an interview

I don't know about other children but when our daughter turned three, we had to step up our parenting game big time. Age two was a cake walk compared to this. I wouldn't trade our beautiful, spunky firstborn for anything in the world. (Although I'm not above handing her over to a baby-sitter for a few hours to replenish my mothering stamina.) I feel like the most privileged mama in the world. And she is the greatest gift of sanctification I never knew I needed.
After a long day at church I decided to make her do all the blog work for me. I found these interview questions online and couldn't wait to hear her answers.

1. What's your favorite food?

Cake and cupcakes and ice cream cones.

2. What's your favorite sport to play?

The Missouri game! (football)

3. What's your favorite T.V. show?

Little Einsteins.

4. Who is the coolest person on earth?

Mickey Mouse.

5. What's your favorite part about school?

Getting to be the line leader.

6. What's the thing you do best?

Play games and have fun.

7. If you could change your name what would it be?

Sadie.

8. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?

Wendys or McDonalds.

9. What's your favorite color?

Purple.

10. What's your favorite toy?

My little Barbie.

11. When you grow up what do you want to be?

A mama.

12. What's your favorite movie?

Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

13. What's your favorite song?

Doxology.

14. What's your favorite book?

Our family picture book.

15. What are three words that describe you?

Loving, safe, warm.

16. When you were little what did you do?

I can't remember because it was a long time ago.

17. What's your favorite season?

Fall.

18. What's your favorite snack?

Animal crackers.

19. What's one food you really don't like?

Chicken beans.

20. If you had one wish what would it be?

For everybody to obey me when I'm grown up.

21. What's your best memory?

Playing the Minnie game on the computer in Daddy's office.

turkey song

3 months old!

Our favorite little sister turned three months old yesterday!

(I know Sissy! I can't believe it either!)

This past month has been really fun especially since she started smiling and laughing in response to her crazy family. She adores her big sister and is content to sit and watch Chica entertain the rest of us.

What else? Well, she eats five times a day, weighed 15 and a half pounds at her two month check-up, wears size 3 diapers, 6 month clothes and she's sleeping great. So great that one spot on her head is a little flat. :( Reesie asked me this morning, "does Hopie still have her flat head?" Such sweet sister sensitivity right there.

This month she started going to church nursery and Danny and I started our date nights back up. In both settings she's taken her bottle like a champ and not thrown a tizzy for "strangers." Go on girl!

I love seeing her interact with the rest of our family. Saturday Reesie and I were playing take some babies to church. Reesie noticed the three buttons on Hopie's shirt so baby sister got to be the elevator. Last night she got her face "painted" with a q-tip and she was so tolerant.

We love you Hope Margaret. Our family is better off because you are in it!!

it's saturday...

stuff I'm loving

I would say that this post is about things I'm loving right now. Except I read a book several years ago that called me out by saying you should love people and use things. It's stuck with me all this time. So instead, this is a list of things I love to use at this stage in life.

1. Stoplight Alarm Clock

From the day we moved Chica out of her crib and into her toddler bed the rule has been that she's not allowed to get out of bed without parental consent. I decided that if she needed something I'd rather go to her than for her to suddenly appear when I least expected it. Few things would freak me out more than to open my eyes in the middle of the night to see a small child standing by my bed. Whether she's my offspring or not, that's just unnerving.

It became routine for her to wake up in the morning, yell from her bed, "I'm ready to wake up now!" and for one of us to go in and get her. This worked well until Baby Sister arrived on the scene. Now she wakes up a little before Chica and is well into breakfast before her older sister starts to stir. You can imagine what would happen next:

"Mama, I'm ready to wake up now!"

From my room as I'm feeding the baby, "Ok baby, you can come out!"

"I'm ready to wake up now!"

"Ok, you can come out!"

"I'm ready to wake up now!"

"COME OUUUUTTTT!"

Our rooms aren't that far away, but Chica likes to listen to music while she sleeps, thus making our yelling that much less affective.

