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Prayers

For almost every meal now, Elijah says, "I pray too," after we pray. His prayer every time is, "Dear Jesus, food, amen." :) He has to go last--we've had him go first and then we'll pray, and then he'll want to pray again, so we've learned to just let him close us :)

Very rarely does Mikaela want to pray, but every now and then she'll say yes. So she usually just says, "Dear Jesus, thank you for this food, amen." Then, one day this past week she wanted to pray too and said, "Dear Jesus, thank you for this delicious food, amen." I was surprised she added something in on her own. Well, shortly after for a different meal, she wanted to pray again. I was waiting for the usual and was very pleasantly surprised when she started in on something way different. I did not take a moment to memorize it or write it down, so I'm kind of sad about it now, but after thinking about it, some of it has come back to me. She started, "Dear Jesus, thank you for this food...please break our hearts and give us new ones...I pray that you die--thank you for taking away our sins :)..." There was quite a bit more--obviously, these are the things that really stood out to me. After she finished, she very proudly said, "That was a long prayer!" :)

It really was more of a scenario she was playing out of her head than a sincere prayer, but she knows the truth and really remembers the things we talk about, which is exciting. She's asked Eric and I each if we have new hearts and are God's children and has said multiple times that she wants a new heart too so she can be His child and go to Heaven and not to Hell with Satan. Oh Lord, please let your truth go from her head to her heart, and lead her to salvation soon.

Munchkin Funnies

The other morning, Mikaela came up to me (as I was still trying to wake up) and started counting to 100. I was thinking, "Wow! This is kind of random." So, she's going, going, going, very quickly. I'm kind of half-heartedly listening at this point b/c I thought she was going to eventually stop and quit, but she kept going, and I'm pretty sure she got it all right w/o any help from me (I'd kind of zoned out on a tiny part of it). I gave her a very excited, "Yay! Good job!" and a hug. We've been working hard on this to get her not to stop at every 10. So I'm excited at this point and just still amazed that she did this w/o any prompting from me or anything. And she then says, "Can I have some milk now?!" Poor thing counted to 100 so I'd get up out of my chair and get her some milk :)
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The other morning, I was in the bathroom and heard a thud from the kids' room...then the hard pitter patter of running into the living room. It was little man waking up. He came to me and said, "I jump-e off bed!" :)
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The other day I was finishing up lunch or something in the dining room, and EM was in the living room. MJ finished and walked into the living room, and I heard her, very dramatically, say "Oh. my. gosh!" (to something Elijah had done that she thought was a big no-no) So I called her into the dining room and asked her if we're supposed to say that. She tells me no and has her head down and then looking at me but not saying anything. I knew she was trying to come up with some excuse as to why she had to say it. Finally, "Only Daddy can say that?" :) Too funny--he really doesn't even say it very much anymore, but these kids don't forget anything!

Talk in Your Mind...

Many nights when we put MJ and EM down for the night, Mikaela will talk/play in her bed for at least an hour. Well, seeing as how Elijah copies EVERYTHING Mikeala does, he talks and plays for awhile too. So tonight when I put them to bed, I told Mikaela that she needed to set a good example for Elijah and not be talking and playing. She said, "But my desk is just in front of me." I said, "Your desk?" "Yes, my pretend desk," she said.

I could see that the nightly "please set a good example for your brother" really wasn't going to work, so the Lord put something different on my mind to suggest to her. I told her that if she really had to talk that she needed to do so in her mind and not let any words come out of her mouth. I left for a couple of minutes to get them some water, and when I came back she said, "Mama, I was talking in my mind! Watch...(brief silence) see?!" I think she then proceeded to tell me what she said in her mind, but I couldn't hear her. They actually went to sleep within a few minutes :)

Mikaela Funny

Last night, there was a teddy bear in Mikaela's bed that Elijah grabbed, gave a big hug and said he wanted to sleep with. Of course, Mikaela then said she wanted to sleep with it and was told no--by me. She kept saying she wanted to sleep with it, and I told her to stop talking about it and gave her a different bear to sleep with. Later on, Eric went in their room b/c they were talking:

MJ: "I want to sleep with Teddy."

