Ten Minutes For ME

I'm on the clock.
I've given myself permission to take 10 minutes out of it all, to just write, because it makes me feel better.

2:24pm... GO

I feel like my life has been a little out of control lately - and I'm not sad, or depressed, or confused (well, maybe a little but that just means I don't have it all figured out!), it's just been chaos in my life and in my head lately. I feel cluttered all within myself.

(*Phone is ringing... SEE WHAT I MEAN! NO, this is MY ten minutes!)

My life is good and I will NOT complain!!! I LOVE being a mom. It's the monst incredible experience of joy and satisfaction that I could never have dreamed up. And quite honestly, I thrive in the chaos that has become my life since becoming a mom. To give you a little perpectice: at one point we had 3 kids 3 years old and under. So no one could fully feed themselves, dress themselves (well, I guess Larissa could do that), go to the potty themselves (start to finish always, if you know what I mean), read to themselves, dress their dolls themselves, play outside by themselves, see what I mean? So yeah, it's busy.

So while just aiming to complete the daily tasks of feeding, clothing and taking care of personal hygiene (not always myself!) then there's the teaching about life, answering the questions, training and work of the heart, discipline, you know: how to help shape your kids to be not just good people, but people of morals and values, beliefs, security, purpose, passion...

And then there's what sometimes feels like a million other hats to wear: wife (first and foremost!), daughter, friend, friend, friend, friend (friends are important), sister, church-person, gym-person, neighbor... the list goes on.

And I'm constantly trying to work out my faith, understand what life is all about, where I'm going and where our family is going. Are we hearing from God? Are we listening? Are we right where we need to be if He's not moving us?

I'm just doing my best. But right now, in this minute, I'm so very tired. I'm happy, but I'm tired. My spirit feels tired. My mind feels tired from just thinking all the thoughts I think, and my body is oh so tired. Blogging helps me declutter myself and clear the space in my head. But I haven't even had time to finish the entries I start! (One day, soon hopefully, I'll just post like 6 at one time!)

I'm ready for a season of a little less business.

Come season of revival and rest and peace! Slow down life. Prioritize Paula, prioritize!

2:35pm - pretty good.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Another birthday is being celebrated in the Birtch Family! This special birthday belongs to our Princess of Joy (self-proclaimed title by the way), our Pickle in the Middle, our beautiful, wonderful, creative, adventurous, thoughtful, kind, caring, sweet, precious Olivia Grace.

Mama always has a bit of a hard time with birthdays. I love love love to celebrate my children, and all that they are and all that God is doing in them and through them. It's a wonderful time of joyful celebration. But I can never help but get a little weepy realizing how fleeting time is. How is my baby girl already THREE?!

Olivia on her FIRST birthday!

Aside from her sister, who is her first best friend, these are two very special friends of hers:

Mikayla

Logan

and with Logan now:

We love to watch Olivia with her friends. She is almost always the first to share and offer her toys. Daily we hear: "Mommy, I made a new friend", which is her meeting someone new at the park, grocery store, church - wherever we are! She has a sweetness about her that attracts people to her and she loves it.

Olivia is also very imaginitive! Here are a few pictures of her playing dress-up:

Oh, she likes to dress others up too, like Grandad!

Olivia is very observant, and appreciates the Lord's creation. She has always loved to watch the trees dance in the breeze, the rain fall, and here is Olivia watching her first snowfall:

She's always eager to help and has loved helping Mommy in the kitchen....

And if you know Olivia, you know she loves her food! She's always had a sweet tooth.

Olivia with her first chocolate ice cream cone

We thank God for all the people who contribute to her life. For taking the time to love her and invest in her.

(learning to play schbulch is a life-essential!)

Olivia, we love you more than we have words to express. You light up the room with your smile and our hearts with your spirit.

We rejoice in your life daily and the privilage of being your Mommy and Daddy.
We praise God, for you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
May you continue to grow in health and knowledge of God's purpose for your life.
May His grace be always sufficient for you. You have an infectious tenacity for things that we will do our best to teach you to bless this world with. You have been so gifted and so blessed by your Heavenly Father and we look forward to watching him grow you into the woman he has called you to be.

