Max & Kaylee

And I'm back, with another edition of the things L says.  Because I can't help myself.  She just cracks me up.  All the time.

L has a pair of dress-up shoes.  You know, the plastic, high-heeled princess shoes?  The kind that came with poofs of feathers and jewels?  Well, they have been worn and worn.  The feathers and jewels have long since fallen off, but she still loves clomping around in them and has made great attempts to wear them in public as much as possible lately.  It's cute.  The other day, she was walking around the house in them, when out of nowhere, the heel broke off one of them.  I knew this day was coming, as they are  plastic and she seriously wears them all the time.  She was quite dismayed that they broke and quickly ran over to show me her broken shoe.  She informed me that they needed to go the Doctor, so that they could get fixed.  I assured her that we could take them to the Doctor, but for now, we'd set them up on a chair.  About an hour later, I was getting ready to go to an Eye Dr appt, to check on my corneal ulcer.  I was walking out the door, and mentioned that I was headed to the Dr, and would be home soon:
L: Mama!  My shoe!
Mama: Yeah, L, it's broken.
L: (running to get it) You take it to the Dr!  Put it in your bag!
Mama: Well, I dunno...
L: No, you HAVE to take it to the Dr!  He'll fix it! Put it in your bag!
Mama: Ok...
So, what do I do?  Take it in my bag to the Doc.  Of course, I come home later with a still-broken shoe.  The first thing L does when she sees me is run up to me, asking me if her shoe is fixed.  I try to tell her that I saw an Eye Dr, and that he didn't know how to fix shoes.  She was a bit disappointed, but we quickly decided that we would ask Daddy to try to fix it later.  Too cute! I just got a kick out of her making me take it with me, haha!


L: Mama!  I am going to eat that Toucan!
Mama: Uh...
L: That toucan!  I am going to eat it!
Mama: What?!
(L points to a pecan on the floor.)
Mama: Ooooh!  A PE-can!  You are going to eat that pecan!?
L: Yep!
(I might have been laughing hysterically inside...)


A few days ago, L went out to the store with Max, to pick up a few things.  She comes running in the door when they get home, holding a plastic bag up in her hand...
L: Mama!  Mama!  We got you more Q-tips!!
Mama: Um... (looking at Max for help...they went for beer and nothing else...)
L: Yeah, more Q-tips, Mama!
Mama: Oh, really?  Q-tips?
L: Yeah, look!
She pulls out a box of chocolates.
L: Q-tips, Mama!
Mama: Oh!  You got me chocolates?!
L: Yeah!
Don't really know how she got Q-tips confused with chocolates, but I will definitely take chocolates over Q-tips any day!

I'm sitting here, sipping on some just-brewed coffee from the pot (with a little splash of milk and drop of homemade chocolate syrup...), sitting and enjoying a few quiet moments during nap time, before I need to keep trucking along on my to-do list.  My theory is that if I take a few minutes to sit and read and be quiet, I'll find more motivation and energy to cross those little bullets off my list.  And I really want to work on that list today and tomorrow, so that Max and I can enjoy a lazy Saturday evening, without feeling the need to work on projects around the house.  See, good theory, right?!  Maybe...or maybe I really just list crossing things off lists.  That might be why I've added things like showering and making meals - because the satisfaction I get from crossing things off is just too much great.  Yeah, I know, I'm crazy when it comes to those blasted lists...

Anyways, here I sit, sipping my coffee before it gets too cold.  Care to join me for a few minutes?  I can guarantee there are a million thoughts running through my head.  After a week of being mostly with my two lovely babes, I am craving some adult company and conversation.  The need to chatter away about my life, thoughts, struggles, and joys is somewhat high at the moment.  Lucky for you, right?!

