Getting ready for her big day

Mattie got her fingernails and toenails painted for the first time today! She is a flower girl on Saturday, and she'll be going barefoot. We thought red nails that match the bridesmaid's dresses would bring out those cute hands and feet!
I must say, I thought this would be quite a chore since she does not sit still much. But it proved to be quite fun! She LOVED getting it done! She squealed with delight more than once. Of course, I had to take some pics to remember her first mani/pedicure.



Neither of them was so sure about this to begin with.




She sat so still!!




"Paint!"




A little help to speed up the drying... (and notice how the Lord has her eyes back to beautiful blue after they looked horrible from pink-eye just yesterday!)




I told you she enjoyed it!




"Look, Daddy!"




Oh! Thank you, Lord for these chubby fingers and toes...

Not the best judgement call...

I stayed up until 3:00 last night reading a good book, and boy am I sorry. It sure was refreshing to be awake during all those hours where it was so quiet, though! It was a Kristen Heitzmann book, Rush of Wings, in case you're curious. She writes Christian fiction. This is the second one of hers I've read and I've really liked them both. But I've got to stick with daytime hours! Hoping the full caff coffee I just made gets me through "Lost" at 9. I know many of you "book nerds" (as Robert calls me) will understand!

Why do I love doing this?

I've struggled lately through some abnormally challenging months with my kids. In asking the Lord for wisdom, direction, and renewal He gave me the idea to write out a list in order to renew my perspective. And just fyi, I don't claim for them to all be super-spiritual answers! Many of them are recent frustrations I tried to refocus toward the positive. And these are certainly not all inclusive, just what I came up with off the top of my head.

I love staying home because...
I get to choose what books they are reading.
I get to help shape and encourage their individual interests.
I am available to correct inappropriate behavior at its outset.
I am with them to notice character weaknesses and begin training them in another direction.
I can snuggle with them whenever they need it.
I get to know my kids better than anyone else.
I can tell my children how much I love them any moment I want to.
We can spend as much time as we want snuggled up with a good read.
I don't have to get out of bed in the morning until they do!

I love homeschooling because...
I get to develop and educate them according to their desires, thus instilling a love for learning at every turn!
I get to be their number one cheerleader. I don't have to have snow to cancel and regroup for a day.
I get to learn new things with them every day.
There is no "starting school." We get to encounter and acquire at anytime... quite often after 3:00.
We get to start our day with Bible and "Leading Little Ones to God."
I get to meet individual academic and behavioral needs every day.
There is no mold into which my children have to fit, and boy is that a good thing! (Jacob will never fit into the "sit still, be quiet, and keep your hands to yourself" mode, I assure you!)
We get to learn our vocabulary words without writing a thing.
I don't have to feel like a failure every morning because we arrive 10 minutes late everywhere in the recent past, especially in the mornings! (I only have to feel that way one morning a week.)
I am available to monitor my kids' food intake, and protect them from their allergens.
I don't have the freedom to shop whenever I want, and therefore spend significantly less money than I would otherwise!

So, why are you doing this???

Jacob's homemade activities

Some of Jacob's favorite things to do are word searches, crosswords, mazes, and other activity book like things. Then he likes to make some of those activities for us to do. Here are some of his homemade activities.

Ball Maze



This is the first maze he ever drew me. It is a ball roller coaster with several paths. The Xs are dead ends.

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Boat Same/Different Puzzle



It says: ALL THE BOATS R ThE SAmE 1 is not thE SAme put a x on it PUT a O (circle) on the OUNS thAT R the SAme

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Tow Truck Maze



In this one the tow truck has to find his way to the garage.

Becoming more like Jesus

I have prayed for as long as I can remember that God would make me more like Him. Sometimes I pray specifically, sometimes I just pray that generally.

I have also been praying for years now that the Lord would give us another biological child. (Not that adoption isn't satisfying, but a major part of my desire is to experience pregnancy and giving birth again.) Thus far at least, He has said no despite my persistence.

In October I was reading in Luke 22 about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He says in verse 42 "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Yet not my will but Yours be done." Obviously, God told Jesus no. He did not take the cup of death from Jesus. God had a plan that involved Christ dying for us. That was the plan.

Do you ever have one of those days where a spiritual light bulb goes on? This was one of those days for me. There are a lot of ways I've asked God to make me more like Him, but allowing me to experience God telling me "no" was not something I thought of. In being denied my desire, I was being allowed to experience something similar to Jesus. (Not saying that my denial is anything like Christ's crucifixion, except that we both asked something of God and His answer was "no.") He won't take this cup of infertility from me for now, apparently. He has a plan that includes this particular struggle.

So, God is answering yes to one prayer by telling me no for another. He is making me more like Jesus by denying a great desire of my heart. Was this how I wanted him to make me more like Him? No way. But does God have a plan for me? Yes. Does He love me more than I can possibly imagine? Yes. Does He know what's best for our family? Yes.

To be quite honest, this is something I wrestle with. I know this very well in my head. Does my struggle shake my faith in my All-powerful God? No, but that doesn't mean I don't get sad about it. It is a "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) situation for me. Because it doesn't always happen like in the movies. God doesn't always heal; He doesn't always perform a last minute miracle. But I can choose to be joyful in the midst of my sadness. I can choose not to be bitter, angry, or resentful. I have to guard my heart from these things, and I have to trust in the God who loves me. Trust that He knows what's best for me. Trust that He has an amazing plan for us. Even when He says, "no."

Hi Folks!

Robert was riding the kids on his back horsey style last night. He rounded the corner into the kitchen where I was. Mattie, in perfect Dixie Stampede style which she learned a couple of weeks ago, waves at me and says, "Hi Folks!"