Take Time To Stop And Smell The Roses* Dandelions

“Oh Mommy, look at the dandelions!” exclaim my expressively theatrical daughters.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” The sight of the two most precious little girls racing towards a mess of dandelions with such joy almost brought tears to my eyes.

What most people see as an ugly weed, my girls see as an extraordinary treasure.. So much so that we must stop frequently on walks to stop and admire them. “STOP!” screams Olivia with such urgency as she stoops down to pick one. Then she runs towards me, “I picked you a flower Mommy. Do you love it? Isn’t it wonderful?”

I’m not fabricating this for the sake a blog post. Here are some of Larissa’s first pictures:
Once again, as I gaze at the world through the eyes of a child I see such intense beauty.

The irony is the measures that people actually go through to rid their grass of Dandelions.
Hash, harmful, toxic chemicals and pesticides are used causing all kinds of hazardous effects on the planet and the life that resides in it. And for what? The illusion of “the perfect lawn?” “Great grass”?

Did you know that Dandelions can be beneficial to a garden ecosystem as well as to human health. Dandelions attract beneficial ladybugs and provide early spring pollen for their food. They are rich in vitamin A and C. The roots and stems of Dandelions contain a white sap that can be used as a topical remedy for warts. They act as a gentle diuretic and help with insulin. And the list goes on… google it. I dare you.

So maybe our kids are on to something. Maybe the pesky little weed that we all love to hate has a purpose. Perhaps all we need is a change in our perspective. Sometimes the things that we view as ugly and annoying are really purposeful and beautiful.

So if one of my girls gives you a dandelion, I hope you feel special, because it's truley a treasured gift!

*(If anyone knows how to get the strikethrough to work on the title, please let me know!)

Peter And Jane

It’s been about 25 years, but I’ve reconnect with old friends: Peter and Jane.

Have you ever met them? Let me introduce you.


And tonight I introduced them to my 4 year old daughter. No, that’s a lie. She introduced herself.

These are wonderful learn-to-read books and I'm so glad my mom found them! Did anyone else grow up with Peter and Jane?
Larissa has been ready to read for a looong time. But if you know my eldest then you know that everything has to be her idea and on her time. There’s no rush to learn to read. At 3 when I knew she could do it, I tried. But she would have no part in it. So why frustrate ourselves.

Now she’s ready. Now she sees the value in being able to understand the words on a page. She knows they mean adventure, fantasy, and an avenue to endless imagination.

Tonight, with a little coaching and a lot of encouragement here is why my baby girl read all on her own: (including the above)

I’m always a very proud Mama Bear. And this little cub has never ceased to amaze me. She is the most empathetic, caring, sensitive, kind, compassionate, thoughtful sweet pea I’ve ever met (sister not included). Tonight, it was most thrilling to see her impress herself. To witness her pride in her accomplishment as she put the letter sounds together to make ‘real words’ was my joy and one of my greatest blessings with her to date.

I love being her Mommy, of course. I never knew how much I would also love getting to know her as her teacher.

Waaaaay Behind

If I could just wire my brain to a computer, I might just do it.

I think in 'blog'. Can anyone relate?

I started blogging to try to rid of all the clutter of thoughts floating around in my head, now if only I could find the time!

Sometimes, I feel like I have so much going on in my head it might actually explode! I do, seriously feel like I'm drowning inside my own head sometimes: "Switch the Laundry; get the clothes out of the dryer before the wrinkle so I don't have to iron them; don't forget dishwasher detergent; has Landon pooed today?; call so-and-so back; get the chicken out of the freezer; blog about dandylions; library books due on Thursday..." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SO, I have a lot on my mind, and a lot to blog about. Here's to hoping I get to it sooner than later!

Happy First Sweet Son

My Baby Boy, My Son,
Well, it's official: you're now a year old. These precious days of having you as a little bundle in my arms are rapidly fleeting. It always goes by too fast. Now you're walking, you're learning new words and discovering your independence and freedom. Every step along the way is dear to my heart. From finding out that our Heavenly Father had placed you inside me to watching you take your first steps. Bringing you from your cozy place of warm darkness, listening to your sweet suckling sounds, your first smile, your sweet and gentle nature, the way you love music and to dance... these things are all just a part of what I will treasure in my heart always.

