Vaca Pics Recovered!

I big thank you goes out to TJ's Photo Center, who successfully recovered ALL of our vacation pictures off of our reformatted memory card! I am so happy to have the memories of our wonderful trip preserved so well now. I know it's been quite a few weeks since our San Diego adventure, but I'd still like to share with you what a suberb time we had. I hope you enjoy!

Visiting Joey

You can tell he doesn't quite know what to think of our spirited girls! Eliana kept wanting to "baby" him, and Evangeline kept playing with all of his toys.

SeaWorld

Eliana signing "whale" just outside the "Dine with Shamu" venue.

Evangeline really loved watching the whales. She was determined to let her presence be known amongst them.

Eliana's up-close and personal encounter with a killer whale.


Having a blast at Shamu's show


We all loved petting and feeding the dolphins!


A dream come true: Eliana gets to hold a real starfish.


Of course we had to see the sharks, too!


Chris runs a marathon
This man just ran 26.2 miles. He's my hero. :)


The girls were very proud of Daddy as well.


The Beach
The girls and I were all seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time.


Evangeline was a big fan of the ocean. She was sure to let it know she was there.



San Diego Zoo
Eliana was eager, as always, to see the elephants.


As promised (Justin!), Chris made his camel face for the camera.


I'm not sure which made a bigger hit, this statue or the real hippopotamus.

Me, feeling like an elephant carrying two tired little girls

A Year of Evangeline

10 days

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

1 year!

Happy 1st Birthday to the Princess!

The smallest among us celebrated her first birthday on July 5! I can't believe it's already been a year since her birth! Our precious, little girl is growing up so quickly and doing so many new things now! It's as if she understands that she's a big girl now and has decided to prove it to us. She is a walking, talking, signing fanatic! I just love to see how proud she is of herself.

She had a great first birthday! See for yourself:

She really loved opening her gifts. She kept handing me all the little pieces she tore off.

Her new walking toy. She now wants to walk everywhere! Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!


Blowing out the lone candle (with some help from Mommy).


Getting her first bite of cake! (For those that are interested, I made the Bunny Birthday Cake from Super Baby Food.)


Mmm...this is good!


Back off! This is my cake!

Evangeline, you are so very beautiful to me, and I thank God for making me your mommy. Happy birthday, princess!

Eliana's Wish Come True

We are back from Las Vegas! It feels so good to be home. We had the wonderful opportunity to attend a live Signing Time! show during our trip. Eliana was, of course, beside herself with excitement. Evangeline, too, was obviously excited to see Rachel and try to sign along with her. She is becoming quite the Signing Time! fan herself actually.

Seeing a star-struck three-year-old has to be one of the cutest sights ever. It was such a big moment for her, and I just love that we got to do this.

San Diego

We had a wonderful time in San Diego at the beginning of this month! Unfortunately, we lost ALL of our pictures. (None of the pictures in this post were taken by us.) Instead of crying about it, though, I'm going to share with you what we did on our trip.

On our first night, we had dinner with Andy, Megan and Joey, stars of There's Treasure Everywhere. They are friends from our Albuquerque church that moved out to California last fall. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and meeting Joey for the first time. Thanks, guys!

The next day, we went to SeaWorld. This was definietly the highlight of our trip for Eliana. (You really should ask her about SeaWorld sometime. She has much to say about it!) SeaWorld is a fun and interesting place for anyone, but our little lover of marine life was beside herself with excitement all day long. Shamu, of course, made a big hit, so much, in fact, that we no longer have a little girl. That's right, we now have a baby whale in the family.

The tide pool made a big hit, too. Eliana got to hold a starfish (another favorite of hers). We also enjoyed feeding and petting the dolphins. I loved getting to see penguins and manatees for the first time ever. There was so much to see and do. I wish we had had more time. I'm already trying to think of ways to go to SeaWorld again. We all really had a wonderful, very memorable time. A big thanks to SeaWorld for the free admission!

The following morning, husband ran his first marathon (26.2 miles)! I simply cannot express how very proud I am of him! His official time was 4 hours 54 minutes. Remember that this was in spite of the fact that we had just been walking around an amusement park the entire day before not drinking nearly enough water. What an amazing man I am married to! I love you, husband!

