Daddy's Helpful Hand

Our SAM student was over the other night for dinner. We had finished eating and were sitting around the table waiting on the girls to finish up. Gabriella grabbed Clay's hand and entangled her little fingers around hers. Then she brought their hands up to her face. Holli and I looked over to see Gabriella sticking Clay's finger in her nose. We started to laugh and then Gabriella said, "Daddy, I diggin!"

A Two Year Olds Mind

A few days ago I was going to let the girls go swimming in their little pool.

Me: "Gabriella, go get your bathing suit."
G: "Okay!"
From her room I hear rattling and her grunting. She runs back into the kitchen where I am.
Me: "Gabriella, where's your bathing suit?"
G: "The drawer is not sharing with me!"

I call Jeremiah "little bub" and a lot of times when he cries Gabriella will scream out to him, "I'm coming little bub." Well yesterday she was climbing on her bed and hit on bottom on the wood railing and she started crying. I asked her what hurt and she said, "my bub." I asked, "your bottom (she was rubbing her bottom)." She responded, "No - my bub." I asked her, "Your butt (figuring she'd heard Clay or I call it that)." She said "Yeah - my bub."

Apparently she thinks I am calling Jeremiah "little butt."

Then today I was changing Jeremiah's diaper and Gabriella is rolling around on the bed where he's getting changed. She looks at him and says, "Whats that? What's that? (pointing towards his penis.) I tell her, "That is his penis."
Gabriella: "Peanuts?"
Me: "Penis."
Gabriella: "Peanuts!"

Well, she might be a little confused next time we ask her if she wants to eat peanuts!

Bluebonnets

We were out at my mom's this weekend and we got some pictures of the girls in bluebonnets that I thought I would share. My brother is also in some of these with his "pet' turkey. My parents are raising some wild turkeys. This turkey follows my brother everywhere he goes. My dad says that Payt is her tom. The tom my parents had died awhile back and this particular turkey is wanting to lay eggs. So, instead of having a tom to mate with she chases my brother everywhere. He can even ride in the mule and the turkey will run alongside the mule right next to Payt. It is quite a sight!

Growing Up

Jeremiah is changing fast. On Monday he weighed 8lbs and 15.5 oz. Today he lost his umbilical cord. He is starting to stay awake a little bit longer. We are enjoying him very much.

My little man

Micah adores him.

Gabriella adores him too. In her defense he had already started to fuss before she came to love on him. But she is rougher with him than Micah is, so we have to watch her very, very closely.

Progress Towards Baby

We went to the doctor yesterday. She said I was 50% effaced and 2 cm dilated. As we all know that could mean that I will go into labor today or it could be two more weeks. It was nice knowing that all the pain that I had up till due date was actually doing something (unlike with my other two where I was about 50% effaced but only like 1/2cm at my due date).

Today I have been having constant back pain and some contractions that are more intense than what I have previously been having. The baby is also much more active today than what it normally is at this time of the day. I started having the contractions about 11 this morning and have had them through being at library with girls, fixing lunch and feeding us, cleaning up from lunch, doing some clothes, getting them down for a nap, reading to them, and then me laying down for about an hour. But I still can not determine if it will actually result in me being in actual labor today.

Praise the Lord! Gabriella is doing much better. Her cough is much improved, there is a lot less snot, and her eyes are no longer nearly swollen shut. She has also started playing with her sister again instead of just fighting with her (or more like screaming every time Micah comes near her).

Update:

So it has been 12 hours of contractions that would last for several hours - stop - and then resume with a little bit more intensity. My mom just took the girls with her. Clay and I are going for a walk and then the plan is to try and get some sleep. It is beginning to seem more like this could be it - but only time will tell.

Gabriellaism

I want some alligator pleazze = I want some Gatorade please.

Potty Progress

Big things are happening around the potty lately (and I will have to tell you about the construction around the potty at another time!)!

Gabriella has started showing an interest in going potty again! She did several months back - but all was lost after her UTI and hospital stay. I had decided that I was just going to let it go until several months after baby's arrival. But one morning she woke up telling us she wanted to sit on the potty. So, now she is probably successfully using the potty about 1/4 of the time. I am not getting my hopes up too high about getting her out of diapers because I know her little world is going to be shocked when baby comes (she is already telling us she does not want a baby at our house).

Micah has been going potty for quite a while - but Clay and I really felt clueless as to how to get her to stay dry through the night and get her out of pull-ups at nap. The other day another mom was telling me that she has been taking her daughter to pee right before she goes to bed (which we've always done) and then the mom or dad will wake the little girl up a few hours later - when they are ready to go to bed - to take her to potty. We started doing that with Micah and so far it is working. Last night was her first night to sleep in panties all night - and she is very proud about her new panties that we bought her for the occasion.