Eric: "No, Elijah's sleeping with him."

MJ: "But Teddy doesn't even like Elijah." :)

Munchkin Funnies

One morning while eating breakfast--MJ had awakened after Eric left for work, so she didn't see him.

MJ: "Ma, is Pa sleeping in today?"

Later during the day--

MJ: "Ma, do you think Pa is on his way home from work yet?"

Yes--we've seen lots of "Little House on the Prairie" the past few weekends :)
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MJ: My name is Laurie Alyssa Bayse (Laurie from "Oklahoma"; the rest b/c she's still obsessed with her cousins); a couple of days later she added Ariel onto the end :)

Any time I call her Mikaela, she just looks at me and kind of laughs and says, "Mama, you have to call me Laurie."

And Elijah has been Eric for a few weeks now and is her husband. What's funny is that he totally answers to it :)

6 Months!

Our second little princess turned six months yesterday! She is getting so big and is at the super uber squeezable, chubby stage. She even decided to sleep 10 hours for two nights in a row now! Maybe Mommy and Daddy will get a few dates with just the two of us for awhile :) She got her first taste of rice cereal yesterday--wasn't too sure about it but thought it was interesting. Today was a different story--she totally gobbled up her two tablespoons in no time flat :) Now I just have to keep the rice cereal on the counter so I don't forget she's eating--thank goodness I have MJ to help keep me on my toes! Currently, Kerith is rolling over and finding her voice--fun stuff :)

Sisterly Love--Awww!

Munchkin Funnies

Practically any time Elijah enters a room these days, he announces himself, "Ere I am!" He even walked in one morning first thing saying it, but there was no exclamation at that time of day :)

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The other day Elijah was throwing cookie crumbs on the floor while I was in the kitchen. I heard Mikaela tell him, "Ewijah, don't throw stuff on the floor; Mama just vacuumed...and then she mopped!" That's my girl :)

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Earlier in the day, I had taken some stuff out to the garge to file in our filing cabinet. Mikaela was hysterical b/c she thinks that any time I go outside I'm leaving her. Later she asked me, "Who was that man outside?" I said, "What man?" MJ: "The one outside with you." I was thinking maybe she'd seen our neighbor when I was outside, while at the same time I was trying to not freak out thinking that there was some man watching us or something. Me: "Where was he?" MJ: "In the garge with you!" At this point, I knew she was just pulling things out of her imagination :) But it really weirds me out when she does that--it's not the first time :)

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Mikaela has done this for a while now--just haven't thought to write it down. You know how a lot of times when we (adults) are talking we'll say something like the followin, "I really need to go to the store, but..." or "I would take the kids outside to play, but..."

Well, Mikaela does the same thing, but hers sounds more like this: "I can't get down but." or "I'm just behind you but." It cracks me up :)

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Here's Mikaela doing her magic and making Kerith laugh. I was watching the whole time, so no need to freak out that she could get hurt or something :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my Eric (yesterday)! Here are some pics of my sweetie with me and my other sweeties (order totally random)--awww! What a wonderful husband and father he is. Our bodies have expanded, but our hearts have only melded closer together--can I get any sappier? :) Ok, I'll stop for now :)

Project and School Days

Well, for 5 weeks, from the last week in July through the last week in August, I was working on a project making streaming videos for U of H. I am sooo grateful to my wonderful friends Megan, Lindsey, Melissa and Shari for watching Mikaela and Elijah for a few days each during that time. And then my sweet, helpful, loving husband took them for 3 days during the week he took off work--awww, bonding time with Daddy :) Although it was fun to get to do some math again and make my brain think, being without my kiddos 2-3 days a week (except for KL) wasn't much fun. I'm so very blessed to get to stay home with them full-time.

