All I want for Christmas...

I must admit that there was a small part of me that was wishing for a surprise this Christmas. Perhaps a doorbell would ring and he would be standing there. Or he would call and tell me he is at the airport and I am to come pick him up (I have replayed this event in my mind over and over). But as I webcamed with him the day before Christmas Eve, and I stared at the walls covered in Ella's artwork and pictures of the family, I knew he was still in Iraq, not to come home until it's time. It really didn't feel like Christmas, even with all the presents, decorations and snow. I think that made it easier, actually. If it had really felt like Christmas, then it would have been much more difficult. I miss you, love you and I can't wait until we are sitting under our tree in February having our Christmas with you.

Ella's First Dance Recital

Here is Ella on the day of her recital. She was so excited about this day that she was counting down the days a week ahead. She did awesome! She confidently walked onto the stage and danced from the beginning to the end of the routine. Her and another girl were the only ones really dancing. The other 3 were running around the stage and lying on the ground :) Afterwards she said: "I want to do 20 more recitals!" It brought me such joy to see her with such confidence and poise. She is usually the observer and cautious one, so this really took me by surprise. I really wish I could post the video, however Blogger has a hard time downloading even short clips.

Ramblings of a 3 year old. Volume #9

Ella: "Mommy, would you like Ellas everywhere?"

Ella: "What day will I be married?"
Me: "Who are you going to marry?"
Ella: "I don't know, I need to find a boy."
Me: Ugh.

Ella at prayer time: "Mommy, no matter what I will always love you. Even when the raindrops fall, I will love you. Even when it thunders I will love you."

Oh, my sweet precious Ella!

What is healthy?

Our discussion while cuddling in bed:

Ella: Mommy, why can't I eat fruit snacks all the time?
Me: Because they aren't healthy.
Ella: Are carrots healthy?
Me: Yes.
Ella: Is watermelon healthy?
Me: Yes.
Ella: Mommy, what does healthy mean?
Me: It's things that make your body feel good and strong.
Ella: Daddy makes me feel healthy! He makes me feel good.

Halloween Pictures (This is for you Sarah!)

Talking to Sarah last night she asked me when I was going to post the kid's Halloween pics. So, even though it is December, here they are. It wasn't as I remember Halloween: wearing our snowsuits under our vinyl costumes (which turned hard from the cold) with the parents driving in the car so we could run to a house or two then run back into the car to warm up. In all fairness, I guess I only remember one Halloween like that. But anyway, that is why Grant is not wearing the bottom half of his monkey costume. We spent it with some great friends, my friend Yvette who flew in to visit, and Amy and her husband and their daughter Shiloh, Ella's best friend.

Milestones

I really need to give an update on the kiddos. First, Grantman. He is very advanced with his smiling :) No really, he smiles most of the day. I call him my "bright bit of sunshine". He is belly crawling and nearly crawling on hands and knees, which I am so not ready for. He is also......are you ready.......saying mama!!!! Of course, everyone and everything can be mama, but who cares. He loves Gracie the dog and tries to grab a chunk of her whenever he can. He is eating 3 meals of solids a day, with his favorite being carrots and least favorite peas. He is already exhibiting his boyish play skills by banging every toy given to him onto the tray of his highchair. He is officially now sitting in the highchair, no more bumbo seat for meals. Which brings me to Ella. She is an official big girl sitting at the table on a small booster. She had been eating her suppers still in the highchair (and at her little table for breakfast and lunch) but has reluctantly passed down the highchair to Grant. She still calls it "our highchair". It helped that the booster is pink ("Oh pinkie, my favorite color!") She is taking a ballet class and continues to show me moves with names I am totally unfamiliar with, since I never took dance. She has a recital coming up in December. I am so sad that Daddy will miss this, her first performance of any kind, ever. I will have to bring some friends for moral support. Since it is fall, she loves to collect acorns, leaves and flowers (yes, we still have flowers here in south Texas). She is also becoming quite the artist and is coloring, gluing and taping various art projects and likes to make "books". The other day I drew a person and she said to me, "Huh, I usually draw the people with the legs and arms coming out of their head. You gave them a body." Once she starts drawing bodies, I'm afraid that her art skills will surpass mine. What wonderful little blessings they are!

Veteran's Day

I can't believe with my husband in Iraq, that it was nearly the middle of the day before I realized it was Veteran's Day. In the past, this was just another day off for me, not giving much thought to what it represents. It is so interesting how our human nature doesn't allow us to experience true empathy unless we go through the experience ourselves. Even today, with Mike in Iraq, I was still overcome with the busyness of life that I didn't get a chance to stop and give him a personal thank you. So I am now. Thank you honey for your sacrifice. It doesn't go unnoticed and I am sorry if I don't always express it to you. You are an amazing husband, father, best friend, and attorney too. I can't wait for you to return home, so we can feel whole again.

Ramblings of a 3 year-old

My friend Yvette came to visit me this week. What a wonderful blessing that was, even if only for a few days. Ella on the other hand is always uncomfortable with visitors when they first arrive, no matter who they are. After we brought Yvette home from the airport Ella asked, "Mommy, can we take her back to the airport?"

Ella: Mommy, Gracie (our dog) is blonde, right?
Me: Yes, she is.
Ella: I'm blonde too, we have that connection.

Our sitter Azalea came Monday night so Yvette and I to go to my Bible study class. When Azalea walked in the door Ella said, "We won't need you tonight, we got her" (pointing to Yvette).

Azalea was eating dinner with Ella and she asked Ella if she could have a piece of her Halloween candy. Ella thought about it then said, "You can get some of yours when you get home." Azalea said "I didn't get to go trick or treating." Ella says, "Well, you can always go next year."

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!