Oh, Ellie....

This little girl.

I just love her to pieces.

We always say that she has "high-highs and low-lows."

We also always pray that God will use her passion for good and will use her as a world changer.

She loves her preschool class, and her wonderful teachers always talk about what a joy it is to have her in class.

She is COMPLETELY two.

The name of the game right now: consistency.

Whew.

I love this hand-me-down shirt that she wears right now. I think I even had to discipline her for punching her brother one day while she was wearing it. Sigh....

She talks more than I've ever heard a two year old talk. And I love it.

She loves her babies.

We love calling her "the bag lady." She can be found walking around the house just like this many, many times during the week.
She loves to give instruction at bedtime, specifically in regard to the order that she wants her three favorite songs to be sung. Her current faves: "Tinkle" ("Twinkle, twinkle little star"), "Sun-sine" ("You are my sunshine"), and "Jesus" ("Jesus loves me"). She also loves to pick who is going to "wok" ("rock") her at night.... sometimes daddy, sometimes mommy, and yes, sometimes even Aaron! She also LOVES the book, "God made you special."

Oh, Ellie, there was a day when I thought I would only be the mommy of boys. I didn't even know that I needed to have a daughter, and then, you, sweetie, came along and captured my heart. Yep, I needed an Ellie in my life! I am so blessed to be your momma.... you challenge me, you make me laugh, you make me grateful. I always want to be your biggest cheerleader. God has given you a beautiful heart, and I hope that you always know that you are loved perfectly by Him. I love you, too. I always will.

P.S. I'm sorry that I'm not better at pigtails. I will work on it.

A Day in my Life....

I was at a wedding a few months ago and as I was watching a video of the couple that included many pictures from when both the bride and groom were little, I leaned over to my friend, Sheri, and said that watching it made me thankful that I take lots of pictures of our kiddos. In our conversation, she said that she wished that she had captured more videos because she now misses their little voices.

I am so thankful for that brief conversation and the wisdom included in it because I've started pulling my video camera out more frequently. However, it has also led me to pull out my Canon more often, too. I've realized that it's not just the "pretty" moments that I'm going to miss. One day, my house will NOT be cluttered with toys, and I've decided now that I WILL want to remember what life looked like and felt like when I had littles running around and pulling at my legs.

This is a little post to capture a few of those moments.

We are in a season with two in diapers. Many times during the week, I change the girls at the same time (it just makes sense and is a time saver when it works out that they need a clean dipe at the same time). I'm glad that I thought to grab the camera right after I had them cleaned up.... how sweet are they?! One day, when I'm not changing any diapers anymore.... I will want to remember these sweet little faces, just hanging out on the floor together.

Oh, laundry day. I have tried different systems to figure out what works best for me and for my family. Right now, it works best for me when I tackle it all at once. Aaron helps sort the laundry and carry baskets. I do all of the folding at once. Because our laundry is in the basement, the one load a day thing just hasn't worked for me because it is "out of sight, out of mind." One day a week, I just tackle it. And one day, my piles won't be as tall. And one day, I will want to remember that I was superwoman.... who could even tackle all of these piles.

Let's face it... with four kids in four different stages, the toys sometimes take over. My living room looks like this often. I am so thankful for the wise woman who encouraged me to decipher the difference between messy-mess and kid-mess. I love that you can tell that I have children in every square foot of our living spaces and that the kid-mess is a part of that. Yes, it does make me a little crazy at some points, but one day, I won't have them in every square foot of our living spaces.... and I will want to remember what my living room used to look like (and no, it doesn't look like this ALL the time, even now!)

One day, I won't have a darling little 5 year old boy who likes to snuggle into the recliner as soon as he gets home from school and toss his socks across the room (and yes, I won't have a scooting 8 month old who finds those socks and uses them as a chew toy). One day, I will want to remember that there used to be little socks that weren't my own.

And one day, my counter may look like this most of the time. And one day, I will want to remember that there was one day, in January of 2012, when I actually did get rid of the pile on the corner of counter. You know, that one day.

Audrey at 8 months

"Babies are such a nice way to start people" (Don Herold).

Well, I would have to agree.

Before I had kiddos of my own, as I worked in the church nursery, and as I watched other people's kiddos, I specifically remember saying how much I loved 8 month old babies. It was and continues to be one of my very favorite stages!

Well, we have another 8 month old at our house, and it is such a lovely time (well, not always... but most of the time!) :)

Audrey is such a doll. She is such a sweet baby. She continues to make us smile. I am SO thankful that she is a part of our family!

Check out our little darlin'....

With two teeth

Sitting up like a big girl

Big stuff in her high chair. She is eating solids four times a day now.

