Apr 2 ~ This was a pretty busy Wednesday!  Hearts In Touch was great this morning...the topic was Heaven: Our True Home. It was an interesting and refreshing time discussing what we all believe Heaven will be like. Brandi Radcliffe sat with our small group today...I don't get to interact with her much, so it was fantastic getting to know her better. The kids did really well in the nursery. Jill Lashmit asked if I could take Abe home with me after HIT while she attended a meeting. So we loaded all three children up in the van and it went smoothly. Both Abe and Katelyn ended up falling asleep on the way home...so I moved Kate to her crib and kept Abe in the van with the garage shut and doors open...Jill said he'd probably sleep best that way and she was right. The little ones woke up just in time for lunch before Abe's mom arrived. It felt very different carrying three kids in the van instead of just two...I'd look in my rearview mirror and it would kind of throw me off a bit...out of the norm, but we all did just fine :)  Natalie enjoyed having a fresh view from the back bench seat, while Katie seemed a little perplexed by the new passenger riding alongside of her!

     Craig came home in the late afternoon so I could attend a few things that were on my schedule. I had a counseling appointment today. My first appointment had been a lot of just "getting to know you" questions and a few observations by Karen. During this session she dug a lot deeper asking about my upbringing and such. I won't get into too much detail about my sessions in this journal because for one - there are so many points we discuss in an hour that it would be overwhelming to write about and for two - some things are meant to be more personal. But I will say that I left the building feeling mentally exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion. I really do love talking with her. After counseling I drove over to the mall for awhile to grab something to eat and walk around before going to choir rehearsal.

 

Apr 3 ~ This morning was Natalie's "Special Day" at preschool.  She had been looking forward to it for weeks and was just so excited and bouncing off the walls on this particular day!  She chose to bring one of her dollies and a bag full of the doll's accessories. After class, Mrs. Fink let me know how amazed she was at Natalie's "mothering skills" and how fluently she spoke to the class about her babydoll named "Orangey". Of course it warmed my heart to hear those words about my daughter :)

     Craig had a late basketball game, so I had scheduled a playdate for the evening with the Caylors and Schafbuchs. We all met over by the mall carousel with our kids. We started with dinner at Panera - a little chaotic with seven children under the age of five running around, but it was still fun! After dinner we walked (and strolled) all the way over to the opposite end of the mall to play in the play area. Luckily it wasn't too crowded, so the kids could run freely without us moms worrying too much. Nat had a blast with Maddy Schafbuch in particular.  Those two can get pretty wild! Little Katie was just all over the place - she is getting around like a pro. And she is so social with just about anyone - she was saying hi and flashing that lighthearted smile of hers to all the mommies and daddies at the play area...it reminded me of how Nattie was at that age. I learned that the ladies and their families are getting along well with new changes ahead. The Schafbuchs are in the process of buying a new house and the Caylors are about four months along with their fourth baby!

 

Apr 5 ~ Our girls had their first experience flying kites today!  Natalie rode her bike, Craig pulled Katelyn in the wagon, and I walked over to Penn Meadows Park for our adventure. Daddy helped Natalie get her Hello Kitty kite up in the air in no time. And not long after that, Nattie was doing it all on her own and lovin' it!  It filled me with joy just being able to watch her run with her kite and seeing her facial expressions...various expressions from concentration, to determination, to sheer pleasure. Katelyn was content just endlessly running, running, running through the park. She stopped to watch the kites a few times and even got to hold the string of her Winnie the Pooh kite all by herself!  But for most of the duration of our outing she was off in her own toddler world just exploring and on the move.  After kite flying, we walked/rode over to the Dairy Queen for a treat. On the way home, poor Nattie fell off her bike...I think she was trying to turn and it didn't quite work out as planned. She scraped up her knee a bit and broke one of the tassels off her handlebar. But soon she was back up on the bike with the promise of a new tassel in the near future.

 

Apr 6 ~ My brother, Jason, called today. He is now back from Japan and has returned to the state of Washington. He has about a year left in the Army and plans to step away from the military when his time is up.

