Sunday, November 27, 2011

don't ever want to forget

...how excited Sofie gets when I come home from work and she buries her face in my neck.

...how excited Sofie is when I get her out of her crib in the mornings.  The moment she sees me she grins SO big.

...how Lily "mommies" us.  "Lily, I'm so proud of you!  Thank you!"  "Awwww.  You're WELCOME, sweetie!" she says.

...how Sofie blows raspberries, loudly, all the time...church...dinner...bedtime.

 ...how Lily tells us, "Mommy, Poppy, do NOT talk loudly!  Talk nicely!  Jesus loves it when we talk nicely to each other" if we ever begin to get upset about anything.

 ...how Lily can ALWAYS make Sofie laugh and smile.  I love when Lily tries to get Sofie laughing and then Sofie laughing makes Lily laugh and the two of them carry on and on (like at nap time today).  Nobody can make Sofie laugh like Lily.  

...how Lily HATES to share her things, but if you tell her something is yours, she says, "but I thought we were gonna share!"

...how Sofie grabs at EVERYTHING, and somehow can knock over cups of juice, grab spaghetti off your plate that is 2 feet away from her, clear countertops...she is truly at "octopus baby" stage.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!


This is Lily's, "I miss you!" Thanksgiving face...





The turkey's Lily and I made for everyone...

 and the turkey Lily made for herself.








Sunday, November 20, 2011

our Haiti girl

Just moments after Jim and Sue arrive from OMS headquarters to lead our retreat:

   "Lily, you want to play outside with us?"
   "Yeah!  Look, here's my Uncle Don house he made me!"
   "Cool!  Uh, what are you doing?"
   "Peein' in the grass.  Ok, let's play!"

Upon watching me try on a pair of jeans for our trip to the Dominican:

     "No, no Mommy.  Pants are for Poppies."

When Matt locks all the car windows so Lily will stop rolling her window up and down:

    "Hey!  Why doesn't my window work now!?"
    "Ummm.  I don't know, Lily.  Sorry."
    "Ohhhh.  Is it 'cause the generator's not turned on?"

Tonight at bedtime, after some rather whiny behavior at dinner with adult guests.
 
    Stacey:  "Lily, can you listen to me for a moment?"
    Lily:  "Ok."
    Stacey:  "First, Lil, we love you very much."
    Lily:  "You're welcome."
    Stacey:  "Uh...Ok.  From now on, when you talk to a big person, you need to say, Yes, Ma'm if it's a girl, or No, Ma'm...and Yes, Sir or No, Sir if it's a boy.  Ok?"
    Lily:  "What??"
    Stacey:  "Like this.  Poppy, will you please clean up your clothes?"
    Matt:  "Yes, Ma'm!"
    Stacey:  "Poppy, would you like to read this book?"
    Matt:  "No, Ma'm!  See Lily?  Or, Mommy, will you help me?"
    Stacey:  "Yes, sir!  Do you understand Lily?"
    Lily:  "Yep."
    Stacey:  "Ok, let's try.  Yes, Ma'm.  No Ma'm.  Lily, would you like some peas?"
    Lily:  "No, oh, YUCK.  Please, NO."

...the rest of the night...

    Lily:  "Mommy, sir, I would like to color, sir, thank you?"

we'll keep working on it :)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

the best part



"Mommy?  We should obey God needs to obey us."

"We need to obey God, hun?"


"YES.  We need to obey God.  Because....because...because of Jesus."

"Because it makes Jesus happy?"


"YES.  Because it makes Jesus happy in my heart."

"Jesus is in your heart?"




"YES."  (feeling her skin over her heart).   "UMMM.  I don't feel him!"

What a great opportunity.  "Yeah, but He's there!  Even when you can't feel Him or see Him or hear Him, He's there!  And He can always hear and see you!  Any time you talk to Him or need Him, He is there.  And He loves you!"


"Like you?"

"Even MORE than Mommy.  Because He MADE you!!  And I asked Him for you, and He gave you to me!  And every day, I say thank you!"


"He gave you me?"

"Yes!"


"And He gave me to me?"

"Uhhhhhh..."


"No, God gave you to me?"

"YESSSSS."


Looking at her heart and talking really loud: "THANK YOU JESUS."

oh man.  There has been no sweeter part of motherhood so far than sharing precious conversations about the Only One who loves her more than I do...the One who takes care of Lily better than I'll ever be able to.   Lily's starting to know Jesus, and it makes both she and I so happy...

