With Warmest Wishes

I welcome you to the Christmas countdown.   Let the useless words and priceless photos commence daily until the day we celebrate the birth of the King.
Batten down the hatches, December is here, and with it, the prospect of cooler weather (maybe), precipitation, candy canes, and the high probability that you will see many more pictures of Maggie in this bunny hat.

Happy December 1
Grace and peace
xxx

For some reason Blogger is not acknowledging that it is, in fact December 1st.  According to my clock it is 2:15 am, confirming not only that I should be asleep, but that December is here and my first post is on time.

It's The Overflow

Yesterday, my Little was playing outside and all I could here was uncontrolled giggling.  When I peaked my head outside I saw a November wind whisking away the last of the leaves from our oak trees and my Little  spinning in the middle of it...My heart felt thankful.

Every day this month I have deliberately thought of one thing each day to be thankful for.  We are so blessed, that I didn't even scratch the surface of our blessings.

 I'm hoping in this life that the Jones family is building, that we don't hold onto those blessings.  My prayer is that the mission for our family will be that we begin see all that our Father has given us begin to overflow to those around us...In ways that we never thought possible.

 Our arms are full, but I pray that they will always be open.
Happy Thanksgiving..

xxx
Oh, and by the way, I feel like if I ever had "readers" they have  abandoned this space due to the fact that I have all but quit blogging.  Please come back, leave me comments (b/c they make me feel good) and b/c I am bringing back the Christmas countdown!  A blog a day to help me and you, if you visit me regularly, feel more festive.  It's true, and I promise will be better than last year when I was 10 months pregnant and very Scroogeish..thank goodness that baby finally came out!:)
Grace and Peace

These shots are of the Littlest toddling around the kichen

How in the world did I capture these pictures of my Little?  She just crashed on the couch after a long day playing...I couldn't even wake her up a little bit.

The Little almost always puts her shoes on the wrong feet.  We tell her everyday that she needs to switch them, but I'm convinced that she enjoys wearing them on the wrong feet.

Somehow she knows about Sponge Bob Square Pants.  I have never watched this show, nor has my 3 year old.  I don't know anything about this cartoon, but I am sure it is not appropriate for a little girl.  She keeps asking me "Mommy, why you not like Sponge Boat"?

Kev and Maggie left the house the other day during nap time.  Since it was just me and the Little alone together I let her rest on the couch while we watched a movie together.  She was so sweet laying there that I told her that I loved her so much. She put her hand on face and said "I forgive you Mama, I sorry, I forgive you." I guess she was just mixing up phrases she hears during our heart to hearts.

The Littlest cried herself sick the other day and while I was cleaning and comforting her, Libs came and asked what was wrong with Maggie.  When I told her that Maggie was sick she said, "Mommy, I sick too.  I need some medcine."
When I asked her why she needed medicine, she said, with an extremely dramatic voice, said "because my feelings are hurt."

It is hard to keep a straight face around this girl...
Grace and Peace

If I Ever Finish My Book

If I ever start my book should be more like it.  2 weeks after Maggie was born I finished Libby's Book,  She was 2 1/2.  I swore that I was going to keep up with Maggie's from month to month so that I could have it finished for her 1st birthday.  Currently I have a title page completed.  Maggie will be one in two months. 
That is all I have to say about that.

My second child is a mysterious little thing.  I spent all that time with Libby getting to know just her...not to mention the fact that she is so similar to me that most of the time I can figure out her next move before she does it.  In these ten months that I've known and loved Maggie Bell, I've learned a lot about her.  I know that she is a delicate creature, prone to need a good minute or two of loving now and again.  I know that she smiles and laughs if you look at her.  I know that she is physically strong and will voice her opinion if she needs to...I know that she is just a bit shy.  Despite all these things that I know about her, I am sure that she holds a secret just behind her pretty blue eyes that she's not letting me in on...I think that it something really good, but for now she's keeping it to herself.  Maybe this will always be the case.

When we took our trip to the mountains a couple of weeks ago. She took her first steps. So I need to get that down for my memory's sake, that around 9 1/2 months old Maggie walked. It is not her first choice for getting around yet, but every day she surprises me, taking just a couple more steps. Last night she was standing up from sitting on the floor and then walking. Each time she did this, she  would turn around and look at me with a big grin on her face to make sure that I saw her do it. There is real pride in her face when she walks. I can tell that she knows that she is doing a something big.

