Welcome to our new layout! We're glad you've stopped by for a visit. We're enjoying life as God gives it, feeling so very blessed by His goodness to us. Our 3 kids keep things very lively and interesting around here and make life 3 times more enjoyable. If you're a first time visitor, please let us know how you heard of our site! Pictures are available for registered users.
I know I don't typically post about Kara until her new month of age arrives, but I just can't help myself.
This little sweetie-poo has captured our hearts in a major way. She is full of fun personality and life. I love that she has such a sense of humor at only 9 months of age! She shows total interest in things; often putting her eyebrows down to really concentrate and she's a big fan of watching something and then trying to copy it.
We're having to use that new word "no-no" on her and its so terribly cute to see how she responds to it. Thankfully she (so far) responds quite well.
She absolutely adores Ethan. I know I've said it lots of times, but I cannot tell you how very adorable it is. She thinks the world spins around him. When I bring her out first thing in the morning she sees him and her face lights up and she starts clapping her hands and kicking her feet, like she wants to jump up and down. Its super cute.
He loves that he's like magic to her, so he's often going out of his way to make her laugh/smile. He plays peek-a-boo with her many times a day, sings the alphabet to her, counts to 30 (he's convinced she can also count to 30) and recites his Bible verses to her - he's sure that she is now a Christian, because she listens and smiles. :)
I love watching my kids interact together. I love watching them learn basic values and life situations when dealing with each other. Ethan and Rachel have hit ages where there seems to be more fighting than getting along, so we're spending a lot of time learning to practice self control, kindness, gentleness and selflessness. Ethan is learning how important his role is, not only as the oldest, but as the big brother.
He seems to be doing great with his role with Kara, but he struggles with Rachel, since there's major competition there. :)
Rachel has learned to hold an opinion and in Ethan's world, his opinion is the only one that should be considered. So we're basically dealing with what it means to obey God's commands and to be Christ like. I taught the kids the What Would Jesus Do motto and they love it. This morning Rachel took some crackers from the kitchen and tried to sneak them into Ethan room (away from me) and I heard Ethan say "But Rache, what would Jesus want you to do?" and she said "He would not want me to sneak crackers and then he would die on the cross for me."
I had to laugh. ;)
I can't get over how fast these fun years are going by. I look forward to my kid's teen years, but I'm soaking these little years up, since they go so fast. I often find myself looking at parents of older kids and feeling envious. Those years, though hard in and of themselves, look like they are so exciting and rewarding! It will be fun to see some of our hard labor during these years, paying off in the future. :)
Oh, camera update: I'm filing a police report to send in to the insurance company so they will replace our camera for us. So stay tuned!
I try to write down funny/cute things our kids say and this past week had several. I wrote them down in the order they were said...
Rachel: "I just love Caedmon... because he says all the right things." (Caedmon is E&R's good buddy from church)
Ethan: "I have issues with my toes." (this particular day, he seemed to have "issues" with a lot of different things)
Ethan: "Kara tickles my heart."
Rachel: "I think God hates since because its SOOO ugly."
Ethan: "Oh, man... that is SO not cool." (when his car crashes on Mario Kart )
Ethan: "I would like to marry you someday, Mommy. I wonder if Daddy will give you up to me."
Rachel: "Girls can be so difficult because they have too much hair."
Rachel: (talking to me) "When you were in my tummy, I named you Stefanie, because I knew you liked that name the best."
Ethan: "don't you just love my little Jason face?" (I am always laughing and telling him "you have such a little Jason face!")
Ethan learned how to write out lots of different letters in the alphabet, thus spelling out several profanities without knowing it. I love this age of innocence. Kind of wishing I could make it freeze right here.
Rachel learned that Desitin Cream stains carpet, that knives are not something we play with, mommy's make-up is not something we put all over our dolls, band aids are not toys (also, as a side note, she's learned we don't like hypochondriacs in our home) and last but not least, cutting your hair does not make it magically get longer.
Kara learned that it IS possible for an 8 month old to shove 14 cheerios in her mouth at one time... and not choke! Computer cords are not to be chewed on, the new word "NO" is not something pleasant to hear and, cutting teeth is painful and gives her every excuse to get sympathy from her older siblings for a simple thing like yawning.
Stef had a Mary Kay party last night, so she suggested the kids and I go run off to Chuck E. Cheese for a bit - we did so and had a great time. The 1-token-per-game policy is nice, makes a small amount of cash go quite a way, and the kids mostly like the same stuff. I learned a couple of things:
We had a nice time, a couple pix are attached.