Simple Days

You are 15 1/2 months old. We are enjoying the simple things in life and soaking in the joy that this stage in our life brings. You are very active and intelligent, Maybe every mother thinks this, but you love to figure out what a tool does, or where a key fits, or how something is put together and it usually does not take you long to figure it out!

Your latest favorite past time is exploring the inside of cars. We turn you loose in the car with a set of keys and you go exploring all the buttons, latches, levers and of course where the keys fit! You know which key fits in my car, which key fits Papa's car and Grandma's car!

Chris is playing softball in a men's league and you and I go to watch his games every Monday night. We play in the grass by the field and watch Pap play. We have made friends with the 18 mth boy who is there watching his Paps. You two play in the dirt, take balls away from each other and then give them back and share snacks!

This week we bought you a bunk bed! It is bright blue and has a futon couch that pulls out into a bed on the bottom of the bunk. You are not quite ready to leave your crib yet, but soon. When you really want out of your crib you have started throwing a leg over the rail and can get 3/4 of your body over the railing! Soon you will be tumbling to the floor and we will have to switch you to the futon. I think it will be years of fun!

Life is simple, yet busy! and we are enjoying all the blessings God is bringing our way.

I love you,
Mama

Easter 2010

I was really looking forward to your second Easter because it would be the first one where you could participate int eh family fun! Usually we head up to Kentucky to spend it with Chris' family. After church we all meet up at someone's house and the kids get their Easter baskets and have an Easter egg hunt. But the festivities will have to wait until next year because this year you got sick! Saturday before Easter you got a bad cough and ran a high fever, so we stayed home. But we celebrated with just our family and it was still fun!

Amazingly the Easter bunny still found you and Sunday morning we opened your basket. You ate your first candy bar (bite sized). "Three Musketeers" followed by "Twixx" and "Milky Way". Even though you were feeling badly you still were able to eat chocolate! Later int he day we went out in the back yard and found eggs, filled with more chocolate, that the Easter bunny left for you. You had a great time and so did your Pap and I!!!

Letting go...a little bit

You has your first non-family sitter last week. Jill from Church came to watch you for the whole day! You had a blast. When I got home you were happy and I could tell you really liked her! As hard as it was to leave you with a sitter, it had to happen eventually and it makes me feel good that you like Jill so much!

I love you!

You are getting lots more teeth, almost six on top and about three or four on bottom. I don't know if you are just trying them out or what but you have taken to biting my legs! Not hard but just enough to show me you have them I guess. It's kinda cute right now, but not for long!

You and your Papa made ginger bread men the other day, only Chris got the recipe off the Internet and did not read the reviews which said it was the worst gingerbread recipe ever! So what you ended up with were rock solid ginger bread men! But they smelled delicious when I came home. I tried to bite into one...unsuccessfully and then tried to soak it in milk for several minutes and I still was unable to eat it! The real funny thing is that you love them!! I don't know how you eat it, but you gnaw and gnaw at it till it dissolves and you are left with ginger colored drool down your shirt.

Your favorite (only) movie you watch is "Shrek". You particularly like Donkey and when the music plays you dance by turning in circles and moving your arms all around! You make your self dizzy and usually fall down. It is truly cute. Hopefully I can get it on video and post it here.

You have started to love reading. We read in the morning and in the evening before bed and if I am home you ask to read before naps. You either gather the ones you want to read and bring them to our reading chair or I hold a selection in front of you and you will point to the one you want. I know you are happy about your selection when you lean back into my arms and snuggle in to enjoy. I really need to get you some more books!

I thought by now I would have the "mommy look" down. But my sharp "no" and stern face does not even phase you! Usually you look back, smile and even more insulting...laugh and them go right on sticking whatever you can find into the electrical sockets!!!!
I do hope that one day I get the hang of discipline!

I have made a decision that I must find a way to work from home! Not because I really want to (although I do) or that I hate the workforce so much (cause I don't) but I have to because not being there to teach you and watch you grow literally breaks my heart! So hopefully by the time you are old enough to read this blog I will be working from home! I am very lost and scared about how to make that happen and overwhelmed by the hard work, sacrifice, and rejection it will take, but I love you so much that for me and my heart, I have no choice!

I love you,
Mommy

Dedication 3-21-10

A lot has happened this week, but the best thing is that Chris and I dedicated Chandler at Church on Sunday. We had family and friends over for a celebration. Your Grandma and Grandpa came, your Namma and Pap came and all your cousins, Aunts and Uncles on Chris's side and Chris's cousins and their kids, plus our small group and some extra friends from church were there to celebrate!

We had a lot of fun. You enjoyed running around the house with your cousins and following them as they played. You were hugged and kisses numerous times by everyone!

It has been warm and you are loving being outside, you take after your Grandpa. You roam around and play in all the water and dirt you can find. You pick up sticks and want the dog to take it from you, you throw the balls and play "catch" with the dog! You are truly an outdoor kid!

We have so much fun with you!

Sick days

This past week you have not been feeling well. Probably just the crud but you have been fussy, picky, and not sleeping well. But hopefully you are are the upswing today!

In this blog I don't want to just ramble about how cute you are or what you ate today. I want to mark the milestones and leave you with "Mommy Notes" that will hopefully impart some wisdom mixed in with the memories.

We have been really encouraging you to "use your words" even though all you say is "this" "that" and "Dada" you understand way more and we are hoping that you are on the verge of putting it all together. Communication is a huge milestone in life yet we never really seem to learn it or use it to its fullest potential. It will keep coming up as a area the needs improvement: school will push you to improve your communication, relationships will tax your communication abilities, and even your communication with God some how can not be completely expressed through language. It will be a frustrating area as you learn to make sentences and increase your vocabulary with words you want to communicate, as you try and express your thoughts and feeling - you say what makes sense to you yet the other person cannot understand your meaning even though they supposedly speak the same language as you, and there will be times when language itself does not seem to have the words that capture what you feel. It is one of the challenges of this life.

But pursue communication anyway because your ability to communicate and your desire to understand and be understood will greatly benefit you in this life not just in career or educational advancement, but in marriage, in friendships and in your purpose to live in relation with Christ and to share who he is with others.

I am excited about what you are learning and even though your first words were not Mama, I will do my best to teach you what I know about communication and will treasure all talks we will have!

Love
Mama

Me and your Papa

Let me tell you about your Mama and your Papa. We love each other very much. We are growing to love each other more and to love more like Christ, which means #1 we are not perfect, as a couple, as parents, or as people and #2 we are getting better and better at loving, and loving you too!

We complement each other in our differences but are very much alike in our thinking, interests, and personalities. I hope that you always can see how much we love each other and that you will feel secure about our family and the foreverness of us.

Next to your Papa you are the person I love the most on this earth. I cherish the moments of cuddle time I get with you (I only get moments because you are on to the next thing) and I steal all the kisses I can! You have started recognizing when I ask for a kiss and you will lean into me. I usually get your forehead or ear or hair but it tickles me that you are understanding affection!