the madness.

you all know about the madness, right?

the kind of times in life where you turn around and it's been an entire week? and you don't have any idea where all the time went, exactly?

well. this past week i've been living in the madness. and currently, the war of madness wages on. between not sleeping, because my daughter likes to cry about 6 times every night (get her OUT of my room!), elias getting sick last night and this morning, throwing up...well, everywhere, having play dates (yesterday at monkey joes with ams! and tuesday with lee), trying to finish piper's room, and having dinner guests or plans every day since friday...

i'm spent. more than spent. and i'm sitting here feeling nauseous, just like i have for the past two weeks (oh no, i'm not pregnant...i checked.) and wondering if it's because i'm blimey exhausted or because elias is lending me his sick germs. time will tell :)

(side note: eli calls pukies "mukies" which is about the only cute thing about kids throwing up.)

on the plus side, elias slept through the night last night, even though he still got sick twice already this morning. piper, on the other hand...she did not. what happened to my 2 month old baby that slept through the night!? somebody find her and give her back! and truly, it's been a great week, despite the exhaustion. don't let me fool you with my downtrodden inclinations.

we had a great couples group meeting friday, elias played with our friends (and his obsession) drew and deanna saturday, which gave me a nice break, we had a some really honest and meaningful conversation with our friends jeff and savannah sunday night, we made some progress in piper's room (room is painted, crib is almost painted) on monday, eli and piper got to play with cadence, jaxon, benjamin, and baby lucas this week, i got to take the kids shopping with my mum to find her some new shorts (i love shopping for other people. i considered being a personal shopper at one time. seriously.), and we had dinner with our friends (and eli's infatuation) beth and matt, AND i've sold a couple things on craigslist.

and in all the madness of having piper's room strewn about, now i have pukey laundry, bedding, and the like scattered everywhere. not to mention piled up laundry, and the fact that my daughter, who i've deprived of naps because, darn it, i want to be social, is awake upstairs after a 45 minute nap. grrrr...not gonna cut it. c'mon, piper- SOMEONE'S gotta sleep around here!

but you know what? i'm no defeated mama!

it doesn't matter what our circumstances are, does it? we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength. i can't do weeks like these alone. i can't find kind or good words to say in the midst of exhaustion and puking kids. but i CAN with Jesus strength! i can say positive things, i can rely on him instead of myself, and i HAVE to, because if i don't, the madness gets hopeless and suffocating and heavy.

and despite this past week, and if you can see through any of my complaining, i am trying my best to tell myself that sleep will come, wellness will come, and my house will eventually be put back together. and what matters the most is how i can act in and through it.

so i'm gonna hold my boy and snuggle the heck out of him, and i might even brave the outdoors with him and piper so they can get some fresh air! because mamas hold it all together. and i can serve and take care of my little love doves EVEN if i don't feel like i can...or that i want to ;)

as mums, maybe our trials aren't 40 days in a desert, but they are challenging. what do you all do to make it through the madness?

1 Peter 4:11 says "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ."