Another day in the life of the Reynolds...

We have been having more and more fun with Anna Grace as she has begun smiling and trying to communicate (just cooing, etc) and as mommy is learning things like stay home more, take naps, and accept help!

But don't be fooled, we certainly don't have things all together. Let us give you another picture of any given moment in the Reynold's home...






This is our precious one just starting to cry! We like to call her the little raptor because when she gets real mad she lets out these rapid fire yells :) My mom has a friend who thinks that it's a little mean to call her a raptor and that she sounds more like a little lamb, but Daryl and I agree this woman is merely confused and slightly out of touch with reality, bless her heart.

I have learned to deal with her crying more and we are beginning to be able to discern cries although there are still times when we look at each other and just shrug...we have no idea...














To help me cope, I looked up my Biblical responsibilities as my parent again because I needed a refresher. The only specific things I came up with were 1) to love her (the like/delight in kind of love), Titus 2:4, and 2) to reprove her when necessary and to train her, Proverbs 29. Ephesians 6:4 where it says not to exasperate your children (i.e. provoke them to anger) is referring to fathers, so when I took the picture to the left when Anna was apparently done with pictures, I figure I was doing no harm - hee hee. Just kidding. That was my last shot.

In all seriousness though, this motherhood thing has been much harder than I expected - especially when I'm lacking sleep! Anna also is having some reflux issues which means she is more fussy than I thought she would be (although infant Zantac has helped) and has more issues with eating than I expected. While my "trial" isn't much of a "trial" when you compare them to some of my friends trials or other peoples trials, it was still a trial to me that was tempting me to grow depressed at times, especially when I was trying to do things in my own stregnth and not looking to God for help and for hope (I will one day get more sleep, I will one day be able to go in public more often, I will one day enjoy more time again with Daryl...)

The biggest encouragement I received was a verse that God literally brought to me directly in four different sittings - once through a book I was reading, once in my quiet times, once in a card Daryl gave me, and once I heard spoken...

"Fear not, for I am with you;
Do not be dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

- Isaiah 41:10

How thankful I am that God loves to comfort His people and does not leave us to ourselves. Anna's thankful, too :)