Talking Sticks

Today as we pulled out of the parking lot of the church on our way home, I heard E in the backseat...'I love you so much, mommy.' This indescribable feeling swelled up in my heart - I mean, there is nothing in this whole world that compares to hearing your own child say those words - so I turned back to her and said, 'Baby, I love you so much too!' She quickly replied, 'NO! Not youuuu, mommy - this mommy.' And she pointed to the two sticks she had managed to pick up and sneak into the car - one of those clearly being the 'mommy' stick and the other being the child, I guess.

I mean, sure.......I would've loved to have been the intended recipient of that outward expression of her affection, but it was enough to know that even in the imaginary world that she's beginning to create, genuine love is expressed in families. And even if I don't get a direct 'I love you' every day, it's still sweetly affirming that if even sticks love their mommies...maybe little girls do too. ;)

My Little Black-Eyed Pea

Sooooo...if you live in our town and were walking or eating downtown tonight, you might've noticed a sweet little kiddo bouncing down the sidewalk with a ponytail and a cookie and a huge smile across her sweet little mouth.............right under the HUGE BLACK EYE that she got playing in my office last night.

This is not a wimpy little black eye, folks. It's the real deal. The funny part is, every time we passed someone, there was a noticeable trend: "Smile at the cute kid....wait for it....wait for it.....gawk at the black eye....then turn to check out the daddy to see if he looked like a potential offender." Hilarious. Funnier is that she was really proud of it and would point it out and talk about it even to a complete stranger, leaving them in a true conundrum of what might really be going on in our household.

I'm not thrilled that our Easter pictures consist of a major shiner, but then again - it could have been much worse, so I'm thankful that a shiner is all we got. After you get over the initial shock, it's even a little bit sweet, don't you think?

Chocolate

This is a 3-minute video that you are welcome to skip over. I promise it won't hurt my feelings. I certainly could have edited to make it much more concise, but then you would never understand how "unscripted" this event really was. You might even wonder if it really even happened the way it did.

But there are some moments in life that really are priceless. Some of them we are lucky enough to capture on film so that we can keep forever (as, ahem, blackmail).

Tonight I was lucky, and I really needed to prove to anyone who watches that this is just - plain and simple - real life with my little kiddo. :)

E-isms

We've had some fun around our house lately. As a stranger pointed out to me this evening, "How old is she? Only two? She is very verbal!"

And boy was that "stranger" right. Although I still don't understand everything she says, it's becoming quite clearer. And hilarious.

Some E-isms as of late:

-The past few mornings, after getting into the car:
Mommy: Alright, time to go to ______'s house.
E: No....let's go to M's house today. (M is my best friend from high school who has every toy God ever created in her home. We visited her on Saturday and E still remembers how much fun her house was!)

-I caved and bought some sugary cereal this past weekend. Lucky Charms, to be exact. Her favorite thing to do has been - of course - to eat ALL the marshmallows out of the bowl then turn sweetly to me and ask, "More 'Monkey Arms', Mommy?"

-Her favorite phrase right now? "Mommy, I neeeeeeeed ____________ (fill in the blank with anything you can imagine...). And if I say "No" E turns to her daddy, "Daddy, I neeeeeeeeed ____________." How do they learn this stuff???

And the best one to date (and possibly a premonition of things to come?)...

-Tonight, after falling and stubbing her toe, and crying for some time:
"*Sniff* *Sniff* I........need..........some...........chocolate!!!"

Update:

Almost forgot this one!

Every morning after dropping E off at the sitter's house:
Mommy: *kiss* "See you later! I love you!"
E: "Love me too, mommy!"

He Makes Me Laugh

One of the best things about marrying the man I did was that I get to laugh...a lot. I'm certain this was one of the most strategic moves God made in putting the two of us together - he certainly knew that I would need a lot of joy sprinkled throughout my day. Sometimes he's goofy on purpose. Sometimes he's just goofy. Most days he's both. :)

Today as we were on our way home from visiting family over the weekend, I asked if we could make a quick stop into David's Bridal so that I could order my bridesmaids dress for my brother's wedding this coming summer.

L: How long do you think that will take?

Me: Oh, hopefully not too long. I just need to tell them I want a size 10 and pay for it.

L: Well, don't they need to measure you or something so you can make sure it's the right size?

Me: Ah, I'm hoping they won't make me do that - I'm sure a 10 will work. (Note: What woman doesn't hate getting measured?)

L: Well, what if it's the wrong size and doesn't fit? I mean, what if it's too small...I mean, too big...I mean...well, whatever size that means you're not fat.

Me: (Laughing hysterically) You mean, "What if the dress is too big?"

L: Yes. That one. What if the dress is too big?

