What next...

As long as I can remember I've longed to adopt. I was single for so many years, I always imagined I would adopt and never have biological children. God surprised me, first with my amazing husband and then, with two precious babies. And yet, I still long to adopt. Recently, every time I turn around, I am faced with what seems to be God's mandate for the church, and our family, to care for the orphan.

So, here we are, wondering what is next. We're praying for, and pursuing, the opportunity to adopt. We don't know what God has in store for us, but our hearts thrill at the very thought of what He will do.

DOD...

I never cease to be amazed by all my daughter takes in, all that is molding her precious heart, mind and soul.

We're using Children Desiring God curriculum some at bedtime for our Bible story. I've enjoyed the format and the focus and some of their scripture memory tools. They have a set of cards on a ring with pictures that prompt your child to remember scripture verses. We've been working on a couple, Genesis 1:1 and Matthew 6:24. At any rate, last night at bedtime, we were going over the story of creation. So, as we began the story, we reminded our little girl of the verse we'd been memorizing, Genesis 1:1. (Currently, all she knows of the verse is "wu-wu" (1:1).)

After we read the story and sang a song and thanked God for creating ALL THINGS Little One picked up the notebook we'd told the story out of and proceeded to tell her daddy and me the story of creation. It went something like this...

Wu-wu (Genesis 1:1)

No tees (trees)

No pu-pu (puppies)

No mu-mu (monkeys)

No bu (birds)

No mu (milk)

DOD!!

Yep, precious daughter of mine, there was nothing, absolutely nothing and then...GOD.

All Out of Sorts...

So, it seems we've been an incomplete family for months. It's probably been a month in all reality but we are beginning to feel the effects...

My hubby was at a convention in the middle of June, we were all together for a week, then the kiddos and I headed to the TX Panhandle to stay with my nephews for another week and now, this week, Daddy's gone again.

Personally, I have eaten two entire boxes of Cocoa Puffs since Wednesday...the fault is my own, but I'd like to blame it on separation anxiety.

My daughter's favorite words have become one of the many derivatives of "me", me, my, myself, mine...most often in a louder than necessary voice, oh, that and "No!".

My son, who is the easiest baby to put to sleep I have EVER seen, has begun crying, and crying, and crying when I lay him down. And, at times, he simply cannot be consoled. FYI, for new mommies, don't try to calm a screaming, angry, baby by encouraging him to nurse. It can be detrimental to mama's health!

As for my husband, I don't know exactly how he's fairing, but I'm sure he misses us as much as we miss him.

Oh how we miss:

- hearing the garage door go up, so we can run through the house screaming, "Daddy, Daddy" and "Hubby, Hubby."

- trips to "owes" (Lowes), so a little girl and her daddy can spend time together and a mommy can get the floor mopped (or some blogs read).

- piggy-back rides, wrestling on the floor and hide and go seek with daddy.

- night-night with daddy, this praying over the phone is getting old.

- splashing in the tub...mommy's not nearly as patient with big splashes.

Come home soon, Daddy!!

Zoo Membership

How many times can a mommy take her little ones to the zoo? Enough times that my two year old daughter noticed one of the zebras was missing today AND that the bears were not in their place. She noticed that both of the mountain goats were there, she's quite concerned when one or both is not there, and that the elephant was not standing near the water, where he usually stands. We like routine!

I told my husband a zoo membership was silly, a waste of money...oh how very, very wrong I was. Here are some pictures of just a few of the times we've been.

May 2008

July 2008

March 2009

May 2009

May 2009 - again

May 2009 - Bubby

Randomness...

This little girl is growing up so quickly.  She's talking like crazy, and while her daddy and I are the only folks who understand her, she's learning new words, phrases, concepts, ALL of the time.  She's such fun.  One of her latest words is work..."Daddy's at work."  "This doesn't work." "Mommy, you work this puzzle with me."  Really, she says all of that, only instead of puzzle she says "bu"...bu can mean many, many things, banana, bread, puzzle, book, etc.  You totally have to pay attention to the context.  Or best, that's a new word too...and neat.  It's fun to hear her try them out in all sorts of different situations.