As I sit here, pondering where to begin, I can't help but think about that to-do list again.  It seems rather long at the moment, probably because we'll be leaving for our trip to AZ next week, and I want to make sure things are in order.  By the way, we are way excited for our trip.  We haven't had a big, long, far-away family vacation in awhile, and I am really looking forward to time away from home, visiting my parents.  Plus, there is a reunion to look forward to, yummy food, date nights, dry heat, and catching up with family & friends.  I am interested (or slightly anxious?) to see how the kids do on the flights out, and dealing with the time change.  Both of the babes have been on a plane before, and I know L is just plain excited - she'll watch a movie and keep occupied.  But Ezzy?  He is a mover.  And being confined to his Daddy's lap for a long time could prove to be quite the adventure.  I guess as long as we make it there in one piece and don't disrupt too many other passengers, we'll call it good!

It's hard to believe I am 30 weeks pregnant with Baby #3!  Only a few more months and we'll be meeting our newest member of the family.  Not gonna lie - I am way excited to find out if it's a boy or girl.  Last week, I was dead set that it was a girl.  I was dreaming about little girl babies and drooling over little sundresses and was calling her Baby Evie (ok, so may have just given one of our top names away...).  But then this week?  Something happened, don't know exactly what, but now I feel certain it's a boy growing and grooving in my belly.  I suppose that's how the next 10ish weeks will go, this back-and-forth curiosity and "certainty"!  I am just eager for the moment when s/he finally makes the grand appearance and Max is able to tell me what we are welcoming.  Not that it'll make any difference.  We are all so excited for this little one.

The other day, I was thinking about how much of a blessing it is that Max has been here for this pregnancy.  He has never really been around for a pregnancy (or much of the newborn stage, for that matter...).  He left for boot camp when I was 12 weeks pregnant with Eliana, only to be around after that for a handful of days before she was born.  And with Ezra?  We didn't even know I was pregnant again until a few months into his deployment, and he was gone the entire time, returning home for his R&R just 3 days before little Ezzy was born.  So, for him to experience this entire pregnancy thing - from the finding out, to all the Doc visits, to the crazy pregnant lady hormones and antics, to feeling so much of the baby's movements - has been such a special experience for him and for me.

I know that man would tell you that he wants to have 7 babies (yes, seriously, he wants 7 children...), but the more and more this baby grows in my belly, and the closer we get to meeting Baby #3, the more content I feel with having 3 kids.  I would have used to tell you that I could see us having 4 or 5 kids, and who knows...maybe we will, but I tell you...I am more and more at peace with this being the last little one we have.  We'll see - only God knows for sure how big our family is meant to be.

The last few weeks have been rough on me.  I know I've said it before, but it's true.  I've struggled with keeping a good perspective.  There were days I just wanted to hole up on the couch, order dinner in, and not do anything around the house.  I wanted to let our situation get the best of me.  Which is silly, because looking at all the little stuff that has gone on, I know that we are blessed, and that God has seen us through.  That really, in the scheme of life, it's not that bad and that we truly have it so good.  I've been really challenged lately to work on my perspective, and on being more focused on what we do have. To keep my mind on the things we are blessed with, rather than the little things that might be going wrong at the moment.  Because, when I start to list them, to name them, there are so many blessings in our lives.

I've struggled to keep it all together, to feel like I am succeeding in being a wife and mama.  I guess I can be too hard on myself, trying to do it all, to have it all together, to feel like I am making a difference.  The other night, we were reading the story of Jesus feeding the thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread.  In the story, it said that the disciples laughed at the meager amount of food the little boy offered up, saying that it wasn't enough and would never, could never feed all those people.  But Jesus said it was enough.  It was all the boy had, and it was enough.  It may have been the pregnant hormones, but I started crying as I read the story out loud to the kids.  What I have, who I am, it's enough.  God can make the impossible happen.  I may not feel like I have anything to give, but He is bigger, He is greater, and He can use the little that I have, to do miracles, to feed the masses.  If I would just be like the little boy, and offer the little that I do have, God can make it so much more.  I may get discouraged by situations, or look at others in comparison and feel inadequate, or think that I'll never be the mama I want to be or am meant to be, but God sees so much more than I do.  And can do so much more with the little that I have.  If I am willing to open my hands and offer what I have and who I am, He is able, and oh so much bigger than me.

