Caroline: 6 years

Sweet Caroline,

You are SIX! These years have gone by so quickly. They've been the best years of our lives. I could go on and on about how beautiful, talented, intelligent, graceful, wonderful you are. You are more than we ever imagined you would be! We are blessed.

Your daddy and I pray for you - prayers of thanksgiving and praise, prayers for the Holy Spirit to work in your life, prayers that Jesus will always be your redeemer and savior. We pray you remember the most important thing ever: that God loves you always and forever, deeply and intimately.

This was my "verse of the day" the day before your birthday. I thought it was so appropriate for you. I even put it on a note in your lunch box.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. -Luke 12:6-7

You are valued. Not only by those who love you here on earth. But by your eternal Father. Never forget that.

Happy sixth birthday, dear daughter!

(Incredible photos taken by EBW Photography)

Yellow flowers

"Helen, look out the window! What do you see?"

"Beautiful yellow flowers! Mommy, God made them for us!"

Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful, incredible creation. The whole earth gives you glory! Thank you for children who are learning to glorify you and see you in everything.

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise. 

For the Beauty of the Earth, words by Folliot S. Pierpoint

Peter: 7 months

Peter is absolutely adorable. His current bag of tricks includes rolling around, sitting, flirting, eating, and rocking on his hands and knees. So much fun. I'm not too ashamed to admit that he's got me wrapped around his little finger.

Splish splash

I was so glad we left the house for carpool a few minutes early on a rainy day a couple of weeks ago. Helen was thrilled to get to splash around in our driveway puddle. Seeing her delight made me smile.

Dance cam

Caroline has been trying so hard to make the dance cam at the Grizzlies games. She hasn't made it yet, but we're hopeful.

Hair

I can't believe I did this: I made an appointment to get Helen's hair cut. It was so tangled and ratty at the ends that I knew it was time.

It was just a little trim - only about an inch. She still has plenty of hair!

Brushing has been much easier lately!

Treats

Daddy worked a week of nights recently. After his last night, he brought doughnuts home for breakfast. The girls were thrilled! (Alright - Mommy was excited, too.)

I don't winter well and the spring-like weather we had at the beginning of February was very welcome. This is how Daddy helps Mommy with dinner preparations when the weather is nice. Hurry up, spring!

Valentine's recap

We didn't really do anything extraordinary for Valentine's Day, but it was still special in a simple way.

Kevin was off of work, so he got to go to Caroline's class party. They had a great time.

Helen got still for 2 minutes and awkwardly fell asleep.

Dinner was my personal interpretation of surf and turf. I took my friend Laura's advice and made this awesome shrimp chowder recipe. It is ridiculously simple. I kept thinking, "This is too easy. Is this all I have to do?" And it was so delicious. Thanks, Laura!

The girls loved every bite.

And no day is complete without getting a few of these from my smallest valentine.

 

Hope your Valentine's Day was just as sweet!

Biggest sister

Caroline loves her little brother so much. I'm sure he loves her back. He just watches her, waiting for her to interact with him. She is so gentle with him - a little mama. I told Kevin recently that I'm really thankful she'll have such sweet memories of her little brother as a baby.

(I have no idea why Caroline has a "100" stamp on her forehead. It's a good picture nonetheless.)

Funny valentine

Helen is such a funny kid. Sometimes I get the giggles over her antics or silly faces. Then she usually gets giggly too, which leads to a huge giggle fit for the both of us. She is constantly entertaining us - saying funny things, making up silly songs, telling crazy stories. Helen is one fun girl.

She wants to know if birds need towels after they take baths in puddles. Her bedtime prayers are filled with thanksgiving for God, Jesus, Meh-wee (Mary), fami-wee, and doughnuts. Mommy's car is in danger of being caught by a giant crocodile. We throw snowballs at him to chase him off.

Helen made a Valentine for us at school. Other parents probably got "Mommy and Daddy" or "Sister" written on theirs. We got "Cinderella." The look completes it. I laughed and laughed.

There is nothing predictable about Helen. It's frustrating at times. But I'm learning to embrace her quirkiness and give her sweet little spirit room to shine.

Grizzlies

We have so much fun cheering for the Grizzlies! We love them - win or lose.

Everyone has Grizz gear.

This girl has turned into quite the fan over the last year. Her favorite player this season is Marc Gasol. Good choice. She chose him in a very calculated fashion. He is number 33; three plus three equals six, which is almost how old she is. Logical. We love watching her get into the game. She has most of the starting players and their numbers memorized. She cheers (so very loudly) at appropriate times and just generally enjoys herself.

I'm grateful for these family times. We have so much fun together. I'm incredibly blessed.

100 days

Caroline and her classmates celebrated their 100th day of school last week. It was a pretty big deal. They had to find 100 small items to count, had 100 small snacks, and had to dress up like they were 100 years old. So fun! We found a cane and some old lady glasses. I put her hair in a bun and sprayed her hair white. Here's my little old lady...