Seriously, Bubby is this happy.  He wakes up this happy...smiling, laughing and moving ALL of the time.  Unless I'm not feeding him fast enough.  If he thinks everyone else is getting to eat and he's not been put into his highchair and bibbed up, there is heck to pay.  Or, if it's nap time and he hasn't been put into his crib with a blankie, let's just say, he can have a temper.  (You do see that red hair don't you.  Need I say more?!)

PaPa and Zsa-Zsa stopped by on their way home from S.C.  They were only able to stay one night but we had such fun seeing them.  We all got up to head to breakfast at IHop before they got on the road but, after getting dressed and her face washed my daughter said, "Bye-bye, Mommy."  I told her, "Bubby and Mommy are going with you."  "No," she said, "Me, PaPa, Zsa-Zsa go out neat (eat)."  I asked, "You don't want Mommy and Baby to go with you to breakfast?"No, Me, PaPa, Zsa-Zsa go out neat."  I obliged...it was fun for her to spend sometime alone with PaPa and Zsa-Zsa, it was time for Bubby's nap and I got to mop the floor in peace and quiet.  But seriously, she didn't want me to go.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that!!!

Oh how I love being mommy to these kids!!

Day to Day

It seems like daily the munchkins are changing...Bubby had his first play date. It was such fun hanging with the boys!

He also began eating solids.  He was interested much earlier than his big sister and Mama held out as long as she could but he started being a bit demanding.  Avocado is his favorite...alright, it's all he gets to eat, but still, a big hit!

Sister moved to her big girl bed a while back and Bubby moved into the crib, thus, the cradle is empty...but very appealing.  Mama came around the corner the other day to find sister hanging out in Bubby's bed.  She couldn't resist putting Bubby in there too and getting a picture or two.

Recently Mama and Little One were talking about what being a friend is and Mama asked Sister her who her friends were.  "Bubby!" she said.  Of course...

 

Somedays, after a nap, we wake up looking like this.  And somedays, our attitude matches our hairdo!  (Mama's attitude that is, not Sister's!!)

Tutu Envy

My girl LOVES her tutu.  Last time Zsa-Zsa was in town she delivered a tutu to her favorite blue-eyed granddaughter.  Man, what a hit, as seen in a previous post.  However, after reading MckMama's blog and eyeing her little girl's tutu, it seems a bit inadequate...

What's a mommy tutu do?!  I'm telling you, I'm going to be on the look out for an extravagant tutu too!

Are we related or what?!

September 2007

May 2009

What in the world?!

Something is eating my lettuce!  We were out taking a peek at the progress of our garden and this is what we found...

We seem to have an infestation of roly-polies, but I don't think they are responsible.  The sparrows, who have almost taken over the yard are probably not the culprits (wish they'd start feasting on the rolly-pollies).  So, that leaves the squirrels.  Do squirrels eat lettuce?!  Thank goodness they've left my tomatoes and peppers alone...and my swiss chard.  There would be a price to pay if the critters messed with my swiss chard!!

At times there is so much I want to write about I fail to write about a single thing...as with much of my life, I become easily overwhelmed.  So, rather than write a new post, I read other folks' blogs.  Additionally, rather than do laundry I sort and resort piles of clothes, onto the floor, back into the hamper, onto the floor, back into the hamper.  Rather than wash my dishes I run hot water into the sink AGAIN...I guess just to keep them soaking.  And so it goes...

How come is it so?!

At any rate, today, I'm going to try to do better, well, at least with the blogging. Who knows how the laundry and dishes will go!!

A few of our favorite things here recently...

Playing with Bubby

Bubba (the fish), our bee pajamas, sunglasses, and our tutu

AGAIN, our tutu, to be worn whenever possible, tea parties and bandaids

And so much more...books, books and more books, puzzles, playing with Bubby, water, bubbles, receiving mail or sending it, playing with Bubby, riding my tricycle, helping Daddy in the yard, sliding, raisins, playing with Bubby. Man, life is good.