See, I told you I would get chattering away and get lost in my rambling about life.  Oh!  Can I just say that I went shopping this week for a few new outfits (as my belly was running out of room, in a major way) and it's a wonder what a few new articles of clothing can do for a mama.  I feel like a new woman - all because of a few new shirts and bottoms.  Love it.

I hear a chattering Eliana on the monitor.  I guess that means nap time is over. And my coffee is getting cold. I'll take that as my wrap-up...hope you have a lovely weekend.

Last night, we were saying our bedtime prayers.  This usually entails a time in which we thank Jesus for our day and the things we have been blessed with, as well as praying for our family and friends.  Many nights, L starts stories in the middle of prayers, probably because something I say or we pray for reminds her of something, and she launches into a long, elaborate story about this or that.  I try to soak up these moments, because they are truly so precious.

Last night was no different.  Before prayers, we had read the 'Noah and the Ark' story in the Jesus Storybook Bible, as it's one of L's favorites and she always wants to see the animals on the page.  As we were naming all the animals, Ezra started 'hee-haw-ing' like a donkey - I had just taught him what a donkey said earlier in the night, and he was pretty proud that he could hee-haw now.  The hee-haw-ing led us to talking about donkeys, and how maybe someday, we could have a donkey and keep it in a barn at our house.  I started our prayers a few minutes later and we got to the portion where we pray for our friends and family.  Here is how the conversation ended up going...

Mama: ...And we pray for Kari and Dan..
L: Kari?  She's our friend?
Mama: Yes, L, she's our friend.
L: Oooh.  She holds me?
Mama: Um, sure!
L: Oh!  And Kari comes to visit and pick me up.  And she want to eat dinner with us?
Mama: Yes, she could eat dinner with us.
L: She will have a plate.  At the table.  And a fork.  Oh, and a knife.  Mama, Kari will get a knife, ok?
Mama: Ok, L, Kari can have a knife.
L: Kari gets a knife.  And then she come upstairs.  And lay on the pillows.  And then we take her to see our barn.  And show her our donkey.  Yeah, we show her the donkey!  And our cows.
Mama: Oh!  We have cows (plural!) now?
L: Yes, we show Kari our cows.  And our reindeer.  And a kitty.  And...and...we have a mouse. And they run.  And I take my doggie and kitty and lion (she is naming all the animals in her bed, at this point) and my Tangled (her Rapunzel doll from Uncle Coltan) and my blankie to the barn.  And we show her our baby.
Mama: Yes, we will show her our new baby.
L: Yes, our baby.  And you will carry the baby on your shoulders.
Mama: Um...ok...
L: And then we shut the door.  And all the animals stay inside.  No. No.  We don't shut the door.  We got outside and close the gate.  With our hands.  We shut the gate with our hands.  And goodnight animals.  And they go sleep.
Mama: Oh, the animals go to sleep?
L: Yes, they go sleep.
Mama: L, can you show me how you lay down and sleep?

At this point, she finally finishes her prayer interruption, lays down quite dramatically, and I continue on with our prayers...

Oh my!  This child and her imagination!  I was cracking up later!  So apparently, when you come to our house, it is very important that you get to eat dinner AND get a knife at the table?  Oh, and that you come see our herd of cows?!  Too funny.

And then today, I am packing, getting ready for a little 4th of July trip to visit Aunt Kathy and Uncle David.  And I am telling L that we will be leaving later.  She sees some bags and cups on the counter...

L: We take that bag to Aunt Kathy's?
Mama: Yes, L, we will take that bag to Aunt Kathy's house.
L: Oh, and we take our toys?
Mama: Yep.
L: And we will take our swimsuits?
Mama: Yes.
L: And the broom?
Mama: The broom?!  We are going to take the broom?
L: Yes, so you sweep at Aunt Kathy's house.

Um, I guess I have a sweeping obsession or something?  And no, I will NOT be taking the broom along, ha ha!!  Oh the things this little girl says.