So EXCITED!

Hannah has been fascinated with emotions for a long time. She loves a lift-the-flap book that I got back at the March consignment sale that shows baby faces expressing various emotions. We learned the baby signs for many of these and she loves to study the faces and do the signs. She mimics other children's facial expressions when they are sad, points out when people are happy, is fascinated with boo-boos and hurts, and now she loves to exclaim that she is excited! Her eyes get wide, she claps or throws her hands up in the air and with a big grin she gleefully says "Excited!" When we get in the car to go see Elijah she throws her hands up and shouts "Excited!" When it's time for a bath she exclaims "Bath! Excited!" When we go to music class, when we visit a park, when we go to church, when it's time to pick up daddy, when it's time to nurse . . . . These are the various daily events that make my daughter "Excited!" Oh, the simple joys of being a child!

Some things that make Shawn and I excited right now:

• The cool mornings and evenings of autumn fast approaching. Fall is our favorite season!
• On that note--pumpkin pie and apple cider.
• The return of our precious and beloved friends Holly and TJ MCCloud to Nashville!
• Some of our best friends ever coming to visit-- Lindsey, Joe and Sarah (all college buddies).
• My sister and her family coming to stay with us at the end of October! Our kids will get to trick-or-treat together!

As you can see October is going to be a full month of company and special reunions. I can't wait! Hopefully I'll find to time to post here and there between guests about all our activities.

Hope the fall is looking as fun and refreshing to you as ours is! Thanks for checking in on us!

Best Friends

I'm so thankful that Hannah has a best friend at such a young age. It is such a precious, unexpected and irreplaceble gift. She and Elijah love each other so much. "Ha-Ha" and "iJa-Ja" giggle when they see each other's pictures, ask for each other almost everyday and when they do get to play together they can hardly contain their excitement! Unfortunately, this also means that when it's time to part company they both dissolve into wailing tears cannot be comforted for many minutes!

This is truly a case of where God fills up your cup, presses it down and pours in some more to overflowing. The Norman's are beyond sweet-- they are generous, loyal, Godly, patient, thoughtful-to-a-fault beautiful followers of Christ whom we are so priveleged to call friends. It is no suprise to me that they have one of the most loving, gentlest, adorable little boys I've ever met. Hannah loves him, she loves Kristen and she loves Bart. We love them too. They are our family away from home and I just wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU to them for being our friends, our comfort and such an amazing gift to our daughter.

Some recent moments the two have enjoyed:

Cooking for, and feeding a baby together.

Hanging out on the bean bag in cozy companionship.

Riding in style in Elijah's wagon!

For more adorable pictures of the two amigos, check out these posts on the Norman's blog for activities Hannah has enjoyed at their house! 1 , 2 , 3, 4. (Kristen is much better at keeping up to date than I am!) :)

Disc Golf with Daddy

Last Saturday we indulged in one of Shawn's favorite past times-- disc golf. The weather has been so beautiful we just had to get out of the house and enjoy the park together. Hannah loves being outside and riding in her stroller so it was a perfect day for her. We listened to blue jays and chickadees in the trees, watched butterflies, found a big green fuzzy nut, explored a dry creek bed and, of course, watched Daddy throw Frisbees with much finesse. Hannah even tried her hand at it!

Clang! The sound of the chains is so satisfying! Hannah enjoyed dropping the discs into the basket.

This picture is so sweet to me . . . my little toddler.

Daddy and daughter off to explore together!

"That tastes awful!" (No matter what I tell Hannah she always has to try it for herself.)

We're on to the next hole! Hannah rides in style in her all-terrain stroller!

So swiftly does a child grow . . .

I cherish the soft curl of your baby hand gripping my fingers as you fall asleep. How long will you hold my hand tonight? Five minutes? Ten?

