My Little Apprentice

This sweet girl is my little "mommy" in the making :) She copies EVERYTHING that I do (and tries to copy lots that I say). It is so precious to see the motherly instincts the Lord has put in her, even at this young age. Now it's my job to cultivate those instincts, and that's where I'm going to need the constant guidance and wisdom of our wonderful Savior, and I'll treasure His grace for all those times that I just mess it all up. This is her dancing with her baby the way I dance around with her and Elijah. See her holding the baby's hand like I hold theirs? She has also become very attentive to her little brother. The other day we were driving away from the house, and I hear, "Lyshush (Elijah) fall, uhu, uhu, uhu." I looked back and saw that indeed, just securing the seat belt in the rental car I was in did a horrible job of keeping his carseat secure, and his entire carseat--base and all--was turned sideways! Well, I had to find a driveway to turn into. Mikaela thought maybe I hadn't heard her, so she tells me again that Elijah had fallen and is about to start crying! I finally stopped and fixed him (he was just as happy as could be, btw :) ), so this made her feel better :)
She's also right on top of letting me know when Elijah is crying (even if he's really just cooing) or has spit up. Many times she grabs a towel and tries to wipe the spit up off of him. She is also great at bringing me the phone or a towel to clean up Elijah with. One time she even got the towel all by herself and started wiping up his spit up off the floor for me!! And when he wants his pacifier (and even if he doesn't :) ), she is quick to get it for him and shove (no--she's really getting much better at it :) ) it into his mouth! When we were doing our Bible reading one day, she even said, "Shh," to Elijah b/c he was "talking." :)

Mikaela is also still obsessed with shoes! The first thing she does these days when she wakes up or when we get home from going somewhere is to run to the living room, take off her shoes and socks and then go to my room or to her shoe rack and grab a pair of different shoes to put on :) She changes shoes (and clothes) as many times as I will allow her :) She also loves to wear her jackets and put her hood on! She is most definitely her own little person. She's getting better and better at dressing herself. And when she does something by herself she gets the most excited little smile on her face, holds her hands up by her head and says, "I did it!" And she keeps saying it until I acknowledge her :) She keeps me laughing, and I have the hardest time hiding my smile (and sometimes laugh) when I need to be disciplining her!

Black Friday (and Saturday)

Well--I don't know that I've ever really gone shopping on Black Friday with the intent of buying anything. But yesterday was a different story! Digression: {I have to take a little bit of time to brag on my wonderful husband. He got up around 5:30 a.m. to take me and our two little ones to go shopping--mainly for Mommy! He didn't rush me or anything and let me take my sweet time while he dealt with pushing the stroller around! The kids did wonderful too--they were happy the whole time and didn't fuss or cry or anything!}

You see, I've been wanting an SLR camera REALLY bad for quite a while now, and yesterday, Ritz had the right camera, and lots of other little (actually they were pretty big) freebies and goodies for the right price!! One of the freebies was 18 free photography classes that I get to take, so I'm excited to get started learning about photography and what all I can do with my new toy!

Another sort of surprise is that we got our first minivan today!! We've been kind of looking, just playing around, not really thinking we would be getting anything for another year or so. But once again, we found someone willing to give it to us for the right price!! It's a 2007 Toyota Sienna, and I am really going to enjoy having it. I feel so spoiled right now and am so grateful to the Lord for always providing us with everything we could possibly need and then some! I am most thankful though for how He was willing to die for me and give me the best gift I will ever have--eternal salvation. I hope I can use these two temporal gifts to bring glory and honor to His name.

Thanksgiving 2007

Well, originally, we had planned on going to Dallas to visit the Dowdneys, but they had to rush to OK for emergency surgery for D's dad :( So, we ended up staying home, and Eric's parents came over. Eric's mom made ribs, and we had baked potatoes, salad and gooey butter cake--mmmm! Very non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but it was good :) After that, Eric and his dad worked on finishing redoing the back screen door, and MJ had a blast running around outside in the COLD weather! Overall, it was a nice and restful day, which was good since we actually got up early for Black Friday.

EM & Grandma A ready to bear the cold!






Daddy & Pop putting the screen on the door while MJ helps--or maybe I mean gets in the way--or maybe just being a kid and running around all over the place :)







Brrrr!!












They drilled...











And they sanded...


And they put the handle back on...


And, after 4-5 hours of hard work, voila, Eric re-attached the spring!!



See the tiny green bananas and bloom that's about to bud on our banana tree?!

The Time Has Come

For Elijah's hair to stay down! I'm actually kind of sad about it b/c it was really becoming his trademark :) Now people are going to have to re-learn what he looks like! He can't be the mohawk baby if his hair doesn't stand straight up! Also, notice how fast we can change temperaments--we start out smiling for the camera...

and then, for some random reason, we burst into tears with THE MOST PITIFUL cry...








on the road to recovery :)

Starving...

