A Long Time- By Lauren

Tonight, I was sitting across from Jillian sharing some chocolate cake for dessert. And I am a mom who is always curious to know her little girl's preferences and asked her if she liked cake or ice-cream better. She said, "I love them BOTH".

I really liked her answer, I think it showed maturity. Jillian recognizes you don't always have to have favorites and that you can honestly LOVE things equally. I really hope that we are instilling into our girls that they are both loved equally by their mommy and daddy.

Anyway, I was looking at Jillian, in awe of my growing little girl. And I told her, "Jillian, you are growing up so big." She could tell I was a little sad (a bittersweet moment for her mommy) and she told me, "That's okay, Mom. Hugging is like holding me. And you can hug me for a long time!" (This isn't something we have told Jillian, she came up with this conclusion all by herself).

I told Jillian , "I look forward to getting to hug YOU for a long, long time!" :-)

Am I looking older or younger?

It has been a roller-coaster day for the old age-o-meter.

While I am currently in my prime at age 27, I am continuing to have worsening ankle, leg, knee and back pain due to my terribly flat feet.   I guess this means I actually peaked back when I was cycling 7 miles a day in Cambridge.  Now I take the elevator each morning to go one floor!

Then, to top it all off, Lauren lovingly claimed that she saw a couple of grey hairs coming in on the back of my head where I couldn't see them.  This got me looking in the mirror and in 3 seconds, I found a long grey hair right in the middle of my hair!  And actually, it wasn't so much gray as just white!!  So if you see me soon with noticeably blacker hair in the coming months, you'll know that I have taken preemptive action.

On the other end of the spectrum, a little 10 year old girl was helping out Jillian and Faith at the library today.  She went up to Faith and asked if she wanted to read.  Faith just stared back at her.  So the girl searched around for an adult to interpret and lays her eyes on me and asks, "Is this your sister?"  I kindly replied, "No, that is her sister there".  

Nearly one year later!

Hello Everyone! It has been a long time since we posted, and we have been keeping busy. Brad is still working on his PhD in mitochondrial molecular biology and Lauren is now the co-coordinator of the MOPS for our church. Jillian has taken swim lessons, is currently in ballet lessons, and will begin pre-school next Fall (for 2 & 1/2 hours, 2 days a week). And Faith is growing more and more beautiful (along with her sister) every day. Her favorite word is "YES!", but has an ever increasing vocabulary as well. 

For Father's Day, Brad got a "new" DSLR Canon Rebel Camera. They are very fun to use, and here is a small selection of recent photos. Enjoy!

Jillian likes to get dressed up during her quiet time in her room.  This is how she came down today.

Faith has a beautiful smile.  Here are a few pictures of that

She also has some really funny faces!!

Mommy and Faith:

Faith working hard with her Uncle Daniel on some puzzles.  When she saw Daniel out the window this morning, she shouted "DAN-IEL!"

Mommy and Jillian:

All ready for ballet lessons:

And ready for a day-job at the diner.  Note all her toys stacked up on the stairs behind her.  You may recall that as a young toddler, she would line up her toys carefully by the door of our flat in Cambridge.  Well, she still does it!

More Happy Birthdays (Sept. & Oct)!

Words of Praise

We have finally settled on a church. We were visiting three churches consistently and were having a really difficult time settling on one, but we have finally chosen one. Yea! The church we are going to is Derwood Bible Church. We have joined a small group that meets on Thursday nights and we are doing a series on "Love and Respect".

Last night it was the husband's turn to learn how to demonstrate love to their wives. In the tape that we watched, Sarah (the speaker) said that one of the greatest things her husband did to love her was to model to their sons how to be appreciative and express praise to their mom.

Immediately what came to my mind was how Brad has done that for me and our girls. When we first moved back to the US, we were staying a the Wyatt's house and parked in their driveway. They had a long driveway and it wasn't entirely straight, so I had a little difficulty backing out of it (especially with my lack of experience in the previous two years). Brad would coach me with directions and praise me repeatedly saying "you are doing great". :)

Well when we moved into our house, the praise for my backing up abilities didn't finish. Jillian did the very same thing that she had seen her daddy do when I would back out of our driveway (which is probably 1/6 of the length of the Wyatt's driveway). She would say to me "mommy you are doing great!", "good job". Remembering that story makes my heart so happy.

Happy Birthday Uncle Nate!

Uncle Nate's birthday is in two days! We wish we could be celebrating with you Uncle Nate! Your nieces always have so much fun with you and Brad and I both love having you as our one and only big brother. You are a great encouragment and support to us. We look forward to getting to see you (and the rest of your beautiful family) in just a few months for Thanksgiving. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!





EXTRA NOTE:
Brad and I think its funny that all five of our children's aunts and uncles are clumped together at two different times of the year. Aunt Kristin, Aunt Leigha, and Uncle Nate are at the end of July and beginning of August. And Aunt Beth and Uncle Daniel are both born in April; their birthdays are only two days apart! (This last year, Aunt Beth's birthday was an especially memorable one. We were all in Paris together as a family!)

Happy BIRTHDAYS!

I have been neglecting this blog pretty badly since being back...in the last month and a half, we have had two "groups" of people come to see us and I haven't blogged anything about it (mostly because I was determined to finish England photos before doing that). My family came to see us July 10-14th! We had an incredible visit with them and here are some photos of our birthday celebrations. Kristin turned 21 on the 25th of July and Leigha turned 22 today, July 31st!

I really enjoyed my time with Kristin while she was here in Maryland. The whole family went to Mount Vernon, bowling for a "kids outing" (while the grandparents babysat), and on a couple of shopping trips. Marilyn and Kristin took me on a shopping spree so I could get a new outfit. Kristin was a tremendous help. (Since becoming a mom, I feel like I have lost any fashion sense I once had. My brain has turned to mush and I don't know what looks good anymore!) It was a lot of fun to have Kristin and Marilyn pick out different things for me to try on while I did the modeling! I love my new clothes and have already worn them several times! : ) Kristin is at OSU and is an officer in her sorority and is getting ready for rush right now! We miss you Auntie Kristin! Happy Birthday!

Aunt Leigha came from Omaha, Nebraska to be with us for our family reunion! She has been doing fantastic in school and was honored this last Spring at Sam Houston for having the highest GPA in her entire major of International Business! But my really fun story to tell about Leigha today is that my sister is the miracle baby of our family. The doctors discovered that my mom was pregnant while she was in a surgery. The doctors were concerned about the well-being of the baby and advised my parents to have an abortion. They choose not to have an abortion and instead entrusted their baby to the Lord. My sister was born (without being induced) on my mom's 28th birthday. The doctor counted all of Leigha's fingers and toes and said she was absolutely PERFECT. She is and was an incredible gift from God to all of her family and the BEST birthday gift my mom ever received. I love you little sis! And am super excited that you will be attending Texas A&M in the FALL! WHOOP!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!