As I sit here with you I marvel and ache at how quickly your babyhood is slipping away. No longer do you suckle and snuggle ‘til you fall away from my breast in deep sleep. I miss that. No, though you still nurse it’s only some short, sweet minutes until your drowsy voice pleads “Bed? Hand?” So I lay you down and sit with your tiny fingers clasping mine-- waiting for your little wiggles to cease, your breathes to deepen and sleep to overcome you. (I’m so thankful you still want me near to hold your hand. I’m not yet ready to leave you alone to find sleep!) Finally your hand unfolds. I slip my fingers from your loosened grip, slide my arm through your crib slats, pause . . . watch . . . you don’t move so I silently tip toe out of your room.

I grieve this and each subtle yet sure step towards independence. Though I am delighted and amazed at each new skill you master and claim as your own, my heart wells up with nostalgia and I long to slow you down. I didn’t expect such ambivalence towards you growing up!

This art of letting you go is so difficult to learn, so truly bittersweet. Yet this is the task of motherhood: to give not so you will return but so you can walk away.

I will hold your hand until you’re filled up and strong enough to no longer need me to fall asleep. Perhaps someday you will sit on a floor with your arm crooked through crib slates, cradling the petal soft fingers of your own baby girl . . . and this eternal dance of mother and child will continue its sad, sweet spiral of nurturing towards maturity.

Written for Hannah, August 25, 2008

Two Too Cute Cousins

I am so thankful that God saw fit for my sister and I to have children at the same time! What an incredible blessing it has been to be on this journey of motherhood together and to see our children grow and develop a friendship of their own. Of course this friendship is just beginning and is full of huge shifts in attitude from moment to moment-- one minute they're hugging, the next they're hitting . . . but afterall they're only 19 months and 2 years old! They still have so much fun together and truely love eachother.

Below is my adorable nephew whom my daughter practically idolizes. She watches him so carefully and then the next thing I know she's trying to do exactly what he did!

Some of their favorite vacation activities:

Playing with an abundant supply of foam stickers.

Water play!

Body painting, playdough and various other art activities.

Practicing gymnastics for the Olympics.

Sharing rocks and other treasures.

Looking cute. (Thanks Sho-Sho for the cozy robes made in Malindi!)


And of course giving lots of hugs and kisses while being loved on by Babu and Sho-Sho! It's so easy to give love, when you're being loved so much!

Down at the Lake . . .

We threw rocks, went for walks, swam, dove off cliffs, dug in the mud, played "King of the Tube" fought with noodles, watched the fish and ducks, grew gleeful over every boat that passed and generally had a great time! The kids LOVED the lake. Hannah learned to say "lake" and "boat" and every time we went outside they both immediately wanted to go down to the water-- which we couldn't always do but we did at least once a day. Hannah still talks about it a month later!

The rocky beach by our house.

The kids loved standing on this porch and watching for boats on the lake. Thankfully this was a shady way to come see the lake as for the majority of the time we were in Texas it was 100+ degrees!
Cliff diving! (So what did I score? It was a difficulty level of . . . .) :)

One day we decided to try a different beach. It turned out to be rather miserable-- sweltering hot, no shade, squelchy, sticky mud . . . . But with James egging us all into playing all kinds of games, he forced us into having fun. :) Of course the kids could've cared less-- it was still the lake after all!

Feeling the squishy mud under our feet.
Getting ready to play "king of the tube." Of course James won every time.
More games with James! On this trip, Corban learned how to catch like he'd been born doing it! He loves playing ball!

We don't care if the beach is clay! It's still fun to dig in!

Battle of the Jedi's! James appropriately has the red sword . . . . :)

Getting ready for a ride in the tube! I pushed Hannah all around singing "Row, Row Row Your Boat" over and over and over . . . as she kept smiling and pleading "Again?!"

"Mom please NEVER take me for a walk in 105 degree weather at noon again. What were you thinking?" (I don't know what I was thinking-- I just thought you needed some outside time and you asked to see the lake! Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again!) (That was our first day there.)

Ahh! This is much better!

Throwing rocks in the lake. Something that delighted and held the kids attention for extended lengths of time! Splash!

(Hannah, of course is watching Corban's every move. She loves her cousin!)


That's all about our lake adventures. Are you getting tired of seeing pictures of our trip?! Well, I just have one more set to show you-- which I'm sure you won't want to miss . . . . (This is what happens when you have a father who takes pictures every other second and you ask for them all.)

