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 31, 2008 by daddy.

We have taken to really liking ribs grilled here at home, why pay to go out when we can get awesome tasting ribs right here at home.  The other night we did just that, while sitting down at the table Emily turns around and said “daddy, I love your ribs”.  Wow, warmed my heart.  This from the BBQ covered face of a toddler.

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July 3, 2008 by daddy.

Thought we would share our latest family photo with everyone.  This was taken at Jim & Suzie’s wedding this last weekend.  Emily is three and Norah is 7 months… we don’t need to comment on daddy and mommies ages.

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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 30, 2008 by daddy.

The other day I caught this photo… I was staring down at the couch trying to figure out which one was daddy’s and which was Emily’s. It is very fun listening to the “conversations” that she has on her phone. Something similar to the following:

Hello there Uncle Marc, how are you?

Good? Good.

Good Bye

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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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May 22, 2008 by daddy.

Big news, Emily is now moved around to the big people side of the table still using the blue booster and Norah is in the high chair!  Norah is enjoying solids and from time to times gets a little messy with them.  Emily like to retell that when daddy was away once Norah got squash all the way up to her forehead.

Also, below is an updated family photo of the latest Loons game that we attended.

God Bless,
The Lacher Family

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March 17, 2008 by mommy.

Emily conquered some big demons this weekend and stepped on and off an escalator all by herself (holding Daddy’s hand). She had tried to do it once in the past holding Mommy’s hand but at the last minute I freaked out a bit. You see, I was worried that she would fall, and then I would fall, and then…well, let’s just say I came close to damaging her for life in regards to escalators just like my own little hang-up with them (note to self: remember to ask Mom if I had a run-in with an escalator in my childhood). But thankfully, Dan and I are persuasive parents and we convinced Emily to be brave and she did it! She was actually excited to go down and show us what a big girl she was!

So, flash forward to this morning. She was reading one of her books while I fed Norah. She was spelling out the title letter by letter - Good Morning Farm! When she got to the “!” she said, “Is this an I?” I said that it was called an exclamation point and explained to her what it was for. So then she started over and spelled the whole thing again. “…F, A, R, M, escalator point.” I guess the escalator bravery had quite an effect on her! I thought it was so cute!

We had a great weekend. Uncle Marc came to visit. He and Emily were fast friends - reading books, playing games, and doing puzzles. Norah also liked looking at Marc - probably due to the same shade of hair as big sister. It was too short of a visit but it was really nice to see my little brother again. My favorite moments? Listening to various songs on iTunes and reminiscing about the old days, and praying with him and the rest of the family. Good to see ya Marc. Hope to see you again soon.

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