When Maggie smiles her little nose crunches right up. I know I typed this a couple months ago, but really if you look at her when she is crying and smile, she starts to smile and then she laughs and then you forget what it was that you were about to do...Her smile brings wonderful confusion to my life daily.

At 10 months old, her favorite food choices are blueberries and green beans. I think she weighed about 18lbs and was around 27 in long. The back of her head is full with little reddish curls that seems to be getting fuller every day.  She likes to play with blocks (thank goodness about this) mostly, but she loves, LOVES to steal Libby's Mo-Mo (which is her little bear that is dressed like a bunny. I used to call him Bernie until she learned to talk and told me his name was actually Mo-Mo).  When this happens we all laugh and Libs says something like "Mommy, Maggie stole my Mo-Mo, Mags don't steal my Mo."  It really is funny b/c even though she is such a little thing, she does such a sneaky giggle that I know she realizes that she is doing something wrong.  When Kev or I sit on the floor with her she crawls to us at top speed. When she reaches us, she buries her head into our chests...I call this the nuzzle.  In fact, if Mags was a super hero, I think her name could be the Nuzzler.  After all this time, she finally is showing some real affection for Kev...not that she didn't before, but I think it is a little more balanced out between the two of us now. 

Time passes so significantly when you have a baby. Lately, Mags has been challenging me in the sleep department. A couple days ago it was making it through the night. Now that the night is sorted, we are back to fighting every nap time. I was rocking her today (and by rocking, I mean rocking and rocking and rocking)  on one hand I could think of one million other things that I should have been working on. On the other hand, I thought about how in just a short time, Maggie will be done with nursing. In just a short time I'll call her my toddler instead of  my baby. In just a short time this first year of her life will be done.  It made me realize what a privilege it was to rock her.
She never took a nap this after noon. She just looked at me.  She needed me to rock her today, so I did. Tomorrow is a new day, and I'm sure she'll nap just fine...eventually.:)

Ten month Maggie...
One is on the horizon and I can scarcely even believe that it is possible that she has been here the better part of a year. To me she is still that crinkly newborn that I woke up with in my arms every morning...
But here she is, 10 months old...
This is what I know for sure...life is sweeter with MaggieBell in it.

10 months documented...check.
Now if I get past the title page of my book, I'll have reference post for ten months.
Grace and Peace.
xxx
PS  Just in case you wondered, all of these pictures are a couple weeks old.  The camera charger is still missing.  It is sad.  Very sad.

Before I Say Anything Else

I (we) have lost the charger for our camera and we can't take any pictures!  Wahhhhwahhhh!!!!

All of these pictures were taken on my cell phone...

Maggie turned ten months old and I need to take pictures of her!
How many times can I type "pictures" in one paragraph?

I am officially that Mom that did all the special stuff for the first born, swore I was going to do it all for the second, and am failing miserably at it....
Poor Mags.

So, today I heard two different woman, who are also Moms, call me a laid back Mom...I took it as a compliment, I think?
I don't sweat things like mulch eating babies and crashes on the play ground.  I know that if we play with other kids we're going to share germs.
                                      Sometimes, I forgo nap time in our beds b/c a quilt in the back yard seems like a better spot for dreaming.  If my little ones find themselves lonely in the night I  let them curl up with us, b/c I imagine when they are 16 the likelihood of them wanting to cuddle with us in the morning will have decreased.
I am hoping that none of these things will scar them for life.

Lately, the girls have been interacting more and more.  Libby is fiercely protective over Maggie.  When others get too close to her Libby will say "this is Maggie, she's my baby sister."  Then she'll pick Maggie up and move her away from whatever child or adult, for that matter, that is getting too close to her girl.
Today she carried her around the playground.  Every time she moved her to a new spot she would say "come on baby girl, let's go over here."  It made me grin.  Hearing them laugh together is probably the best thing that I have ever heard.

In other news, I have been determined to do some creative projects the last couple of days.  The projects are going well but house is falling apart.  I have realized that I have just enough time in my life for the things that are essential.  Everything else is extra and I just can't seem to make time for extra.  Even as I type there is mountain size pile of laundry luring over me in our bedroom.  My dilemma is, do I finish the laundry and clean the bathrooms, or do I finish my projects?
 Life is full of tough choices.

I took the girls to their well appointments the other day, and despite runny noses that won't quit, they are well.
I am thankful.
 My Little is on the shorter side. She also made it through her first Dr.'s appointment with no crying, woohoo!
 The Littlest handled her shots like a champ, barely even cried.
They were weighed, they were measured, they were given stickers and suckers.
Amen.