So for now all is well around our potty . . . though our one bathroom is getting rather crowded with all the activity.

Sisterly Love

Almost every morning Clay and I hear Gabriella say to Micah.

"Micah, Micah, I so happy to see you." Then she gives Micah a big hug.

Our girls would be so lost without each other.

Gabriellaisms

"Chop-chop" (Lambchop)

"Nummy" (Yummy)

"Nuffin" (Muffin)

"That tasty!"

"Sound of Music! Sound of Music!" (She screams this repeatedly while waving a wand
in the air.)

"Oh No A Monster! Got to get out of here!" (Then she screams and runs).

"I beauutiful!" (She says this after putting lipgloss on, having her hair fixed, or
putting a dress on).

Gabriella to Clay: "Oh No A monster!"
Clay: "What are you going to do?"
Gabriella: "Cock a doodle do!"

She walks around pretending to read the Bible saying, "Bible "Praise the Lord!"


That is just a few of the things that she says daily. She a source of endless amusement. At least to me!

In the Trenches of Motherhood

I am exhausted.

Today makes day 6 of Gabriella running a fever from 101 - 104 and her feeling yucky (with no answers from the doc except that its something viral).

The three days prior to her getting sick we were out of town due to Thanksgiving.

Micah was sick a few days before that with a slight fever and she was extremely whinny.

I am tired . . . .

Prayers are appreciated.

Memorizing Scripture

In my years since having children, I have been extremely disappointed in my ability to memorize scripture. But a few months back I saw a blog about Scripture Memorization with a really neat video on a guy quoting scripture as if he was actually the one delivering the orginal sermon recorded in scripture. Read and Watch This Video - It is incredible.

I put into practice with the girls memorizing passages instead of single verses. I have really seen a difference with Micah and I being able to learn scripture. For those of you with younger children, know that Gabriella loves listening to us do this. She always gets a huge smile on her face and watches us with big shiny eyes.

Micah is also learning a lot of scripture through CBS. If you have young children and have the time to get involved in CBS - I highly suggest it. It is one of the best preschool programs that I have seen on getting kids to memorize scripture.


In the last 3-4 months Micah and I have learned these scriptures through this method. I know it does not seem like a lot - but it is a lot better than I was doing.

Ephesians 6:1-4 (Gabriella has the word "honor" down when we say this verse).

Psalm 139:14 (I know it is only one verse - but we did this because Micah seemed to be struggling with wanting to always be Gabriella and she never wanted to be herself. So we learned this verse to reinforce how special she was.)

Psalm 95:1-5 (We are trying to see how much we can get memorized before Thanksgiving. Micah and I are also trying to learn the verse before Daddy does. I am not doing as well as I would like - but Micah can just start saying parts of it - and is doing way better than I am. )

Through CBS Micah has learned many verses in the last couple of years. They put memory verses to nursery rhyme tunes. I still have to sing the song to get the scripture and verse correct, but Micah does not have to sing it - she can just say it.

Since my children can remember nursery rhymes and little songs like that with out any effort -I see it as prime time to be getting these scriptures ingrained in them. I truly see how they are little sponges soaking up anything I give them. So I want to feed them as much TRUTH as I can.

Gabriella's Prayer

Gabriella has been saying lately, "Mommy I pray." Then she is listing things to pray for and wants me to say thank you and say whatever she said.

But tonight it went like this:

Thank you God - Jasmine, elephants, Tigger, Colby (I was having trouble understanding what she was saying. I thought she said Cody, so I would ask her if it was Cody and she would keep repeating it over and over. I figured out that it was Colby when Micah finally translated for me. When I repeated after her Colby, she then continued.) Kennedy.

She then decided to jump and asked to get out of the bed.

It is so precious watching them learn to pray.

Pictures from October Happenings

Micah and Gabriella helping Daddy make an angel food cake.

Gabriella licking the spoon.

Daddy, Micah, and Gabriella with the largest pumpkin in Texas.


Mommy and Gabriella

Micah and Gabriella finding their way through a hay maze.

A Conversation with an 18 1/2 month old

"Gabriella, do you want to go to the store with Mommy?"

"YES! No WAY!(Which when said in a high shrill and with a big smile means that's exactly what she wants.) Goats and Cows."

"Do you think we are going to go buy goats and cows?"

"Yeah!"

"No, I'm sorry but we are not going to buy goats and cows."

"Why?"(At this point I am thinking, 'Aren't you too young to be asking me that question.')

"We don't have a place to put goats and cows. They can't live in our house or in our yard."

" I WANT DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!"

"Do you think Daddy is going to buy you goats and cows?"

