November 5, 2008 by mommy.

This post is for my precious daughters, Emily & Norah. I am not going to use this space to discuss who Dan or I chose to vote for this year. But it is now 11pm EST, and Barack Obama has just been declared President-Elect of the United States of America. My girls, there is so much uncertainty in our future - war, the economy, etc. But tears came to my eyes as this was announced. You are not old enough (and I wish you would never be old enough) to carry prejudices with you with respect to the color of someone’s skin. I always wanted to believe we live in a country that does not limit people based on how God designed them. Today I have seen our country elect our first African-American president. What does this mean? This means that Americans can rise above long-standing prejudice. This means that the two of you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up. And that is no longer just words - this is a huge step for our country. God only knows what the next four years holds. Our call is to lift Mr. Obama up in prayer, praying that God will guide him in all he does. We may not always agree with our leaders, but we can respect them. Someday you will understand the historic significance of this event. But for now, I am off to bed. It is WAY past my bedtime and I know both of you will be up early.

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October 28, 2008 by mommy.

OK, so the title is not what you might think…Emily had her first lollipop (Dum-Dum sucker) tonight. Blue Raspberry flavor! She loved it and she did a great job of licking the whole thing rather than crunching into it. We have been laughing privately about being such different parents from the “status quo”…Emily is 3 1/2 years old and is just now having her first sucker. Didn’t watch any TV or videos until she was 2. First Disney movie (Finding Nemo) about a month ago…and even then we broke it up over several days of viewing. Yes, we are pretty weird…but we like it that way. Now we just want to make sure we keep up the same standards for Norah. I have always heard it is harder with the second one because you have the influence of the first child. For example, it was easy to not have the TV on with Emily and even now we don’t turn it on until the girls go to bed. But, if Emily does want to watch a VeggieTales video or something, we end up taking Norah to another room so she doesn’t watch.

Many people have scoffed at the notion that Emily didn’t watch any TV until she was 2. I’ve been told it is an unrealistic expectation. For us, we have always felt there are so few hours in the week already that we get to spend together since we both work full time that when we are with the kids, we want to use that time playing, reading books, coloring, being outside, etc. And for anyone who thinks it is ridiculous, I typically have to bite my tongue when I really just want to point out how intelligent, well spoken, and imaginative Emily is. Certainly she may still be this way even if she had “gotten” to watch television and videos sooner so I am making an assumption. But, our family would have missed out on lots of great conversations and playtime.

Yep, we will stick with being weird. That was quite a tangent - I originally only planned to post about the sucker!

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August 12, 2008 by mommy.

This is going to be the longest, most rambling post ever, but I can’t think of a better way to capture the amazing conversation I had with Emily at prayer time right before bed tonight. I asked Emily to start the prayers tonight and she counted to ten so we thanked Jesus for counting. Then she said we needed to pray for Mr. Jason because the owie in his head is “getting worser”. She then asked why this was and I said we don’t know what God’s plan is. For simplicity’s sake, I will now designate the rest of the conversation with M for Mommy and E for Emily.
E: No, God has to go to work.
M: You’re right, God is going to do His work but we don’t know what His plan is.
E: No, he has to go to work on his computer.
M: I don’t know if God has a computer. Someday when we get to heaven we can ask Him.
E: Yeah, I want to go to heaven now to ask him!
M: Honey, we can’t go to heaven right now.
E: When can we go?
M: We don’t go to heaven until we die.
E: When are we going to die?
M: I don’t know sweetie. Only God knows that.
E: When we are dead can we play with God?
M: Yes honey.
E: I think Norah is going to die. (ok, way to freak me out!)
M: Well, we will all die eventually. But I am glad that we are not dead yet so we can be here with each other. When we die we are in heaven forever and we don’t come back.
E: The big dog Jack is in heaven. (note - this is our friend’s dog that passed away last year and Emily has never forgotten him)
M: Yes, you are right. (some people may disagree with whether animals go to heaven but that is not a discussion to have with young children in my opinion)
E: Heaven and Haiti are really far away.
M: You are right honey, but they are different. Haiti is a country, you can find it on a map. Heaven is God’s house, it is up there, you can’t see it.
E: Yeah…in Haiti, there are boys and girls that don’t have mommies and daddies. That’s why Aunt Jen is there to help them!
M: Yes, that’s right honey! But Aunt Jen will come back from Haiti. Heaven is forever.
E: Why is heaven forever?
M: Well, when we die, our bodies stay here, but do you know the special part that is inside of us?
E: Yes…
M: Well that part goes to live in heaven with God. You know how we say heaven is God’s house and Jesus is the key to God’s house?
E: Yeah, Jesus is the key.
M: Well, we get to live in heaven with God someday because we believe in Jesus.
E: Yeah. Jesus is in heaven with God because Jesus is dead.
M: Well, no honey, actually Jesus is alive!
E: Why isn’t Jesus dead?
M: Remember how at Easter Jesus died on the cross but then he rose again and now he’s alive?
E: Yeah…
M: He is alive in heaven. And that’s why we get to live in heaven forever with God.
E: In heaven can we play with Jesus and God?
M: Yes honey, I am sure we can. That will be fun.
E: I think God has cars for us to play with.
M: I’ll be you are right.
E: Mommy, will you be in heaven with me?
M: Yes, I will be there because I believe in Jesus. Honey, do you believe in Jesus?
E: Yes, I believe in Jesus.
M: Do you believe he died and rose again so we can be with him forever in heaven?
E: Yeah.
M: Me too. So that means we will both be there with him forever!
E: And we can play with Jesus and God!
M: Yes honey.
E: I love you mommy.
M: I love you too sweetie.