Me: (Still laughing hysterically) I'll just have it altered.

L: Stop laughing. You knew what I meant.

Me: Of course I knew what you meant. (If I didn't, I would've socked you!)

Warm Welcome

Tonight I drove to my parents house to see E for the first time in FIVE days. I was prepared for the worst - i.e., hiding from me, crying because my coming meant Nana and PopPop leaving, etc., etc. That day is coming, so I just wanna be sure I'm as prepared as possible for it.

However, today was not that day. Tonight as I walked in the door and turned the corner, E broke into a huge grin, opened up her arms, and started yelling..."In.....DI....AAAANNNNNNAAAA!! INDIANA!! INDIANA!!! IIINNNNDDIIIIAAAAAANNNNAAAA!!!" Jumping up and down, bouncing all over the room, she was so excited about seeing her long lost friend that she forgot to notice her mama standing right there. It was a whole 90 seconds before I even got a glance. Had to beg for a half-hearted hug and kiss.

And I have to admit...as much I as would have loved a trumpet fanfare at my arrival, I so enjoyed watching her take delight in the 100-lb puppy that smacks her around all day every day. He's caused quite a tear or two in our house, as he sometimes forgets how to manage his bulk around her, but he's made a forever-impact on our hearts. Not ten minutes later, she was perched on top of him eating a cracker and watching Barney as he lay soldier-still on the floor. Why can't dogs have the lifetime of a human??

Brain-Power: Exhausted

My husband is in Egypt, my child with her Nana and PopPop. And I? Apart from spending too many hours at work, I am also getting to all those things that have been on "backorder" on my to-do list for...well, TOO long to admit out-right.

Since my brain isn't really running on all four cylinders tonight, I'll leave you with some humor. Enjoy!

Tale Of Two Brains - The best free videos are right here

SOOO Much Two-ness

E has been absolutely cracking me up lately with the things she is coming up with. Her little personality has always been so genuinely compliant and submissive, it's just shocking to see her beginning to test drive her own little will. Mind you, I love it - it's just that I'm having to rethink my game here. I used to be always one step ahead, but she's definitely stumped me a few times this week.

-Our one famous day of potty training was, well, a disaster. By the end of the day, we were both stressed and moody, and unable to cope with any additional demands that were made of us the rest of the day. We're taking a mini-hiatus while I regroup and consider what plan might work best for BOTH of us.

-Starting just recently, when I ask her a simple question with a relatively easy (yes or no) answer, instead of answering, she is glaring at me from the side and then rolling her eyes, as if to say, "Duh, mom. What d'ya think my answer would be to that question?" When I told my husband about it (and my dad, for that matter), they both answered, "Guess she's like her mama, isn't she?" *ouch*

-The other night, while over at a friend's house eating dinner, I was helping E get some food on her fork. Apparently this wasn't what she wanted, because she reached out and popped my arm with her hand, pointed her finger at me, and said, "No." I would've given everything in the world to have a picture of the way her daddy's face contorted at that moment. Priceless. Pretty sure she won't be trying that one again.

-Today on the way to church, I overheard her talking in the back seat: "Love you SOOO much, PopPop. Love you SOOOO much Nana. Love you SOOO much, Doggie...." Thinking I'd play with her, I started to offer so names. "SOOO much, Mama?" I tried. "NO! Love you SOOO much PopPop," she answered. Then, of course it became a game. Everyone but mama was loved SOOO much today. :)

In One Morning...

In one morning, E has successfully pottied on the rug, on a friend, on the couch, on the rocking chair, on our toys, on her little stuffed "doggie," on the real dog, in the high chair, on mommy...

...and in the potty chair 6 times!!

(It's sounds a little like a Dr. Seuss book, doesn't it?)

Pretty, Pretty Princess...or Not?

Today on the way to the sitter's house, E asked to hold my keys. Because we were in an enclosed space in which I could pretty well trust she wouldn't be able to lose them (a whole different story), I obliged. Only a few seconds later, she handed them back to me, apparently finished.

I drove on, already at work in my mind, thinking of emails and conversations and deadlines, when I heard E from the back seat:

"Pretty. Pretty, mama. Pretty."

I turned the rear-view mirror so I could take a glance, and found that she had snagged my flash drive from its soft case attached to my keys in the few seconds she'd had them before. I looked back just in time to see her pull off the top, lift it to her mouth, and begin pretending she was putting on lipstick. Oh dear.

Fast forward to this afternoon when I stopped by my husband's frisbee team practice. E came running to me, huge grin on her face, laughing hysterically. I didn't really know what was so funny until I took a closer look. Mud...smeared all over her face, all down the front of her pants. Now, down the front of the pants is understandable for a toddler who is still rather clumsy. But her face? Right about that time, my husband walked over to me and caught me studying the red clay caked on her nose. "Yeah," he said, "That's because she was eating dirt again." Eating dirt? Again?!?