After relaxing in the hotel pool for a while that afternoon we dined at a nice seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. It was my first time to see the Pacific, and we enjoyed a nice, brisk stroll by the water's edge after dinner.

The next day, we visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo. It was big, beautiful and had many different animals, the most exciting of which was the pandas. However, it was the elephants, as usual, that made the biggest impression on Eliana. We truly did enjoy our time there, but at the end of the day, it was still just a zoo. I'm glad we went, but next time I would choose to spend two days at SeaWorld.

So, that pretty much sums up our trip. The flights went relatively well. We even got to see the Grand Canyon from the sky! The Denver airport's USO was fantastic and made our travel so much more enjoyable. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us!

Busy Times

Whew! What a month (or so) we've had! We've been up to so much, and I haven't had a chance to blog about it! So here's my fly-by post about a little of what were up to in May:

Evangeline said her 1st word (other than "Mama" and "Dada") - "Hi!"
She has since added "Uh-oh."
She still signs "milk" a lot and has recently started signing "Daddy."
We are now up to 4 teeth!


Mother's Day
What can I say? I love my precious little girls, and I love being a mommy! Thank you, God!

Eliana's Birthday

My little girl is now three-years-old! Sometimes I just look at her and wonder where the time went. I thank God that I am blessed to be a part of her world!

(Don't laugh at the cake. It was husband's fault.)

Our Anniversary

Celebrating 6 years! I am still crazy, madly in love with the amazing man God chose for me. He is my best friend in all the world. I am so very grateful for our life together and pray that God will be pleased to grant us many more years together.

10 Reasons Why I Love Worshiping With My Children

10. "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise." Psalm 8:2

9. It's a reminder of God's Covenantal Promises. As members of the Covenant Community, children of believers have been present in formal worship down through the ages. There are plenty of Old Testament passages that tell of this, including Exodus 12:24-27, Deuteronomy 12:17-18, 29:10-13 and 31:10-13, Joshua 8:35, 2 Chronicles 20:13, and 1 Samuel 1:4. And just so there's no confusion over appropriate ages, Joel 2:15-16 calls children, to include "those nursing at the breast," to the sacred assembly.

8. My children are learning to worship and trust in the Lord even at this very young age. Recall Samuel, who had just been weaned, worshipping in the house of the Lord in 1 Samuel 1:28 (and later in his youth in 2:18 and 3:1). We also have the example of David trusting in the Lord at his mother's breast (Psalm 22:9).

7. God not only can be praised by children, He wants to be! Matthew 21:15-16 describes the Pharisees becoming indignant when children in the temple (a place of worship) shout, "Hosanna to the Son of David." Jesus, however, gladly received their praise and rebuked the religious leaders.

6. I fear the Lord. The disciples rebuked those who brought little ones to Jesus in Matthew 19:13 (also recorded in Mark 10:13 and Luke 18:15), but Jesus called the children to himself and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:16) In Matthew 18:5, Jesus says, "Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me," but then warns in the following verse, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea," and in verse 10, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."

5. Children are blessings not just to their parents, but to the whole Body of Christ. Children model the kind of faith God expects of us. "I tell you the truth, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4) And what a blessing it is to all of us in the Church to see His kingdom advanced by these precious gifts He has blessed us with! The reminder of children in worship can and should help us in stirring up genuine praise to God, returning our focus to God and His blessings in our lives.

4. To arouse their curiosity and bring them to ask questions. Just as one of the purposes of including children in the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread was to stir up questions from them ("What does this ceremony mean to you?" Exodus 12:26), so our worship services and observation of Sacraments offer a valuable opportunity for our children to witness and question important aspects of our faith and worship. However worship is conducted, questions will be raised. What message does it send to our children when they are sent out to play or quarantined behind glass walls during worship?