Whew! My mind was very tired after that. Dan of course pointed out after I told him the story that if God has toy cars He almost certainly has a computer! Yes, I suppose so, but look at the awesome conversation I would have missed out on had I taken the “easy way out” on the original question.

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July 2, 2008 by mommy.

We have discovered lately that Norah LOVES being in the water. Whether it is a bath or the swimming pool, she practically jumps out of your arms with glee into the water. I wonder what she will think of Emily’s favorite summer hangout, the splash park?!

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July 2, 2008 by mommy.

Emily has been quite excited lately to be playing with the Matchbox cars that Dan played with as a child. One night as we were playing with them she was showing me one that she correctly identified as a monster truck (I later learned she had picked that up from playing with Olivia). We were driving cars and she was driving a race car. Then she grabbed another one and asked, “Is this one a race car?” I looked at it and saw that it was a delivery truck for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, so I told her excitedly “Emily, this is a Rice Krispies truck for taking Rice Krispies to people!” She then picked up another one and said, “Yes, and this is a monster truck for taking monsters to people!” I didn’t want to laugh for fear of making her self-conscious of what she said, but I had a hearty belly laugh over it later and still can’t tell the story to anyone without laughing. What a sweetheart.

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July 2, 2008 by mommy.

“Norah’s on Emily’s on Mommy’s on Daddy…and none of the family is in the kitchen!” - comment made by Emily as we all cuddled together in the living room earlier this evening

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May 23, 2008 by mommy.

For those who may not have heard, there is some very sad news in the world of Christian music. Steven Curtis Chapman lost his youngest daughter in a tragic accident at their home. In addition to the incredible music he has contributed to this world, Steven and his wife are active advocates in the world of international adoption. Maria was one of three daughters the Chapman family adopted from China. Dan and I have always had a heart for China and are big fans of SCC’s music, so I was literally crying as I read the news yesterday. My heart goes out to the Chapman family and I pray for peace for their aching hearts. You can read more about the family at www.stevencurtischapman.com and there is now also a link to a new blog set up in Maria’s memory with some very precious videos of this beautiful 5 year old girl. Please pray for this family.

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May 23, 2008 by mommy.

Norah has a new view of the world these days because she has learned to sit up on her own! She still tips over sometimes but is getting a lot more stable. She still is not a big fan of tummy time even though she knows how to roll off her tummy on to her back. She tends to not practice that skill much. She prefers to be on her back or her side, even when sleeping. By contrast, Emily had already started sleeping on her tummy (much to Mommy and Daddy’s dismay) by this age. Norah, we are constantly reminded that you are not your sister. You have your own personality, your own preferences, and your own timelines for doing things. In other words, you are keeping us on our toes!

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May 23, 2008 by mommy.

Those who are on our snail mail list will be receiving Emily’s 3 year and Norah’s 5 month pictures sometime next week. Emily looks so grown up. If you look closely, you will see a pink flower in some of her pictures. I didn’t realize it until I got the pictures back from the studio, but it is the same flower that she held in her very first studio pictures when she was 1 month old. How fun to come full circle like that. The girls continue to look alike, but each have their different looks as well. There are still times when I look at Norah and feel like I am looking at Emily as a baby.

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May 23, 2008 by mommy.

So Norah is sick - again. The poor thing has a runny nose, weepy eye, and yucky cough. Today she seems to be a bit better, at least her eye has improved. She does not like it when I try to wipe her nose so I hope she gets better soon. The other problem that has developed is that she does not want to fall asleep on her own lately - she wants to be cuddled. I really do not want to have to resort to “crying it out” but Norah has been putting herself to sleep since 3 months of age and now she has suddenly changed her mind…if this situation continues, we may have to take “extreme” measures. Not much fun but beneficial in the long run. I remember when Emily was this age she would test us every month or two by crying at bedtime and when she realized that wasn’t getting her anywhere, she would go right back to talking and cooing herself to sleep. Come to think of it, she still does this to this day…

Anyway, on to the story that gives this post its title. Norah was coughing as I put her into her carseat the other morning and Emily said, “Mom, tonight we should pray for Norah’s cough to go away at bedtime.” I told her that was very nice, but that we can pray anytime we want to, we don’t have to wait until bedtime, and would she like to pray right now? She said she would and then folded her hands and said, “Dear Jesus, thank you for taking away Norah’s cough, Amen.” It made me smile at the way she prays (everything is always “thank you for…”) but her prayer reminded me of two valuable lessons. First of all, she prayed with confidence that Jesus indeed was going to take away her sister’s cough. And second, she began with praise. How often do we jump right into our selfish prayers of what we think God needs to do for us, without taking the time to praise the Almighty Creator of the universe? Thanks, Emily, for helping me grow in my Christian walk. Mommy loves you, and your little sister too.

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