Jesus on the cross..

On Wednesday, I started to read Miss L her Bible lesson for the day.  The title was something like, "The Sun Goes Dark."  Basically, it was the set up for Jesus going to Calvary, his crucifixion, and death.

She says, "Oh, I love this part!" in almost a giddy fashion.

A little disturbed by her excitement I ask, "Why do you like this part?  He is in so much pain and he dies."

"Oh, I know.  But it's the part where He takes our sins away!  That's the best part!"

Perspective.

I learn a lot from my children.

Nature Walks

Miss A's Collection

 So, it's hot in Phoenix during the summer.  Right.  Everyone knows that.  You would know then that getting the motivation to go for a fun little walk to explore is utterly...impossible.

However, the last two months or so here in San Diego has afforded us the opportunity to still go on walks around our hotel and other places in the city.  I never realized until this time how much Miss A loves to be outside exploring and looking at every little thing.  She has sharp eyes and finds the oddest things.  Sticks, pine cones, snail shells, acorns, berries, etc.  She loves it.  I also noticed if she is having a hard day if you give her about fifteen minutes to walk around outside, run, and explore she is a much happier person.  Miss L could go either way and she is too finicky to start picking everything up.  It's funny to see their personality differences coming out more.

I recently posted this on Facebook:

"Abby is my outdoor explorer. Today's short expedition yielded acorns to add to her collection of pine cones, snail shells, and leaves."

A friend (Mr. Y) then posted later, "I knew a guy like that..."  Here he was referring to my dad, Miss A's Grandpa T.  I replied, "...maybe that would explain their special bond..."  To which he said, "Amen."

The next morning Miss A was playing with some linking cubes that we use for math.  She put them together and told her daddy, "I'm going out to shoot some birds!"  Yes, a deep bond indeed.  My husband and I just looked at each other in light of previous conversations about Miss A and my dad and busted up laughing. (For those that don't know my dad he was an AVID hunter all of his days.  Even if he didn't get anything he would just say, "Well, I just took my rifle out for a walk.")

Needless to say, I need to work on getting us all out of the house more to places where we can all explore and pick up rocks.  Thankfully, the winter in Phoenix is a perfect time to be doing this.

There Once Was A Mouse...

....named Hickory, who liked to mischief in the house.  One day Hickory took the eggs and put them in the bathtub!

Random, right?

However, these stories have become the delight of my daughter, Miss L.  Who is the beloved author?  Her Daddy!

Husband remembers his dad telling him stories of Hickory when he was little.  Those stories were a bit more involved.  Husband has created a shorter version for Miss L and they are right up her alley.  Before bed she says, "Read Hickory."  Well, they are not written down although I am trying to get as many as I can posted some place.  Husband will usually do two or three of them any time she requests.  Miss L has even gotten to the point where she makes up Hickory stories, too.  It's hilarious.

I wonder what Hickory looks like in her imagination.

Each story always starts out,

Once there was a mouse named Hickory, who liked to make mischief in the house.  One day, Hickory...

...took the avocados  and put them in the blender.

...took the cheese and put it in the doggie store.

...took the butter and put it in the sink.

You get the idea.  The more random it is the better.  Although, the doggie store is a Miss L original.  She also seems to think Hickory putting the cheese in the fridge is quite funny for some reason.  Silly.

I really need to write these down and create a book for the girls some day.  I think that it would be quite sentimental and pretty darn funny.  I think it helps spur on Miss L's imagination, too.  Good stuff and sweet memories.

This Is The Day

When you saw the title did the song go running through your head?

Several months ago when this song would be stuck in my head because we generally sing it at the preschool co-op that we attend it would drive me utterly bananas. BA.NA.NAS.  Miss L generally wants to sing it and Miss A grasps that when we sing this song we clap along.  To say the least, it is sung often around here.  I know that it is Scriptural and all...  but the repetition was wearing on me.  I think the Lord knew that I would need the repetition...

...to learn something.