Enter, the stop light alarm clock. My mom heard about this clock from a co-worker and it is just what we needed to end the dueling wake up calls and preserve the baby's sense of hearing. Red light means it's not quite time to wake up. Yellow is an optional night light. Green means let's get this party of a day started people! There is much rejoicing by a certain 3 year old when she wakes up to find that the light is green. :)

2. Mother Child Bag

My mom gave me this bag when Sissy was born and I'm using it as her diaper bag. If we're walking somewhere and my hands are full all I have to say is, "grab the Reesie handle!" She can reach it easily even when I'm wearing it over my shoulder. She loves it and so do I.

3. Operation World

We started incorporating this book into our family worship time. It details the spiritual needs of every country in the world. Each night we read about and pray for a different country. I can't yet convey what this process of intercessory prayer has done to our family, but its effects are seeping deep in our hearts and lingering in our minds long after we've put the book away.

4. Baby Jeggings/Pajama Jeans (according to Dan.)

My friend Alex tipped me off to these $5 baby jeggings at Target. They're soft, stretchy, look like regular jeans and best of all, they go with everything.

When Reesie was a baby Dan would joke about how much he loved her plain white onesies. Whenever he was in charge of getting her dressed for the day he would sift through the closet until he found the white onesie. Why? Because the plain white onesie went with every skirt, pair of pants and set of shorts we owned. Hopie's jeggings are the plain white onesie of bottoms. They go with every top she has. By slipping them on under dresses we've extended Reese's old summer outfits well into the fall.

5. Downline Women's Conference

Last weekend I went to the pre-conference of this event. I loved every session I was able to attend. Vicki Courtney was one of the speakers and she warned about parenting from a place of fear. Whoa nelly a big red flag went up in my heart because I so see myself struggling with that. Great, great stuff. I can't wait to get my hands on the audio of the sessions I missed.

6. Maternity Clothes

My baby was born nearly three months ago. I am still rocking my maternity clothes. Judge me if you will, I cannot part with them yet. There is no explanation except that I love maternity clothes. The shirts are nice and long. And the jeans with that soft stretchy panel on the top. Simply divine. I know some women can't wait to pack up their maternity clothes. Not me. I'm holding on.

So there you have it. Just a few things I'm using to help those I love most. Have a great night!

three year old thoughts on heaven

"....and exchange it someday for a crown."

"Mama, I have a crown but it's just a toy one."

"I know baby, but someday when we go to heaven the crowns there are going to be real."

"Do you think they will have our names on them?"

"I bet God will let us know which one is ours."

"He's going to be surprised that there are three girls there."

(Laughing) "I sure hope He isn't surprised we're there. Remember, God knows all things so nothing can surprise Him."

"Daddy is going to need a king's crown because he's a boy. Are there going to be toys there?"

"I don't know baby, but it's going to be the best place ever and Jesus is getting our special place ready for us right now. Are you ready to pray baby? Who should pray, you or mama?"

"You do it. But make sure to pray that God will write our names on the curtains so we know which crown is ours."

(Something tells me she doesn't want her baby sister or anyone else for that matter putting their hands on her eternal things.) :)

all gussied up

Another successful Halloween on the books. As long as successful doesn't entail a trip to the pumpkin patch or carving pumpkins or even having pumpkins at all. I suffered a total lapse in pumpkin acquisition this year. Saturday night as we dropped something off at a friend's house, I saw their jack-o-lanterns on the porch and thought to myself, "Hmm, they carved their pumpkins early this year." (Note: this was on October 29.) It didn't hit me until Halloween afternoon that our carved pumpkins were "due" and we had nary a pumpkin to our name. I don't know what I was thinking. (I swear I had a brain before children.)

Believe it or not, the show went on. Here's Sissy getting a quick nap in before all the hoopla of her first Halloween.
While Tiger Baby slept I took a few pictures of "Sparkly Barbie Girl."

After a quick sandwich and Big Girl declaring that she was the "beautifulest of all" we were off.




By the time she was outsourcing her trick-or-treating tasks to others in the group, we decided it was time to go home and cheer the Kansas City Chiefs to victory. Which is exactly what we did. :)