"NO WAY!" (Said in a high shrill and with a big smile.)

Mommy is Proud

At lunch today Gabriella was being a toot and refusing to eat by herself. After throwing a bit of a fit, she said 'yucky poo-poo. I potty.' I checked her diaper and it was wet - but not dirty. I debated taking her to the potty because I thought she was trying to get out of eating. But at the same time, I really want to encourage any interest she has in using the potty because I want her to get potty trained soon so that when baby comes I will only have one in diapers, and the sooner she gets going potty down - the less likely she will have a backslide as she gets adjusted to baby. So, I went ahead and took her. Of course, as soon as I set her on the potty the phone rang. Micah ran and grabbed a book for Gabriella. Gabriella sat on the potty looking at it - and she peed! This was like the 3rd time she has managed to pee on the potty. She kept sitting there while she was looking at her book, and then she pooped! This is the second time for her to poop on the potty - but the first time for her to do both during one sitting - and with her asking to get on the potty. So, of course we were going to do the poo-poo dance after she finished. Micah had to jump on the potty and go pee - so that we could also celebrate her accomplishments. We did our potty song and dance in the hall. Then it was time to battle out eating at the table. But even though a battle followed - I am so excited that she is taking more and more of an interest in going potty. I hope that she will learn quickly and be done with it. They just woke up for nap, so I need to go get them both up and I guess put panties on both of them.

Our Two Girls

Practice For A Newborn

Being only 15 weeks pregnant, I was really hoping that we would not have too much of a remembrance of those sleepy nights of newborn hood until we got much closer to the arrival of the baby. But these last few days we have gotten a little bit of a reminder - and I can tell you that I am not looking forward to the part of not getting much sleep. Gabriella has been stopped up with sinuses and has been struggling to sleep. Clay and I have been going to sleep too late at like midnight and Gabriella has been waking up having trouble breathing and crying hysterically for mommy at 1 or 2 for the past few nights. I have tried rocking her and singing to her, but she is not going to sleep. If we put down in the bed, she starts crying again. So because I am so tired I have been putting her back in bed with us. Where she plays for the next hour or two. As Clay said this morning, Gabriella is the poster child of why kids should not sleep in the bed with their parents. She starts talking, and talking, and talking (which honestly I can't blame her too much - I do the same thing if I get woken up in the middle of the night - just ask Clay) and wallering, and rolling, and kicking, and jumping, and giving sweet kisses, and on, and on. She tells me all the colors she sees - over and over again. She even said, 'grarrr - I a monster.' So, though she is quiet funny - it was quiet frustrating and tiring.

BUT .....

Praise God - I started that post a few days ago - and did not finish because I was too tired, and since then she has started sleeping through the night again and feels better. So, we are getting more sleep.

Now if Clay and I could only learn to go to bed at a reasonable time again. Maybe we can forget about all the waking up in the middle of the night(well except to go pee) for a few more months.

Waiting at the Door

Our precious girls waiting at the door to leave for CBS

Newest Addition

Meet Lambchop! He's a male Bichon Frise about 12 weeks. He will get between 7 & 10 pounds. He does not shed! The girls love to play with him. It is very important to Gabriella when we are praying that we pray for "puppy" and Micah chimes in with "our puppy Lambchop." It is very cute! They love him very much. We've enjoyed hearing Micah talk about him. When we first got him, Micah would sit next to him and say, "He's cute! Momma my Lambchop is so cute." She also says of him, "My puppy is beautiful." and "He's so handsome." We are so thankful that we are able to let them have a puppy to take care of and to love.

Breakfast Prayer

This morning we were running late for church- as usual. So, for breakfast I just gave the girls some dry cereal to eat and water to drink - hoping that they would atleast get something in their stomachs before church. I then left and proceeded to get dressed. Micah came running in to the bathroom and said, "Mommy, I pray with Gabriella." I said, "Good, I am glad you prayed with Gabriella." I was thinking that she had already prayed with her. But I am so thankful that she warned me that she was going to pray with her sister because it was the first time that she has actually done the praying & not just told Clay or I what to pray for. When she left the room I turned my ears on so that I could hear what interaction was taking place in the dining room. This is what I heard Micah say.

"Father, thank you eye, other eye,cheek, other cheek, mouth."

As she said that she pointed to Gabriella's body parts.

Now I must confess that there was more to her prayer . . . but I could not hear all of it & some parts I have forgotten. But nonetheless, I am so thankful to our Father that Clay and I were able to witness her first outloud prayer & even more than that - I am thankful that she knows to give God thanks for what He gives us.

As one of our friends said on their blog - please pray with your children. They are learning from you how to talk to their heavenly Father.