Lovely Life

Here's what I think of wearing hats:

This girl is obsessed with the ABC's.
Since the day she was born, I think the Alphabet Song was her
very favorite. And now I've sung it so many times, I officially
know my ABCs forwards and backwards. Seriously.

Last night, we dropped our little one off at our neighbors' house. Their door is literally two feet from our door, right across the hall. How convenient. Their eight year old daughter and five year old son very nearly swept her off her feet--she falls in love with them every time she sees them, over and over. Supposedly there wasn't a single tear. Miss Betsy, the lady of the house, told me she was a complete "ham" during during dinner and, though she had a bit of a hard time falling asleep, she was an absolute angel otherwise.

John and I then used our gift card that we had been saving since May for Bonefish Grill. It was actually for Carrabbas' but we eat pasta like 6 times/week, so we opted for MEAT. I had the juiciest, butteriest, saltiest little steak with a tasty caesar salad, roasted veggies, garlic mashed potatoes and three glasses of Coke. YUM. And we had these amazing egg rolls as an appetizer. I don't even like egg rolls. John had some kind of fish with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. And a Diet Coke. For probably the first time ever, the waiter gave me the correct drink. Waiters always assume the woman is the one ordering Diet. Blech!

If I'm gonna pay $1.50. If I'm gonna eat or drink something bad. If there's a celebration. I'm gonna get something I love. And I LOVE COKE.

Then we went to GFS and bought some oatmeal. :) The we went to Border's and hung out in the religion section, where John ruled Border's of Louisville as better than Border's of Naples, and I read a book about sewing. I think I might be able to pull of this sewing business.

THEN we went to STARBUCKS! Where I got my FIRST (and probably only) Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season, not with skim milk, of course. It was so sweet it made my teeth hurt.

THEN we watched two brand new episodes of 18 Kids and Counting. It was pretty much the best night of my life. lol. Maybe not, but it was good.

***And for all my friends on crazy health food kicks: I felt great last night, and I felt great today. And my digestion was fine and everything came out just right. I even ate WHITE BREAD and I drink tea with saccharin in it every day.***

But most of all, I enjoyed my time with my husband. Happy 4 years, John! Only 50 or so more to go (well, maybe 40 since we eat white bread occasionally, drink caffeine, eat red meat, love gluten, sugar, salt, butter, all types of oils, and processed cheese).

Happy Birthday, Sweet Maryn

You nestle close as you fall into dreams
With a sigh of relief and warmth, knowing
You are safe.
I hear you babbling early in the morning,
Waiting for Mommy to come.
Knowing Mommy will come.
I like your smile,
I love when it’s for me.
We pass busy people,
Rush, rush, rush.
I peek at you in the stroller
And wonder.
I wonder if you will play patty-cake with me today,
If you’ll write me poetry when you’re twelve,
If you’ll cry when Daddy gives you away.
We pass store windows,
Money, money, money.
I peek at you in the stroller
And wonder.
I wonder what vegetable you’ll prefer tonight,
What sports you’ll choose in high school,
And what did I do to deserve such a precious baby girl?
I wonder why God chose me to be your Mommy.
I thank Him that He did.
I thank Him that you are ours and we are yours.
That life is different, and you are you
And God is so full of many, many awesome wonders.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

My blog will be SEVEN YEARS OLD on the 25th. I am posting this now so as not to steal from Maryn's first birthday.

We have been through a lot, dear old blog. Boyfriends, breakups, college, graduation, my first real job, dating and marrying my love, pregnancy, my first baby, Maryn's milestones so far, times of plenty and times of need, and much, much more.

Birthday Fun

John and Maryn in their farmer clothes.
John thinks Kansas wear applies to all farmers...

"And now, Maryn, I shall eat your head!"
I was bouncing Maryn on the bounce house dinosaur head.
I guess she wasn't as thrilled about it as I was.

Nathanael's birthday party was a blast! To see more pictures, visit Teri's blog!

Maryn's First Sign!

Here we are at Jaxon and Jovie's Birthday party on Saturday.

Here's Maryn and one of her BFFs, Hope (Erin's baby girl), at the party.
If you remember, they are just two weeks apart.
Maryn looks so petite here. I am wondering if she will still
be in the 50th percentile in weight and height. We shall see!
Not that I compare my child to others...at all...