Then the first week in September marked the beginning of our school year. I guess it never really ended from last year, but the difference this year is to add a little more structure for MJ and EM so they'll know what to expect. Mikaela is always asking me what we're going to do next and then what are we going to do after that and after that, ... so I figured it was a good time to make an Excel spreadsheet for her with her daily and weekly schedule so she doesn't have to ask me all the time :) And, no--haven't made it yet. These first two weeks have been testing out to see what is realistically going to work. We've added in a little writing since she's been asking me to write words so she can trace them. She absorbs so much right now that it's hard for me to not go totally crazy :) Fortunately for her she has a two-year-old brother and baby sister who's still nursing and being pottied, so I can't get too crazy :) Even little man is getting in on the action--all I have to do is tell him that MJ will just do his letters and colors (or whatever we're going over) for him, and he starts telling her to go away b/c he wants to do them :) :) It's too funny--it'll be good for them to have a little competition with each other over the next few years :) Anyway, it should be a fun year!

From the Bumbo Seat to the Exersaucer

Munchkin Funnies

A few days ago:

MJ: "I'm sister pig, Elijah's brother pig, you're Mommy pig and Kerith's baby pig."

Me: "Elijah, don't do that (or something to that extent)."

MJ: "Noo, you have to call him brother pig!"

Me: "Kerith, go tee-tee."

MJ: "Noo, you have to call her baby pig!"

Me: "Mikaela get out of the bathroom right now (or something like that)."

MJ: "Noo, you have to call me sister pig!"

(I just couldn't help myself :) )

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Here's little man with a very un-graceful version of "Amazing Grace"--such a boy :)

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MJ: crying in her bed

Eric: "What's wrong?"

MJ: "I really want Amelia (MJ's cousin) to be here."

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The other day at the swings:

MJ: "Mom, look, I'm pushing Amelia!" (as she pushes the empty swing)

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Many, many other times throughout our week, I hear TONS about Amelia.

MJ: "What's Amelia doing right now? Can we call her?"

Me: "You and Amelia."

MJ: "Yeah, I just love her, and she loves me. She's my best friend. So can we call her?"

Me: "Mikaela (with a sigh)"

MJ: "Me and Amelia." (smiling, and with her funny way of saying it)

If I hear anymore about Amelia, I think I'm going to scream--I'm not sure Amelia shares MJ's same sentiments, although, if Mikaela keeps being so persistent maybe one day she will :)

Munchkin Funnies: Talkin' Tummy

This morning--

MJ: "My tummy's talkin' to me." (Most of what she says is even funnier if you see how she says it--sorry--can't depict that part in writing :) )

Me: "What's it saying?"

MJ: "It's hungry--but I'm not hungry--I wanna pway with my dolls." :)

4 Years Old!!

Our sweet Mikaela Joycakies turned 4 years old today! I can't believe it's already been 4 years; it's good and bad--I enjoy seeing her new stages in life, but it would be nice if each year would just last a little longer :)

Some of our big goals with Mikaela this past year was to do LOTS of training, learning how to read, lots of Bible verses, counting, and quite a bit of other stuff that I just can't even think of right now. She's becoming quite the proficient reader (and speller, as I learned tonight when she started spelling all kinds of 3-letter-words for me and even a couple of longer words--I was kind of taken by surprise--pleasantly, of course--do we see years of Spelling Bees in our future??! :) )

As for today, MJ helped me make some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast; she opened up a few more gifts that we didn't give her the day of the party; they played for a little while. Then it was off to a park in League City to take some birthday pics of my little princess :) Can't have a birthday w/o taking some pics, right? Well, it was pretty toasty outside, and she was only wanting to cooperate for about 15 mins anyway--perfect :) Then we stopped off at Sonic for a grilled cheese sandwich and slush and were off to the Millers' house (where the Browns are also staying right now). Poor MJ couldn't get it out of her head that all her friends weren't coming over today for her party, even though we kept telling her she already had her party--so we decided to take HER to some friends' house for a little while :) When we got home, another friend had left a little goodie bag on our door for her--what a nice surprise! She wanted pizza for dinner, so pizza it was. Overall, I think she had a fun day!