Friday, November 11, 2011

a day in the life

4:33 am:  "Mommy?  Poppy?  My bed has lots of pee-pee up in it.  Can I sleep with you?"
4:34 am:  Sofie overhears, wants fed.  For the third time since 8 pm.  Matt strips Lily's bed.
4:45 am:  "Mommy, I want to go play.  Can we go play?"
4:47 am:  "Hey, I don't have any boogies in my nose!"
4:52 am:  "I'm just not sleepy, we should go play."
4:56 am:  "Poppy, tell me the bad-lady story with the apple."
5:00 am:  "It's time to get up now.  Tickle tickle!"
5:20 am:  Poppy gets up with Lily, who has now chattered non-stop for an hour.

Teaching.
Finances.
Meeting.
Airport run.
Two hours trying to get Lily to nap to no-avail, despite 4:30 wake up.
18 rolls.  1 pie.  1 salad.  1 pot of chili.  2 ice trays of baby food.  (6 chopped onions, 8 cups flour, 4 chopped peppers, 10 chopped tomatoes, 4 bleached chopped lettuce, 2 shredded carrot, pie filling, pie strudel, kneading, raise, roll, raise, squashed bananas, squashed avacado)
Seven spit-ups (at least) and two really awful diapers.
Coloring, side-walk chalk, "Calico's Kittens" and "The Bear Snores On" twice, pick up toys.  Pick up toys.  Pick up toys.
5 great dinner guests, 2 fussy dinner girls (no nap. no surprise.)
30 minutes of the Lion King, 2 baths (one VERY tearful.  again, no nap.)

8:00 pm.  Asleep, asleep.  Asleep, asleep!

a day in the life for Stacey and Lily

4:33 am:  "Mommy?  Poppy?  My bed has lots of pee-pee up in it.  Can I sleep with you?"
4:34 am:  Sofie overhears, wants fed.  For the third time since 8 pm.  Matt strips Lily's bed.
4:45 am:  "Mommy, I want to go play.  Can we go play?"
4:47 am:  "Hey, I don't have any boogies in my nose!"
4:52 am:  "I'm just not sleepy, we should go play."
4:56 am:  "Poppy, tell me the bad-lady story with the apple."
5:00 am:  "It's time to get up now.  Tickle tickle!"
5:20 am:  Poppy gets up with Lily, who has now chattered non-stop for an hour.

Teaching.
Finances.
Meeting.
Airport run.
Two hours trying to get Lily to nap to no-avail, despite 4:30 wake up.
18 rolls.  1 pie.  1 salad.  1 pot of chili.  2 ice trays of baby food.  (6 chopped onions, 8 cups flour, 4 chopped peppers, 10 chopped tomatoes, 4 bleached chopped lettuce, 2 shredded carrot, pie filling, pie strudel, kneading, raise, roll, raise, squashed bananas, squashed avacado)
Seven spit-ups (at least) and two really awful diapers.
Coloring, side-walk chalk, "Calico's Kittens" and "The Bear Snores On" twice, pick up toys.  Pick up toys.  Pick up toys.
5 great dinner guests, 2 fussy dinner girls (no nap. no surprise.)
30 minutes of the Lion King, 2 baths (one VERY tearful.  again, no nap.)

8:00 pm.  Asleep, asleep.  Asleep, asleep!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

fingers and toes

And she's done it!  

Just 9 days after she started wearing her little thumb guard (which we've been calling her princess pocket), Lily has officially been without it for 36 hours and not sucked her thumb ONCE!

No one is more proud of her than she it, but I am admittedly REALLY thrilled.  Tomorrow she gets her motivation present...a princess crown!  SO thankful that almost three years of thumb sucking is over, and SO grateful that breaking the habit was so not a big deal!  She only cried about it once the entire time!

 Yesterday I told her it was grandma's birthday, and she wanted to make grandma a card...she's getting SO good at drawing!



 Micheline has been sick a lot lately, so yesterday Lily got to go to school with Mommy and Poppy...she loved it, for about 30 minutes, then wanted to go home and play :)

 And just as Lily stops sucking her thumb, Sofie starts sucking her toes...oh well!




Monday, November 7, 2011

"Lily, you're getting too big."

"Yeah.  You sad?"

"YEAH, I'm sad!  You're such a big girl?"

"You wanna cry?"

"Yes, actually, I do."

"Well.  I'm gonna be three.  You gonna cry?"


Sunday, November 6, 2011








Thursday, November 3, 2011