This past Monday the Senior K girls got to ride buses across the street to the upper school for a special 100th day chapel service. They sang songs for the older girls and participated in their chapel service. After the service, Caroline got to meet her high school senior. Caroline will be her flower girl at graduation in May. Her name is Hannah and she is really sweet. Caroline has been waiting and waiting to meet her senior and was so excited that the day had finally arrived. The day really lived up to her expectations. She came home almost floating on air she was so happy. That made me very happy. This is such a special time in my little girl's life.

Peter: 6 months

Peter, you are six months old - half a year old. Daddy came home today (January 27) and wished you a happy birthday. I had forgotten that today is the 27th. I must be in denial. I told at least two people today that you were 5 months old.

I can't believe how much you have changed! You are almost 27 inches long (68%), but only weigh close to 14 pounds (3%). You are still long and skinny.

We've started feeding you solids and you love everything. You like playing with puffs on your tray and occasionally one makes it into your mouth. We're hoping you'll gain a little more weight once you start eating more.

 

You have the brightest, most alert eyes. You take in everything and are so engaged. It's the first thing people notice about you. The next thing they notice is your perfectly round head.

You like being sung to. The girls love singing "You Are My Sunshine" and "Pinkle, Pinkle" to you. I usually sing, "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck". But you're not picky. You have started to like playing peek-a-boo with us. It's very fun.

 

You love Mommy. I'm extremely flattered. You feel happiest when you know where I am. You also love to be held - mostly by mommy, but others do a fine job, too. You just like to be close. Sometimes you are so snuggly. And other times, you need to roll and stretch and be free. It's a perfect combination.

You roll all over the place. I haven't seen you on your hands and knees yet, but I know it's right around the corner. You can sit for a few seconds on your own. This makes me excited because soon you can take a bath in the tub and sit in a restaurant high chair and ride in a shopping cart. Plus it will make playtime so fun.

 

Your nights are getting better. On a good night, you wake up sometime between 11 and 1 to eat and sleep until 5 or 6 in the morning. We are working on moving you into your crib in your own room. It's time and I know it's good for you. But I'll miss you. Lately, you haven't wanted to rock at naptime and bedtime. You squirm and fidget and fuss when I try to rock you. You are learning to put yourself to sleep. You flip over on your tummy and grab your woobie and rub it in your hands. This is a bittersweet transition for me. I love rocking you. I'm looking forward to reading books with you in the rocking chair.

You are adorable. You are very loved. We thank God daily for your precious life!

Nothing much

There isn't anything too special or exciting to report about around here. 

Silly girl. Helen still sometimes needs an afternoon nap. I guess I thought she didn't need one this afternoon. I was wrong.

Smart girl. We picked up a 300-piece puzzle at the toy store over the weekend. I thought it would surely keep her busy for a few days. Kevin and I did help her a bit, but she had this thing put together in a few hours. She loves puzzles.

Sweet boy. I feel like Peter is finally setting in. His sleep patterns are getting more predictable and the rough nights are getting fewer. He's growing and changing every day. He's a mama's boy.

Hat day

Caroline had "Hat Day" last week at school. None of her hats were particularly appealing to her, so I let her choose from my collection. She chose this lovely beret. My mom brought it back for me from Canada several years ago. I'm not quite sure what went on at "Hat Day". Details of Caroline's day are sometimes hard to come by. But considering how much we practiced the day before, I imagine she said, "Bonjour!" and "Ooo la la!" a lot all day.

Tres belle...

Mes enfants adorable...

Tigger

The dog is our first child. Almost seven years ago, Kevin was finishing up an ER rotation and one of the nurses was complaining about their wild dog, saying that they really couldn't handle him and needed to give him to someone else. As luck would have it, Tigger was the exact same kind of dog I had grown up with (wire-haired fox terrier) and I was in love with the idea of having one of my own before we had even met him. He was already a year old and house trained, but WILD. This poor dog had had zero obedience training or discipline. He knew no boundaries and literally bounced from one piece of our furniture to the next. He paced our apartment, unable to relax. I took him to my parents' house for a visit right after we adopted him and all he could think to do was run to the upstairs bathroom to eat the bar of soap. My dad told me to give him back. They wouldn't take him.

We were stuck with Tigger. About that time we found out I was pregnant. So we enrolled him in obedience training and did "doggy bootcamp". He's turned into a good dog, despite a few neurotic obsessions and behavoirs. He still gets on my last nerve. I'm convinced he only barks during the following situations: 6:30 in the morning so the neighbors are bothered, naptime so the children wake up, Kevin is on call or out of town so I'm sufficiently on edge. 

The best thing about him is how he loves our kids. He actually plays gentler with the girls than he does with Kevin. The most interesting development within the past few months, though, is how much he loves Peter. He likes the girls, but he loves Peter. When Peter cries, Tigger shows up and hangs out next to Peter until I come. Sometimes we get home from an errand and I leave Peter napping in his carseat. When he wakes and I go to get him out, Tigger is right there beside him. I don't remember Tigger ever caring if the girls cried. It warms my heart and makes Tigger a little less annoying to me. It's going to be fun to see how their relationship develops.

Pinkle, Pinkle

It's so cute that I kind of hope she never learns the real words.