Oohhh, Halfway There, Oh Oh, Livin' on Prayers!!!

OK, sorry if now you have Bon Jovi in your head, but it has been in mine since we are now "halfway there" to Mike coming home! And we have really been living on all the prayers from our wonderful family and friends. It is not by my own power that we have made it this long. I am still thankful to God for taking us through this. Mike and I have seen so much good come from this despite the separation, stress and loneliness. I've learned to ask help from others, and allow them to help me in times of need. I have learned that I will be much more available to help others who need help as well. I have grown in patience (doesn't always feel that way), and perseverance. Mike and I have surprisingly grown closer to each other too by doing a nightly devotional and praying together. It's pretty easy to have a captive audience when he has nothing else to look at but the walls of his shipping container-house! While none of this has been easy and milestones and memories have been missed, we really are thankful for this opportunity to grow closer to God and re-evaluate our life's priorities. As Mike said, the fact that he is in Iraq is not what's hard, it's being apart from his family that's hard. If he could have us there, everything would be fine. (Of course, I'd just rather he come back to Texas)

So thank you to everyone who continues to think of us in their prayers. They have been sustaining us.

Flower Girl Ella

Ella was the flower girl in my cousin Doug's wedding in Florida. She took this assignment very seriously. She read up on it (Reference: Fiona the Flower Girl), practiced and planned out every petal she was going to throw and to whom she was going to throw it to. Then came the big day. She was to carry a flower wand instead of throwing petals. Suprisingly, she was fine with the change of plans. After she walked down the aisle, she asked, "when do I get to walk down the aisle?" I knew what she meant. So much preparation for the big day and the actual act of walking down the aisle was mere seconds. I felt the same way about my wedding. Why don't we have week-long celebrations like they do in some cultures?

Next was the meal and dance. She begged and cried to dance with cousin Doug who became Uncle Doug by the end of the night. She just wanted to be near him all night. I think he was like daddy to her for the night. He kindly obliged even though it was his day. At one point the DJ must have played a really unpopular song because everyone cleared the dance floor, except Ella. She was standing in the corner of the floor, kind of bouncing up and down to the beat. Then she slowly crept her way to the middle of the dance floor. Once she was in the middle, she knew all eyes were on her. She was pretty funny to watch, especially since this is very uncharacteristic of her! We all applauded after she was done. She had a long, wonderful day. She crashed on the ride back to the condo and Grandpa Joel carried her to her room. That never happens!

We missed daddy terribly and it was hard to make such a wonderful memory without him. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to be a flower girl!

Sweet Ella Prayers

Ella: "Dear God, thank you for the morning light, people, and hugs from daddy".

Ramblings of a 3 year old. Volume #7

Ella: When I grow up to be an adult, I can marry Grant, right?
Me: No, sweetie, you can't marry your brother.
Ella: OK, then I'll marry Papa Joel!
Me: No, honey you can't marry family. You will marry someone who is a friend. Like Mommy and Daddy did.
Ella: Oh, then I can marry Trent or Carson!
Me: Um maybe...

Ella handing me her snack cup full of crumbs: "Mommy, you can have my crummy cup!"

Update

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog as well as before. Hopefully I will be less busy as a household manager and have more time to record the precious things the kiddos are doing. In my new role as household manager, in the past month I've had the car to the shop 3 times, 2 floods in the front yard and sprinkler man here 2 times for that, faulty sensor for security system (2 visits to fix this), an ant invasion (bug guy here for that) and a plumber to fix 2 toilets. It's almost a joke, really. Oh, but I wish it was.

Grant has been quite a mover lately. He's rolling to get places now and does a little scooting on his belly. He's also grabbing for his feet and pulling his socks off. Just in time for the cooler weather.

Ella enjoyed her long stay with Grandma Betty. She said the day Grandma left, "I miss Grandma. She helps take care of me." And since Grandma has left she has resumed the near constant askings for daddy. She told me tonight before bed that she plans on dreaming about daddy tonight. She said, "Last time I dreamt about daddy we played my Elefun game. Tonight I'm going to dream that we played the Memory game!" As she climbed into bed tonight she sighed. I asked her why she sighed. She said, "Ahhh, because of my nice cuddly sheets!"

Conversations with Ella. Volume #1

Ella: Momma, when God made the sharks, did they bite him?
Me: No, God is in control, so they did not bite Him.
Ella: So the jellyfish didn't sting Him and the string rays didn't sting Him either. And the dolphins...hmm what do they do?
Me: They just swim, play and eat.
Ella: What do they eat?
Me: Er...small fish.
Ella: Oh no! They can't do that. That's mean. That will make the fishies cry. Probably they can just eat the aquarium food that they sprinkle on the top.
Me: (No comment)

Ella-isms

Nuggle: (v) - Commonly takes place at bedtime. Usually involves her rolling over the top of you and asking you to please take your arm off of her.

Noonacorn: (n) - An animal that resembles a horse but with a horn. Commonly white with pink or rainbow of colors in its mane or horn.

Sedsert: (n) - Commonly the last course of a meal, usually consisting of something sweet.

Evening: (adv) - Used in place of even. In a sentence: "I want sedsert evening though I am full."

Upspide (down): (adj) - In such a way that the upper and lower parts are reversed in position.

Glitter: (n, v) - Trash left on the ground, or act of leaving trash on the ground. In a sentence: "Oh Mama! Those mean people GLITTERED!"