Grooming please...

We went to the zoo yesterday.  Clearly, this poor guy is in need of a few good friends...

Gardening 101...again

Our attempt at gardening has been less than stellar.  It all started out so beautifully.  We labeled our pots, planted our seeds, watered them and watched for the miracle of life to begin to poke its green little noggin out of the soil.  We were not disappointed, several days after planting our seeds, shoots began to appear.  It was very exciting around our place as we watched for new plants daily.  They seemed to be doing so well.  

However, as they grew, it became apparent something was not right.  They all had a few leaves up top and a long, leggy stem, but not much substance.  Our sweet neighbor agreed to water them while we were out of town, but was quick to point out when I delivered the "crop" to her place, she thought we need to just go ahead and buy starter plants.  However, I had hope...

When we came home, this was what we found.  

Our neighbor felt horrible.  She'd even tried to tie some of the little plants to stakes to help them survive...so sweet, but to no avail.  I've debated whether or not I should go ahead and try again, but I do believe I'm going to go ahead and buy some starter plants, at least for the veggies.  However, we may just plant our flower seeds out in the yard and see what happens...

Baby Boy...

You've gotta' love this...

and these...

Birthday Me...

This is the day we had a birthday...well, actually, yesterday was the day, but today's the day I'm going to blog about it.  Our daughter turned two.  We've been singing "Birthday me, birthday me..." for weeks, but yesterday was her birthday, as well as her party.  Truth is, I don't really know what to say.

We've had such fun getting ready to turn "doo", but it's been kind of bittersweet.  Seriously, it seems like yesterday we were counting fingers and toes at the hospital.  And look at that precious little girl.  They were perfect fingers and toes...still are, if I do say so myself!

At any rate, yesterday we woke up, rejoicing in the amazing day the Lord had made and we had a party.  A few of our friends came to celebrate with us and we all had such fun.

We decorated bags and hunted Easter eggs...

We played with giant bouncy balls...

And of course opened presents...

There was sidewalk chalk, a b-b-q and cake (and for the birthday girl, strawberries).  There was however, no blowing out of candles, 1) the wind was pretty steady all afternoon and the candles wouldn't stay lit, 2) we had an unfortunate incident earlier at a party with Grammy and Poppy that included hot wax and chubby little fingers.  There was a definite aversion to candle lighting during the party.

So, as I said, bittersweet...it's such fun watching this precious gift from the Father grow.  She's changing so much, each and every day it seems.  She has always loved being read to and now, she loves to read.  She sings, all the time, songs she's sung with Mommy and Daddy and now songs she's made up herself.  She tells Bible stories, her favorite is the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho.  She helps fold clothes (or unfold them, as it may be) and puts them away in her room.  She's pottying in the potty, most of the time.  She loves, loves, loves her baby brother, playing with him, reading to him and helping with his bath.   

How we love watching God at work in her.  What a joy the last two years have been.  We absolutely cannot wait to see what God has in store.

Joshua James

Before becoming a mommy I was an aunt, for six years I was an aunt to the most incredible kids, Joshua, Caleb, Makayla, David and Kaitlyn. Seriously, the most incredible!!!

Joshua, my oldest nephew, and my daughter's absolute favorite boy ever, well besides her daddy and her brother, has been on my mind today.  He was the first "baby" to be born to our family.  Wow, how we loved him...how we love him.  I remember when I heard he'd been born and he and his mama (my precious sister) were both doing great.  I just cried and cried.  I loved him so much I could hardly stand it, and I hadn't even met him.  

AND now...he's nine years old, yep, nine.  Unbelievable.  

I remember when Josh was two.  My sister and her family came to Mom and Dad's for Christmas.  We walked into church on Christmas Eve, he saw the manger at the front of the church and said, "Look, it's Baby Jesus."  Sure enough, Josh, baby Jesus.  Not long after that Josh wrote his first song...The Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is always with you, the Holy Ghost.