You are a gift Landon. Your easy going yet determined spirit is something that has been incredible to witness in formation. You are a gift given to us that we daily give back to the Lord. He knit you together in my womb, his eyes saw your unformed body, and all your days are ordained for you and written in His book (Psalm 139). Landon, He made you and he knows all the hairs on your head. It's hard for me to fathom that someone else could possibly love you and know you more than I do, but it's true!

More than anything Daddy and I pray that the Lord will draw you near to himself, and that you will know your Heavenly Father in a very real and personal way. We will teach you as best we can to talk to Him, to share your life with Him, to love and obey him. We can teach you about a religious belief about faith, but we would do you a terrible injustice if that is what you came away with. We pray that you would search for God, and find Him in the person of Jesus. That you would tangibly experience a relationship with him that will radically empower you to be a light in this world.You are so little, but yet His life is already evident in you. The passion for people and God's creation that we pray you will have we can already see taking root. You love nature. You love to watch the trees swaying in the breeze, the rain falling from the sky and the grass beneath your feet. You loved the animals at the Florida zoo when you were only 9 months old. Dogs, ducks, and lions are among your favorite things! And you already have a best buddy Jackson.

Landon, may you continue to be blessed with health. May you grow in the goodness of your Saviour with a hunger to know him and share his love with a hurting world. Whatever is to come I trust the Lord completely with your life.

You are a very special member of this family! We all adore youGod has allowed me to be be your Mommy. This is a gift I will treasure always.

Happy first birthday sweet baby boy of mine.

Purposeful, Joyful Pain

I knew this would happen; that I'd be here, on this day thinking about how fast it happened. A year ago today I was in labor. It started early, really early. Like 4am early! The cramping was pretty regular, but it wasn't really getting stronger. So it was a dull, constant contraction (every 30 minutes or so) from 4am until about 8pm when we were on our way home from our small group barbecue. That's when they started to be about every 10 minutes. So we put the girls to bed and prepared ourselves for a long night. By 10pm I was feeling it. By 11:30pm I had called my midwives, my mom and my best friends to come and pray me through it.

A year ago, right now, I was fighting through every painful contraction. I was determined to let my baby come into this world with no interference (with the exception of a serious medical emergency). And so I labored with my incredible husband. He breathed through every contraction with me, loud and strong. All that I had to do was close my eyes and follow his example. I hung my arms around his neck while he braced himself against the wall and gently encouraged me to relax so that I just let myself completely melt to open my hips and just let my body do what it was created to do. As I sit here and remember the incredible experience of childbirth, I have to acknowledge him in all of it. He reassured me, he encouraged me, he was so strong for me. I depended on him like never before. That was one of the most incredible bonding experiences we've ever had and I will always be grateful to God for it.


It was my Everest. It was hard. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. But it was a wonderful, incredible kind of hard. I believed that if I listened to my body, and allowed it to do what it needed to do to expel the life it had co-created with Almighty God that it wouldn't last forever and that it would be worth it. It was amazing. I want to share every detail, but I know some of you can't handle it, so I won't (you're welcome; and sorry for the earlier stuff!).

It got worse before it got better, that's for sure. My contractions actually quit, I did have to go into the hospital (not the plan I had in my idealist mind of mine), and when his heart rate dropped I had a peace, and a vision of soaring on wings of eagles (the verse my friends were praying for me!), and by the grace of God just beared down and somehow, miraculously pushed him out. (He had been posterior, which means NOT facing down and he was "stuck"). And when a baby is born, the pain leaves and you're on a high like never before. It is PURE JOY!

I don't know what your Everest is; maybe you haven't met yours yet. But be assured, we all have Everests in our lives. I want to encourage you to press on, to keep going, don't give up. Maybe you have wonderful people in your life that are an example to you that you can draw strength from. I pray that you have friends to lift you up in prayer like I had. But more than anything, I hope that you have faith in the process of refinement that you're going through. I pray that you will have hope for your future, knowing that you were made for an eternal purpose, and that you have a Heavenly Father that is there for you, to meet with you, to talk with you, and to give you a hope and a future. Joy comes in the morning, I promise.

"weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing and joy comes in the morning.
Pslam 30:5