3. To cultivate a love for God and a sincere desire to worship Him. My toddler asks nearly every day to go to church and pushes us all out the door on Sunday mornings, eager to worship God. Things I have the privilege of hearing during the week include, "I want to go to God's house," "I love Jesus," "I want to give money to God," "We are in Jesus's family," "God loves me!" "I want to answer my catechism questions," "Can we read our devotion book?" "Let's sing 'Holy, Holy, Holy,'" "I want to read about Jesus!" "Jesus is at God's house. Can we go to church?"

2. To impress God's commandments on the hearts of our children. We are commanded to do this in Deuteronomy 6:7. Being such a rich source of this, surely corporate worship would be one expected means of accomplishing this. Examples of this have already been pointed out in Reason #9.

1. I see the gleam in my toddler's eyes when she listens to the proclamation of God's Word and whispers to me, "I was made for Jesus."

I Love This Face

Spring Has Sprung!

We have birds! I discovered a nest in the wreath on our front door during the last week of March after hearing a bird singing at my door for hours on end. Mama bird sat faithfully on her four babies for two weeks before they hatched.

All four baby birds seemed to be doing well until one evening just over a week ago. A neighborhood cat managed to jump high enough to hit the wreath and cause it to turn on its side. Two of the baby birds fell out and were eaten. After that, we decided to intervene and move the nest (and wreath) to a higher, safer location. Mama bird returned and continued caring for the remaining two birds. They have grown so big and, I expect, will be leaving the nest soon. I'm so proud! :)

Remembering

Today is the anniversary of the day we named our lost baby (which was Evangeline's twin). The story behind this is very special to me, and I believe I am now ready to share it on a wider scale. So, here goes.

We lost Evangeline's twin during the 9th week of my pregnancy--around Thanksgiving, actually. A couple of months later I had a dream in which I saw myself out shopping with my children, which included twin boys. Their names were Zachary and Machary. There wasn't anything exciting or very noteworthy about the dream, but I awoke to a bittersweet feeling, as if seeing a glimpse of how my life might have been. I related the dream to Chris, who joked with me that I was not allowed to name any of our boys (turns out he wasn't too keen on "Machary"). I told him not to worry, "I'm sure my mind was just coming up with a name to rhyme with Zachary, although I can't imagine why I would have thought of that name either, as I've never considered using it." (This is coming from someone who has poured over countless baby names and meanings over many, many years.)

Life went on, and I occasionally found myself thinking back on the uneventful dream with a strange sort of nostalgia. I rarely talked about our lost child outloud, but I thought of him often. I knew I wanted to name the baby, but I kept putting it off.

The time finally came in April when I was ready to face the full reality of our loss and felt a very strong desire to name the baby. The meaning behind a name has always been of great importance to us, even more so with this child that we would never hold on this side of Heaven.

During Eliana's nap I did backward searches for names, using a meaning I thought might be appropriate for a keyword and looking over the list of names with some kind of tie to that meaning. Nothing seemed to "fit," though. I finally decided to put off the search for that day and go take a much needed nap.

As I lay in bed with sleep quickly trying to overtake me it suddenly hit me--hard. Remember. I knew that this was the keyword I had been looking for. I tried to tell myself that I could look it up later--that now was the time to sleep--but after a few minutes of vainly struggling against the idea, I surrendered to it. Sitting down at the computer, I typed "Remember" and then saw

Zachary

and every variation on it looking out at me from the monitor, with meanings such as "The Lord remembers" and "Remembered by God" listed. First, my jaw dropped and every hair on my body stood straight up. Then I bawled.

When Chris came home, I told him all about it, and we quickly agreed that we would name our lost child Zachariah. Thomas, meaning "a twin," came just a few minutes later as the middle name.

It is this mother's comfort to say that the Lord has indeed remembered Zachariah.

"I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." -2 Samuel 12:23

It's strange to know that she is surely at peace. And that she is well off there, very well off, and yet to grieve so much! -Martin Luther, on the death of his daughter, Magdalene

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Today is my one-year blogiversary. For fun, I would like for everyone (this means YOU) to post a comment with a fun slogan about yourself or something you love. (At least say hello or something!) If you'd like some help, you can use this advertising slogan generator.