How he delights the heart of our Father.

I was not only the last in my family to have kids, I was also the last to get married.  As a single gal I was able to visit my family frequently and I was able to spend lots of time with my nieces and nephews.  We did all sorts of things together.  

When I'd stay with Josh and his family early each morning he'd come get in bed with me. We'd talk about a myriad of topics and sit and do our quiet times.  We built forts, played "I spy with my little eye", made french toast for breakfast...  

One day, when Josh was five or six, he and I went to the grocery store.  "Aunt Mo, are you one of those, ladies who wear the dresses and those things on their heads and work at the church?"  "A nun?"  "Yes.  Are you a nun?"  "No Josh, I'm not a nun.  Why?"  "Well, you're not married and you serve God with your whole life..."  Yes, of course, it makes perfect sense.

Last time I was out to visit Josh reminded me of our times together..."Aunt Mo, remember when you used to be alone and you'd stay with us when you came?"  Ah, yes, I vaguely remember when I was alone.  It seems like it's been a hundred years ago, but Josh, I do remember.  I remember sweet, sweet times with you.  What a blessed aunt I am.

May 2006

August 2007

July 2008

December 2008

Learning...

Seriously, when did I decide it was prudent to allow my toddler determine whether or not she needed to visit the potty?  Every time I let her talk me out of sitting on the potty and "trying" I regret it.  EVERY stinkin' time!!  It's a process...there's so much for Mommy to learn!!

We went to the zoo this weekend, always a favorite.  The flamingos, normally very sedentary, were performing some sort of group song and dance, quite an entertaining production.

Our littlest was simply along for the ride.  He enjoyed the breeze, the sounds and his thumb. Good stuff for a little guy!!

Pay It Forward

I can't wait to get something fun from my friend Chandra and I'm already "planning" what I'll send.  Those who know me well know not to get too excited; I'm not very crafty!!

The Rules

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments!

If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along.Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! SO, REMEMBER...Pay it forward!P.S. If you are one of the first three and don't have a blog to post you can take the next three friends that call you just to chat and Pay It Forward to them! Then challenge them to do the same. Let's help make this a wonderful world to live in and show our friends how much we care for them

Gardening 101...

This is the day we began our garden...

It's a first really, well at least a first for many, many years.  I vaguely remember planting a garden with my grandad when I was a little girl.  It seemed huge at the time.  We're not going to be quite that ambitious, but I am looking forward to some fresh herbs and veggies.  So, here are all the supplies a good gardner should need, or at least all I could bring myself to buy at Wal-Mart.  There were also some pretty cool little "greenhouse" gizmos, but I refrained.

I had a couple of great helpers...

My son, who had the job of smiling, cooing and blowing bubbles.

And my daughter, who was in charge of keeping up with the seeds.

We had such fun putting the dirt into the little containers and then adding water and the seeds. 

I certainly hope we reap a harvest...

Growing up so fast...

This is the day my daughter gets her first haircut.

Honestly, she doesn't have much hair, but it has been growing in in such a funky way, I wanted to get some "shape" cut into it. Yes, I probably could have done it myself, but I was afraid. So, we went to the salon.

Here she is prior to the big event...so cute!   

Everything started out great. We talked about it all morning and on the way to the salon. She was excited, kept touching her hair, us girls, we always like a new hairdo you know. At any rate, we got to the salon and she picked a toy to hold and sat in the chair like such a big girl.

She was taking absolutely everything in...she loved all of the visiting and all of the activity going on around her. However, the minute Mrs. Crystal, her hairdresser, put that cute car cape around her neck she was done in. She wanted nothing to do with the entire process. Eventually, she just sat in my lap and all was well. Afterwards she gave Mrs. Crystal a hug and off we went to show daddy.

Isn't she precious?  AND yes, there is a difference...in person, there is definitely a difference!