 

I have some Bible verses I want to post that have helped me through the trials of the past few months. I still think about the miscarriage a lot, but I feel as though I'm coming out from under it. It will always be part of me - but it will not be my complete definition. Below are some verses that have given me some great comfort:

...Many from Isaiah:

...And many from Psalms:

 

Apr 7 ~ The new Petco opened today in Coralville. In fact, we are getting a whole group of new stores over just off the interstate...Gordman's, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michael's, etc. I took the girls over to the Petco to see some of the small animals there. They had lizards, turtles, snakes, tarantulas, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, a couple of ferrets, various birds, and an array of fish. Nat usually loves the birds at the store back in Bloomington, but our store here doesn't house them in the more open type of wire cages like they do where Grandma and Grandpa live. Over here it's more like wire cages that are then surrounded in glass...so you don't get to enjoy the full effect of the birds singing loudly and you can't touch them. An employee lifted one of the ferrets out of his cage for the girls to pet. Kate was all for it, but Natalie not so much. You just never know with Natalie - we try to nudge her out of her comfort zone as often as we can, but at the same time we also try not to make a big deal out of it if she's not in the mood to try new things. I'm glad we have the Petco store now. Natalie loves seeing animals, but I've made it a point to avoid going into most pet stores over the last five years or so. I don't want to be a patron to businesses that sell dogs after reading and hearing about those awful puppy mills. They don't have dogs and cats at Petco on a regular basis...when they do have them, they are animals that are up for adoption because they've been rescued from bad situations.

 

Apr 8 ~ Nattie's preschool had a "circus party" today!  They had face paint, popcorn, and pretended to be part of a circus. Nat raved about how she got to walk the tight rope, go through the ring of fire, and dance with scarves. Natalie was also showing me today how she's been learning to sing Jesus Loves Me using sign language. 

 

Apr 9 ~ Tonight was choir rehearsal. The group tonight consisted of lots of male singers, some sopranos, and no altos - so kind of an odd night. After choir I met up with Ruth Baumgartner at Cafe del Sol for coffee. That place used to be House of Aromas...now with new owners, so a new name.  It was great catching up with Ruth!

 

Apr 10 ~ What a full day!  Today was parent/teacher conferences at Natalie's preschool.  So Craig and I met with Mrs. Fink for a few minutes.  Natalie is doing really well in school.  We were told that she is very enthusiastic and independent. She is very much into pretend play, is very proud of her accomplishments, and is quite social. The two biggest things we need to work on are being patient and knowing the appropriate times to be quiet. Mrs. Fink says that she sometimes needs to be reminded to wait her turn during group times.  Craig and I were not too surprised hearing all of this...Nat is just such an eager and passionate child :)  Mrs. Fink also showed us some of Natalie's more recent artwork...it gets more detailed as the months go by.

     After the conference, the girls and I ran some errands.  Boy was it rainy and windy!  Then we stopped over at Dr. Miller's office so she could give Natalie a quick check up. It seems like Nat has had a cold for almost two months now. Her cough recently became more consistent and bothersome, so I decided just to sort of throw in the towel and bring her to the pediatrician. Doctor wasn't sure what to make of it - so she chose to treat it as kind of a sinus/bronchial problem and prescribe an antibiotic. 

     The tornado sirens went off tonight right as I was warming Kate's milk before bedtime. Craig came home from work soon after the girls, dogs, and I headed to the basement. Unfortunately, Craig missed out on his last night of basketball league...I don't exactly remember what all happened, but I think communication got all messed up somehow and their team ended up forfeiting the last game. Fortunately, there were no tornadoes and everyone and everything was okay (which, in the scheme of things, is way better than basketball!).

 

Apr 11 ~ Tonight I was able to have dinner out with some friends.  Our babysitting co-op met at Mondo's in Coralville for a meeting and a meal. It was more of an excuse to go out without our kids, rather than much of a meeting!  Jill and I were the first to arrive at the restaurant, so we got a table and waited for the others. We sat there for over half an hour wondering where everyone was...come to find out, they were on the opposite side of the restaurant already seated. We must have somehow missed each other!  That was okay though, because it had given me a chance to talk more indepth with Jill. It was great getting to learn more about her. Our evening meeting consisted of me, Jill Lashmit, Jennifer Tymkiw, and Jackie Allen. We talked a lot about stuff like parenting, church, traveling, etc. 

