don't you wish...

your laundry pile was as big as mine?
A toddler with the stomach bug + a husband slammed at work + a woman who was never on top of the laundry anyway = a pile of clothes stretching to the chandelier waiting to be folded.

Chica and I shared a giggle of how large it has grown, but the time for laughing is over. I'm going in bloggers. If you don't hear from me in the next 90 hours, send help.

under the weather

This poor baby has been sick as a dog all week.

We're hoping she'll make a turn for the better tonight.

splash park

This past weekend we went to a birthday party at a splash park. The birthday boy's mama did a great job with everything and in two years of taking home party favors, these were some of the cutest I've ever seen! Each child went home with a personalized bucket.

They were distributed before the end of the party, because each bucket was

full of....

water balloons!

At first, each of Chica's balloons busted under her mighty grip.

Soon she figured out how to handle them gently enough to chuck them to the ground. They were a huge hit! After the toddler water balloon fight, it was time to splash.

Danny and I remark often how much Chica likes to be in charge. It hit me Saturday morning as the both of us were standing there loaded down with her towel, water bottle and snack that the reason she enjoys barking out orders of where to go and what to do next is because she has two grown people willing to follow her around like a personal entourage.

She's a full blown first born.

And we're a couple of suckers.

But I'm willing to trail around behind her like a puppy dog if it means not missing out on moments like these.

dear uncle al,

Can you tell what we've been doing at our house? We'll give you two hints:

#1-The computer on the chair is blasting Pachebel's Canon in D on YouTube.
#2- There are only 24 days until you're off the market for good.
Reese just wanted you to know that training has begun.

24 days isn't much time, but we're hoping to iron out a few wrinkles in the Flower Girl game plan, not the least of which is the little limp she's developed. (The first time through she sprinted down the "aisle" in 1.5 seconds so I demonstrated how to walk a little slower. Apparently, in order to walk at a pace that doesn't rival that of Marion Jones, she's taken it upon herself to drag her left foot behind her like a peg-legged pirate. And because you're not having a themed wedding Uncle Al, we're doing our best to come up with a walk that's a little less stylized.)And we only have 24 days to do so.

how it's supposed to be

I was going to tell you about our fun weekend and show you some of (quite possibly) the cutest pictures of Chica ever but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

For now something else is stirring in my heart and rolling around in my thoughts. I don't know why my brain is made this way but when I'm haunted by something I've seen or heard the only way I can work through it is to sit at my computer and peck away at the keys until it gets out. My typing has a hard time keeping up with my ideas, but I'm driven to try anyway, hoping that if the mess in my mind takes a trip through Microsoft Word, it may come out a little more coherent on the other side.

This morning one of our Associate Pastors (the man who hired Danny) preached the main service. He's a gifted leader with a pastor's heart. He's in his thirties and married to an incredible woman I met just this weekend. His message was on the sovereignty of God and a ways into it, he shared a personal testimony that, to me was the most powerful part of the whole thing. When he was eighteen years old and a promising athlete, he was diagnosed with a degenerate muscle disease. His muscles are in atrophy and the effects are already apparent. A few weeks ago he and his wife traveled to Colorado for vacation. Unlike his extended family members, he was unable to participate in all the different activities on the mountain. They were beyond the physical limitations appointed by his condition.

What must it be like, a teenager on top of the world, with great dreams of the future, to one day at one particular appointment, have one diagnosis take the rug of all your life's expectations and yank it out from under such young, hopeful feet?

~~~~~~~~~~

When Reese was about six months old, a close friend delivered a healthy baby. A few days later, that healthy baby ended up back in the hospital with complications. At that point, we didn't know what the outcome would be. Late one night, her parents asked us to come sit with them. Sarah P came over after Reese fell asleep and we drove up to the children's hospital, unsure of what to expect and clueless of what to say. As we walked the dark hall of the intensive care unit we passed room after room of tiny bodies sprawled out in tiny beds with all kinds of cords winding about their arms and legs. The beeps from machines keeping track of their vitals echoed down the corridor and I remember thinking to myself,

"This is not how this is supposed to be."

~~~~~~~~~~

As the rest of the family hiked and biked and did all sorts of Colorado stuff, the pastor and his wife drove around. He told us that he took his wife's hand and told her that he couldn't wait to come back to that very mountain with his new, eternal body and run and hike and go on every last adventure that for now, he is incapable of having. He spoke so powerfully, with great confidence that not only was Christ going to return, but that His arrival would redeem every last injustice, pain, and shortcoming of this temporary life. Nothing will be overlooked. And while his physical condition extends to all areas of his life, it cannot breach the eternal standing of his soul. Nor the promise of what's to come.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Revelation 21:3-5

summer loving had her a blast

a surprise shower!

