Milestones

Eva has her first cold. Is is so sad to hear her cough and sniffle. She's been sleeping almost all the time. Please pray for her! The boys and I had the same cold and it's a mean one.

Eva has been sleeping through the night! On Thursday, she slept eight hours without waking to eat. Yeah!

I know her sleeping is most likely due to her sickness, and I haven't gotten much sleep because I am up constantly to check on her. But it gives me hope that a full night's sleep is in store for me soon!

Crap Please!

We did a lot of Valentine's Day crafts this year. It must have been the first time I regularly used the word "craft." I think I'm usually more specific. "Let's color" or "Let's cut" - or maybe even, "Let's do a project!" So the other day, Kedrick came up to me and said ever so sweetly, "Mom, I want to do a crap!"

Holding On To Owies

Victor has an owie. We were talking about how God gave us bodies that heal and how incredible that is. Victor covered his owie with his hand and cried, "I want to keep my owie! It's mine!"

How crazy is that? To keep an owie. To hold on to it, claiming it as MINE. To let it fester and spread, causing more and more pain.

I pondered Victor's cry. How true it is in my life! My owies are emotional pains; the hurts, disappointments, and offenses that I keep close to my heart, not wanting to let go. Not wanting to allow the God of the Universe, the Great Physician, who loves me beyond measure, to come in and heal my owies. I want to keep them! They are mine!

How foolish I am.

So today is a new day! Today I take off the bandages that I've used to hide my owies. Today I allow God to apply his love as a healing ointment to my wounds. Today I abandon foolishness. Today the healing begins!

About Eva: 2 months

Eva is two-months-old. It is amazing how quickly show grows. She already weighs 12 pounds! She sometimes sleeps six-hour stretches at night, but more often three to four. When she does awaken, she eats quickly and goes back to sleep. I can't complain.

Eva is still so very sweet. And, as I expected, she definitely knows what she wants! She smiles and laughs and coos often. She spends her days gazing at her hand, or the ceiling fan, or whatever fun toys the boys pile around her. She is now content to be on her own (not held), although she still spends much of her time cuddling. What a joy she is!

More Pictures of Eva

I've had requests for more pictures of Eva...mostly from those who live out of town. I'll gladly supply! I love taking pictures of her.

Happy Birthday Victor!

Today is Victor's third birthday. As I look over pictures of him from the last three years, it is difficult to pick just a few. Victor is so extremely expressive and every picture seems to capture a different expression, each one showing one of the many sides of his fun personality. He adds so much to our family. He makes every moment a bit sillier. I love him so much!!

Now, a brief look at the last three years...

Anticipating Victor's arrival:

Baby Victor:

Victor Turns One:

Victor Turns Two:

Spiderman

Here are some cute pictures of Kedrick being goofy in his new Spiderman underwear.

Dinner Theatre

Gramma bought the boys a puppet theater.

Kedrick was the first to finish dinner tonight, so he cleaned off his plate and prepared a puppet show for us.

The opening act starred the Abominable Snowman finger puppet...from the Rudolph Story. The puppet walked across the stage, then promptly laid down. The narration went as follows, "He walked and walked and walked and walked, then he died...he died on the cross for our sins."

Christmas is still alive in our home.

The main show was the story of Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus and the three kings. Kedrick spent all evening starting his story, then stopping to add various characters. Each character was carefully selected from among his toys.

A Thomas The Train garage was the stable.

Two monster puppets played Mary and Joseph.

An upside down matchbox sized oil tanker acted as a manger.

Another monster puppet for baby Jesus.

A Chevron car played a donkey.

Kedrick is still adding characters, and we've all moved on to other things. Hopefully he'll finish up and let us watch the final show before bed.

Three Sweet Friends

Eva (left) - 7 weeks, Sophie (center) - 10 weeks, Elsa (right) - 8 weeks

Baby Care

The boys love to help with Eva.

Here they are helping daddy give her a bath.

We don't have any real dolls yet, so the boys pretend these glow worms are their babies. They so sweetly and gently take care of them, just like I take care of Eva. It is always a bit startling though, when they are done pretending they have babies and start throwing the glow worms across the room like a football.

God's Job

Mom: "Today we are going to clean the house."

Kedrick: "Mom, um, excuse me." (Kedrick is always very polite)

Mom: "Yes, Kedrick?"

Kedrick: "We are not going to clean the house today. God is going to clean the house. That's God's job. I talked to God."

Kedrick: "God? Can you hurry and clean up the mess? I love you."