Happy I Love You Day

Aaaah! What a refreshing way to start my day! I have much to be thankful for this morning, don't I?

Mattie and her pills

Well, I can’t go without posting about this one. Mattie has decided she loves swallowing pills. She did it once by accident, but now she is an old pro! She begs for pills every morning when Jacob takes his.

Here are the pills she takes two of every day!

Here she is taking them. I just give them to her with applesauce and she takes them all by herself.

These are the times when her spunky personality is so great. Her pediatrician was quite impressed and chuckled as she wrote a prescription for pills for a 24 month old!

(And as an add-on... those jammies are so not appropriate for her!!)

Mattie's Birthday Week

Well, the poor girl was sick on her birthday, but we still managed to have a bit of fun with her. She started off enjoying a jacuzzi (with the jets on - she loves that!), then making chocolate chip pancakes with Aunt Kjirstin for breakfast! She then proceeded to eat them in her bathrobe. What a life!




"The driver on the bus says, 'Move on back! Move on back!'" (Her favorite song on a puzzle that sings!)




Happy girl at Chick Fil A (Yes, we exposed people we didn't know. I know it's horrible.)




The happy big brother




Looking all prepared to blow out her candles, though she never would do it.




Mmmmmm... cake!




Her new kitchen... her only present from us.




Making me some deep fried M&M chocolate chip cookies.




Drawing a pic on her Aqua Doodle play mat from her birth family. :)




Our happy girl!



What a gift she is to us! I don't think I could say, "Thank you" enough to her birth families for entrusting her to us.

My husband....

I've seen this one on a few blogs lately and thought it might be fun.

What is his name?

Robert ____ ________

How long have you been together?
Married almost 9 years now!

How long did you date?
From first kiss to marriage... 7 1/2 months. We were pretty inseparable before that though, so the crossover to "dating" is a bit blurry.

How old his he?

32

Who eats more?

Definitely him... but he's a foot taller and weighs twice as much. He deserves to eat more!

Who said I love you first?

He did in a sweet note I still have in my Bible.

Who is taller?

See "Who eats more?"

Who can sing better?

On pitch, me... creatively, definitely him!

Who does the laundry?

I do, but he's happy to get his done if he needs it for something. He'd be willing to help with the rest as well but knows we have very different definitions of "sorting!"

Who pays the bills?

He earns the dough, I write the checks... or set it all up automatically!

Who sleeps in the right side?

He does. Quite a strategic choice in this bedroom. Jacob comes to my side first.

Who mows the lawn?

The company he works for, Praise the Lord!
One funny the last time I tried to mow it for him on our anniversary... Jacob had just turned two and supposed to be napping. I had half the yard done and out he comes. He had climbed out of his crib, opened his bedroom door, opened my bedroom door to the outside, and climbed over the gate on the back deck to find me. I decided then it just wasn't going to fit in my life for awhile!

Who cooks dinner?

Um, we're supposed to have cooked dinner??

I plan it and do any kitchen work, but he does a mean job on the grill! And he is always faithful to peel/crack all of my seafood for me, God bless him!!

Who drives?

He does when we're all together.

Who is more stubborn?

Not sure... we don't have arguments that involve stubbornness. Growing up, though, I would probably say I was.

Who kissed who first?
I think it was mutual.

Who asked who out first?

We didn't really go "out." We just decided to get married!

Who proposed?

He did... after we had our invitations ordered. (He was waiting on my ring to be finished to make it official.)

Who has more friends?

That would be me. But he could have a lot more if he wanted them.

Who is more sensitive?

I am, but I think there's more in there than he lets on.

Who has more siblings?

Robert. He has 4, I have 3.

Who wears the pants?

He does! All final decisions are his, but I usually research and lay out the options.

My good lookin' man
Love that blue-eyed ruggedness!

Mattie's Beverage of Choice

Just in case you were wondering, it really is okay to drink an ounce and a half of Tylenol when you weigh 23 pounds-every once in awhile. We know first hand now!

Mattie and I were watching Pride and Prejudice last night (she hasn't been sleeping well with illness and teething) and she wandered out of the room. After a minute or two (even though there were no lights on in the house) I had that "I'd better go see what she's doing" feeling in my gut. Reluctant to leave Jane Austen, I went out to the kitchen and saw her at the counter. I thought she was eating some more of her snack, and saw I was way off as I got closer. She was sheepishly holding the Tylenol bottle... at least an inch less full than it had been two minutes earlier. At my best guess, she had 6-8 tablespoons of it... that's 18-24 doses!

So, thankfully Poison Control does not take Sundays off and was quite helpful! Apparently she was nowhere near the dangerous level for her weight. Though I did have her sleep with me.

And since you're probably wondering, I have no idea how she got the lid off. I'm assuming I didn't have it screwed on completely enough to enable the child proof aspect of it, though if anyone could conquer that at 3 days after her second birthday, it would be her.


12 hours later: I found her on the bathroom counter, in the medicine cabinet today with another child proof lid off. She's obviously figured it out.

Happy Birthday, Mattie!

Our baby girl is 2 today! I can't believe it, except that she's seemed like a 2 year old for months now. Her babysitters at church thought she was turning 3!
Poor little girl is sick, but we've had some fun anyway. She's enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to herself!

This morning I said, "Happy Birthday!"
She got a big grin on her face and said, "Cake!!"
She knows what it's all about!

In this picture, she's enjoying a smashing round of "The Wheels on the Bus" with her singing puzzle she got for her birthday.

P.S. I'll get back to blogging eventually! I've had family in town for two weeks, and we've all been sick with a nasty flu like thing. This weekend I'm gone on a retreat, then I'll catch up!