 

Apr 12 ~ Natalie and I spent some time at the Children's Museum this afternoon. We had gone yesterday with Katelyn and just didn't get to do much, so I promised Natalie an outing of her own. I'm finding out that Kate just isn't at a real good age for the Museum...a tad too young to fully participate, so she ends up just getting frustrated and running off.  It was a nice time allowing Natalie to play for longer periods of time.

 

Apr 13 ~ Today was the last of the three meals I helped arrange for The Spot. This one didn't start out too well, but everything turned out fine in the end. Prior to this last week I had five Hearts In Touch gals lined up to help...but by the end of the week I was left with zero. Some women forgot they already had plans and some women had other plans of larger priority sneak up on them. I will not lie...I was freaking out a bit!  Luckily, the ladies did offer to still make food ahead of time and drop it off at the church for me to bring over to The Spot. So all I had to do was reheat items, arrange it buffet-style, and serve it to the kids. Of course I had DeDe's help (she is in charge of meals for The Spot) and a few of the children were more than thrilled to be helpers as well.

 

Apr 14 ~ Katelyn woke up in the middle of the night sounding a little croupy. It really didn't sound all that bad, but she was having a hard time getting back to sleep. So out came the Vicks and the vaporizer.  She also spent an hour or so in bed with us...she enjoyed relaxing and watching an oh-so-intriguing movie on the Lifetime channel with mom!  Kate was still feeling a little icky today, so we just focused on taking it easy. Natalie had dance class in the evening, so I sat in the van with Katie while she snacked on Nutterbutters in the backseat while watching a video. 

 

Apr 16 ~ Katelyn was still croupy this morning and I was afraid it was coming from her chest, so I brought her in for a check-up.  Dr. Miller was off, so we saw Dr. Sam Kinzer from the same office. Pediatric Associates has a female dominated staff, so it was kind of different having a male doctor. But he was very gentle and kind, and Kate sat very still while he listened to her breathing. He said her chest sounded fine and to just ride it out. Natalie still has a cough, but I think it's improving. This has been a "sickly" winter for everyone, that's for sure! 

     Pearson golf league started tonight for Craig and his golf partner, Paul Jones.  The girls will be coming along with me to church on choir nights - there will be someone back in the nursery area to watch them. Had to skip out on rehearsal tonight due to Katelyn not feeling well, but hopefully I'll be able to make it most of the rest of the summer. 

 

Apr 17 ~ Karen Mitchell was outside with her daughter, Dakota, this afternoon.  So the kids got to play together for awhile. I got quite a good chunk of cleaning accomplished today as well.

     I decided that Craig and I were due for another "date night" at home since we hadn't had one since Valentine's Day. This time I decided to just pick up some Chinese food from Egg Roll House and make a no-bake pie. So after the kids ate and went to bed early, Craig and I enjoyed a meal by candlelight! This time around we decided to skip the linen tablecloth and napkins, but we did play some Michael Buble in the background.

 

Apr 18 ~ We had a visitor come over to our house late in the evening and stay over for a few nights. My old friend, Jessica Winner, came out to attend the Just Give Me Jesus revival. I had invited a list full of ladies to join me for the event - Jess being the only one actually taking me up on the offer. But I was totally fine with that...I was planning on going no matter who was or was not joining me. It was sort of an event in itself just meeting up with Jessica again. We literally had not seen each other face-to-face since over three years ago. Years ago we had kind of a "falling out" and since then had only been communicating through email. Honestly, I had some butterflies in my stomach shortly before her arrival, but it turned out to be a really nice time. I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone (and also follow what I believe was God's leading) to invite her! It was a restless night's sleep as I was so excited for the next day.

 

Apr 19 ~ Jess and I were up well before sunrise to drive out to Des Moines for Just Give Me Jesus!  The revival actually started the night before, but it made more sense for me to just be content in attending the Saturday portion. Going on Friday night would have meant either a ton of driving or a hotel bill. Though it would have been neat to be a part of the first session which was "Jesus Is Our Saviour" and included an altar call.

     We drove the van out to Des Moines. Of course I had no problem getting to the city, but once there I had trouble finding the exit for the arena. They need way better signs, plus it doesn't help that I'm not too good at finding my way around in unfamiliar cities. But no worries...we had plenty of time and parking was excellent as it was just across the road. Jess and I found the best seats and they had big screens up around the arena for easier viewing. There were so many women gathered there...all different ages and races and backgrounds. We were basically sitting in between a somewhat wild bunch of college aged girls and a few women around my mother-in-law's age.

