Happy Birthday, Brooke!

Yesterday was Brooke's second birthday. Having gotten tired of waiting to eat her cake, she simply crawled up onto the table and started scooping icing off of the cake with her finger. This is an example of what a different parent I am now with our third child. I NEVER would have sat by and watched Jack or Claire eat the icing off of their birthday cakes. I would have seized the moment as a teaching moment to help them learn what is appropriate. However, Brooke was SO CUTE and enjoying herself so much, I just had to take advantage of the wonderful photo op.


Brooke has been our little miracle baby. As I reflect on the two short years of her life, I am so thankful to God for healing her and helping her. Her epulis "disappeared" without having to be surgically removed, she can walk and run, she is finally learning to talk, and her personality is a joy. She has a great sense of humor already which makes it difficult to discipline her because she just thinks that life is fun and games. Often when she disobeys, she is "teasing" me and trying to make me laugh. Even if I have self-control and don't laugh, Jack and Claire usually crack-up because she is genuinely funny and so adorable.


Right now, Brooke likes:
Purses-- taking things in and out of them
Babies and Baby dolls
Swinging in every swing at the park -- we can't leave until she has sat in all of them
Drinking out of every water fountain she sees -- if there are three in a row, she must sample each one
Tea sets and tea parties -- she got two new sets for her birthday and last night when I was making dinner, I had our plates lined up, assembly-line style. She brought four saucers in and lined them up and started putting food on them like I was doing.
Shoes -- she can entertain herself for a long time in a closet full of shoes
New clothes -- I had to struggle with her this morning (to put all of her new outfits in the laundry) because she wanted to snuggle with them and look at them and touch them.
Playing outside and going to parks -- once we were on Adams and we turned onto Silver Lake Road, she immediately started squealing and shouting "Play" even though she could not even see the park yet.
Jack and Claire -- she is so happy to have them here during the day again (since school is out)

Progress on the Lot

The first photo shows the lot leveled after a line of trees was bulldozed. The second photo shows what the lot looked like before the trees were bulldozed. I know it should be in the opposite order, but I am still having difficulty uploading photos. I don't know if it is me or the site. We'll see.

13th Anniversary and Politics

Tonight David and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. Sort of. :) We ate a meal together and had an uninterrupted conversation (save the wait staff), which was really nice. Then we were off to a public hearing about the rezoning of property that would allow for the placement of the Washington County jail inside a residential area. We spoke as did many of our future neighbors and the rezoning effort failed with MAPC (metropolitan area planning commission). I don't know if what we said influenced the decision or not. Next it will go to the City Council -- we'll see what happens . . .

One other really great thing that happened was that we had the most awesome sitter tonight. How awesome was she? Let me tell you . . . The dishwasher was full of clean dishes so the kids were unable to load up their dirty dishes after they ate dinner. Instead of leaving them in the sink or on the table or on the counter, our sitter WASHED them, DRIED them, and put them AWAY. Notice I am not telling you her name because I want to keep her all to ourselves!! :)

I hope to be able to post pictures again soon. The site has not allowed me to upload any for the last few days. If anyone knows why, let me know.

No More Lovies

My children are growing up too fast! Last Tuesday, May 20th, when I went in to tuck Jack into bed, he had Homer, Car Blankie, and Car-Star Pillow next to his bed. Homer was his first lovie that I gave to him when he was just months old to help him keep from scratching his face when he would flail his arms. Slowly his quilt, Car Blankie, also became a security item (a lovie). Later, Jack and I did a sewing project and the pillow we made, now known as Car-Star pillow, also became a required lovie at bedtime. On Tuesday, Jack put away these "childish things" forever (as Paul says in the Bible). He told me that he was growing up and that he did not want to sleep with them anymore. It's a strange feeling to have my 8-year-old announce that he is "growing up". I was definitely more upset about him weaning himself from his lovies than he was. I teased him a little to make light of the situation, pretending to cry so that I would not actually do it. He thought it was funny and he made a joke about someone being in college and still sleeping with their lovies.

Little did I know, while I was pretending to cry and whine about my baby boy growing up, that the real tear jerker was coming. After I prayed with him, he told me that he did not want me to kiss him good-night anymore. "Not even on the forehead? " I asked. Not even on the forehead.

(In the picture, you can see that Homer has been "loved" so much that his leg is hanging on by a mere thread. Pretty amazing that he is in such pitiful condition because I have performed "surgery" on Homer more times than I can remember.)

Hello

I am starting this blog hoping that it will be a convenient way for me to share the events of our lives and to have a written record for the future. Happy reading! (I hope!)