Cold City!

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, we have been dealing with sickness, sickness, sickness!!! Between are family in the last 3 weeks we have had 4 nasty colds, 1 ear infection, 1 case of the stomach bug, and 1 tear duct infection! I can tell you I'm done! I am currently dreaming of summer months when we are all healthy! So, forgive me for my slacking and hopefully this next week I will be better. I'm just waiting on Rayna to get better know!

Kids Say the Darnedess Things

The other night while putting the girls to bed I was privileged to have some interesting conversations with them.

Convo #1

Rayna is quite observant and very interested in new things. I have had a revolving wardrobe lately due to my expanding waistline, including my pj's. So, needless to say, I was wearing a new pair of pj's that Rayna had not seen. As I'm leaning over to pray with her, she starts to tug on my shirt and says, "Is this a jacket or something?"

I say, "No, its just a shirt. It's kinda like one with all the buttons."

Rayna proceeds to try to unbutton my shirt.

I say, "Rayna, don't unbutton it. I need it on."

Rayna says, "Why?"

"If I don't have my shirt on then my tummy will show and so will my boobies, and they need to be covered up."

Rayna's response, "I don't have any boobies."

I reply, "You do, there just little right now. When you get to be a big girl like Mommy then you will have more."

Rayna's reply, "Yeah, and my boobies will be bigger than yours!"

Laughing, I say, "I hope so."

Convo #2

Before starting to pray with Taylin, she tells me that she wants to pray for the baby and that he will come and stay with us and not go to heaven (Something she has been worried about since we found out the baby is boy). So, I say okay and we start to pray. When I prayed for that, I asked God to keep the baby healthy and help him to grow strong, and when it was time for him to come that we would be able to bring him home with us. Well, that was not good enough for Taylin. She wanted me to be specific and use her words. So, I prayed again and said, "Lord please let the baby come and live with us and not go to heaven." Taylin was satisfied and felt better.

She says, "Mom, when we pray that's how we talk to God."

"Your right," I said.

"And when we ask him for things then he will just give it to us and do what we want," she replies.

"God does bless us and give us a lot things when we ask Him for them, but He still does what He wants. Sometimes that's not always what we want. Remember, we wanted Jaden to be here, but God had other plans." I tell her.

"Yeah, then we would all be here. But God loves us and He has great big arms and can give us hugs! He can get all the plants and trees and all the people and give us a hug at the same time!" she says excitedly.

"Yes, He can. He does have very big arms." I say.

"But we don't want His kisses, because He's a boy." She says.

"Of course we want God's kisses. Daddy is a boy and you like Daddy's kisses." I reply.

"But that's Daddy, we don't want Gods." She states.

"Yeah we do. God's kisses are very special." I tell her.

"But what if He has a mustache? That would be funny, then that would be yucky!" She says.

"Grandpa has a mustache, and you get kisses from him. They kind of tickle, huh?" I ask her. "Yeah," she says. At this point she seems to be off in thought and we finish our bedtime routine with a kiss goodnight from mom.

This Past Weekend

This weekend our mall had a Children's Expo and Taylin's preschool class sang a few songs. I really didn't know if she would sing with her class. At Christmas time they had a little Christmas Pageant and she bailed! So, I was afraid the same thing might happen again. However, a little bribery never hurts! The promise of candy afterwards if she did a good job, and a very relaxed setting I think helped. Rayna also helped encourage her sister by very patiently and quietly sitting through out all four songs watching her with a big smile on her face. Afterwards, Rayna grabbed Taylin's face and says, "Sissy, you did a really great job singing!"

After Taylin was done singing we went to Walmart to run some errands. Rayna has become good friends with the greeter at the back door. They are on a first name basis and he always gives the girls stickers. Rayna has come to look for him and his stickers! This time he was not at the door when we came in, and no surprise, Rayna was very disappointed. As we were checking out, he noticed the girls and came over and gave them their beloved stickers. Rayna decided to be creative and become the center of attention by placing her stickers over her eyes. Not only did she put them there, but she thought it was fun to leave them as well. She caught many eyes as she attempted to walk out to the car with them on. She was so cute and funny, how could I make her take them off?

A Few Other Things We've Been Up To

This weekend we had a family affair in the kitchen. There's nothing like helping out with homemade pizza! The girls have so much fun helping, and Dad even does too! Every time we've made pizza, Daniel always asks me if its cheaper to make it at home (He's way of hoping to save a buck), but unfortunately, my answer is always no. I can't ever get it cheaper than Dominoes $5 pizza. Maybe some of you out there has figured it out. You'll have to let me know your secret. For now, its still a fun family affair!

My parents were here a couple days ago to help out with watching the girls while I was at work. The girls always look forward to Grandma and Grandpa coming. It had been since Christmas since they saw them, so this time they were pretty excited. Rayna kept running to the door yelling "Grandma's here!" anytime the doorbell rang. It was pretty cute. During their stay, the girls got some good dress up time with Grandma. Taylin compared their dressing up with decorating the Christmas tree (honestly, thats probably a good comparison). Never have they felt more beautiful! Here's their glamor shots!

Blue!

I haven't really bought anything or done anything for this baby yet until now! Its funny what finding out the gender does for my nesting syndrome! So, needless to say I have the itch to start getting ready! Yesterday the girls and I went shopping! Bought a few cute little outfits and some material to make him some blankets! I was thrilled with all the blues, reds, and greens! I'm so used to all the pinks and purples, so it made it quite the new experience! The girls were not as excited about all the blues, especially Taylin. She definitely was thinking it didn't look pretty enough! I've explained several times now, boys aren't pretty, but we're still working on it. Anyways, here is my first blue blanket that I've made! Simple but fun! (Dinosaurs too, no hearts and flowers!)

Boy or Girl? That Is the Question!

Today was the big day at the doctor's office. So, here is the oven, what do you think is inside?

A Baby! A healthy one, too!
And here's the namesake!

Tender Hearted

A couple of days ago we were all in the car on our way to some friends house for dinner. Daniel and I were talking and often the girls end up feeling left out, and will continually try to add to the conversation or try to start their own. After telling Taylin several times she needs to wait until Daddy and I are done talking before she can talk to me, I finally told her it was her turn. With that she proceeded to tell me this story.

Taylin, "We prayed for Jaden today at school."

Me, "You did." In a little shock to her statement.

Taylin, "Yeah."

Me, "Did you pray for him at lunch time?"

Taylin, "No, it was before lunch."

Me, "At your story time?" Trying to figure out more of the details.

Taylin, "Yeah, at our story time."

Me, "Why did you pray for Jaden?"

Taylin, "Because I miss him, and I was sad."

Me, "Oh,"

There was a pause of silence because I really didn't know what to say to her. I was a little shocked at her feelings. Although she never ceases to amaze me at how often she reminds others of her brother. She is not one to ever leave him out.

Me, "Did it make you feel better to pray for him?"

Taylin with a big grin on her face, "Yeah, Mom, it really did!"

Me, "Well, I'm glad."

And with that, our conversation was over. Daniel and I looked at each other and Taylin's sadness seemed to reach us. Although, I have to say, I love how much Jaden is so real to her, even though she never got to meet him. It seems to be a nice wonderful embrace that God sends to me.