Friday, April 22, 2011

Milestones

Payton Joy is reaching milestone after milestone, and it's hard for me to chronicle them all! She is 28 months old now, and she's been counting to 5 quite well since she was about 18 months old. She's counting up to 10 now and it's something that she eased into without either of us really noticing (how shameful!). She knows all the primary colors and shapes. She starting singing, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star about two months ago in the car while she was watching a video along with Row, Row, Row Your Boat. She loves to sing the ABC song but cannot pronounce all the letters. She LOVES hearing Happy Birthday sung over and over interchanging whichever name she chooses at the end. Her favorite song, however, is Jingle Bells, which she asks me to sing usually at bed time. Have you ever heard that song slowed down to make a lullaby? It's rather soothing... :-)

For the first time tonight at dinner, PJ decided that she did not like to eat lemons. She's been eating them all her life...until tonight. It was hilarious to watch her face as she bit into it. There was a sense of shock on her face like, "Oh, I don't think I like this anymore!" She then promptly threw it back into my cup and said, "I don't want this."


Another interesting thing happened tonight after we got home. After we all piled out of the car, PJ started running through the yard, and Michael let Maya out. We took some adorable photos of the kids playing in the yard. Maya spotted a cat and took off after it. I started calling to her and PJ immediately started crying after her, "No, Pupper! No!" She was crying because she thought Maya was gone...for good. It was sad and so cute. I ended up bringing PJ with me when I went to retrieve Maya from our neighbor's yard across the street. At that point, PJ was more interested in the cat that Maya chased off. Just seeing her sweet, sensitive little heart in that moment made me smile. She loves Maya, too!

Grant is really starting to babble these days (5 months old!). It's quite humorous to hear him. He's a giggly guy, too. Michael can really get him going when he tickles his chubby little thighs! He's particularly ticklish on the tops of his shoulders, of all places, and he'll dip his head to one side whenever I try to pull up his shirts over his shoulders. It's really cute! I'm amazed how much Grant's disposition is like his Daddy's. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...

This coming Sunday is Easter and it's also my birthday. I'll never forget the story my Mother told me about the day I was born. I was born on Easter Sunday in 1977, and Dad had to preach at church that morning. She had been in labor all through the night and delivered me around 6:30am that morning. Then Dad left to preach the Easter sermon at church after being up all night long! At least that's what I seem to remember being the story. (Dad, please correct me if I'm wrong!) Anyway, I feel very blessed to have my birthday again on the same day that we're celebrating Easter this year. What an honor and huge, huge privilege. I praise God Almighty for raising His Son from the grave so that WE, all of us, can have eternal life! Hallelujah! Christ is risen!

Michael and I are celebrating our 5th anniversary on April 29th! We're both a little amazed that it's already been five years. We're so fulfilled in our lives right now and feel very, very blessed and grateful. Our beautiful, happy children are a huge part of that happiness but, more than anything, we thank the Lord for bringing us together into what seems to be quite a perfect union. The way we complement each other is almost uncanny!

We have definitely covered a lot of ground in our five years of marriage by building a nice little family (dog, daughter, son - in that order!). Michael has established a profitable company in Tomahawk over the past two years and it's still going steady and strong. I've found my groove as a mother (I think) and feel very able yet humbled in my position. God always allows our children to challenge the weakest points in our character, doesn't He? I consider it more opportunity to allow God's grace to uphold me whenever I fall short. And, thankfully, He is faithful every time!

Thus concludes my blog update this time. I want to start writing more often, and now that Grant's on a consistent nap/sleep schedule, I should have the wherewithal to actually do it!

Pictures of the kids playing in the yard tonight: Grant blended in with the grass...


PJ was really loving the plums that had fallen off our plum trees!