I'm not sure where I was going to go with this post.  It seems like it has gone everywhere and no where all at the same time.

And that is okay.  What is not okay is that I am still missing the camera charger so until then I am stuck with slightly blurry pictures from my cell phone.

Here's to finding it soon.
Grace and Peace
xoxo

1+1=Indecision

You may not know this about me, but I have a real anxiety issue about sending my girls to pre-school, or any school for that matter.  The reasons make a lot of sense in my head, but when I try to explain them to others they just come out muddled and senseless.

Here are some of them (these are just scratching the surface though)....judge me if you will, just not too harshly.  I'm sensitive.

#1.  They are going to be in school for basically the rest of their lives, why rush it?

#2.  Picking a school (even a pre-school) is going to start shaping their world view...this is a big deal to me.  I want them to view the world from Christ's vantage point.  Even the smallest untruth could plant a seed of doubt that could grow into a view of the world that is contrary to the real TRUTH....trust me I know about this first hand.

#3.  I'm not ready yet..I know it's not about me, but I'm being honest.  Until they leave for college, school is going to get like 50% of their time or more....can't I steal these precious early days as long as can?

Which leads me to #4. I was teacher.  Is it possible that I can teach them myself?
Now don't jump to any conclusions.  I know that great and wonderful things will come from my girls starting school.  I know there would be benefits to sending Libby right now.  I know these things.  I've heard all the pros, and I agree with many of them, but still, there is the anxiety that is telling me that for us, it is not time yet.  Occasionally, I opt for listening to my intuition.
Back to #4...I have been exploring and trying out teaching Libs some pre-school stuff myself.
It has been really fun and has made me be more deliberate about the time I spend with her.

I'd love to hear your feed back on this.
It might add to my indecision.
It might make me feel guilty.
It might make feel like I'm stifling her education.
Okay, I was just kidding, no feedback.
Unless you want to.
But don't yell at me...
See what I mean. 
Indecisive.

Grace and Peace

Halloween In A Hot Minute

Dear Maggie,

I am sorry that for your first Halloween I did not take any good pictures of you by yourself.  We will pretend that the these pictures of you are from your first Halloween.

Love, Mommy

True to form we have been super busy lately.  When the day before Halloween arrived and I realized that we hadn't taken the girls to the pumpkin patch yet, I insisted that we stop despite our already jam packed day.  There were no hayrides, there was no deliberating over which pumpkins were the perfect ones for our front porch.  It was basically throw the girls down in a heap of pumpkins, jump up and down to get them to smile for a photo op, then throw them back in the car to get to the next event in time.

The same was true for Halloween Day. We were having friends over so I was busy most of the day preparing for that. About half past nap time I decided it would be good for Kev and I to do costumes as well as the kids (b/c I had time for this...really.  These are the moments when in reflection, truly make me believe  there is a real possibility that I have a few screws loose in the old noggin'). After a little Googling I found 2 simple costumes that I could easily through together with supplies from the dollar store.

Let me spare you the trouble of trying to figure out what we are based on our pants and shoes. Kev is a "Smartie" pants and I am gold digger, not in real life, just on Halloween.  I hot glued "smarties" to Kev's best jeans.  Seriously, they were his favorites.  In my defense, let me just say that they were at the bottom of the stack and they were Wranglers!  How is that I didn't know that my British husband wore Wranglers and if he loves them so much what were they doing at the bottom of a stack of about 6 other pairs?  Anywho, a hot iron and some wax paper ought to take the glue out...I think.?  I bought him a pair of $1 reading glasses and made him faux suspenders from ribbon. Voila, Smartie pants.  For my costume, I pulled a gold sweater out of my drawer, sprayed one of the girls sand shovels and a pair of old heals gold, dowsed myself in gold Christmas decorations, then added gold sheen to my hair and face...
Lots of gold + a shovel = gold digger.

After all that rushing around and last minute planning, as soon as the guests arrived and we sat down in the driveway to eat soup and wait for the trick or treater's, it started to rain. Before I knew it, everyone was in our house and the children were restless. Our poor little ones never even got to knock on a door, let alone speak the phrase "trick or treat." B/c the daddies are good sports and lots of fun, they all grabbed a bowl of candy and picked a room in our up stairs so that the little ones could fulfill their Halloween hopes of getting a bucket load of candy..

They knock on our bedroom doors and giggled when the Daddy's would open it up and hand them a Kit-Kat...
Next year, I'm going to plan better, and make our costumes the day before Halloween instead the actual day itself.
Until then, happy hauntings!
Grace and Peace