The song now has a deep and sentimental meaning to me.  The Lord used the preschool song to minister to my heart during a time when I needed to be reminded that He was really in control.

When I was finally able to hold Miss S for the first time in the NICU the nurse said to make sure to talk to her about whatever or to sing to her.  We like to sing around here.  My husband is a wonderful singer... I, on the other hand, have a hard time carrying a tune on a silver plate.  But that doesn't generally stop me and I do have my moments of actually singing well.  Anyway.  Sing?  The first thing that came to mind was, This is the Day.  So, I started singing it to her and realized the deep theology (and extravagant LOVE) that was being imparted to me at that moment.  I choked through the rest of the words as I realized my own personal struggles with the current situation this was indeed the day that the Lord had made, had given to me, and I would rejoice in Him, that my baby was alive... I would choose to be glad.

That became our mantra of sorts.  I sang that song each morning that I came in to see Miss S and it really helped me to gain perspective on the day.  Our pastor came to visit one afternoon and I shared with him how the Lord had used this simple song to show Himself to me.  It felt childish in some way but so very significant in another.  You know... I was okay with that.

I realized the other day that I had stopped singing this song to Miss S when we got home.  I shall have to remedy that.

Sisterly Love

I am working on the birth story of Miss S -- it's taking me a little longer than I expected.  I may post in two parts.  We will see.  However, there are other parts of Miss S's (is that right?) arrival that I also wanted to make sure that I wrote down somewhere.

For those that don't know the story, here's a spoiler... Miss S had to spend 5 days in the NICU.  No big deal in the grand scheme of things.  A big deal when you are in the midst of it all.

Miss S arrived the day before Miss L's third birthday.  It kind of threw a wrench in some plans but what can you do?  (There will be a separate post on Miss L's birthday).  Anyway, we had been prepared mentally that the girls would not be able to come and see Miss S in the hospital or even me for that matter.  However, much to our sweet surprise not only were they able to come and see me they were also able to go see Miss S as long as they had not been sick in the last two weeks and did not currently have a fever.  We were good to go!!

Of course, our girls provided some sweet moments when they saw Miss S for the first time.  We were thankful at this point that Miss S had been taken off the CPAP machine that was helping her breathe and force her lungs to work a bit better.  It may have been too scary for them prior to that.

Miss L was excited to see Miss S and was excited to finally see her new sister.  However, when the nurse came in the room (and to anyone she would see after that) she informed her that her sister "is in a box."  It was pretty funny how matter-of-fact she was about Miss S living in a box.  I think she thought that she would always be in that box.

We were never sure how much Miss A understood the whole situation or that this baby would be coming home with us.  When she first saw Miss S she said, "Baby!"  Sweet girl.  She looked and kept saying, "Baby!"  Then finally she put her hand on the "box" and gave Miss S a kiss through the plastic.  It was the sweetest thing ever.

A Moment to Cherish

I would normally put this under bright spots... but I had to get it down before I forgot about it.

I stepped out of the living room for just a minute.  When I returned I find Miss L and Miss A looking through Green Eggs and Ham.  However, Miss L has her arms around Miss A and I hear her say to Miss A,

"My best friend."

Bright Spots

A friend cleaning off Miss A's baptism certificate and Miss L making the connection of baptism and Jesus.

Miss L always asking if we are going to church and then being disappointed if that is not the end destination.  She's in the service with us so it's not like she is looking forward to toys in the nursery, etc.  She's met the pastor's daughter but they haven't had a lot of interaction.  We think she just loves Jesus :)

Miss L going up front in church on her own for instruction on different parts of the service.  She was so excited and she did SO well.

Miss L and Miss A splashing in the kiddie pool and not caring that it is 107 degrees outside.  Although, mama feels every degree of that!

*These are from several weeks back and I apparently forgot to publish them.  I guess better late than never.

Match

Well, here's the first public photo of our little princess.  Our OB office doesn't allow us to video or take our own photos of the ultrasound so I had to rely on the scanner.  I'm a little lazy about taking it back to the office to do it.  For whatever reason it didn't do a great job but it gets the job done.

