More Quotes:

My daughter has been pumping out the good stuff lately : ) Here's a couple more that made me chuckle.

(Carrying both sides of the conversation between her hand and her giraffe puppet)
"Oh, hi, giraffe"
"Hello"
"I love you"
"I love you too"
"I love you too too"

(And at supper this evening)
Mic: I'm really really sick (followed by a fit of pathetic fake coughing)
Me: Thats not true and you shouldn´t declare it. You ought to say, I am strong and healthy!
Mic: (obediantly) I am strong and healthy! (followed by another fit of fake and unhealthy sounding coughs)

Quote of the Day:

"Mommy, look, my bottom is sitting on my tippy-toes"

(Mic, telling me that she was kneeling)

Field Trip!

Last week we took the kiddos on a field trip to the firestation. Everytime we have a new outing with the homeschool group I think it grows a little more. Its always really encouraging and fun to get together with them! The children enjoyed the trucks, firepoles, and fireman's uniforms, but for the adults I think it was equally enjoyable! I had never visited a firestation before and learned alot. It was neat to see close up and personal what it would be like to be a fireman, and the gentleman that guided our visit was very personable.

The whole group

Trying on the hat!

Touching, touching EVRYTHING! : )

...and its been awhile since we've had a princess update! She has two teeth in and more on the way, she is army crawling and rolling all over the place and her favorite spot is on her tummy on the floor, she is also trying to sit up already, she can't do it alone yet, but that doesn't keep her from trying.

All about Eating

So, there have been a few moments the last couple weeks that need to be matted, framed and hung on this word wall of mine.
My eldest daughter, eating supper. She hasn´t been into noodles lately, but is SLOWLY and dutifully eating the maccaroni Papi is feeding her. Suddenly she stops and gags. Emotion masked I calmly ask her what is wrong. It turns out she got one of her hairs in her mouth! She shudders from the texture, spits out the bite, gets it taken care of (and here comes the amazing part), calmly picks up her fork and takes another bite! "CLICK!"
Mic and her brother want a snack. I make soft serve banana ice cream in the blender. Both siblings sit at the counter enjoying the cool treat. It quickly turns sloppy in the afternoon heat (just the texture she struggles with most) and dribbles down my daughters chin, she ignores the dribble and continues to slurp. When it is too liquid to use a spoon, she tips the bowl up to take some sips. "CLICK!"
Mic is eating cheese. She finishes the portion on her plate and asks for more. I tell her to eat a carrot stick and I will give her more cheese. She does. Switching textures without thinking twice nor missing a beat! "CLICK!"

I feel like Mic´s oral feeding process has been bogged down lately as far as volume goes. At meal time she can find 101 was to play and distract herself and she just doesn´t stay on task. I run out of motivators and ideas or am too busy attending the rest of the family and end up nagging and then hating myself for it. However, meditating a bit on where we have come from, where we are at, and where we want to be, all these little texture related examples began to collect in my mind. And I realized that somewhere along the way, so slowly and gradually that I almost didn´t catch it, things that used to be catastrofic are becoming none issues. And this, my friends, is another real life miracle in our journey. Thank you , Lord.

Each child is so unique. This is an obvious fact that never ceases to amaze me. My baby girl has begun to eat cereal and vegetable purees. Contrary to her big brother at her age, she is in LOVE with her food! Yes, she nurses and likes it, but when she wants to eat "food", she is a girl with a mission. Never have I seen a child open up so wide to recieve a spoonfull! I am really enjoying her adventure into this new world of purees, it is pure delight for the both of us! : )

Deeper...

Sometimes its so easy to not say what I'm really thinking. Good OR Bad,...its just eaiser to not be vulnerable.
Sometimes...eaiser isn´t necesarily best.
Sometimes, I get really good at acting. Acting like I am a "good Christian". Acting like I have a deep relationship with God. ...I might be able to fool you, but GOD knows how much time I've spent in communion with Him when no one is looking and I am all alone.
My relationship with my Lord is REAL. But just REAL isn't good enough. I need to be growing. And to grow I MUST spend consistent, personal time with Him.

Recently I've had to readjust my priorities, stop hiding behind the excuse of being an over busy, under paid, stay at home mom. And simply DO IT. Have a DAILY quiet time, even when there is no peace and quiet in my home and I feel like I don´t have time. And did I mention daily?
So basic. So necessary. ...And I already knew this!

And guess what! It is so rewarding that I wonder how in the world I ever stoped doing it to begin with!
...ever been there?

Well, that´s where I'm at.

I thought I'd go ahead and practice a little vulnerability by sharing my last prayer journal entry with you.

