Oh, Vana!

Dear Havana,

You do such a great job staying in your room in the mornings until daddy or I come to get you. Sometimes you talk or sing, but this morning I didn't hear you until close to 9am and you were yelling pretty loudly, "Mommy, Daddy, I miss you guys soooo much!" It made me smile as I got you up this morning. What a sweet girl you are. You've been awesome lately sharing your toys and playing with Jonah. You have even been gentle to Selah and read her some books.

You are learning how to actually read. You can sound out some words and I always scream with delight when you've figured it out. You are also very into learning how to tell time, but you always ask "What Number is It?" Instead of "What time is it?" We're still working on that. Once I tell you the time your next response is usually, "Do you remember why it is?" To which I don't know what you are asking so i usually explain that that is just where the sun is in the sky. :)

You also always want to be "mama's big helper" and you help me clean, cook, and pick up. You like to role of "big helper" and take a lot of pride in your work. It makes my heart sing to see you becoming such an amazing young girl! I love you!

10 months old!

Today selah turned 10 months old! She is such a big girl who loves to laugh and clap her hands. She is eating all sorts of table food including cookies and other sweets!

She is a chatter box who says a lot of "na na" and "la la" with an occasional "mama and dada"- she can point to what she wants, wave goodbye and sign more, all done, drink, and daddy.

She thinks she can do whatever H and J do... Which leads her to be more physically advanced than my other two (she is already climbing up stairs), but it also leaves her frustrated at times!

She loves being outside and could swing for hours. Right now as I'm typing this she is banging race cars together and enjoying those brief moments when she is awake while the others are asleep.

I love my ten month old.

David and Goliath

Today at church the children talked about David and Goliath... after lunch today Havana came into the kitchen carrying something and said, "this is my sling shot" -- we had to tell her that we don't actually play with sling shots. She leaves the room and we hear her call, "I will fight you, Goliath Jonah!" Then she picked up five pretend stones and went running towards Jonah.

Then she screamed, "Yay, God!"

Jason and I laughed thinking that if we scolded her for doing this she would simply respond with, "I was fighting in the name of the Lord."

Maybe Not...

I was playing basketball with Jonah this morning and I said, "Look, Jonah, I'm going to make a basket!"

Then I missed it.

Jonah replies with, "well, maybe not!"

Haha!

Chow wagon!

We had the most wonderful day last Wednesday. It started with jason and I meeting with one of our most favorite people in the world. The minister who married us is incredibly special to our family... I could seriously write a blog post on him and his family and how much they mean to us. Perhaps I will. :)

Anyway, Jason and I sat down with him and talked and laughed (and I cried) and prayed. It was a special time for us and a great way to start my day. Then I went from there to Bible study- super great day. On the way home from church we stopped by the Chow Wagon for the Derby festival. I have never been to the chow wagon before and anywhere there is fair food  I am happy!

The kids LOVED it. They ate gyros and a funnel cake (even selah was in on the cake action) and went down the fun slide! It was a perfect afternoon! I'm so thankful for this crazy season we are in right now.

Selah

Selah girl wants in on all the actions. While Jason and I were snuggling and praying over Jonah she literally did a stage dive type move to get over my legs and into the prayer circle.

At Chuck-E-Cheese she was pretty sure she could play all the games!

This girl is going to keep me on my toes - that's for sure. I so lucky to be her mama!

Pretty sure she is a cuter than the "e-trade" baby!

Jonah's bday!

His bday was a blast! We went to Chuck-E-Cheese and then celebrated at home with a homemade ice cream cake and presents! He loved his gifts!

I was so proud of Havana of how well he celebrated Jonah and helped him know it was his special day! She is a great big sister!

Ribs!

I made ribs for the first time the other night. Everyone says that they are hard to cook - nope!- not with my pinterest recipe. :)

The kids gobbled them up - including Selah. Jonah wanted to eat the rib bones and was quite disappointed when I told him they weren't for eating. So, he did the next best thing... he would dip the bone into the BBQ sauce and then lick it off. His cave man instincts totally took over. ha.

2nd Birthday...

Dear Jonah,

It is after midnight on May 3rd which makes it officially your 2nd birthday. You are sleeping away in your crib and I have tears streaming down my face thinking about a quote I heard in a movie once. Johnny Depp says in Finding Neverland, "Don't ever rush in putting boys to bed because they will be older when they wake up." So very true.

To say I love you is an understatement. You capture my heart in all you say and do. I am so proud to be your mother and I am so excited to see how the Lord will call you into His service. You are going to be a mighty man of God and it is an honor to be your mom. To be able to kiss you every morning, to do puzzles with you every day, to run and dance and sing with you. It is an honor to watch you breath and eat and comb your hair. It makes my heart flip to hear you talking to your sisters and it keeps me on my knees fighting for you in prayer.

You are such a smart boy - spelling and reading and singing. You can count to thirteen flawlessly now and you know all of your colors. Your vocab is off the charts and you should win an award for being able to play by yourself so well. I love reading you stories and doing your race cars at night. I love how you point out every cell tower and flag that you see as we drive along the road. I love your laugh. I love your little high pitched voice. I love your blonde curly hair. I love your big cheeks and your legs. I love your "do it by myself" attitude. I love that you always want to help me and as you take the clothes out of the dryer and put them in all the wrong rooms (hey it is your heart and you are trying to help) you will say to yourself "Thank you." To which I follow up with my own "thank you."

Jonah, my wish for you is that you grow to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart. That is it. I have no other wish. If you love the Lord with all your heart it will pour over into every relationship and decision that you make. It will keep you pure before marriage and faithful after marriage. It will keep you on your knees as you seek daily direction. It will find purpose and comfort in the midst of trials and loss. It will teach you that His grace is sufficient. It will keep you humble. It will keep you on the narrow path. Love the Lord, my son, love Him... trust Him... know that the Bible isn't outdated or full of hate speech (I honestly don't know where people get that)... it is alive and active. It is not only a guide, but a wellspring of wisdom and guidance. Go to God first, my boy, and keep Him the number one priority in your life. Use your gifts to serve Him and may your entire life be dedicated to worshiping him!

I love you, Jonah Abraham! I think you are the cutest, smartest, most amazing son a mommy could pray for. You are here for a purpose and I can't wait to see what God will do next in your life.

I love you!
Your Mommy

Out of control...

Okay, so that title could actually describe my children's behavior today but that's not why I wrote it. Havana is very dramatic when it comes to boo-boo's... Very. Dramatic. if anything is hurting her she has to cover it up including now the newest thing is wearing a sock over her and from where she got a scrape on her finger. She was just calling to me from her room saying "mama help me!" I go in to see what the matter is… And she is telling me that the mole on her leg is hurting her! What a drama queen! Kind of like her mother!