The Not-So-Terrible Twos

Everyone keeps asking me if we're surviving the terrible twos. I have to be honest & say that this has been a great year! Madeleine is so cute. She does the most adorable things. One of her new favorite things to do is to build towers. She learned about Joshua and the battle of Jericho in Bible class last week and now she builds a tower and marches around, blows her trumpet and knocks the wall down. She acutally builds a tall tower on top of a pyramid (and yes, she knows what a pyramid is!). She's also started making this silly face -- something she got off of Dora. She has definitely found her imagination.

Wye Mountain

Today I took Madeleine and Harrison to Wye Mountain. For those of you who have never been there, GO! It's such an amazing experience. It's just several acres of daffodils out in the middle of the little community of Wye, AR. They only bloom for a few weeks a year, and it really is just beautiful. So, of course, we headed out there for photos. We thought it would be a perfect day, but it turned out to be chilly and windy. Madeleine kept saying, "Mommy it's real, real, windy" and although she was cold, she was a little trouper and posed for pics. They turned out fabulous. Thanks to Aunt Sharon, aka Sugar, for the best ones. She's got an artistic eye. Harrison wasn't thrilled with being taken out of his warm carseat & so he fussed, then went right back to sleep. Basically, he slept through most of the experience. Oh well, better luck next year.

I've posted several photos that we took, but the last is my absolute favorite. Enjoy!

Thursday Morning

Can I just say how much I love my life. I know I'm not out there changing the world, or anything grand, but I love just being home and spending time with my babies! The mornings are the best, definitely my favorite time of day. Everyone is well rested and happy. Right now Madeleine is eating her b'fast and watching Little Bear and Harrison is next to me in his bouncy seat, just jabbering away. He's learned to squeal, which is so cute. He starts out low then builds to this really high squeal, then back down again. It makes me laugh every time. And, it makes him laugh too.

Madeleine has become *such* a great little helper. She really loves her baby brother and wants to help me with him all the time. She can entertain him and keep his attention for hours. Yesterday, she said the sweetest thing. I always sing Madeleine "2 twinkles" (Twinkle Little Star) before nap and bed. Well, I was putting Harrison down for a nap and singing Jesus Loves Me -- she said "no, Mommy, sing Twinkle." So I sang one. She said, "I think he needs 2 twinkles." So sweet. I thought she might be possessive about this song, but she wanted to share it with him. She thought he needed it to go to sleep, just like she does. Precious!

My Boy

This afternoon, while Madeleine slept, Harrison and I had some special time, just the two of us. This is so rare, and it started me thinking.....

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with a little boy. I really think I would have missed out on something special if I had not had this little guy in my life. I love him so much and yet so differently from how I love Madeleine. How is that possible? To love them both equally and yet so differently. He has my heart completely. I guess I realize that my time with him is in some ways limited; one day, another girl will have the #1 place in his life and I will move back a step. I can only pray that I will be ready when the time comes and enjoy every moment for now.

Hole In One

Matt took Madeleine this weekend and bought her a REAL putter. I'm still not really sure about her having a real club & Harrison still having a soft head, but I'm hoping for the best! She's actually pretty amazing -- she can even make it in the hole (sometimes).
I hadn't posted a photo of Harrison yet, so here he is just after a bath. What a face! Obviously, he's happy because he *loves* his baths.

Bible Class

Everyone tries to teach their kids the difference between truth & lies, right? We thought we had this pretty much covered with Madeleine, until yesterday...

She LOVES her Bible Class. I mean, this is a really big event in her week -- something she really looks forward to on Sunday. She was pretty shy at first & didn't say much, but lately her teacher says she's become quite chatty. So, yesterday I go to pick her up from class and the teacher asks me if it's Madeleine's birthday. I tell her, no, it's not until July, and she tells me that Madeleine told the class that it was her birthday and she was 3 today. They even sang to her! Ha! So, I try to explain that it's not her birthday in front of Ms. Margie, but she just keeps insisting that it is. I guess we're working on the whole truth thing again. Arggggg.