Our Little Girl's First Date and Her First Program...

We recently celebrated a third birthday and the birthday girl, upon turning three, began having dates with Daddy. She was supposed to begin going to bed by herself AND having dates with Daddy. The date was a success, the going to bed by herself, well, we're still working on that!!

Here she is, all dressed up for her first date. Daddy let her choose where they were going to go and she chose breakfast at I-Hop.

For her next date she has selected Barnes and Noble. She is hoping to get a box of milk at Starbucks and score a Winnie the Pooh book at the bookstore. I bet Daddy comes through on both. I've been trying to convince her that really, Mommy is the Starbucks gal, as Daddy doesn't even like coffee, but dates are reserved for Daddy alone!

Last night was her first program...adorable!!! She didn't sing a word, but was, of course, the cutest girl in the place! She intently scanned the audience for her daddy when she got up on the risers and upon spotting him, pointed excitedly, saying, "Uh oh, uh oh, I see a handsome bald man!" As I said, she did not sing a lick, but three different times she pointed out "her handsome bald man." She is such fun!!

Time Flies...

What?! How have I let time get so far away from me??? I spend way too much time reading other people's blogs and not nearly enough time keeping up with my own.

Where to start? We are expecting our third little one in August, August 18th, to be exact, and another little man, to be more exact. We are thrilled. Big sister knew all along the baby was going to be a brother and has even chosen a name, Noah's Ark, still in negotiations, but a darling choice. Big brother ADORES babies, seriously, I've never known a kid to love babies as much. I hope he's as excited when we bring one home to live with us!

The kids are getting so big. I'd include pictures, but well, quite honestly, I haven't taken any in months. I may not be kidding. I don't actually remember how long it has been, but way, way too long. Kind of like the blog!

So, besides, the baby, what's been happening...

Our little girl turned 3! Seriously, she's 3 and while she insists she is still my baby, really, she's turning into a little girl. It thrills my heart and at the same time breaks it. Such a bittersweet time. I suppose that will be the rest of life, reveling in the growth and grieving those precious moments that are gone forever. For now, I enjoy putting her to bed and sharing a pillow, her arm around my neck and her warm breath in my face. Oh how I love her!

Her brother is 18 months old and such a joy. He's learning all sorts of things and loves, loves, loves his sissy and playing outside. He is our official meal time pray-er. He gives thanks for all things, and seriously, sometimes it is ALL things, his mu (milk), ba-berries (blueberries), poon (spoon), ba (bread) sissy, mama, da-da, Bi-ba (Bible), his mu again. We eventually have to cut him off and say, "In Jesus name", so he can wrap up with a loud "Ma-men!" Otherwise we may never eat. Man, how that little guy has captured my heart!

Oh, there is so much more, but it's late and I am determined to walk in the morning, so I'd best get to bed. I'll be back...soon!

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!!