They're watching.

Being that Selah is our alarm clock and is usually up a good hour before Sofia, Kevin and I take turns getting up with her.  Usually I get up with her about 3 mornings a week. (Thank you, babe!)  During our morning time, Selah and I eat breakfast together.  One thing I didn't realize is that she observes everything I do at the breakfast table.  Now I know she does.
You see, this past week I've been pretty sick.  So needless to say the other morning when I sat down to eat breakfast with Selah, I simply just sat and started eating.

Then these words came out of Selah's mouth, "Mommy, get your Bible."

She noticed.
She knows.
She sees.
She is learning.

Mommy's breakfast is more than cereal.  God's Word also feeds mommy each morning.

What's in a name?

Before I actually had children I would tell you that my criteria for choosing my child's name simply would come down to, I like it, or what name I didn't like because I knew someone with that name and I didn't care for that person so much. 

But after having been able to travel and experience various cultures (between Kevin and I we have been to 35 countries) one thing I observed is how important a name means.  So many times I have been asked, "What does your name mean?".    And then there is Scripture.  Throughout the Bible we are not only told a person's name, but what it means.

Because Sofia has become a popular name over the past couple of years I usually don't hesitate to share the meaning of her name, "wisdom of God", even if simply asked what her name is.  Older people usually think of Sophia Loren and younger people just think it is a pretty name.  But when presented with the meaning, it makes them stop and think.

As for Selah, well, we get questioned regarding her name all the time.  The first thing they ask us to do is spell it.  This offers us an open door to share that it is from the Old Testament and can be found over and over in the book of Psalms.  It means to "pause/meditate upon the Word of God during a musical interlude".

So what's in a name?  Quite a bit.  That is why we are still in prayer and thought regarding our son.   As of right now we don't have a name.   But we will let you know when we do.

This is definitely NOT a complaint.

A few weeks ago I blogged about Selah's internal alarm clock changing from 7:15 to 6:15 a.m.  We tried moving her bedtime from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. to see if that would help but it didn't.  So needless to say I was actually looking forward to Spring Daylight Savings Time and losing that hour sleep.

Due to an extra long nap on Saturday, we didn't put her down for bed until 8:30 p.m. along with Sofia.  Come Sunday morning I was waking both girls up at 8:10 a.m. in order for us to be at church  by 8:45 a.m.  We made it!

And today, Selah didn't wake until 8:00 a.m.!!! 

I can only hope this is the new waking hour.

Beautifully Eerie

It is currently 53 degrees!!!!  This is the first time since December 1 that our temperature high has been above 50 degrees.  Last week the temps began to reach the high 30s, then the low 40s and tada!  

The warm air and the frozen ground have created some foggy days.  Fog is so beautifully eerie.  I love it.

Here are a couple of pics of the lake that we live next to.  Just yesterday some ice fishermen were out there so you know that the ground is pretty hard and frozen.  And yes,  those  are piles of snow in front of the gazebo.

Bellybutton mouths

Yeah.  Bullybuttons mouths.  You see, whenever Selah lifts up my shirt to talk with or sing to baby brother, she tells me that "his mouth" looks like this (see mouths in pic).  Why she thinks my bellybutton is his mouth amuses us.   I guess if I had a bellybutton that popped out she would be sticking her tongue out.  Ha!

Hair.

Sofia is  beginning to care more and more how her hair looks.  Today she wanted braids.   

So, of course, whatever big sister has, little sister has to have.  Selah's hair, however, isn't quite long enough so we opted for pig tails.

But again, as I've shared before...they were reminded that their hair does not make them beautiful.  It is their heart and their smile.

28 Weeks

Our son is making himself quite at home in momma's belly, or in mommy's "womb" as Sofia likes to say (a word she learned during one of our daily readings of Scripture).   He continues to be the mover and shaker doing somersaults each morning and evening and kicking and boxing away every time I lay down.  

Due to all of his movement I think he has shoved all of my innards up and to the right.  To be honest, it has made me very uncomfortable the past two weeks.  Unlike my other pregnancies, I've been experiencing pain on my right side both front and back almost everyday.   Of course it could simply be that my body is just exhausted at the end of the day due to taking care of two active girls and because of my wonderful age of 40.:)

Overall I've enjoyed this pregnancy.  I love when the girls lift up my shirt to they can sing to baby brother and give him kisses.  I love Kevin talking with his boy and calling him buddy.  And  I love the beauty of seeing God's handiwork in process as my belly grows.   

"Lord, we don't take for granted this gift of a child. We pray that he will continue to develop and  grow strong and healthy.  And we pray that you are being glorified."

They want to be truck drivers!!

This morning the girls and I had a late breakfast at the WI/IL border truck stop.  Woohoo!  you say.   Well,  woohoo it was because we were meeting my cousin, Steve.   Steve has been driving semi-trucks for about 8 years.   I love following his status' on facebook because one day he is in  Texas, the next day in Tennessee, and the next in Montana.  You never know where he is or what he may be hauling in his trailer.  He has encountered many interesting places and interesting people.

We really did have an  enjoyable time with him.  After breakfast we headed out to the truck parking lot.   Steve let the girls climb up in the cab and check things out.  Sofia was impressed by the bunkbed.  Selah liked playing with the remote for the xm radio.

And both girls LOVED when cousin Steve took us for a spin around the parking lot.  They probably thought they were on a ride at Disneyland or something.  And of course they both loved sitting in the driver's seat. 

We look forward to meeting up with you again somewhere, Steve.  Let's just hope it isn't another 9 years.

Miss Sarah

Miss Sarah is a special person in Sofia's life.  Miss Sarah was her 2 year old and 3 year old Sunday school teacher.  And for the past three years has been Sofia's choir teacher/director for Play & Praise.  From day one Sofia has been in love with Miss Sarah.

Miss Sarah has helped  celebrate birthdays and invited Sofia over for a tea party.   Very special things to a preschooler.

This past week Miss Sarah took some time to share with Sofia how special she was to her.  Then she asked Sofia to be her flower girl in her upcoming May wedding.  It was so sweet.  Sofia said "Yes" but when asked if she knew what a flower girl was she had no idea.  This gave us crying mommas something to laugh about.

I am so thankful for people such as Miss Sarah who invest in the lives of our children.  Miss Sarah is a beautiful, godly young woman.   We look forward to celebrating your marriage!!!