achievement!
She has since completed the chore one more time. She even likes to open her drawer and rearrange her diapers for fun :) What a blessing it is to have such a sweet little kiddo. Maybe her love for helping around the house will continue through her teenage years... yeah right! I think I had better live it up now!
