Two months into being 2!

Dear Mia,
Two months into being 2 years old, you are still SUCH a good kid (with a slight attitude at times)! You are silly, joyous, intuitive, a much better eater, adventurous, friendly and shy at the same time, and learning to know God day by day. You remember everything! I can reason with you and you understand everything. You love babies - in some way or another, you ask for a baby sister every day. Tonight, while we said prayers, you asked for a baby sister and a baby brother. You have a sweet, gentle spirit and sharing comes easy to you. In fact, most things come easy to you. Potty training was complete after about 1 hour, haha. Once I said no more diaper, you never looked back - never had an accident to clean up. I don't even ask you to go potty 20 times a day, you just tell me when you have to go! But the one thing you never tried to do was climb out of your crib, until last night!!
You are a monkey and have great balance. I was glad you were content to stay in your crib. You've been having some trouble going to bed the last few weeks and I was letting you cry for a bit. When it got quiet after a few minutes, I was about to check the monitor to see if you had fallen asleep....when you opened your bedroom door and came running out, declaring you had to go potty (which you did)! Your dad and I tried not to die laughing as we asked questions about how you got out. You promptly showed daddy how you hung off the side.
I have missed posting pictures and other silly Mia happenings...time to catch up, one post at a time. For now, I didn't want to forget these few things I cherish about you and some milestones you have blown through with ease.
Love you sweet Mia!
Love Mommy:)

If I Am Honest

If I am honest........
So many things could complete that sentence. If I am honest, I have to admit that being a mom is far better than I ever hoped or imagined. If I am honest, being married for 10 years is easy and wonder yet hard and stretching at the same time. If I am honest, I have to acknowledge I am a hard person to live with (who isn't I suppose?). If I am honest, I never expected to lose friends.  If I am honest, my walk with God is much harder now than any other time in my life.

Let's hit on that last one a bit. I ask myself why it is hard to sit and listen through God's word. Why is it hard to understand His wisdom? How can I listen to lie after lie when I know the Truth so well? I am sure some of my much more educated friends could dig into theology and find the root of it. But here is the simple truth - if I am honest! I had plans!! That's right - I had plans. Forget that I experience no real hardship in my life. Forget that my church worships freely and worships well. Forget that my family (current and extended) brings me joy upon joy each day. Forget that my husband loves me without waiver and finds new ways to love me. I had plans for what my family would look like at the age of 33, almost 34.  Never did I imagine my first child would be potty trained and out of diapers before we could even conceive a second. I was suppose to be done having kids by the time I was 30 - and have lots of them. And so the questions continue. How does God get the most glory out of this?! Why would God withhold blessing from me? He performed a miracle in Mia, so why not do it again? Didn't I learn enough the first time around? Does God find comic relief in giving babies to parents who don't "deserve" kids, yet withhold giving children to loving, christian parents?  And really God - you want this struggle of infertility to permeate through my entire family, letting all my siblings struggle as well??! And the questions could go on for pages.

Some days, the doubts and fears and unbelief are all I can hear.  But somehow, God's truth makes it to my heart on most days and the questions fade. They remain unanswered, but they fade into the distance.  I remember that HE is all that matters. If I am honest, the joy I have in Christ is exemplified in Mia. None of the struggles that capture my heart from time to time EVER take away the joy, happiness, thankfulness and utter awe I have in the sweet miracle of Mia's life.  I do not take it for granted that she is mine for a little while. So why is it so hard to walk with God right now when I experience a miracle in my home every day?! If I am honest, it is because I don't want to listen. I don't want to listen because I know what He will say. And He will expect me to grow and work out my salvation.  Sometimes that hurts. Sometimes it means letting go of the our own plans. Which let's be honest again - I am not willing to let go of my plans to have more babies. So I try to "sit still" in my walk with God - trying not to stir up trouble. As if that will benefit anyone!  Aren't we just ridiculous some times? Let me ignore your Word which breathes life into me when I need it most, just because I am scared of the results.