A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Miss L and showed her this picture.  I pointed out the nose, cheeks, lips, tummy, chest.  I asked Miss L, "Do you know what this is?"

"Baby!"

"And where is this baby right now?"

"Mama tummy," as she puts her hand on my tummy.

"That's right!  You're so smart!"

She takes the picture from my hands and begins to inspect it a bit more.  After a few moments she put the photo on my tummy and exclaims, "Match!"

Yes.

I think she gets it.

Heart.  Melted.

Whew...What a Weekend!

I knew well in advance that this weekend was going to be packed full of fun, work, and celebration which in turn would probably wipe us all out... in a good way.  It worth it all.  I learned a few things which is always good but it didn't take away from all that was going on around us.

Friday, Husband and I celebrated five years of marriage!  Amazing.  He is my best friend and there is no one else that I would rather be doing life with.  Yeah, I am not even sure that words can adequately express all that he means to me.  I was a little concerned in the morning that I wouldn't be up for our evening out as I had a severe headache that was causing a disturbance in my sight as well.  Miss L understand when I say, "Momma is sick."  I think Miss A clued in that something was wrong and was pretty content on her own most of the morning.  Miss L kissed my head, gave me her dog and elephant to cuddle with, and put a blanket on me to make me feel better.  Sweet girls.  I was doing better by lunch time and was good to go by late afternoon.  I was doing all I could to make sure we made it to our reservations at The Melting Pot.  It was a delightful time in our private booth partaking in the goodness that is fondue.  It turned into a long night with Miss L awake when we got home -- she had to go potty -- and then having a hard time going back to sleep.  Such is life.

Saturday, Miss A turned one!  I spent the day getting a small cake ready for her to tear through and cupcakes for everyone else.  I spent a lot of time in the morning baking, prepping frosting, and decorating.  My pregnant feet and back were shouting at me from time to time so I tried to sit at a table to decorate, etc.  I should have done this earlier in the week but I was unsure as to where to store things and for how long.  It worked out fine in the end.  It just made for a tired mama.  Grandparents arrived not too long after the girls woke up from their afternoon naps.  We opted to do gifts at this point.  She was SO funny.  She was kind of liking the paper but once we got the first toy out (an elephant shape sorter) she just wanted to play with it!  She was so intrigued!  However, Miss L was more than happy to help with the presents and show Miss A how everything worked.  We had dinner (chicken nuggets with mac & cheese) and then brought out the cake as we were nearing bed time.  It was such a fun time watching Miss A dig into the cake!  I'm pretty sure she would have been fine to play in it all night.  After a good 10 to 15 minutes of playing in and eating (some) cake we put her in the shower which she also thought was great fun.  We are still finding cake bits in her high chair and Husband found some cake I missed in the shower.  So funny.  The day ended by both girls zonking out from all the stimulation and laughing.  It was also a fun day watching Miss L learn more about birthdays and sharing the limelight with her sister.  She's ready for her birthday!

Sunday.  Miss L loves Sunday.  She knows that is when we go to church and she loves going to church.  I love how excited she gets.  This Sunday was a big day in the life of our household as we were joining as members after being "church-home-less" for a little over a year.  What a sweet day, indeed.  Of course, as Murphy's Law goes Miss L and Miss A had some small issues here and there during the service.  Laughable really...now that it's Monday!  But really, nothing too big.  Littles being littles.  We are so thankful to be a part of a congregation again that values children in all stages being in the worship service.  A sweet moment during communion was when Miss L looked up and said (without being prompted), "Jesus died me" -- Jesus died for me.  Yes, I cried.  After church the congregation was having a monthly gathering at a deacon's home.  As we were leaving for the party Miss L says, "Church fun, Daddy."  Sweet girl.  We weren't sure how long we would stay at the party with the girls being so close to nap time and all.  We just went into the whole thing understanding they may be cranky and we may need to leave early.  The girls did great.  Miss L swam with Daddy and I hung out inside with Miss A -- and about 50+ other people!  We left around 2:30.  Both girls fell asleep on the way home... Miss A well before Miss L.  We got them both in the house and settled in for naps.  Husband and I snoozed for a bit as well... you know, until about 5:00!  We had a nice quite evening and the girls, for the most part, were ready to go back to bed around seven.