Hmmmm

Me: Elijah, what movie do you want to watch?
EM: (pointing at all his options) "Hmmmm" (sometimes he even taps his mouth with his pointer finger when he does this; he says this to many other questions he's asked too) :)

5 Months

Our little Kerith Love is 5 months today!! I can't believe it's already been that long! My little "cutest pie" is just that, although, for the past month or so she has decided that sleeping 8-10 hours at night is just not her cup of tea. We thought we might actually have this cute little baby that also lets us sleep at night, but it looks like she was just teasing us those first few months :) So right now, we are pretty tired parents, but God did give us a wonderful little 8-hour night a couple of nights ago to let us catch up a tiny bit :)

And MJ LOVES her little sis! She is so cute with her and thinks she's just the cutest baby in the whole wide world :) It's so sweet to hear her talk to her, telling her all the things she hears me say to her. And KL loves her sis too--somehow, MJ can almost always manage to make her laugh out loud--MJ's definitely funnier than Mommy--I get lots of smiles, but MJ gets the laughs :)

So about three or four weeks ago, I posted a video of KL spitting. I love it when babies start doing all their cute little baby things, so I was excited. Well over the next few days, I noticed she really only did it when I put her on the potty. When I put my kids on the potty, I always say, "pssss." So I started wondering if that was her way of copying me to make that sound. For the past 3 weeks now, I have tested her out. I don't catch it every time, but the girl spits to tell me when she needs to go to the potty! Sometimes she's telling me she needs to go, and other times she's telling me she IS going :) It's so cool--I didn't think any of my babies would ever really tell me this young. The only problem per se is that she spits A LOT b/c even if she's just passing gas, she'll spit (and she's got a lot of gas :) ). Then, there are times like today in church when I'm trying to ignore her spitting, but she just kept spitting louder and louder as if to say, "Mom, I really have to go!" So I took her, and sure enough, she let loose :) Now, she has also spit in the wee hours of the morning after having nursed, to which I'm like, "Sorry kid, you're just gonna have to go in your diaper right now." :) We'll see if she continues to do this--I'm not ready to get my hopes up quite yet, but I'm definitely going to enjoy it for now. And after she goes, she looks up at me smiling, waiting for me to tell her, "Good job, Kerith!" to which she smiles even bigger :)

Baby Addison

A friend of ours is due to have a baby girl in November. Well, Mikaela knows her name is Addison Grace, so the other day she had her brown baby and told me her name is Addison. Keep in mind that this baby has been called "brown baby" for a couple of years now, so it's actually kind of weird for her to have some other name. So, if you don't want someone to steal your baby name, don't tell MJ, b/c she doesn't have a problem taking other people's names and using them for her own babies :)

Then before we went to Walmart today, she asked if she could bring Addison with us. She kind of laughed and told me Addison was pulling her hair :) Then next thing I know, she told me Addison had to go potty--everyone else was made to go before we left--why not Addison? :) Eric told me to look, and the pictures above are what we saw--she was actually sitting with her the way I do with Kerith (not that both she and EM haven't ever pottied their babies before, but she's never sat on the potty like this with them) :) I guess she's going to potty her babies too :)

Brag Time

Well, I figured it's ok to brag--as long as you're bragging on someone else and not yourself--right? Anyway, I'm just very thankful for my wonderful hubby right now. We just got back from Walmart, and I'm sooo grateful that for the past few months (since before Kerith was born), he has chosen to go with me. Yes, I can do it by myself, and the self-sufficient part of me says I can do it on my own, but it is 10 times easier when he goes with me (and it's a couple more hours that we get to be together :) ). He figured if we're going to keep having these cute little kids, then he's just going to have to come with me :) And then when we got home, he put up almost all the groceries, unloaded the dishwasher, loaded it and washed the other things that don't go in the dishwasher (all without me even asking him!). I think he pretty much rocks and am so blessed God chose him for me :)

Maroon = "Mine Woom"

