Well, it happened. My baby girl turned 2. And for the first time, I don't have a newborn or a pregnant belly ready to pop! I would have kept her at 1 forever but we don't get that choice. The good Lord put time in motion and I'm just trying to enjoy it while it passes. Sweet little peanut (weighing in at a whopping 21 pounds!) didn't quite know what to do with her party.
Maybe it was because there were so many little boys!
She liked the cake and the presents.
Here are the girls! It was a sweet time with family and friends, who doesn't want to to celebrate a 2 year old's birthday on Valentine's?
The next excitement was the long awaited snow. Here we are when the first snow/ice started....Eli getting a lick of the road. Yuck.
When you're the 4th kid in the family you're lucky to get any of the right colors for your gender. She doesn't mind.
The kids discovered powdered sugar (or "power sugar" as Eli likes to call it, probably more appropriately) on their pancakes last year and I finally put a stop to it by telling them they could have it only when it snowed. I was hoping they'd forget. They didn't. Mary Jo figured it out, too, and was dipping her finger in it just like the rest of them. Thankfully my kids burn off that energy pretty well, they are in near constant motion. Our latest favorite family activity is playing tag, in the house, thanks to Steven. It seems that nothing is more fun that being chased by your Daddy. We got a little too into it the other night, I was trying to tag Sadie and we both crashed to the floor, then Steven was running through the house and his ego rose to "super-hero status" as he attempted to scale the loveseat. He failed, but thankfully no serious injuries resulted, other than his pride.
Another first this year was my parents and I got to take the big kids skiing! I love ski trips and have so many great memories from them. Somehow I let Eli fall off the lift (right at the beginning, he didn't get hurt thank the Lord) but other than that it was a great day, the kids picked it up quickly and were racing down "the swopes" by the end. On the way home they were saying that they wanted to snowboard next time. I was trying to tell them that it's harder, they would have to start all over with the learning, etc (I'm terrible at snowboarding, my brother is great). Finally Eli said "It just looks cooler, Mom." I had no comeback for that one - he's absolutely right. But since I'm not that cool in real life anyways, I'll just stick to skiing.
Our little 2 year old now thinks it's funny to take her jammies off, so Steven remembered his brilliant plan he came up with for Sadie - put them on backwards. She can't outsmart us....yet!
The other morning was a sweet, rare moment of quiet playing, everyone getting along, no T.V. I just sat and basked in the glory, praising myself for raising such sweet kids, deciding to put off school until the afternoon. MISTAKE! Mornings are just their best time....so the wiser thing to do is just bribe them with fun activities or food to motivate them to work quickly in the morning, then have these sweet moments after school is done. I'm learning, slowly but surely.
This girl is growing up super fast - here's her sassy new haircut. The bangs were her idea and I have to admit I like them.
Mary Jo got sick the other day, running a fever and threw up once. She was so pitiful, she slept on my chest on and off for 5 hours or more, and did not want me to put her down. I actually pulled out the Bjorn around suppertime so I could hold her and fix supper but thankfully my sweet mother-in-law came over and put some pizzas in the oven for us. She finally started feeling better that evening, enough to play with her baby dolls a little. It warmed my heart to see her holding her dolls close to her, just like I had done with my baby all day. As I rocked her to sleep that night I thought of how sweet it is to be needed by your littles, and of how our Heavenly Father holds us. I know we don't tangibly crawl up on His chest and wrap our arms around His neck - yet He provides the comforts we need when we're going through trials, through His Word, His Spirit, His saints. What a blessing it was for me to love and comfort my sweet girl, to look in her sleepy eyes and tell her she would feel better soon. But how superior is the Father's love for us, he cares for us, knows our burdens, and will one day wipe away every tear. Praise the Lord and goodnight!