Here were some of my favorites:

• Designed for Motherhood, Engineered to Last
• Stop. Go. Mother.
• We don't just make babies. We make babies better.
• My Anti-Drug is Jennifer.

Have fun! :)

A Better Way

I have another product recommendation, but this one is just for the ladies. Guys, trust me, just move on. Unless you have a strange interest in menstrual products, you'll be better off not reading this post.

With my disclaimer out of the way, let me ask you, pre-menopausal ladies, if you are satisfied with your menstrual product(s)? Tampons are not healthy for us, disposable pads are uncomfortable and messy, and neither of them is environmentally friendly. But is there anything available that is not harmful to our health and yet is comfortable, clean, and environmentally friendly? I believe there is!

I have only had The Diva Cup for one cycle, but I already love it. This soft medical grade silicone cup has a higher learning curve than pads and tampons, but that's really the only downside I can think of.

How much do you spend on pads and tampons every year? The Diva Cup costs about $35 (including shipping), is guaranteed for one year, though it should last much longer.

How much waste to you produce with disposable pads and tampons (and don't forget packaging)? One Diva Cup will probably last 5-10 years. So, that's years of compiled waste from tampons and disposable pads (plus packaging and applicators) versus one diva cup and its packaging.

How reliable are your tampons/pads? The Diva Cup can hold about a third of what you lose during your period, so unless you don't empty it for days or you don't have it in correctly, you should be leak-free!

I could go on, but I'll let you read up on it for yourself (or feel free to ask me for more info). If this sounds at all interesting to you then I recommend that you check out Diva Cup's website, read reviews on Amazon, and check out what Wikipedia as to say about menstrual cups. Maybe you'll find Aunt Flo's dreaded, inconvenient visit doesn't have to be so bad after all.

Signing Time!

I'd like to share with you a wonderful product for teaching children (and parents) American Sign Language (ASL). First, let me just say that I can't say enough good things about signing with children. It allows them an opportunity for earlier communication, decreases frustration in communication, increases their verbal vocabulary, can be instrumental for opening the door of communication for children with special needs (such as autism), promotes literacy, gives them (and you) an opportunity to communicate discreetly, is LOADS of fun--oh, I could go on and on!

Two Little Hands Production has a great series of DVDs and corresponding CDs that teach ASL. The signs are reinforced with many different children signing and some really great songs. We started letting Eliana watch these around the time when she turned 2, and, a year later, she still LOVES them. We began signing with her when she was 6-months-old, but Signing Time definitely gave a huge boost to her interest in and excitement for signing.

If you have an interest in signing with your child, check out Signing Time's website. They have many other products, ideas, and even a forum. You can also check out the "Sign with your baby!" link on this page under "Resources" for baby ASL classes in your area. And, of course, feel free to ask me any questions!

Fellowship

We had such a wonderful time in Colorado! A big "thank you" goes out to the Bishop family, who graciously opened their home to us and blessed us with warm hospitality. Eliana, like the rest of us, was sad to leave. She is still recounting our trip to the farm and other fond memories of her new friends Caleb, Caroline and Joshua.

A few days ago, after our devotion, I asked Eliana for whom she would like to pray. After a few moments of serious thought she replied, "Caroline." She then bowed her head, closed her eyes, and, with hands clasped, prayed, "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Caroline and Caleb and Joshua and Ms. Joy and Mr. Bishop. Thank you for their house and for their lives. Please work in their hearts. In Jesus's name, amen."

Ditto. :)

My Sweet Ride

Mommies like new toys, too! We are now the proud owners of a blue 2005 Honda Odyssey. The girls and I will be enjoying the leather seats and other nice features tomorrow on our way to visit some friends in Longmont, Colorado. Unfortunately, the new DVD system will have to wait to be installed until after we return, but we're still very excited about it.