Maked: (adj) - Not covered by clothing. In a sentence: "Momma, look at me! I'm maked!!!"

Being a Mommy Has Its Rewards

I can always count on Ella to cheer me up when I need it most. Her timing is amazing! As we said prayers and cuddled in bed (cuddling to her is rolling around the bed and on top of me before I tuck her in) she said, "Momma, I like you when you wake me up in the morning. And I like you when you give me breakfast. And I like you when you take me to school. And I like you when you put me to bed. Momma, I like you sooooo much!" What better reward could there be for being a mommy than this?

Ramblings of a 3 year old. Volume #6

Ella playing outside: "Momma, can you take Gracie inside? I want to be alone with God out here."

Giving Ella money for her "Clean Water Fund" for her Sunday school: "OK, but can I have the quarters and diamonds?" I had to clarify that they were dimes, not diamonds.

Ella playing make believe (her favorite thing!): "Momma, I was playing we were living outside and we had no clean water to drink and no clean food to eat so we just decided not to eat. So then some people gave us some money and we got a house. And they made PANCAKES for us!"

Ramblings of a 3-year old. Volume #5

Ella to Grant: "Aaaw, you're so sweet! Sweet like honey, not sour like a lemon."

Ella in her highchair: "Momma, I'm going to roll around like a dog on the floor after supper, OK?" (Daddy will really appreciate this one)

Grant is on his changing table and starts passing gas, loudly. Ella: "He's farting!!! That cracks me up!"

Ramblings of a 3-year old. Volume #4

These ones aren't the usual funny sayings from Ella, but sweet and thought-provoking.

While watching a commercial for a depression medication, Ella asks, "Mommy why are all those people so sad?" Me: "I don't know honey." Ella: "Maybe it's because they bumped into the world." Wow, that's a good way to put it.

At prayer time: "Thank you God for all the wonderful things in my life."


Daddy, you would be so proud of our little girl. She is becoming so responsible, obedient and a wonderful helper. When Grant starts to cry, she will go to comfort him and more times than not she can make him stop. She is doing so many things without me having to ask. And her prayer time has become so precious. I can't wait for you to be a part of our daily routine again.

The Ella Archives. Volume #2

This one goes back to when Ella was 2 years old. Mike was watching a video about the Holy Land and Ella asked about it. We told her it was about the place where Jesus grew up. Then Mike asked her if she knew who Jesus' mom was. Ella said, "Mary". Then Mike asked her who Jesus' daddy on earth was. She didn't know, so Mike said "It's Joseph". Then Ella said with a puzzled look, "Uncle Joe?" We really cracked up at that one!

Grant Firsts: Solid Food

Here are pics of Grant eating his first food: oatmeal cereal. This first pic is the "before" and the second pic is the "after". We had given him rice cereal in a bottle a few times to help with his reflux, but it only made it worse (think volcano). So the doctor recommended trying oatmeal. Now you can totally tell that this is my second baby because I would have never allowed any solid foods to touch Ella's lips until she was exactly 6 months. He seems to like it but is still working on the coordination of keeping it in his mouth.

Ramblings of a 3 year-old. Volume #3

Ella sitting on the toilet, bending over and looking between her legs: "Mommy, I'm gonna save some poopy for tomorrow."

Ella is playing with her elephant and flamingo sock puppets. Elephant to Flamingo: "My name is Mrs. Gotshobuk. I love shots, do you?"

Ella eating a cookie: "I'm going to save some of this cookie to send to Cookie Monster, OK?"

Prayer time: "Thank you God for all the beautiful things in the sky. And thank you for the beautiful world."

Super Hero Kiddos

These are pics of my 2 favorite super heroes. Superflex Baby and Super Shirt Girl. Today as we were getting ready for bath Ella put her shirt on like this and said, "Look Momma! Now I have on my cape so I can fly around the house!" On a side note: No, Ella is not malnourished. I know she looks like all those kiddos you see on the "Feed the Children" commercials with the stick arms and legs and pot belly. I can assure you she is perfectly healthy. I looked just like this too when I was a kid and I turned out fine. In fact, I still have stick arms and legs and a pot belly!

Car trouble and advice from a 3 year old

As luck would have it, our very reliable vehicle would have problems as soon as Mike leaves. I did notice the door was ajar as I was loading the kids into the car, but thought it would be fine. As soon as I turned it over...click, click, click. Dead battery. So what do I do? Keep trying. (I am not functioning on all cylinders first thing in the morning). Thankfully, today at least, Ella is. She says, "Mommy, why don't we just take the black car?" Good thinking. Glad I have my 3 year old to give me advice.

Later today she was asking about the car. I said if it didn't work again, then we would take it to the "man" to fix it. She said, "How can we take it to him if it doesn't start?" Good question.

Grantman firsts: Rolling!

Grantman rolled over to his tummy for the first time today (without cheating)! He has acid reflux so I always put him on a wedge when I lay him down and he was able to roll off that easily, but not on a flat surface. I have been a bad therapist mommy and not doing tummy time since he would always throw up! However, realizing he will be 4 months in a few days, I knew he needed to start rolling. I started working on it with him on Thursday, and he rolled independently today! Here are the pics of his first roll onto his tummy.

Military Reunions

I can't wait for this moment:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr7DcJdbCS0

Grantman Giggle

Pretend Food Man

Momma Momma, come look! I made a person!