Sara Bear

Our sweet squishy smily Sara is now 2 1/2! This half a year has flown by! Sara still such a funny little girl, always trying to make us laugh. She wants to play games and be tickled all day long. Her new favorite word is "usually" and she uses it frequently. I was making asparagus and Sara came in the kitchen to see what I was doing. When she saw what I was making was green, she asked what it was. I said it was asparagus and she said "Mom, I don't like es scary gas." Then when Lisa (our neighbor and dear friend) was trying to get her to eat it she exclaimed "I usually don't like asparagus." She is just so funny because she is so talkative and has so much to say about everything! We are constantly amazed that she can articulate her thoughts so well. When she gets really excited about something, she gets so overwhelmed that she can't speak in coherent sentences and she raises her little hands up by her face and waves them around. It is so cute and funny and I just can not contain myself when she is in this state. It is simply hilarious.

Every time she goes down for a nap or bedtime, she wants me to cuddle her. She still sucks her thumb and plays with her belly button to sooth herself, but she has also added pressing her belly up against anything cold. This sounds weird... and it is :) When she gets tired and starts sucking her thumb and playing with her belly she will go up to the wall, lift up her shirt and press her belly against it. While lying in bed she will roll over to the wall and lie flat against it to feel it cool against her belly. I typically have cold hands and especially now as the weather is changing, my hands are always cold. So, it has become routine that when I cuddle her, I press a cold hand against her warm little belly. She smilies and puts her little hand on top of mine. She is so precious.

I pray for my sweet Sara Bear to be able to use her humor and spunky personality for the Lord. I pray she will become excited about worshiping our great God and that her energizer bunny demeanor will never go away but will be used mightily for the sake of God and the Gospel. I pray that Sara will have a love for Jesus Christ that is greater than mine. Thank you God for the gift of Sara Grace!!!

Our 4 Year Old!

Kalena turned four last month!! She has started some new activities this year like Awana at church, and "school" at home with me. We are having a blast with her and her maturing vocabulary and mental capacity. She has begun to ask more in depth questions about life, which is fun. Not too long ago we started a conversation about princesses. She asked me why some people are princesses, kings and queens. We got into an extensive conversation that even included taxes and what happens when we die.

Kalena is still a cuddler. I love to snuggle her. My favorite thing is when she hugs me and puts her head right next to mine and she says "I just want you mommy!" I want her too, all the time. I always want to be playing, talking, reading and doing art with her, it is so much fun. I am so blessed to be Kalena's mommy and I am not looking forward to her going to school next year. Maybe she won't. Maybe we will do home-school through college and she will just stay with me for the rest of her life. I would love it :)

Kalena loves her sisters so much. She plays with them, makes them laugh, and helps me take care of them. She tells me she wants more little sisters. Not boys, however, because she thinks that boys don't love Jesus. I tried to help her understand boys are just different and many of them do love Jesus :) (and she thinks the world of her daddy) but she still just wants more sisters.

I love Kalena more than I could ever write. I pray earnestly to the Lord to protect her and to save her at an early age. There is nothing I want more for her than to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be all the glory for what a wonderful little person she is. I pray with my whole heart that she will come to know the full knowledge of the truth of the Gospel and character of our Great God! Thank you God for the wonderful gift of Kalena.