Yesterday Danny and I threw a surprise shower for a girl on the youth staff. I was able to decorate the night before after everyone had gone home. Mid-decorating, Chica discovered the office water cooler whose spout was right at her level practically begging any curious toddler to come mess with it. Sure enough its devices overpowered our weak-willed daughter. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her stick her head under the faucet and start gulping it down. I did what every proactive, A+ parent does; I ignored it and continued to work, thanking God for a good distraction and promising to sanitize it later.

The next morning, we went to the office early to get all the food ready. Thanks to the help of the other staff girls and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on dvd, we got everything done with little time to spare.
The Mommy-to-be isn't finding out what gender her baby is, so I did everything in blue and pink.

Pink and blue.
Blue and pink.
Surprise!!!
Time to eat!
The girls were first. Danny made the cherry limeade and everyone said it was better than Sonic's. If only we had the tiny, round Sonic ice, we'd give them a run for their money!
Then the boys.
We played Wits and Wagers and all the questions were pregnancy/baby related.
It was fun spending time with the staff. I'm still getting to know everyone and with all Chica's potty breaks, cupcake negotiations and overseeing her affair with the water cooler, I didn't get to visit as much as I had hoped. But I do know they're great people.

The Daddy- to- be was able to come too!
Here are the guests of honor with Danny and an apparition on the far left. I'd like to think I look like a walking sheet because the white tablecloth in front of us messed with my camera. But in reality I think it's because I have no tan.

The End.

battle hymn

We had a great fourth of July shopping for fireworks, playing in the sprinkler, grilling hot dogs and hanging out at home. My favorite moment of the day, had to have been when we sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the end of church. Josh, our worship leader does the best stuff, I love worshipping with him at the contemporary service. This song was no exception, I wish his version was on iTunes!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him, be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His presence that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on.

a june recap

Last night, after posting a letter to the hubs, I made the mistake of looking at my sidebar, realizing I blogged a measly five times in the month of June. Pitiful. It's not June's fault. To try and make up for lost posts, I'll give you a rundown of what we've been up to this past month. Brace yourself, the pictures are abundant.

We kicked off the summer with our trip to Missouri.

We frequented a number of playgrounds around town. But only on the days when the temperature dipped below triple digits. As summer stretches on those days are fewer and farther between. (A girl has her limits. And those slides will scald your legs like you were asking for it!)

We shared many lunches together.

I love having lunch with her because she's reached the age where we can carry a conversation with each other and share our thoughts and innermost feelings. I love being a woman. She prefers discussing others around us, which proves particularly interesting when we're in public.

"Who is THAT boy, Mommy?"

"I don't know, baby."

"What's his name?"

"I don't know his name."

"Where is his mommy?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe at work or at her house."

"Oh." (Pauses to find another target.) "Who is THAT girl, Mommy?"

Ok, so maybe I appreciated our lunches a little more than she did.

We celebrated Father's Day and lavished her daddy with presents she couldn't get into his hands fast enough. She was so excited.

We welcomed this sweet baby girl to the world. (She was born in May, but I didn't take this picture of her until a few weeks later.) We love her and her family so much.

Chica took a week's worth of swim lessons. She did better when I was in the water with her. Her teacher says she kicks well and she loves to jump off the side of the pool.There were only a few tears shed.

I had a night out with the girls. We saw Chicago and ate sushi and cracked up over stories of our children that will never make the pages of their baby books.

We took a family trip to the movies.

I attended a surprise luncheon for a dear friend to celebrate the impending birth of her sweet baby.

Baby G. made her arrival soon after.

It just so happened our whole family was able to visit her in the hospital.

Since then, Big Girl has been fascinated by her own birth story. In her adaptation she "growed and growed and growed and then the doctor came and then and then she was OUT!"

We've partied it up at all kinds of June birthday parties.I met up with my mom in St. Louis for a little girls' weekend and we attended a women's conference featuring Beth Moore.

We laughed and cried and learned and shopped. Friday morning, I slept in until 9:15, hallelujah!

I took my little camera on this trip. I didn't miss lugging around my big one but it was wonderful to be reunited once again.

And while all of these wonderful June events made for one heck of a month, one thing rises to the very top. It's influenced every other thing we've done this past month. It's consumed my thoughts and directed my actions.

June 2010 will go down in history as the month in which I potty-trained my daughter. More details to come (of course) plus I'll finally finish our Disney Trip Recap (for crying out loud, will it ever end?)

So for now, I bid a fond farewell to the lovely month of June. It sure was fun while it lasted!

Now has anyone seen the potty chair....