Oh well. At least we know she's well-balanced.

Roma Ultima

Yesterday we traveled a looooong six and a half hours in the car so that daddy could play in a frisbee tournament this weekend - his first ever!

Today was an equally long, but very fun day. E was by far the dirtiest person on the field by the end, and made quite a team mascot.

The count at the end of day one is 3 wins and 1 loss, with great hopes for being in the final championship game tomorrow!

Some of the day's best shots (from our perspective, anyway!):

The Star of the Show

As E creeps closer and closer to the big "2," her little personality is shining through more each day. It's amazing to see the ways in which she's like me, the ways in which she's like her daddy, and (the best part) the ways in which she's just E.

She's definitely an attention-seeker - of that I am certain. She has no problem breaking out a little white-girl dance in the middle of a highly public place; in fact, she did just that during a little playdate we had with a friend this morning. She's also becoming more and more aware of the camera, and on the way home last night began asking me to snap her picture while she made goofy poses in the back seat.

At the top of the list with white-girl-break-dancing is also karaoke; "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" is (appropriately) one of her favorites right now. My favorite line is, "Up above the world so high, Rocket diamond in the sky..."

The pictures and the video are from last night's movie-maker episode in the car seat. They're a little fuzzy, as all I had on me was my phone camera; but she was in rare form...a perfect time for capturing some candid memories, regardless of the quality.

Grandparents and a Two-Year-Old

It's been a week full of grandparenting around here! We travelled over the weekend to see grandparents in South Carolina, then on to grandparents and great grandparents in North Carolina. Lots of fun, lots of sweet sweet memories, and lots of "2"-ish behavior. LOTS of it.

Thanks to access to TV (a luxury we don't offer at home), E has developed a crush on Blue, the canine star of the preschool show, Blue's Clues. I have to admit that I am encouraging it a little, as I am about to need some heavy incentives for potty training, and Blue is much more tolerable for this mama than Barney or Dora (and conveniently available via YouTube). I'm also working in a little Veggie Tales on the side, but since I'm guessing that Veggie Tales underwear is a little harder to come by than Blue's Clues, I'm hoping that the enjoyment of maybe both will stick around.

Words are beginning to morph into real phrases - not just the crazy jabber that we've heard up to this point. Some of my favorites from the weekend are most certainly, "Grandaddy, I want ice cream!" and "No way! Are you serious?" (a phrase she hears often from her daddy).

And, to my total embarrassment, she now points out the sign for Starbucks when we are driving down the road and says, "Coffee! Coffee, mama?" Yeah, that's nice...

Time Flies By

I was thinking the other day that it just seems impossible how fast time has flown by this past year. Every time that E and I meet someone new, they always leave me with the same parting words: "Don't blink, because before you know it, she'll be headed off to college."

If the warp speed continues, I can easily see why they all say it.

I pull my video camera out every chance I get. I shoot pictures at every turn. I've even started blogging every little detail that I can manage to remember. And then I stumble across something like this, and I think...WAIT!!! That can't possibly be almost two years ago, can it?

Productivity

Tonight was a working night at the house. For what seems like one of the first days in a while, the ground was finally dry enough to tackle mowing the lawn, and the weather cooperated to allow for some other outdoor chores as well. My rockin' husband picked up E, came home, mowed the lawn, cleaned out the gutters, swept off the roof, unloaded the dishwasher, washed the dog and helped with the laundry. I made dinner, staved off a starving child to "make it" until dinner, fed everybody, bathed E, cleaned up dinner, kept laundry moving, and swept floors throughout the house. I noticed about halfway through sweeping that E was being especially quiet and was playing really well with her toys in her room. I was proud of her. I was proud of myself for helping her to get to that point. I was a bit too proud.

For what she was really doing was pulling all of her clothes out of the drawers in her dresser and off the bottom rack of her closet and draping them all over her bedroom.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

When I was a kid, if I saw something I liked, I would just take it. My unregenerate heart simply had no regard for other people's stuff. I brought home several books from preschool. I would take pencils that I liked off of people's desks at school. I remember having to go back into a department store and return a magnet that I had stolen in the check-out line, per my dad's disapproving instruction. I took things from my sister all the time (maybe one of the reasons she's such an awesome person is that I cultivated a huge heart of grace in her...hahaha).