     The main speaker of the revival was Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) with Jill Briscoe speaking for one of the sessions. I had never heard either of these women speak before, but had heard nothing but wonderful things about them...so true!  They just draw you in - so easy to relate to what they are saying and they leave you thirsty for more. There were four sessions on Saturday. Anne started with "Jesus Is Our Lord". She spoke about drinking from the well of living water, the freeing feeling that comes with not being just a "closet" Christian, and the "nails" (trials in our life) we all experience - how important it is to just submit to those nails, because after the nails comes the resurrection!  Some other highlights typed up randomly: The stone to the tomb was not rolled away to let Jesus out (He had already risen), but for us to see that He was no longer there. It is our responsibility to tell others about Jesus, but not our responsibility to make them believe - that is the Holy Spirit's job. How many times have we fallen back into our "old ways" only to be empty? Our purpose is to bring glory to God - prosperity through material gain is not our life's purpose and is one of the biggest lies being told today. Jill Briscoe followed with her session on prayer. She mentioned that "a prayer that doesn't work doesn't work" - simple truth. She had us group up and pray together throughout the session. We praised the Lord, we looked within and asked for forgiveness, we prayed for close family and friends, and we prayed for the world. While all this was going on, Stephanie Seefeldt was on piano and leading us through songs of worship. It was a madhouse when we broke for lunch!  Lines and lines of women trying to buy food and use the bathroom. Jessica and I opted to buy the box lunches they had and ate at our seats. The third session was Anne Graham speaking about "Learning to Listen to God's Voice". This was about reading your Bible in order to get to know God better and learn His truths and His direction for your life. Everyone reads their Bible differently (there are many ways), but she showed us the outline she uses when she sits down to read. This session hit me really hard, because ever since a month or so before Easter I've been yearning to just delve into the Bible. I believe I have a pretty decent prayer life, but my Bible reading is sadly at almost a zero. And I truly do have a deep desire to read it, but I guess the fire just isn't strong enough yet. Since around Easter time, God has been placing these awesome verses right in front of my face as if He's saying to me "Look at this! You want more of this, don't you?"...and He's not letting up. I always make the excuse that I just don't have time, but I know in my heart that if I just made the time and made it a priority that God would provide me with more than enough time for my other activities. I think it's just a lack of discipline and commitment, and maybe even a little bit of fear and intimidation running through me...it's such a big and important book that is sometimes hard to understand. Anyway...Anne Graham states that "You are only half fed when you hear words from the Bible from others, but don't read for yourself."  And that as Christians we all must "investigate the evidence of Jesus Christ for ourselves!"  I totally agree.  The final session of the day was "Jesus Is Our King" - how He is absolutely supreme, how He is totally sufficient, how He is eternally sovereign, and how we must serve Him and surrender to Him. She focused on the book of Revelation - in this book, the veil is lifted and Jesus is revealed (so beautiful!). She talked about how the Coming of Christ is for everyone but at the same time it is personally for each of us.  She used the illustration of a moonbeam on the water. How if you stand at the water's edge, it appears as if that moonbeam is directed straight at you and you alone...just as the person standing many lengths down the beach sees the same thing. But in reality there is only one moonbeam. I am just so happy that I went to this revival!  Great speakers, great topics, great atmosphere, and most importantly a great time of searching my own heart and of renewal. Oh, and I almost forgot...GREAT music!!  Music is a big deal to me. Christian artist Fernando Ortega led most of the music throughout the whole day. There was way more music than I had anticipated and it was great how they wove it in between all the sessions. We sang so many awesome songs - from well known hymns to older contemporary pieces to newer contemporary pieces. And to sing along with an arena of women was just so overwhelming. There is no way I could list all the songs here and pick favorites - loved it all!

     Jessica and I were sooo tired after such a long day!  But we managed to talk the entire drive back to my house. Just a lot of catching up on each others' lives and such. We made a stop at IHOP where we had a huge dinner and talked some more. She spent the night at our house and then headed home early the next morning.