For sleep, that is. This preciousness (that would be Elijah--and sometimes MJ :) ) has kept Mommy awake a lot lately :) And Daddy has had almost the whole week off, so there've been no naps b/c we've been running around playing and having fun together. The Lord sure knew what He was doing when he made babies so cute! When you look at those smiles, you can't help but be amazed at their precious little lives. Just when I start to get frustrated b/c I get no sleep, or b/c I literally get spit up on all day long, I think of how totally sad I would be if for some reason either one of my little ones was taken from me. It definitely gives me a different perspective on things and makes me truly grateful for these times which will pass before I know it. So I'm trying real hard to remain happy and energetic and joyful even when I desperately need some sleep :) Thank you Lord for carrying me through these times and giving me the strength I need to be joyful and cheerful for my sweet hubby and babies. Hopefully my hubby and babies agree that I'm cheerful and fun to be around (at least most of the time--we all do have our mean Mommy/wifey moments :( )

Razzing the Tummy

Today I was trying to video Elijah scooting and talking, but Mikaela noticed and started razzing his tummy. Her laughing made him laugh, which makes me laugh :) Anyway, he seemed to think it was pretty funny :)

Naptime

This is Mikaela preparing for her nap today. She now has to carry around 4 of her 6 babies at all times :) When we eat, her "babies (are) hungwy too." The problem is that she tries to fit all 4 babies into her one tiny high chair--then she tries to throw a fit b/c she can't make them all fit! For her nap today, she added the two bears and two bags (hiding under the blanket). She also tries to bring the carrier, stroller, high chair, bottles, bowl, spoon and fork with her too for nap- and bedtime :)

Tagged!

I was tagged by Desiree Van Essen

Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 (or however many people with blogs that you know) other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1) My favorite color is RED!

2) My favorite age-group is 0-5 years--even after lots of babysitting and having two of my own in that age-range (although there is now a greater appreciation for the older girls and boys who are great helpers :) )

3) I play the flute and a tiny bit of piano.

4) I asked my husband out for our first "date" (my family's Thanksgiving get-together) almost 6 Thanksgivings ago! He thought that by family I meant immediate family, but growing up, family always meant immediate plus extended family :)

5) I have 2 math degrees--this does NOT make me brilliant, as people seem to think when they hear the word math--it just means God gave me some incredible determination and a love for numbers :)

6) Babies make me happy--even after they spit up on you, pee on you, keep you from sleeping, etc.--there's just something about them that has always made me happy if I'm sad and even happier if I'm not sad :)

7) I love to teach and try to see how much a person is capable of learning in whatever the subject matter may be--the downfall is that I don't like to let them stop until they've succeeded, and they're not always with me on that! Mikaela has already put her foot down at 2 minutes :)

8) Breakfast is my favorite meal--there's almost always something sweet w/o having to have "dessert!"

I now tag: Becca Carlton, Dayna Nichols, Anna Florida, Monica Bayse (sorry--4's as good as it gets :) )

Our Little Puppy Dog

I was under the impression that we had gotten rid of all dogs in our house, but it seems that one still lives here! Our little sweetie-girl thinks she is a puppy dog for some reason and feels the need to bite, chew, eat, swallow, etc. anything made of paper, plastic, wood or any other material around our house! Here are a few examples of some things she has partially destroyed. Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture of the thank you notes that were in envelopes, with stamps that she ate :( Yes, she ate the corners--stamps and all!

You might have to click on this picture to zoom in, but this is our changing table, which is right next to Mikaela's bed. Before she decides to go to sleep at night, this is one of the things she's been doing! She's actually gnawed it all the way through so that the wood is splintering up!!

Shoe Fetish

Mikaela is going through the stage where it's a blast to wear other people's shoes--especially if they're bigger than her own :) So if you're shoes are off and she's anywhere near, be warned--she will have them on in about 5 seconds :)

In the first picture below, Mikaela is wearing some white flip flops of mine, which she claims are hers by saying, "Mys." For some reason, she seems to like these the best--go figure?! She has worn them so much that she has blisters/scabs between her big and second toes (that's what the next picture is--it's kind of hard to tell, but they're pretty red :) ); that hasn't deterred her from wearing them! As for the blue shoes with the yellow flowers--these were given to Mikaela by a friend. I just took them out of the car after our trip b/c I've forgotten they were there (for a few weeks now :) ). It turns out to be a good thing I forgot about them for so long b/c she LOVES them, and they make the loudest racket on the floor when she walks in them!! Eric said it's no wonder they were given to us! Thanks Sonya :) Anyway, we'll see how long Daddy can stand them before they magically disappear :)

Trip Time

Well, sorry for no posts the past few days :( I've been completely internet-deprived for almost 3 whole days!! Eric went to Arizona for a mens' conference with our church, so Mikaela, Elijah and I headed to College Station to visit Grandma F and Granddaddy (and one of their phone lines died, so that's what left me "internetless"). It also just happened to fall on my mom's birthday weekend, so hopefully it was the best present Grandma could have gotten :) We had a good time, and now Mikaela keeps sayng, "I see Gammaw; I see Ganddaddy!"

Grandma F, Elijah & Mikaela outside the shop playing & watching for trains



Granddaddy playing w/Elijah



Grandma was itching to get the cradle cap off Elijah's head :)



Elijah w/his baby-oiled slick back do :)



Look at those eyes--they're still blue!!



Grandma F, Mikaela & Elijah posing for Mommy



Elijah already getting Mikaela back for pulling his hair :)



Mikaela posing w/Kendra after lunch & visiting