One of the things I'm most excited about is the van's 8-passenger capability. That means we can, Lord willing, get even more out of it until we (hopefully) have to graduate to a cargo van! ;)

Sleepy Head

Sleep. There hasn't been much of it around here for a while. That is due mostly to Evangeline's come-and-go illness over these past weeks and her ear-piercing screams (no matter whether simply protesting something or having an appendage removed). There's also just pure exhaustion on my part lately. On top of sleep deprivation, we have had an incredibly busy month, which has included Eliana's sleepless sleep study a couple of weeks ago and my physical therapy appointments (on the far side of town) twice a week. My mother is visiting and is now better able to understand what it means when I answer her question, "So, what have you been up to today?" with, "Holding Evangeline."

With a prayer that I won't jinx myself, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think we may have turned the corner. I just wanted to apologize for my complete lack of posting this month (I didn't have enough time or brain cells to write anything sensible) and for the zombie-like state in which many of you may have recently encountered me. I hope to rejoin the human race as a normally functioning person soon.

My Little Shark Lover

As my two-and-a-half-year-old naps in her newest shark shirt and her shark house shoes wait patiently by her bed, I am called back to that day in history when I first learned that Eliana had a real passion for sharks. She was only 13-months-old at the time, and we were enjoying the Tennessee Aquarium's new saltwater exhibit with my family. Eliana took one look at the sharks swimming by and excitedly cried out, "Shark!" She was in love from that moment on. When we finally did leave the exhibit she made sure we knew how much it pained her. I bought her a shark stuffed animal when we left the aquarium. She still has it. She still loves it. She still wants more sharks.

I just love that she loves sharks. I guess because it's such an obvious expression of a unique (and adorable) personality.

Welcome to the World of "Solid" Food

Okay, so Evangeline's introduction to solid food brought on...mixed reactions. The day was January 5th, and our little princess was celebrating turning 6-months-old. Princesses, we know, are not big fans of change, but we lowly servants, at times, must encourage them to broaden their horizons.

I mushed up a small amount of an organic avocado and diluted it with a little bit of water, as I just wasn't up to thawing some breast milk and I hate to waste any of it. I probably should have just done it anyway to include something familiar to the taste, but I guess I was just hoping that she would find the avocado so delectable that she wouldn't care. But Evangeline wouldn't be a princess if she didn't care, now would she? And so began The First Supper...

The spoon certainly made a big hit. She was adamant that she, not I, would hold it. So, into the mouth it would go, where Evangeline simply intended to gum at its nice, rubbery end, when suddenly there was a taste of something new! Her face exclaimed, "What is this?! This isn't Mommy's milk! I didn't sign up for this! What are you doing to me?!" Then, after the shock wore off, her face would say, "Oh, well, I guess it's not that bad. Maybe I did overreact just a bit. Oh, look--a spoon!" and we would get to experience the fun all over again.

This is quite the opposite of Eliana's reaction to trying solid food for the first time so many moons ago. She had responded as if to say, "Where has this been all my life?!" A lover of food, she was right there to coach, comfort, and clean up after her little sister.

Our Little Princess

This picture says it all...

More pictures to come soon!

Happy New Year!

The past month has been so busy that I haven't had a chance to post. It's been a good kind of busy, though--visiting family and friends in Tennessee and Georgia. I'll hopefully get a chance to post some pictures in the next couple of weeks, but, until then, I'll try to entertain you with just a few of the cute things Eliana has been saying lately:

I not my name. My name is Mommy now. There are different kinds of mommies. I don't know why there are different kinds.

I love Grandma. I love Daddy. I love Eliana.

I'm such a good mommy!

Eliana has pretty, curly hair.

Kayla (her cousin), you my granddaughter.

My eyes is cold. I need to wear my sunglasses.

I don't like sleeping.

I cannot go to bed because I sick.

Don't look at me, Evangeline! I trying to eat!

Evangeline, don't look at my food!

I love you, baby sister!

I'm so proud of you, Evangeline!

A Rant

I know I'm really behind, but I just couldn't continue without addressing the October 13 issue of a Santa Fe woman named Emily Gillette being kicked off a commercial flight for breastfeeding her daughter. I assume you've all heard about this, but, just in case, you can read the story here. So many things about this bother me that I don't even know where to begin. Well, I'll try anyway.

