Life Imperfect

I read this article the other day and it really stuck with me.  It talks about how technology has given us an excellent outlet for displaying our accomplishments in life while being able to shove the less then desirable parts behind the camera.  It talked about how Pinterest and Facebook posts can often lead us to feel like we're inferior, that our lives are lackluster and that we are somehow failing.  We post these grand collages of our kids' latest craft but conveniently leave out the utter mess left behind.

 And it made me think, "Why?"  Why hide the reality of day-to-day life?  I am a stay at home mom with 2 wee ones under foot.  My house is RARELY company ready, my kids often disobey and truthfully most days I don't even get a shower.  But that's ok.  I have been given the task of rasing my children, training them up in the ways of Christ and honestly, that gets a little messy.  A LOT messy. Every. Single. Day.  So in an attempt to embrace this messy life, I decided to start taking a picture a day that shows the beautiful reality that I'm living in.  Dirty clothes and toys all over the floor?  Check.  Lunch dishes still on the table at dinner time?  Check.  I do this to show myself that the mess has beauty and purpose, and that things are never as they seem from Facebook looking in.  So check out my Life Imperfect pics on Instagram and maybe even share a few of your own.  Because life is messy.  And hectic.  And imperfect.  And beautiful.   

7 and 8 Months

*I had this post all ready to go last month and then our laptop caught on fire.  Yep.  Small flame, much smoke.  Thankfully, while it ruined the screen and rendered the laptop useless, the hard drive was intact and we were able to transfer EVERYTHING to a new laptop.  But since that process took some time, here I am a month late with this post.  I blame technology.*

Did February fly by for anyone else?  How in the world is it already March!?!

LEVI at 7 months:

~Has discovered how to squeal!  Unfortunately, his happy squeal and mad squeals sound the same, and I am having a hard time telling what he needs!
~Is so very close to sitting up on his own.  One look at the floor, though, and his big old noggin drags him right down.
~Loves to bounce.  He's finally gotten his feet under him and thinks its great fun.
~Can roll with the best of them, which is very strange to me because Grace never did that!  She would roll, but stay in pretty much the same place.  Levi takes off and will be across the room, stuck under something in a matter of seconds.
~ is teething again, I think.  At least that's what I think all the chewing and drooling is about.
~Hasn't started solid food yet, but I think that's gonna change this weekend.  Stay tuned for this oh so important breaking news.

We had planned to dedicate him this past month, but bad roads and a bout of stomach flu for the grandparents made us very thankful we postponed!  Right now we're planning to dedicate him on March 17th.

LEVI at 8 Months:

~Is getting his two top teeth in!  While it hasn't been bad, we're very excited for them to poke through.  It just looks painful.
~Started solid food the same weekend he was dedicated (Mar 17).  The kid loved it!  He had his first bite of rice cereal and lunged for the bowl.  Now, he puts down a tub a day.  Its amazes me to think that Grace wasn't eating solids yet at this age.
~Likes his solid food heated up.  Cold food (room temp even) gives him the shudders.
~ Has got the army crawl DOWN.  There's no stopping him now!  Anything he wants, Levi can get to.  I fear for when he actually starts crawling.  =)
~Is starting to do the pre-crawl rock, although its usually on knees, a hand and an elbow.
~Shot right through 9 months clothes into 12.  Ok, really I just left him in 6 months clothes for too long.  Its amazing how much more comfortable he looks in clothes that have room to grow!

Levi is a great little guy and I'm glad he's my buddy.  He thinks tug of wars and anything his sister does is hilarious.  I realized the other day my kids have the same belly laugh.  Is that normal?  I don't know that I've ever met siblings that laugh the same...