Maryn has been making her first sign. She seems to be signing "more" around her feeding times. It's cute. We're not positive that's what she's doing, but she started kind of clasping her hands together and waving them around, which kind of looks like the sign for more.

We've been signing "more" for a while now, since we started her on oatmeal at 4 months, but we started signing Mommy, Daddy, and Cat, a long time ago. We also sign Dog whenever we see a dog, and All Done after a meal. Oh, and Yummy and Up. It makes me feel kind of dumb doing it in public, but it's so exciting to see her doing it. Especially since we notice she's not quite as verbal as some other babies we know. I guess she knows what's happening, she just happens to be a bit quieter than average. I don't know where she could get that from. :)

She does seem to understand the signs, because when we say a word that we frequently sign, she really looks at us, seemingly waiting for the sign, and smiles. Yep. She's a genius.

I'll have to start looking up some more signs now that she seems to be really getting it.

Marriage: It's a Big Deal!

Don't get any ideas, Maryn!

If this doesn't make you tear up, I don't know what will!
Brock was totally losing it. YOU would too, if you
could see how beautiful it all was (especially Lauren!).

And here we are, married for three years with a baby...
and not looking TOO bad, but not quite looking like we did
on October 29, 2005!

It's crazy. After three and a half years of working with the youth group, some of the "kids" we had are now married, and some are even married with a baby. But it gives me great joy to attend these weddings and see these friends of mine marry a godly man, one who has waited for her (and you KNOW what I mean!) and will be the spiritual leader of their family.

Here are some great books on this subject I have been looking at:

What He Must Be...if He Wants to Marry My Daughter by Voddie Baucham Jr.
This Momentary Marriage by John Piper (read it for free online here)
Everyone absolutely must, must, must read this book by John Piper.

"It is not your love that sustains your marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love." -Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Teething, Valentines and Charts

Today we had a Valentine's Day Party! Since Teri and Michele have kids around the same ages as the little ones I babysit, we invited them over for some card making, some lunch and some playing. I think all the kids had fun. I didn't take many pictures because my camera is dying. But here you see Nicole making a card for her sweetheart: Her Daddy!

The kids have been obsessed with making charts thanks to an educational video about charts we saw last week. So here we are sorting hearts, getting ready to make a graph.

And here we are making a gummy bears graph. This helps us practice sorting, counting, numbers, and reading a chart. We have been talking about words like, "most, least, greatest, same, different, more, less..."
And here we are playing post office!

I made a surprise visit to the doctor today because Maryn was pulling on her ears. I suspected it was caused by her teething, and it was. But I certainly didn't want to go through the weekend wondering if she has an ear infection. The frozen washcloth idea is working wonders, as well as Sophie the giraffe, and we are about to try chamomile tea before bed times. Because bed times are, by far, the worst times. Mommy hasn't been sleeping so well. I'm tired, going on exhausted.

Speaking of which, it sounds like Maryn is awake. I know it's the 45-minute intruder, but she hasn't been able to put herself back to sleep lately. Looks like I'll be going to get her.

I hope I'll get some rest this weekend.

Best Meal Ever: Crusted Chicken Romano with Brancott Sauvignon Blanc and for dessert, a goblet of fresh strawberries...all at The Cheesecake Factory

Most Beautiful Bride: I'm sure it will be LINDSAY! Tomorrow! I can't believe it's here. I think I will cry my eyes out. I hope I don't lose my contacts, because I am still pretty new at this contact stuff, and I wouldn't know what to do. I guess if I cry my eyes out, I won't need contacts.

Getting Lost: Again--I did it again. I ended up in Ashland County. Sigh.

Bridal Shower: Mine! On July 9th. Come one, come all...you're all invited! It'll be at my house at 1:00. Fireworks are that night, too, so you can stay for them or, if you don't stay, leave early before all the crazies overtake the town.

Rehearsal Dinner: Tonight! I hope I don't get lost again.

My Hair: I got this new shampoo stuff at the salon and I think my hair is on its way to being normal again! Shwew. So if you're hair ever gets overtreated, get Redken Extreme.

Victoria's Secret: Semi-Annual Sale!!!! Super cute bags for 4.99! I almost passed out.