The Fanning Four

First, a story.... So, about a week and a half ago I go to get Bethany from her crib in the morning and she is soaking wet. Her crib sheets are also soaking wet!! I quickly yell for Tom - I'm going to need backup for this one. So as he starts to chnage her and I start to change the sheets I propose my theory. "It must be the Target diapers- they leak. We'll have to stick with name brand." No sooner do I say that, then Tom starts laughing. "What?", I ask. "I forgot to put a diaper on her last night before bed", he replies. Straight from the bath to the pjs!!! Ahhhhaaaa! Hope she enjoyed her night of freedom from diapers! And now here are some pictures: Our little punkin' Big ol' dimples!! Dressed up for Book Babes at the library! Bathtime and big beautiful eyes! 12 weeks old!

At the end of my last semester of college,sitting in my discussion class for my internship my professor told us that we were now the experts. We all laughed when he said it. It just didn't seem possible that we could be an expert in any subject at this young age. But he persisted. "You are the experts in the field of child development. After studying this subject for the past four years, you now know more than most of the population about the development of children." While this may be true, I still question, "I'm the expert??" And to back up my case I present the following evidence: First I must tell you that whenever the subject of parenting came up I would always say that I thought it was the parents who contributed to a lot of the tantrums and discipline problems their children had. As "an expert", I would wisely state; "If you take a hungry, tired child into the grocery store at rush hour at the end of a long day, they will have a meltdow...

Whether we like it or not- all of us have a set amount of time here on Earth. For some it's only a few minutes, for some it's a million. You may not have much of a say in just how many minutes you get, but you do have a choice of how you spend them. I have found that having Bethany has made me much more aware of how I spend my minutes. At any given time, there are so many choices as to how to spend my time. I could sleep (and I need sleep). I could do housework (it's never ending). I could have quiet time with God. I could volunteer somewhere. I could do something just for myself. I could exercise. I could hangout with a friend. I could spend time with Tom. I could spend time with Bethany. Sometimes it's an easy choice. When she screams, I hold her. When the hamper is full of clothes, I wash them. When I try and file the paperwork in the bathroom linen closet instead of the filing cabinet, I sleep. When I'm up in the middle of the night and she won't go back to ...