I suppose the first thing that comes to mind is, "What would I have done if it had happened to me?" After being asked to cover up with a blanket (though allegedly showing no skin, mind you) Gillette calmly declined and was then told by the flight attendant, "You're offending me." So, how would I have responded? There are really two answers to that. The first is how I think I would have most likely responded in real life. With an unmistakably red face, I would attempt to calmly and nicely say, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but I have a legal right to breastfeed my child in this place," which is pretty much what Gillette said (and was then given the boot).

The second question to answer is, "What would I have wanted to say," or, "What might I have actually said unrestrained after a 3-hour delay at the airport with a toddler (as in Gillette's situation)?" After the line, "You're offending me," I would have felt led to respond, "Sounds like a personal problem to me."

Why is it that this still happens in America?! Since when do women not have the right to feed their babies when and where hunger strikes? Last I checked, nursing in public is legal in all 50 states, as it should be. Why should my child have to suffer, being declined comfort and nourishment, on account of someone else's hang-ups? This is just another attack on families.

And let's not overlook the obvious--that a nursing child is a quiet child. There are very few places that this becomes more important than in a small, enclosed space, such as an airplane, and especially at 10:00 at night. Is nursing discreetly really more distracting than a screaming child kept up past their bedtime adjusting to major altitude changes?

"But she was offered a blanket to cover up!" some have protested (and that doesn't scream, "I'm breastfeeding!"???). Yes, she was offered a blanket and declined. I would have declined, too. Who wants to eat with a blanket over their head? Not me, and certainly not my children. Both of my kids, like many other children, would have gone berserk if I had enclosed their heads with a blanket. Kind of defeats the purpose if the kid won't nurse with the blanket, now doesn't it? So, next time that flight attendant feels led to offer a blanket to someone so that she won't be offended she should consider putting it over her own head so that she won't have to see the *vulgarity* of a nursing child. After all, it's her problem.

This really is an honest question, though. If she's offended by the sight of this, why not simply look away? It shouldn't have been difficult, given that Mrs. Gillette was in the second-to-last row seated with her husband between her and the aisle and it was dark outside. And please don't even think for a moment that we simply cannot help ourselves from looking--that excuse doesn't fly for staring at those who are disabled or disfigured and it doesn't fly here. Yes, I nurse my child in public. No, I do not want you staring at my breasts.

Because I still desire modesty, I do my best to nurse discreetly when in public. I cannot tell you the number of people who have obviously mistaken my nursing infant for a sleeping infant, completely unaware that she was downing her lunch. This is because there is usually no part of my breast showing. Now, if you look for it long enough, it is possible that a small part of my breast may be visible for a short moment while my daughter makes the transition on/off the breast. Maybe you'll see it, maybe you won't. I'm pretty fast and pretty good at blocking--and so are most mothers who nurse in public.

Others will still whine, "But Gillette was nusing a 22-month-old!! That's a little too old if you ask me!" Well, actually, no one is asking them, and they are welcome to their opinion so long as they don't infringe upon the rights of others. I hate to break it to them, but *gasp*--BREASTS WERE MADE FOR BREASTFEEDING. I'll bet you $10 that there was a woman on that same plane with a low-cut shirt showing cleavage and, therefore, more skin than Gillette, and yet there have been no reports of this same flight attendant demonstrating her disgust over such indecent exposure and kicking unsuspecting women off of flights left and right. It's also difficult to believe that this flight attendant had never before encountered a nursing infant aboard one of her flights. I would think she must have known better than to kick a mother with an infant off a plane. After all, breastfeeding is just one of those evil necessities when it comes to newborns, but we certainly shouldn't have to put up with a toddler engaging in such disorderly conduct, right?

Actually, breastfeeding is the beautiful, God-given way for mothers to feed and comfort their small children. As for the absurd idea that breastfeeding is okay to a point, but after 6-12-18 (fill in the blank) months, it becomes obscene overnight, I'd like to point out to the ill-informed that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for at least two years.

Oh, I could go on and on, but surely I've made my point (quite a few times, right?). Our family will be flying home for Christmas soon, and you can bet I'll be nursing in flight. Don't worry, though--I'll be sure to pack an extra blanket for any flight attendant that needs to cover his or her head. ;)