It's a pretty down day around here today.  Some laundry, dishes, food prep for the week, etc.  We probably won't get out of pajamas until later.  I'll post pictures of Miss A's cake in another post.

Blessings to you all!

Mayoral (Hopeful) Meeting

On Saturday, we all headed out to cast our vote for our city's next mayor.  Yes, some early voting places were open on a weekend.  Yes, they should just combine it with other elections to improve voter turn out and lower overall cost -- but obviously the country's fifth largest city hasn't clued into this common sense.  However, the candidate that we voted for has clued into this.  YES!

We heard good things from our candidate on the radio and then watched the debate.  While he didn't start out as the most poised speaker I thought that he came into his own by the end of the debate.  We were still confident that he was the man for the job.  While anything would be better than current administration this man would be MUCH better for our city.

Anyway... that was a bit of a tangent.

When we were approaching our voting place we encountered a man.  Husband recognized him right away and called him by name.  I had never met a political candidate before.  It was more exciting that it happened to be the person that we were voting for in this election.  Husband shook his hand and introduced me.  At that point W.G. looked at Miss L and asked her name.  She went right up to him and shook his hand.  (Proud mama moment!)  He asked he how old she was -- at this point she has never been really consistent in answering this questions -- she promptly said two and held up the appropriate number of fingers. (Proud mama moment!)  So, W.G. chatted with us some and with Miss L until she pointed out that he had blue eyes as did her sister.  It was a humorous conclusion to say the least.

We walked in and did our civic duty.  Miss L all of a sudden wanted to see the "baby" which meant trying to expose my tummy.  Ummmm... thanks!  HA!  She put my envelope in the box and all was good to go.

As we were leaving Miss L caught sight of W.G. and pulled Daddy along with her to talk to him again.  I appreciated that he found her so entertaining and worth talking to.  He got down on her level and they had their own little conversation again.  At the end of the conversation W.G. gave Miss L his sticker off his shirt.  She was SO excited.  Why?  Because it was a BIG sticker... at least in her world.  She took off her "small" sticker and gave it to Daddy.  She was a pretty happy girl.

Funny.

Needless to say she spoke about the encounter all day.  She mentioned it a few times Sunday.  She cannot say his last name very well but I can generally figure out the "g" and "t" sounds and put it all together when she randomly references W.G.

We hope W.G. makes it to the run off and is ultimately elected to office.  However, beyond his political stance we found him to be a very kind man.  Someone that we would most likely be friends with in every day life and would love to have as a neighbor.

Yes, so that was our brush with political fun.

Bright Spots

Moments that I want to remember of my girls right now.  Things that I will most likely forget by next week and will feel bad for not remembering.  I need to cherish these little things.

Miss L

• Trying to do the cha-cha with Angelina Ballerina. "1, 2 cha-cha - 2, 2 cha- cha"  I hope to get a video.
• Hugging and tickling her sister without being prompted.
• Trying to help set the table with an enthusiastic and happy heart.
• Not wearing diapers
• Wanting Daddy to chase her and the giggles that ensue

Miss A

• All of a sudden catching on to how the sippy cup works (we are weaning in a couple of weeks!)
• Following her sister everywhere.
• Learning how to take some steps with the toy grocery cart and being so excited about it.
• Sleeping with Baby Moose.
• Belly laughs when people take a deep breath like they are going to blow really hard, or when Miss L blows on the harmonica.

The laughter that floats down the hallway while I finish making dinner and my three favorite people are having a tickle fest on our bed or playing in the fresh laundry.