MJ: "Mom, is this ring maroon?"
EM: "Mine woom!!" (as he points to his room) :)

MJ "Mobying" Her Baby

MJ's Princess Dress-Up Birthday Party

On Sunday, we celebrated Mikaela's upcoming 4th birthday. I actually hadn't planned on having a party per se, but she is very into birthday parties and requested a princess dress-up birthday party, so we scrambled and got a party together :) We got tutus, shoes, bracelets, crowns and earrings from the dollar store. But it turned out that the other two little girls who were able to come brought their own beautiful princess dresses. So once MJ saw them in theirs, her little tutu wasn't going to cut it :) So she donned the dress given to her by Aunt Kelli and let Amelia wear the blue Cinderella dress. She really wanted to wear this other dress, which she has literally torn to shreds, but she loves it and is constantly telling me that we need to get "your mom" to fix it :)

So the party turned out to be a lot of fun. Auntie Monica and Alyssa painted all the girls' faces, which they LOVED. Monica asked me for some pictures of the Disney princesses so she'd have something to go by, and I told her, "Oh they're not going to want princesses--they're just going to want stars or hearts or things like that. Just ask them what they want." So here goes MJ--"Mikaela, what do you want on your face?" "I want Belle." :) Good thing Monica is a pretty good artist b/c it would have taken me MUCH longer to do what she did. And, of course, all the other girls ended up wanting Belle on their faces too :) So Monica painted Belle, and Alyssa painted castles on their other cheeks :)

Then we read the story "The True Princess" and tried to talk a little bit about what it means to be a princess on the inside and what Jesus looks at in us. Then we made "character sticks" (no, they are NOT wands :) ) and put a Bible verse they wanted that would remind them how Jesus wants them to act.

After that, they made necklaces with some fun beads and string. I also had these really pretty wooden beads that NONE of the little girls used. Well, after taking the girls' pics, when I came back in, all the big girls had used them to make their own necklaces and bracelets :)

While we were having fun inside, all the little boys were having a blast outside playing with toys and swimming in the kiddie pool. So it appears fun was had by all, but we were some pretty pooped parents by the end of the day :)

Munchkin Funnies

Interrupting for a quick post...This is for my friend Jo, who is having withdrawals from a lack of posts :) Sorry, but I've been a busy bee the past couple of weeks working on a math project and getting ready for MJ's party that we had this past Sunday. So this is all my brain can remember right now--will post more if anything else comes to mind :)
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MJ: I'm so very exciting about my party (with all her funny body language that goes along with her talking)!

Me: I'm very excitED.

MJ: I'm so excitED about my party!! I'm gonna wuv it soo much!
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The past 3 weeks, MJ and EM have gone to friends' houses 2-3 days out of the week so I can work on my project. One of the families' last names is Crews.

EM: (to Mrs. Crews) Coos, paw-ee! (Mrs. Crews, I have to go potty.)

She informed me that half the time he calls her Coos, and the other times he calls her Mom :)

I think that out of the three families, Crews is the only name that he can come pretty close to saying, so many times, if we're going somewhere now, he'll ask, "Coos house?"

Mikaela Funnies

As I was fixing MJ's hair, I saw a little speck of something that I was trying to get out.

MJ: What was that?
Me: I don't know.
MJ: A gray hair?
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Mikaela took a "bite" of her pretend green apple and then fell on the floor.
MJ: That's Snow White!
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After having seen some of the goodies we're going to have for her birthday party, she later told Eric, "We have tutus and shoes and bracewets, ... and earrings. Oh no, I don't have any holes for the earrings! I need some holes in my ears." :) :)

How Kerith Got to Swim After Getting Tired of the Float

Eww--Stinky!!

Sad/Happy

Kerith just rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time, and I missed it! She started fussing so I looked over, and she was on her tummy--too bad she doesn't realize she knows how to go the other way too :) If I'm ever able to get a video of either direction, I'll post it :)

Kerith Working Herself to Sleep With Her Blankie

Me waking her up with the flash--oops :)

Tuckered Out