Not officially crawling.... but somehow maneuvering herself around to get where she wants to go

With this stellar new move, too. She does this a lot, and it makes me laugh all the time. At our new Life Group tonight, someone said that all of her moves look like baby yoga!

You are a total blessing to our family, Audrey Leigh. I'm so grateful to be your mommy!

And the Golden Globe goes to....

MOM!

So, here's the thing. I was watching the Golden Globes the other night. The host was talking about the fact that Nat.alie Port.man was nominated over and over again for various awards last year, but she had a baby this year, and therefore, was not nominated for anything. He jokingly said that she needs to get her priorities straight. Which was funny. But it did get me thinking.

There should be an award show for moms!

You know.... beautiful, golden trophies for....

The most blow-outs changed in one week

The most boo-boos kissed

The most bandages applied

The most anger deferred when a rotten grade comes home because of lack of effort

The least amount of sleep in a night because of a baby with colic or a child that is ill and requires constant attention

The most time-outs given

The biggest bruise on her thigh because a busy, crazy boy decided it was time to wrestle and then, out of the blue, drop-kicked momma in the middle of the living room floor

The most macaroni and cheese cooked in one week just because that is the only food her 2 year old will agree to eat during this season

And on the heels of that one, the perseverance award because of the pans and pans of broccoli, peas, and green beans she has continued to cook because she has been taught that after plenty of exposure, the 2 year old will one day eat it (yeah, right....)

Okay, so this list could go on and on and on and on....

But, here's the thing.... it's cheesy but true.... wait for it.... wait for it....

WE ARE ALL WINNERS.

God has hand-picked each of us to mother the children whom we have birthed or brought into our homes through the miracle of adoption. I absolutely believe the truth that God does not miss a moment (and His vote is the only one that matters). Sometimes, in the moments when I actually get things right with my kids, I love to picture Him grinning (and even laughing WITH us as we all dance like crazy people to the "Smurfs Dance Party" game on the Wii). I believe that He treasures those beautiful moments with me.

And the OTHER moments.... I believe He still treasures because He sees the full and beautiful picture and knows how even my yucky moments as a momma are shaping me to be more Christlike. He can already see what I look like at the finish line.... when He hands me a beautiful crown as His princess.

So, no.... I don't really need a Golden Globe.... because I know that He notices it all.... because it all matters to Him.... and because His vote about me is the only one that matters....

But I just may start a sticker chart for MYSELF as a mom.... you know, because one little gold star on a piece of cardboard could go a long way to encourage this mom in this little thing called life. ;)

Christmas preparations...

We really had a great time preparing for Christmas this year and tried to just enjoy the kids during the process.

Preparing boxes for Operation Christmas Child prior to Thanksgiving really started to get our hearts and minds set on the holidays and the season of giving. If you haven't participated in this awesome ministry yet, I would highly recommend it.... it is something that our kids latch on to and get excited about throughout the year as we even shop for items while they are on sale earlier in the year (although, it often requires frequent reminders that the boxes are about OTHERS and not about what we want for ourselves!)

Of course, we had to trim the tree and put up some decor around the house. We cut WAY back on decorating again.... a few boxes didn't even make their way out of the attic this year. And yes, I lost the battle for the third year in a row.... we didn't get a live tree. :( I have the boys on my side now though..... we are all voting for a trip to the Christmas tree farm next year!!!

The girls were lookin' pretty (and silly) while we assembled the tree

(and yes, that is a our little darlin' with a blue pacifier. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do!) And Ellie led us in some carols. :)

We received an awesome gift from friends this year.... premade sugar cookie dough that was all ready to roll out. Since I hadn't gotten around to mixing any up during this holiday season, this was such a GREAT gift. Thanks, Janna and fam!!!

My children believe that the more sprinkles, the better. And for Isaac, the more GREEN sprinkles, the better (green is his favorite color!)

Catching up....

I knew that "Our Little Scrapbook" was a little behind, but I didn't realize HOW FAR behind until I dumped my pics from my camera to the laptop tonight. Oops.... when there are still pics in the leaves, and now, there is snow on the ground, and it's JANUARY, you know you are a little behind!!! But.... not as far behind as my actual scrapbooks (Isaac is still an infant in those! Gotta get busy!!)

It was a fun night to play in the leaves.... and a fun night to snap some pictures, too!

Sigh.... this little boy.... I just LOVE him....


And this little girl.... love her, too....

(I love the guy in this picture, too!)
Yep, I absolutely love this one, too....
(I do love another little boy as well.... but I think that he was TOO busy playing with the neighbor kids to be bothered with a picture!!!)