Col. 3:9-10 "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" NIV

~In this text there are two "puttings off". First that life changing act done once and for all at the foot of the cross in the moment of Salvation. A moment so specific it is almost as real as if I took off a dirty, stinky, torn garment and exchanged it for a gloriously clean and comfortable gown. But the one that calls my attention today is this second putting off. The continual renewal of all that I am in Christ. That which must be maintained and ever growing in likeness of my Saviour as my knowledge of Him also grows. My "new self" will only be renewed in one place. NEAR my Lord and His Word.
"Oh, Lord, let not my heart wander far from thee,
but let me stay and near thee be.
Then come what may and in dark hours,
Still your light and truth my soul will shower."
Amen

Maybe I shouldn't even post this...

...it really is kinda gross...

Several days ago I breezed past the table on my way to the sink and half a second past I heard my brain say, "there is an unidentified object on the table in the shadow of the fishbowl and it looks like...a little turd!" I immediatly spun on my heel to verify that I was indeed crazy and there was no such thing on my table. Upon a closer, slower look I beheld...yup! A very small poo... ...sitting on my kitchen table!!!!!! Quickly I whisked it away with a piece of toilet paper and cleaned the spot well, as if someone may look over my shoulder and see it before I could get rid of it. And, honestly, on the inside I about died laughing. I decided that the only logical thing to do was to blame my 2 yr. old and have a sense of humor about it...and thank my lucky stars that there was no company over for lunch!!! : )

Beauty all around me...

Last week I stepped out of my bedroom one morning and looked up. This is what I saw! Where the day before there appeared to be only lifeless sticks suddenly beautiful pink peach blossoms and tender budding leaves had appeared. Beautiful. Miraculous. Spring. ...it happens every year, but it never ceases to take me by surprise and cause me to catch my breath in wonder and delight!

I just havn´t been able to bring myself to cut these curls recently! : )

My second child has now entered a new phase in life, he has joined his big sister in the wonderful world of books, where extravagant adventures await and far off lands can be visited! Its so fun to see them spend many minutes, sometimes hours taken with the pictures and stories.
(P.S. this picture was not posed!)

And of course no picture blog entry is complete without a little bit of princess! : ) ...she will reach the 5 month mark very soon...where is the time going!?

LOVE that double chin! : )

It Official...

...my baby girl is definatly teething! I can´t see or feel anything yet, but based on excessive drooling, general grumpiness and an overriding need to chew, chew, chew on ANYTHING, I have given my diagnosis. Definate teething going on in this house! Its hard to believe that its time for that already! : )

Yeaaaaaahhhh! I got a few pictures resized. Quick, quick, let me upload them before my computer goes haywire again!

Sisters!...these girls love each other so much,

it just melts my heart into a puddle!

Heres the three mo. pic that went with my last blog entry.

Just LOVE that grin...and she shares it with us often and easily!

My son has a new hobby, its call sleepeating...he can hardly stay on the chair,

but he refuses to stop eating and lay down.

Here´s a little story. Quite some time back a friend of mine mentioned on her blog that she is a tactile learner, in relation to this, she mentioned playing with her food and shredding napkins as a child (and driving her mom crazy). This stuck out to me because my daughter does both of those things obsessivly (driving me crazy on occasion). There is thereputic value for her in playing with food, which helps, but does not conquer the annoyance, but I may be the one in need of a therapist some day, in relation to the little napkin, kleenex and tp shreds I never finish ridding my house of. Anyhow, the other evening after a not-so-great oral meal I told her that if she ate one more green bean she could get down. I looked away for just a minute to put something away and when I turned back, there was one less green bean on the plate, she had vanished from sight and the below monument was left behind where moments before had been an innocent little pile of beans accross from a little blob of mashed potatoes on the plate. It made me chuckle...and snap a picture for the blog! : )
In closing, I thought I´d take a minute to brag on my husband. This picture is "before".

And this one is "after". Doesn´t he do a great job at his job!!! LOL

BACK!

Well after over a month without a computer again I´m finally back. I wanted to post a cute picture of my growing babe, but I can´t figure our new program out, so...stay tuned for pictures, hopefully soon!
But the little update that would have gone with the picture would have read something like this:
Baby D recently had her three month check up! She is doing great and growing like a weed. She weighed in at 5kg (11lb) and measured 53cm (21in) both measurments right on track for her growth curve. She is a terrible napper and a great night time sleeper! She gets up to eat once in the night and once in the very early morning--not bad at all. New favorite activites include sucking her fist, "talking" (she is VERY vocal), kicking and trying to move her body, riding in the car, tummy time (as long as its not too long), looking at and moving rattles and toys. She can bring both hands together on a toy now, she is very observant and she is very tight with her big sis.
Big brother went through a tough phase about a month after she was born, I think his age, the adjusment period and his personality all colided a bit, but I am so happy to be able to report that lots of prayer and some extra one on one time with him have helped tremendously in returning him into the sweet, huggable, independant and fun-loving little guy we were used to having around here.
Well, real life carries on as I write, Daddy and big sis will soon be home from swim lessons and wanting supper, so i'm off to stuff some chicken breasts to go with the mashed potatoes! ...More soon.