Like Sugar with a "T": March 2012

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

3/20/2012

8:15 PM...After a busy day, we read our Bible story, prayed, and put both girls to bed.

8:32 PM...Normal "putting off going to bed" 2 year old strategies continue: "I need water!" "I finished my milk!" "Sleep with me!" etc.

8:56 PM...All is quiet. Could it be that both of them are asleep?

8:59 PM...We notice a light coming from upstairs. Knowing that neither of us left the light on, we know that Claire is at it again.

9:02 PM...We hear a suspicious noise that sounds an awful lot like the mobile hanging above Averi Kate's crib. But Claire cannot possibly reach said mobile. Coach goes to check it out.

9:03 PM...Coach comes running back downstairs, grabs the video camera, and says "You have got to see this..."

Needless to say, after this we raised the side of the crib to the highest level.

All she wanted to do was to sleep with her sister! And, apparently fill her sister's crib with lots of toys and objects.

And Averi Kate slept through the whole thing.

Friday, March 16, 2012

What I Love

Claire, do you know what I love about you?

I love your smile. I love the way you love to laugh and have a good time. I love the way you are silly and you are starting to catch sarcasm and jokes. I love how you pay attention to EVERYTHING and chime into conversations when I don't even realize you are listening.

I love how you always want to be around "friends" - anyone who is close to your height is considered a friend. I love how I have to wait on you every time you see a rock or a stick. What is it with rocks and sticks? I find them in the car, in my shoes, in my kitchen cabinets. I will miss them someday, I know.

I love how you sing all the time. Your favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me" and you listen to it on replay every time we are in the car. We sing it at night before bed, and you sing it when you can't go to sleep. You also want me to sing the "I Love You" song..."I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck..." I hope you always want to sing that one with me.

I love how you randomly come up and give me a great big Claire-hug and say "I love you Mommy," or "You a good mommy." Oh, you melt my heart.

I love how yesterday when we were in the truck I suddenly heard your voice from the backseat, yelling: "GOOOOOODDDDDDD???" I said, "What are you doing??" You said, "Calling God."

Please don't stop calling God.

I love how you are getting more reflective and serious at times. You ask great questions and your little mind is always going. You think about God and that thrills my heart. I pray every day that He will water the seeds in your heart, turn your heart toward Him, help you to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

You are my firstborn child, my little girl, and sometimes I think my heart will burst with love for you. Even on your worst days, with your two-year-old tantrums and frustrations, and even on my worst days, with my 28-year-old impatience and frustrations and my "mommy-tantrums", nothing can diminish the love that I have for you. You are so special, created by a loving God and given to your daddy and myself as a precious gift.

Averi Kate, do you know what I love about you?

I love your sleepiness. You are so easy-going, that you can sleep even around your sweet but loud big sister. You don't seem to mind her constant kisses and hugs and her "Mommy-I-take-care-of-Averi-Kate" mindset. I love how you focus on me when I hold you, like you already know who I am. I love how you are already 8 lbs 11 oz at just 19 days old. Are you going to be a chunky monkey??? I love your sweet baby cheeks and the way you wrap your hand around my finger when I am feeding you. I love the funny faces you make when you are falling asleep.

You are precious to me. I am thrilled to know that I get to watch you develop, not only physically, but to see what little personality dwells inside of you. You were in my womb not even 3 weeks ago, still being knit together by a loving and careful Creator, and now here you are in front of me, a miracle of life. I love you my sweet second child. I pray that already our Father is working in your little soul to teach you about His love and holiness, His justice and His grace. Soak in the words of your sister's favorite song, that you hear a hundred times a day...Jesus loves me, this I know...

Do you know what I love about having 2 little girls?

I love giving you baths together.

I love watching you bond. I love seeing you, Claire, as you grow into your role as big sister. You are such a nurturer. I love that you are already helping me teach Averi Kate about Jesus.

I love a future full of giggles and late-night chats and sharing clothes.

I love the opportunity to raise little girls into women who, by the grace of God, will love and fear Him.

I love you both, my girls.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Rough Night

It was a rough night...

But a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning makes everything better...

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Week 1 Update!

At a week and a half old, Averi Kate is the sweetest little thing. She is laid back and very sleepy. She tolerates her big sister's affections remarkably well - she has probably had more two-year-old kisses than anyone else in the world. She is not fussy as a rule and sleeps very well at night already, usually getting up about 2 times through the night to eat. As of Friday, when she was 6 days old, she had regained most of her birth weight (she was 7 lbs 11 oz on Friday) and got the "best newborn award" from the nurse practitioner for being so easy going and alert at her appointment :) She makes funny faces and funny noises, so she is already bringing more laughter into our home. We love our littlest Little.

Claire has adapted to the role of big sister (almost) seamlessly. Actually, she has had a bit of a hard time but it does not play out in sibling rivalry in the least. I think she struggles more with not understanding why Averi Kate stays up later than her, or why Averi Kate gets to sleep in mom and dad's room. So to try to help with that, we decided to go ahead and move Averi Kate into the big crib in the room that she and her sister will share. The other night I brought Averi Kate into Claire's room to put her in her crib, and as soon as she made a noise Claire perked up and yelled, "MOMMMM! AVERI KATE IS CRYING!!!" I told her, no, Averi Kate just makes funny noises when she sleeps...and at that point Claire realized that the baby was actually in her room! So of course she wanted to see her. I picked Claire up and walked over to the crib, and Claire just grinned when she saw her little sister lying there. After I put Claire back to bed and walked into our room, Spencer and I heard Claire whispering on the monitor. We turned it up to hear her whispering, "This is so cool. This is so cool." We just cracked up.

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday of Averi Kate, at 10 days old. Poor thing. She better get used to having a camera in her face!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Party of Four

Wow...party of four! That's what we are now! We are so glad Averi Kate joined us to make our family more complete. Here are some of our first family snapshots...

Big sister Claire meeting her little for the first time. Claire was the first family member (after Spencer and myself, of course) to meet Averi Kate. She walked into the room, locked her eyes on Averi Kate, and said "That's my sister!"