Don't get me wrong. God and I talk very often. Mostly a one way conversation of informing God of my plans and why hasn't He jumped on board yet.  After all, my plans can move no where without Him. So I sit at an impass. I watch my daughter excel and grow - and I find joy in simply being a part of it. Yet as she grows there is a sting of knowing there is no little sibling following behind her yet.  How can there be complete joy and utter sadness flowing from my heart at the same time?

And so, once again, if I am honest, I beg for God's mercy. Not just in my circumstances. But for my heart to be truly satisfied in Him alone. To put my plans in line with His own. The truth of the matter is that I do not want my plans to come to fruition unless they are His plans alone! And so we wait and we pray.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Mia Joy!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Mia Joy!!!  It is hard to believe that it has already been two years since we first held your tiny little body. And today you are such a big girl in so many ways. You are no longer a baby and maybe not even a toddler any more. In the last 2 weeks you have successfully (and with ease) gotten rid of your bottle and your paci.  On your own accord, you have decided you want to go to the bathroom on the potty - and you do it often, even when Mommy doesn't ask you (both pee and poop!). Besides these big girl accomplishments, it is obvious you enjoy life to the fullest. You talk in paragraphs and describe things you have never heard me say before. Sometimes, without knowing it, you say something that makes Mommy and Daddy laugh so hard. You like to make us laugh and I think soon you will figure out how to be funny on purpose.

Truly, I cannot say enough about how good you are, how happy you are, how easy you transition in change and disrupted schedule, how well you play by yourself and with others, and how love just jumps out of you all day long. I am amazed each day at who God made you to be and can only watch in wonder as God keeps softening your heart and shapes you into His precious daughter!

Your official stats from the doctor at 2 years old: 22 lbs 11 oz. (6%); 34 1/2 inches tall (70%) and SMART. They couldn't believe how well you could move around (including skipping) and how well you could talk! Keep growing healthy and strong sweet girl. 

It is exciting yet hard for me to watch you grow so fast! God has given you to us for a short time and it is flying by. I sing you a song at night that says Mommy loves you to the moon and back. But somehow it is possible that I love you WAY MORE than that:)  You are the miracle that made me a mommy and changed my world forever.

We love Ryan!

These 2 cannot get enough of each other! Rachael and I have to show them videos and pictures of each other every day - which they specifically request. Mia asks me about Ryan when she falls asleep - to make sure he is sleeping too. But Ryan is rarely mentioned without Rachael :) We sure do love this family!!

Mia's World

Mia seems to be changing daily and growing into a little girl right before our eyes. There is so much I want to remember about this age. Here is an attempt to capture some of it:

- her top two i-teeth arrived at the same time about 2 weeks ago
- her bottom two i-teeth began to show themselves this morning
- she knows that when we get in the car we are either going to Amy's (while Mommy goes to work), shopping, or to Ryan's house. She runs through those 3 options until she figures out where we are going. (those are not the only 3 places we go of course, just the most frequent)
- When we go to Ryan's house, she makes sure to ask if we will also see Rachael and Chris:)
- she is eating like a champ and today I noticed she is starting to get some chunk rolls on her neck.
- she likes the game where "mommy get you" and "daddy save you", which means mommy tries to tickle her while she runs to daddy to save her!
- she LOVES her purple vitamin which she unwraps all by herself and properly bites it in half
- a few of her favorite foods for the moment: grapes, strawberries dipped in her yogurt, frozen blueberries, peas, hummus and carrots, apple/cinnamon granola bars, waffles with syrup to dip, oatmeal, cutie oranges
- her version of a few phrases/words: "tebby tear" (teddy bear); "selfs"(by myself); "hungy" (hungry); "scoop" (scoot over); "dolsin" (dolphin); "jack" (jumping jack - which she demonstrates)
- phrases we hear often: "paci"; "play outside"; "mommy push me"; "mommy do it"; "daddy do it"; "thank you mommy"; "bless you daddy"; "Ryan, Rachael, Chris"; "Amy house?"; "shopping? cart?"; "Abby car"; "book"; "push you"; "hold you".
- she loves the water no matter the activity
- she feeds herself incredibly well with little mess (until she decides she is done and plays with it!)
- she loves the babies at church and always wants to "hold baby?" (still praying for her own baby brother or sister to hold)
- there are times when she knows she is in trouble and puts herself in time out
- she climbs on the furniture, but mostly on what we allow. She has not ventured a double climb where she climbs onto the chair and then a table or counter.
- she is always jumping...on the floor, on our bed, on the couch, on the couch cushions on the floor, on mommy...anything really.
- she asks us to sing Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle Twinkle when we put her to bed (and gets upset if we sing something different)
- she is learning her colors and numbers
- she asks to watch videos of her cousin Aaro on my phone every morning
- she often holds my face in her hands as I rock her to sleep at night, puts her nose against mine, and just starts to giggle uncontrollably 