Just an example . . . .

Of how much fun Babu is!

I love how my dad plays with Hannah and Corban. I knew my mom would be a wonderful, involved grandma, which she is, and I knew my dad would love my children and make them laugh, which he does, but I didn't realize how much he would play with them and be involved with them even when they are so little. It has been such a special surprise blessing.

Here's just another example of some of the fun to be had with Babu.

Headstands!

Corban's trying so hard!

Much more success with Babu's help!

Upside down peek-a-boo!

Hannah watched from the sidelines with lots of awe. She was a little bit nervous but very fascinated by all that upside down activity.

Reppart Family Reunion

August 1 through 16th I was so blessed to spend with my side of the family! My parents were on home-visit from their first 8 months back on the mission field in Kenya, so we all met together in Texas for a big Reppart family vacation. The Barnacles, James, us Browns and my parents were so privileged to stay at a church member's vacation home on Lake Whitney. It was the perfect spot for us-- plenty of room for all of us, all kinds of toys and even climbing equipment outside already provided since the owner's family has lots of grand kids, not to mention the lake and all the fun it had to offer! What a gift to our family to get to stay there for free!

The first week we were all together-- after that Shawn and Bryan sadly had to go back to work, and James had to go home to pack up for school. It's always hard for me to be without Shawn but I was so glad to have the extended time with my parents.

Needless to say we had a special time together and made tons of great memories. It was SO good to be with my parents again, to hear all about the work they are starting, see pictures, and just spend time together talking, laughing, playing, eating . . . . I loved sharing Hannah with them (especially in the early mornings when they would watch Hannah so I got to sleep in!) :) She really bonded with them and still talks about making coffee every morning with Babu and wants to go see Sho-Sho every time we get in the car. (I do too.) It was such a blessing to spend 16 whole days together so Hannah could really get to know them. It is also an amazing gift to have parents that want to be so involved in my child's life! They spent hours playing with the grand kids with such patience and love!

Family Moments: Some sweet, some silly, some tender, some all together ridiculous!

(I know-- this is a TON of pictures, but I just couldn't eliminate!) :)

Hanging out in the spacious backyard. What a perfect way to spend the hot summer afternoons!

A pool for each kid? What luxury!

Aunt Rachel is SO much fun!

My sweet parents. I love them so much! And I love the way they love each other. They are such an example to me, and to all of us in too many ways to count.

Sharing popcorn with Sho-Sho-- one of her and Corban's favorite snacks. I think they got Hannah pretty hooked too! :)

Babu shared one of his all time favorite movies-- the animated Jungle Book by Walt Disney with his grand kids! This was Hannah's first movie watching experience-- complete with popcorn and cozy cuddles. They didn't make it through the whole thing in one sitting, but Hannah and Corban sure loved all the songs! For the rest of the time any transition we made with the kids was performed as the "Elephant Brigade." That's what we're doing below:

So silly!

Cozy cuddle times were never in short supply . . . (Notice Corban trying to get in on the story.)

Making coffee with Babu in the mornings became a little tradition.

Corban and Hannah got to taste Babu's coffee every morning. Contrary to what it looks like below, Corban loved it. He started informing everyone that "I like to drink coffee, tea, milk and juice!"

Babu not only lets the grand kids drink coffee and watch movies but also play with the computer! What a treat! (Us moms might be thinking it's a good thing Babu isn't around ever day!) :) (Just kidding.)

The three girls! We're getting ready to watch the Olympics! We are all avid Olympic watchers-- it's always been a family tradition, so we were SO excited that we got to watch the first week of events together. We had more fun cheering on our favorite Olympians, and reenacting some of the events ourselves than I could possibly retell. Of course Babu took pictures of us but I will not embarrass us all by posting them. :)

However, I have no qualms about embarrassing our husbands. Did I mention those ridiculous moments?

Never a dull moment with those three around!

Well, I'll leave you on that note for now! I'll post more about all the fun the cousins had together, and our lake activities next time!