 

Apr 20 ~ Choir sang in the chapel today.  We did Holy Is the Lord, For Who You Are, Lord of Our Peace, Open My Eyes, and Great is Thy Faithfulness. Our family was going to go out to lunch after church, so Craig brought the girls in from nursery to hear our last set of songs. I really enjoy having them experience that from time to time. They both love music and are exposed to my choir rehearsal cds on a regular basis. I got to look out into the congregation and see my oldest daughter singing along while Craig held our youngest who was clapping to the music. It is a lovely thing to watch. Natalie loves the song Holy Is the Lord and is very familiar with the lyrics such as "We stand and lift up our hands, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.  We bow down and worship Him now; how great, how awesome is He! And together we sing..."  Open My Eyes is a new song we've been doing. It is very simple and I've been singing it at night to Katelyn as I rock her before bed. She has even started to hum along with me and sometimes starts humming it just to let me know that she wants me to sing it. It has three main verses that go like this: "Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see your face. Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see. Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear your voice.  Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear. Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love like you. Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love."

     After church and lunch we went home for naps. Craig went golfing in the afternoon. "Bagpipe Man" was out on his deck serenading us today. We have a neighbor who plays the bagpipes. The first time we ever heard him, we hadn't even officially moved into our house yet.  I think we were there inspecting some things or something at the time. We wondered how often we'd hear him out there on his deck. But over the years it has only been a handful of times. 

 

Apr 22 ~ Katie was my buddy today as we ran a bunch of errands.  We also took time to stop and get some McDonalds breakfast.  Kate is a lover of hashbrowns :)  I was also able to get our clothes switched out for spring and summer, so that is a huge task completed. Both girls seem to be in between sizes for clothes and shoes right now which can be a little aggravating.  My dad called today to let me know that they took my Grandma Bair off life support. She's had some strokes and it just doesn't look too good, so right now it is just kind of a waiting game.

 

Apr 23 ~ The weather outside was great today!  Took the girls over to Morrison Park for play and lunch. We had some Lunchables over at a picnic table and then walked down to the playground. Katie wore her very first pair of Crocs clogs today and they looked so cute!  She kept wanting to take the cement sidewalks instead of the grass, so it made me very nervous watching her toddle along. Someone had a dog with them at the park and of course Katelyn was just so excited!  She kept saying "dog! dog! doggie!" over and over again while trying to run after him. Natalie met a few little girls and had fun playing hide and seek with them. 

     I received a phone call while at the park.  It was my dad telling me that Grandma Bair had passed away. There will probably be a funeral this weekend, so we'll have to prepare to go back to Bloomington for that. I told Natalie about it and she was having a hard time remembering exactly who her Great Grandma Bair was, so I'll have to pull out some recent photos for her. Natalie asked me "Are you so sad?"  I said yes, but that it is a part of life. Then she asked about my mom passing away and if I was sad about that as well. She went on to ask me what my mom looked like...that was huge for me...I don't think we had ever talked about that. So I told her all about what her Grandma Bair (my mom) looked like and it made me very happy to share that with her. 

 

Apr 24 ~ The girls and I saw tons of hawks outside while on our way to take Natalie to preschool today. That is one of the things I love about where we live!  Going down the long stretch of road from our house to the church we get to see all the hawks circling around...I love how they just kind of float along in the sky. It feels like God placed them there at that exact moment just for me...

 

April 25 ~ We took our time leaving for Illinois today...going down there to attend my grandma's funeral. The girls had a nice time playing in Grandma and Grandpa Essington's backyard just as soon as we arrived. They ran around endlessly and smelled all the flowers. I was able to snap quite a few photos :)  They both took nice, long, warm baths in the evening. I braided Nattie's hair while it was wet so that it would be wavy in the morning...I've been able to do that a couple of times now - my mom used to do that to my hair when I was young and I thought it was just so cool. Katie spent the longest time playing with the toy kitchen in the sunroom.