It is downright fun to be around her all the time!! Mommy and Daddy LOVE YOU Mia!!! God has made you into a joyful blessing that makes us smile inside and out. We pray daily for your heart and to keep that joy forever!

St. Simon Island

We took a short weekend trip to St. Simon Island for Tucker's birthday party! Somehow I didn't get pictures at the party that was loaded with trains, but these pictures should capture the rest of our trip! Mia has had to recount her day to me so many times - she had a BLAST!! She is a water/beach baby for sure.

 

Lots of Prayer and Must Remembers

Tonight, I look at the video monitor and smile at the wonder my sweet baby girl is, all tucked in her blankets with her "night-night" and big girl pillow. I seem to be wearing my heart out on my shoulder as I try to tackle life and disciple her heart towards Christ. There is the overwhelming joy that makes me want to squeeze her so tight and never let go. There is the impatience as she struggles to obey. There is the awe of her development and wondering how she got so smart. And there is prayer....lots and lots of prayer! Desperate pleas for God to keep her safe, to keep her from the ugly horror this world has to offer. Begging God to soften her heart towards His love and draw her close. Pray without ceasing has taken on a new meaning for me. And yet, I still feel like I have not cover her in prayer enough. Thank goodness God loves Mia more than I do (although that is practically hard to imagine) and has wrapped her in His grace.


Now to drastically change topics...I want to remember what life was like, what Mia was like at 20 months old. So here are a few must remembers:


Mia loves to dance before bedtime - requiring it to be a family event.
We giggle and rub noses together.
It took over a month of thinking we were done nursing (see previous post), to one last time, haha!
She loves to jump.
To say she loves to play outside is an understatement!!
I wish I could record the way she says "zebra" more like "zeba".
She constantly asks to watch videos of her cousins Aaro and Adalie.
She likes me to sing (more like hum) to her after I lay her down.
And I have to kiss both hands before saying good-night (which she reaches up to me).
She laughs so hard when I tickle her belly.
She loves to play with babies doll and trucks/tractors equally.
She waives "hi" and "bye" to the cars and school buses we drive by.
She has a habit of washing her hands while I brush her teeth.
She licks the bubbles in her bath; really she licks a lot of things.
Her favorite friend right now is Ryan (but she has not forgotten sweet Levi)!
We let her dip her chicken in Chick-fil-A sauce just so she will eat it.
She repeats every word in her own version that we mostly understand.
She has started saying 2 and 3 word sentences.
She has to sit and lean against the wall to poop - every time.
When she has trouble pooping, she says "it's stuck".
She likes to help in the kitchen, water the plants, and sweep the floor.
She can catch the kitty if she is really fast.
And thinks it's funny when Sam bites her hand.
She tries to tell Sam to be "nice".
We get sweet cuddle time in our bed every morning.


And I think I could go on all night. She is so funny and HAPPY probably 98% of the time. I love you sweet Mia and cherish every minute I get to spend with you.