Today E and I had a little playdate, and when I went to clean out her bag tonight, I found this:

Three little pieces of fruit from her little friends' play kitchen. (To further demonstrate that this wasn't "an accident," she asked for them by name when I was emptying her bag. I didn't know what she was talking about until I stumbled upon them.) Sorry, J & E!! We'll return them ASAP. :)

It's a little bit funny, but it's also quite serious too. I don't want to overlook the fact that this could be a potential foothold in her life one day if not addressed early and talked about frequently; it certainly is an issue I have always dealt with. She has such a sweet, joyful heart even now in the midst of being a little thief - I can't wait to see what it's going to look like one day when it has been reclaimed by our Holy God and used for His incredible purposes!!

Play date kiddos:

(E, E, & E!)

Flower Child

Hint: There's a child in there somewhere. :)

Pumpkin Carvin' with Uncle R

We continued the fall festivities this evening with three other couples and their kiddos, all carving pumpkins with our little ones for the first time.

Some wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins, some tried to eat the pumpkins, and some...like my dear sweet child...instigated pumpkin-goop-throwing wars.

Luckily, we were in a pretty fun-loving crowd, so she had the opportunity to enjoy being herself.

I think it turned out pretty good.

Thanks for letting us wreck your house, Uncle R! Can we do it again next year??

I always think about my friend G when I clean out the refrigerator.

When I was interning at a church during college, I lived with G. She was, hands down, one of the best roommates I've ever had. On the first day I moved in, she gave me a list of "Things to Know About Living Here," which included how to park in the driveway (no lie) and how to avoid the wrath of her devil-cat (wish I were joking). I have so many fond memories of that brief moment in my life, like...

-Buying ice cream from the grocery store, ordering pizza from Dominoes, and sitting on the couch stuffing our faces while watching the "Biggest Loser."

-Coming home to find my sister, who was visiting me for the week, squatting on top of the kitchen counter, wearing oven mitts and holding a broom, terrified of the "devil-cat" who was hissing and spitting at her from the middle of the kitchen floor.

-Constant conversations about how I used to leave kitchen cabinet doors open and accidentally burn the burner covers on the stove.

-Sideways glances from her when L and I would sit too close together on the couch.

-Her laugh. It's one of my top five most favorite laughs in the whole wide world.

-Unashamed jealousy over the fact that her mom's favorite thing to do was show up unannounced and take her on a shopping spree.

But my all-time favorite memory of G has to be the realization that there was a leftover covered casserole dish in her refrigerator from the Thanksgiving the year before. Mind you, I moved into the house during the summer. We threw that whole $15-dish away, we never even opened the lid. I think we sat in the middle of the kitchen floor and laughed for a half hour. So, every time I clean out my refrigerator and stumble upon a tupperware container that was shoved into the back and forgotten about, I think of my friend G. And I smile.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

It's amazing how quickly I can go from a loving, gracious mommy to a short-tempered, legalistic dictator. Ugh. It's kind of depressing, actually.

I got a phone call from a rather antagonistic person yesterday that, frankly, left me flustered and angry. Hours later, it was obviously still brewing in my soul, and I found myself being very ungracious with E, even causing her to cry at one point of particular impatience.

Fast forward to tonight when I peeked into her room, 45 minutes past her bedtime, because she was still awake and talking. When I creeped up close to her bedside to see what was going on, she opened her eyes, looked at me sideways out of the corner of them, and started giggling. We laughed hysterically for the next five minutes.

Reflecting on my bipolar interactions with her over the past 24 hours reminds me of something Louie Giglio said last week, something that keeps coming back up for me. He gave the illustration of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the fact that after the crowd yells, "Move That Bus!!," the first thing that camera focuses on is not the house - the thing that the whole show has been apparently building up to - but the family's faces. Even though you're not able to see the actual house at first, you get excited because you see the house on the faces of the family members who are beholding it. Their thrill at the joy of this new house increases your desire to view it, tour it, analyze it, feel it.

When I am bothered by and focused on a cruddy conversation with a mean person, I reflect that in my face to E. She responds with tears, and rightfully so - what I am reflecting to her is anxiety and anger. When I tiptoed into her room tonight and was surprised by the joy and innocence of the precious gift God has given to me, I reflected that in my face back to E, and we laughed until we cried. What a reminder to me of how much my face affects those around me.

Jesus, when You said that we are to be a light to those around us, I think I'm realizing that what you meant is that we are to reflect the Light from its original source: You. When I spend time in the world, I begin to reflect the things of this world to those around me, things that are broken and shallow and hurtful. Draw me into You and lift my head up to Your Face, that I may see Your goodness and dwell in Your House. Restore my soul that I may shine Your Light to those around me. May my face reflect Your Glory, Lord, that those who see my face may be drawn toward the One who has set my feet to dancing and set my heart on fire!