 

April 26 ~ This afternoon was Grandma Bair's visitation and funeral over at St. Mary's church in Bloomington. We decided it would be best for Katelyn to stay back at the house with her grandparents - she is pretty squirmy and such a little tornado lately. Natalie chose to come with me and Craig...we had explained to her what the funeral would be like and let her make her own choice. If I remember correctly, she was the youngest child at the funeral and she was pretty well behaved. I brought along her backpack with a few quiet activities, so she just sat in the pew between us and kept busy. We feel it is important to give her exposure to funerals as long as she can handle it. I got the opportunity to see a few of my cousins that I hadn't seen in some time. My brother also came out from Washington. We then drove over to the graveside portion at Funks Grove. Natalie asked many questions about death during the drive out there, so that was probably something good for her. I love Funks Grove - what a beautiful place to be buried. After the funeral some of the Bair family gathered at my dad's house. We had Craig's parents bring Katelyn out so that she could see some of that side of the family. The girls had fun running out front with their cousins Elizabeth and Jonathon and Deanna's daughter Caroline. I found myself standing on my parents' front porch reminiscing about the many hours Craig and I had spent out there getting to know one another and discussing the future...and how he had asked me to marry him over ten years ago.

     Our evening was spent over at the ice rink in downtown Bloomington. Natalie had recently filled her rock jar (a tool we use for good behavior) and had been waiting to go ice skating. We had planned to take her this weekend back home in Iowa, but then had to change plans to travel out of town. I looked up the Bloomington ice rink online and found there were some open skate times we could take advantage of while away from home. It was originally going to be me, Craig, and Nat skating together...well, it didn't take long before Mommy realized how old and out of shape she had become!  My skates were off after the first couple of laps around the rink...sad, I know.  But Daddy and Nattie had a blast!  Nat fell down a few times and quickly learned the importance of wearing mittens while on the ice, but soon she was even skating a little by herself. Grandma and Grandpa Essington, Katelyn, and I watched from the sidelines. Katie loved running back and forth and waving at Sissy through the glass. Natalie wants to know if she can do something even bigger and more exciting the next time her jar is full...she said to me, "I was thinking for my next full jar we could go to Disneyland!"  Gotta love that kid! :)

 

Apr 29 ~ I had to get up super early this morning to go in for a root canal follow up...the root canal actually took place way back when I was pregnant with Katelyn. The receptionist asked me to make any necessary corrections on my paperwork from back then. When I told her the only correction was that I was no longer pregnant, she made some comment about "Well, you COULD be pregnant again since then."  It just hit me really hard and I wanted to spill my guts and tell her that I WAS pregnant since then, but had lost the baby...but you just can't go around spilling that out every time you feel inclined.  So I just put on my best fake smile and agreed with her.  I've had a few little reminders like that lately...I had also received a postcard in the mail reminding me to schedule my routine dental cleaning - a little handwritten note complete with smiley face was written on it reminding me of the importance of keeping up with my dental hygiene while carrying my baby.  A well-meant sentiment, but such a blow to my heart. For some reason I have lyrics from a choir song in my head today. I believe the title of the song is When the Tears Fall. "I've had questions, without answers. I've known sorrow, I have known pain. But there's one thing, that I'll cling to - You are faithful, Jesus You're true. When hope is lost, I'll call You Saviour. When pain surrounds, I'll call You healer. When silence falls, You'll be the song within my heart. In the lone hour of my sorrow. Through the darkest night of my soul. You surround me and sustain me. My defender, forevermore. I will praise You, I will praise You. When the tears fall, still I will sing to You. I will praise You, Jesus praise You. Through the suffering still I will sing."

     Even with my difficult morning, it was still a pretty good day. Craig got the girls up and dressed while I was at my appointment. Today was "blue day" at Natalie's preschool - she was excited to wear her new blue Crocs shoes for the first time today. She practically lived in Crocs all last summer, so it was time for a new pair!  She also got to watch the movie Cars on dvd with Daddy before bedtime. Yes, it is life as usual in the Essington household...just the every day type of stuff...and I am thankful for it all.

 

Apr 30 ~ Jill Lashmit cared for the girls for me today while I went to a counseling appointment. It was a real eye-opener of a session for me. Karen spent a lot of time going over the stages of grief.  I am very familiar with what the textbook stages of grief are, but it is a good refresher.  The one new thing for me that we talked about was how grief isn't always connected with a physical death.  A person can grieve over many things - such as grieving over expectations that were never met or grieving over what may never be. I'm not sure I had ever thought about that before, but it makes total sense. 

