Baby Dolls and Kisses

Nothing better than watching your two girls already enjoy playing together, even if one of them is acting as the baby doll! What a blessing, as these 3 short months have so quickly passed, to watch Jovey learn to include Laney in her daily actvities and watch Laney become more aware that there is a little person around to love and adore!

Backseat Driver

Today, while driving home from a long first alone trip to the grocery with my two girls (we usually make it a family affair), I was paying more attention to the rear view mirror to make sure Laney's screams were simply those of "Let me outta here, woman" and not "something is majorly wrong here, woman." When I looked ahead, a yellow light that came up on me sooner than I expected quickly turned red, making me be a bit dramatic at the usual smooth stop. As the van bounced a bit from my braking, I heard the following statement from the back seat,

"Pay attention to what you're doing, momma!"

Thanks! Nothing like having a little "mom" around to remind me of the most obvious things that, although annoying, are still important to hear!

The perfect gift!

While talking about daddy's birthday that is coming up very soon, I asked her what she thought the perfect gift would be for him. She paused from working her puzzle, put her finger to her chin, and said, "Diego. . . Daddy would LOVE to have a Diego puzzle for his birthay! Yes, he would!" Funny, I didn't know that Daddy shared Jovey's deep affection for all things Diego!

Loving Words

What tops hearing your kiddos say, "I love you, momma?" I'm thinking nothing on this earth is sweeter or more sincere than hearing the sweet voices of your children, especially when they echo the sentiment that is their love for you as their parent. The best scenarios, by far, are when Jovey just, out of the blue and for no warranted reason at al, just stops what she's doing to say those wonderful words and maybe even take the time to add a little snuggle or kiss along with it!

I must admit, though, that hearing your older daughter express love for her little sister, using an extra soft and high pitched voice may come super close. When Joshua and I prayed about adding to our family, we began praying that if that is what God would want, that our kiddos would, even from the very beginning, start forming a beautiful foundation that would hopefully, grow, evolve, and one day, turn into a deep and true friendship. I don't know if that will ultimately happen, but I continue my prayer and sit back and smile as Jovey bounces around the room, asking Laney if she's ok at her smallest of whimpers and as Laney follows Jovey's each and every movement all over that room!

Thank you God, for the blessing of not only having one, but two girls that I can watch grow. May I always enjoy seeing that as super different as they may be, how much they will hopefully grow to love each other for those very differences!

Firsts. . .

Jovey went to her first official day of "school." OK, it was a parent's day out program, but to her, it meant a new lunch box, new friends and therefore, it was school! She did super well, with no tears shed (she almost never has any separation anxiety from either of us), a beautiful painted pic that smelled of tempur paint that brought back my own childhood memories of mission friends at church, and even was moved up to the next age level of class, as the teachers thought she was "too advanced and mature" for her original classroom. All in all, it was a positive day for her as well as for Laney and me who spent time at home in the quiet together, something that happens rarely in a house with Jovey Kay!

Excited to hear about her first day away from me at a more structured setting with people she didn't know, I asked her all sorts of things as soon as I got her in the van. I'm sure she was thinkin', "Mom, please!" but she humored me and answered me with little frustration in her voice! She couldn't think of any of her new friend's names, except a little boy named Van, who in her words, "was a cute boy!" Great, already noticing the cute boys in school. So tonight, I thought that with a good nap and some time lapse, she may recall even more about her school day (a whopping 4 hours once a week). She told me more new stories, including one about a yellow one who shared the chair. Confused, I asked her to elaborate. I finally figured out what was going on, and said, "Oh. . . was there a little girl that had a yellow shirt on?" She looked wide eyed, as if she could look any differently, and said excitedly, "Yes! The yellow one shared her chair with me!" Maybe next week, she can move from referring to her as her clothing color and learn her name!