Finding strength within

by Jenny Irvine // June 10, 2013 // 2 Comments

It’s 4AM (YES, Im blogging at 4:00 AM) and I am holding my squirming babe who appears to have a belly ache. As I try to rest my heavy eye lids this sentence keeps popping into my head (oh, this head of mine I tell you).

‘What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.’

Really? Most people are sleeping at 4:00 AM not getting poetic and writing blog posts. Seriously, I must be losing it! I’m coming off a particularly emotionally draining week and heading full force into a physically demanding one. So maybe I’m not losing it after all..…

Last week I struggled with many ‘heart issues’ but jealousy ranked among the top. What an ugly thing it can be. It hardens the heart something terrible. It’s like lava spewing out of a volcano. It pours out with no direction at all and hardens; leaving a path of destruction everywhere it has been.

Now, as I enter this week my husband is away for business and I am here to ‘man’ the camp. He does not travel often (thank God!) but when he does it is filled with late nights, sleepless nights, and early mornings. My expectations of myself run high on a daily basis but when I’m flying solo they are ‘over the top’!

I am not super human; so why should I expect to become such?

However, this week I will try to be ‘different’ I will try to lean on ‘Him’ more and ‘me’ less in an effort to keep the storm at bay I might even try to schedule some me time. Focusing on what is truly important and not the other 1000 things fighting for my time.

So I leave you with this ‘what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.’ This week will certainly not ‘kill’ me. I will be challenged. I will be tired. I will work extra hard. I might feel frustrated. I might get cranky. However, I will come out stronger because I will not do it alone!!

Why Gluten Free?

by Jenny Irvine // April 30, 2012 // 1 Comment

We are going on 1 month of gluten free living and I couldn’t be happier with the results! I never talked much about the struggles we would encounter in our day with little Miss K.Bear. Not because I was trying to “hide” anything but simply put it was our “normal”. K.Bear has always been our spunky, ‘spirited’, strong willed, and just ‘more’ everything child. She is super bright, cute, funny, and a “little mommy” at heart. K.Bear has never “really” slept through the night (yes, she will be 4 in August) that means very little sleep for Mommy! She always seemed to “fly off the handle” at the blink of an eye and I truly couldn’t do anything right at times! She nearly potty trained herself at just over a year old…normal? She has been my tiny little ball of ‘spunk’ for years!

None the less, I am her mother and God blessed us with this beautiful baby girl….we trudge along…what is a mother to do? Things were getting worse by the day and I was quickly reaching a breaking point. “Night waking” and “night tantrums” 2-3 times a week at 1:00/2:00 in the morning for nearly a year has been the norm. I would literally get up at that time out of “routine” and pray she would sleep through “it” tonight. Taking her to the van (yes, in the cold) to “shock” her out of “it” (while, this was certainly not a cure it did help a little). Exhausting, draining, emotional, and confusing…I was riding a K.Bear roller coaster!!

The bottom fell out; it was Saturday night (tantrum…hit 1:00AM lasting 30-45 minutes…in a freezing van) back to bed for some sleep…normal?!?

Sunday…a tired, exhausted child is never fun to deal with….the day seemed to be going “as usual” a cranky moment here, some play, and some more whining… nothing really out of the ordinary for a Sunday afternoon. K.bear requested a snack before dinner (animal crackers) so I proceeded to give her some while I prepped dinner. The initial requested immediately turned into I want more (mind you she hadn’t even eaten one yet!) …rolling on the floor because I only have her 2 more in the bowl (it is dinner time after all)…and I quickly watched my child “lose it”…for 2 1/2 hours!! She never recovered….

and there began our gluten free journey!

I share our story with you in hopes of helping others in a similar situation. This is just a ‘glimpse’ of the puzzle I began to piece together…and look forward to sharing so much more with you in the near future!

Restful Nights

by Jenny Irvine // March 27, 2009 // 1 Comment

Ok so funny story I was laying in bed last night thinking about what to blog about today? Most people sleep I “blog-rest”! A typical night looks something like this for me;

7/7:30PM girls go to bed
7:30/8:00PM finish chores (laundry, dishes, whatever I didn’t get done)
8:00-9:30PM read (one of many books…I’ve got going)

The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America’s Largest Families–How they Do It

The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

9:30 to bed I go (toss, turn, pray, think…10:00/10:15PM asleep)
11:00PM (K.bear gets up to nurse) 11:15 back to sleep…think, pray some more I may have dozed off the first time!!
1:00AM ..”Mommy”….(Pumpkins up going potty “will you cuddle?”)…cuddle for a few…doze off
back in my bed around 2:00 AM
2:30AM/3 K.bear want to nurse (again)
3:00-4:30/5:00 sound sleep….(WONDERFUL!)
5:00 K.bear is up and ready to go, eat breakfast with Daddy..see him off to work and that starts my day!

Are you exhausted?…..I am just thinking about it!! I have been asked a lot lately about “How do you do that?” I usually just say “How do you do it?”

If there is one thing I have learned with having kids there are some things you just “do”. There truly is no sense in whining about it who wants to listen to that? So for all my friends out there if you ever wonder why I don’t go out much at night…this would be why!! LOL

My attitude enjoy it now …because someday you’ll miss it!!