     Craig had golf league tonight and I had choir practice.  I felt very guilty leaving the girls with a sitter for the second time in one day, but we tried it anyway. Holly Carmichael will be the one in the church nursery during summer choir. This was the first time meeting Holly, but Nattie and Katie seemed to do well in her care.  Found out tonight that our beloved piano player, Eryn Durlam, will be moving to Michigan soon. Also found out that Kristen Kufeldt will now be on staff full time as an assistant to Scott - she will mainly be in charge of the chapel venue. So that is exciting. 

     Other new happenings in our lives: Craig is enjoying golf.  He says his game hasn't been as good the past few weeks as he had hoped, but he's having fun all the same. That is usually Craig...typically laidback and happy to just enjoy the game.  The girls and I played outside for a bit after nap.  Katelyn was very content chasing bubbles.  She also hit some t-ball a few times...she is pretty good at it for her age!  I caught Natalie sleepwalking tonight. I heard some noise upstairs and saw her over by the baby gate we have at the top of the staircase. When I questioned her, it was obvious to me that she was not yet awake. A little scary for me, so hopefully it won't be something that happens often.

 

    

    

 

Natalie -

~She is really into pretend jewelry...little rings, lots of necklaces, glittery stuff. Tiny girly treasures and trinkets. Recently she started taking notice of the jewelry stores at the mall. We have four of them right at the center of our mall. So one day we stopped and looked at all the pretty things in the display windows.

~ Playing GameCube video games with Dad is her new fun thing.  They like to sit on the air mattress down in the basemtent once in awhile and play Super Mario Kart. Natalie has actually gotten really good at it. She calls it "playing cars". I get a kick out of hearing her cheer and hoot and holler when she's getting into it!

~ Nat is just full of questions at all times!  Everything is why?, what?, when?, and where? lately.

~ She loves putting lots of stuff into her little purses...especially to take with her on car trips.

~ Both girls have been very much into dollhouse play these days.

~ Natalie loves picking "flowers" for people...usually it is yellow dandelions or white puffy dandelions or clover. She tends to only present them to females - so like me, or Grandma Essington, or her teacher, or her doctor, etc.

~ Natalie was upset upon finding out that unicorns are not real :(  We spend a lot of time talking lately about just what is and is not real.

~ We have one of those Magna Doodle toys. Natalie plays with it a lot and now likes to write her alphabet and simple words. Many times she'll write "I love Mom" or "I love Dad" using a heart in place of the word "love".

~ I'll hear Natalie call Katelyn "Bubba" from time to time...something I call the girls quite a bit.

~ Our dog, Bailey, has had a hard time lately with rashes and sores on his skin. Nattie was concerned about a recent sore that he had and asked "Mom, will God heal Bailey's owie? Because God heals, you know." 

 

Katelyn -

~ says words like "snack" (actually it's "a snack" when she says it), "bite", "fish", "doggie", "cookie", "nose", and "seat".

~ When I say "eat lunch" she runs to the kitchen now and when I say "bye-bye" she goes and gets her coat and shoes or heads to the garage door.  She understands so much more than she actually says.

~ She has started asking for "Sissy" if Natalie is not in the room.

~ She brings her little board books to me and sits in my lap so I can look at them with her.

~ She knows Daddy is home by the sound of the garage door opening and yells "Daddy!!" with such excitement!

~ She plays pat-a-cake a little bit, loves jumping up and down, and does these silly little walks through the house.

~ Enjoys it when I play with her feet and do "This Little Piggy" while she is being changed. She also thinks it is hilarious when I sniff at her feet and say "pee-ew!"

~ She likes to run into Natalie's room and play with the pretend lipstick.

~ One of Kate's favorite things to do outside right now is walking under our backyard deck and picking up (and throwing) rocks. She also likes playing ball - she tries to use the tee ball set and the little basketball hoop...she even hits the balls and makes baskets sometimes!  She is not too into the toddler slide that is out there. She does love pushing toy cars down the slides, though.

~ loves riding in the wagon outside!

~ likes playing with the farm magnets on the fridge.

~ Katie loves our dogs - especially Brigit...she likes to rub her belly.

~ She will clap her hands during If You're Happy and You Know It.

~ Kate can point out her nose, hair, and mouth.

~ Katie understands when I say "Have a seat" or "Sit on your bottom, please."  She will usually sit down right away and say "seat" as she does it.

~ Katelyn likes to play "Gimme Five!"

~ Is trying to say "Grandma" now...it usually comes out as "Mawmaw"