Adventures in Childhood: Micah at Three and a Half

This is Micah. Believe it or not, she's three and a half. I honestly cannot believe how quickly the past year has flown by. One minute, I was writing all about her adventures as a rambunctious little two and a half year old, and the next minute an entire year had passed. How is that possible?

At any rate, since I devoted an entire post to Kendall the other day, I figure it's only fair to devote another one to Micah. Attention hog that she is, I'm sure she would agree.

My little girl loves, I mean LOVES playing dress up. The tackier the better. Most days, as soon as she's finished with breakfast, she heads for her dress up bin and starts piling on the layers. In case you were wondering, as long as it matches your tutu, a Santa hat is always in season.

She's one big ball of energy. The girl never slows down. If I get a decent picture of her, it's nothing short of a miracle. She's constantly on the go. She's a girly girl, for sure, but she's not afraid to get sweaty either. She loves playing outside, kicking the soccer ball, and running hither and yon.

Unless of course, she's zoned out watching Sofia the First with her babies, which, by the way, is one of her favorite pasttimes. She's been playing "Mama" for a long time, and she thinks she has it all down pat. I learn a lot about myself when I hear her talking to her babies. The girl repeats verbatim things I say to her all the time. Which means that she does, in fact, hear me, even if she pretends that she doesn't.

She's a really good big sister. She loves Kendall, and she gets a major kick out of making her little sister giggle. No one can make Kendall laugh like Micah. Kendall adores her big sister, and for good reason. Micah can be so sweet when she wants to be. Fortunately, most of the time she wants to be sweet to her sister. That will probably change in years to come :)

She loves drawing, and, recently she's actually started to draw pictures instead of just scribbling on the page. For a long time, she refused to attempt to draw anything. She would hand me a crayon and ask me to draw a picture of a house...or a little girl...or a flower...or a sun...but she wouldn't even attempt to do so herself. Then all of a sudden one day while I was filling some orders in the etsy shop, I looked up, and she had drawn a picture of the two of us, complete with a rainbow over our heads. She never ceases to amaze.

I love this little girl. She thinks I'm amazing, but I know the truth: she's far more amazing than I will ever be. I pray that she never loses the sparkle in her big blue eyes - that she never takes herself too seriously - that she will always be her sister's protector - and most of all, that she would grow into a young woman who loves and serves the Lord with all of her heart.

This little lady makes me laugh daily. She reminds me to just let go and live a little. She has brought such joy into my life, and I love her so.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Only One Mother in the Whole World

Mama and me, circa 1982

I know that the big day isn't until Sunday, but I didn't want to wait until then. I'll never be able to thank you for everything you've done for me over the past 30 years, and I hope you know that I wouldn't trade you for any other mother in the entire world. You're the only one I want.

“Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends—but only one mother in the whole world.”

—Kate Douglas Wiggin

Love you, Mama.

Adventures in Babyhood: Kendall the 10-Month-Old

Believe it or not, Kendall is 10 and a half months old. I haven't written much about her on here, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to say. She's a sweet and delightful little girl, and she's entering a really fun stage of childhood—to her, everything is new and exciting, and she's fascinated by the most ordinary of objects. Take those bubbles from the other day, for instance. She's learning and growing and changing before my very eyes, and there are all sorts of things about her at this age that I don't want to forget.

I don't want to forget these luminous blue eyes.

I don't want to forget the way she claps her hands in delight.

I don't want to forget her little two-toothed grin.

I don't want to forget these chubby little knees.

I don't want to forget this wide-eyed sense of wonder.

More than anything, I want to remember just how darn sweet she is. She really is an easy-going, good-natured baby. She's always smiling these days, and she's getting pretty vocal. She babbles nonstop and waves with excitement when Dennis and Gran get home from work. She plays peek-a-boo, and I can't help but laugh when she gets mixed up and covers her ears instead of her eyes. Her favorite part of Patty Cake is "throw 'em in the pan!" And if you catch her at the right moment, she'll laugh and laugh and laugh at the silliest things.

She's a girl who loves to eat. Like her sister, she turned her nose up at baby food and dove right in to eating real food. She started out eating English peas and sweet potatoes, but these days she'll eat anything and everything that we put in front of her. I honestly can't think of anything that she's refused to eat. She's a good eater, and for that, I'm glad.

You may or may not remember that I had a really hard time adjusting to the idea of another baby. We weren't exactly planning on having another child so soon, but God knew exactly what He was doing when He sent Kendall to us. I may not have been expecting her to arrive when she did, but I'm so very glad she did. I can't imagine life without my little sweetheart, and now that we're nearly through the first year and moving past the infant stage, life just gets better and better.

She has captured my heart.

I can't wait to see what kind of little lady she will become in the years ahead. I pray that she never loses that wide-eyed sense of wonder, that God will protect and preserve her heart and save it for Himself. I pray that she will become a woman who chases after the Lord with single-minded devotion. And, of course, I pray that God will help me to be the kind of Mama that leads her children to Him.

She has brought such joy into my life, and I couldn't be more grateful for this little sweetheart.

Until next time, grace and peace.