Little Personalities...Lots of stuff I've been meaning to blog about.

She's getting ready to pray. :) She folds her hands immediately when I put her in the high chair.
Last night I was holding Luke when we prayed at our small group (Taylor was in bed) and it was so cute to see him watch especially the guys and he folded his hands like they did while we prayed. :)

...Any day mommy....

Are we praying NOW?

I ask...where's your brother, where's your sissy?

He can't keep his little paws off Taylor's hair, mine either. He loves playing with it.

LOL

Doing really well with the spoons and even better with the forks I tried at lunch today. They like stabbing food. :) Easier I suppose.

Luke likes to look at himself in the spoon. :)

She's cheating. :)

So yesterday I switched LT's bibs by accident. I put Taylor's on Luke and he started screaming...I was clueless and ignored him as I put Luke's bib on Taylor and she started screaming...so I realize what I did and was thinking.....ARE YOU SERIOUS? So I switch them and they look at each other and giggle. I told Nick and he didn't believe me so he tried it as he got them ready for dinner. (I heard the screaming from the kitchen) He got the same results. lol Then I again by accident put a pink bowl in front of Luke and Taylor screamed....apparently that is HER bowl. WOW...didn't see the possessive thing coming. They share almost everything but those few things that are boy and girl colored.....they've noticed who's is who's.

Then the sippy cup stand off. Luke had Taylor's sippy and Taylor had Luke's. They stood across from each other to exchange sippies. Both VERY careful to make sure the the hand off happened at the exact same time so that the other wouldn't run off with both sippies. They made the switch, said thank you and ran off all happy. :)

Then they started pretending to be in a VERY heated conversation. Standing across from one another they were yelling back and forth with their arms flying around and heads moving with intensity...this also ended in giggling. They have the little attitude look and everything. Nick says this is from me....NAH. :)

In the morning as they are reading their parenting magazines and I'm getting ready, they enjoy brushing their teeth and insist on having some lip balm and lotion when I put mine on. They smack their lips and rub their hands together and feel very important. The baby magazines are still a hit. They love looking at them and seeing all the babies.

I've got to get on video how they run to me when I say it's time to get a bath. Luke's face especially lights up, his eyes get big and I get a HUGE grin.

I've been getting random kisses from both of them. Luke gives me slobbery wet ones and makes a big smacking sound. They both blow kisses too which is adorable. Taylor likes eskimo kisses still and gives little soft ones.

Taylor has been really into stacking everything. Books, stuffed animals, toys. I went in to pray over her last night and she was covered with her bears, bunnies and books. She put them all on her belly. They both love stacking and knocking down soft blocks.

They are starting to be little helpers. When I get them ready t o go somewhere I ask the one I'm not changing to get things for me. Go get Luke's shoes, Go get Luke's jacket. They are getting very good about it and very proud to help.

Lambie and Bunny have become VERY important lately. Luke loves his lambie and he chews on his ears and cuddles him at night. Taylor is obsessed with her Bunny blanket. The way she says Bunny is adorable and she gets the biggest grin on when you hand it to her and she squeezes it tight often laying on top of it to sleep. I've really tried to keep it in her crib because she goes nuts if she sees it and doesn't want to put it down for lunch. Luke also has learned that by taking the bunny or her baby and flaunting it in front of her by hugging them and saying BAY BAY and BUN NAY......she LOSES it! He enjoys this which is so brother-like. :)

They have been getting better and better at feeding themselves with spoons. Scrambled eggs, cheese chunks and grapes seem to work best out of a bowl for them. Luke insists on helping with his oatmeal in the morning. It's a work out to keep a hold of the spoon. He means serious business.

When they hear the door they get so excited and say DADDY! It's the cutest thing.

Luke continues to be very sensitive to certain things. He doesn't like big colorful characters of any kind. He is very afraid of shiny balloons. Certain people he decides he's not okay about. The ball popper toy they got last Christmas he just about a month ago started slowly getting closer to it and now he plays with it. Every once in a while it freaks him out...but that took him almost a year to warm up to. Taylor on the other hand......lets the hair blow in her hair, up her shirt, and giggles thinking it's great. She could care less about chasing the balls, she loves the air blowing on her. Luke loves the balls and would chase them and hand them to her to put back in because he wouldn't get close to it. :) The Cars logo on his back pack...didn't like it. When I look at it the eyes are kinda an angry face...but all I know is he knows what he does and does not like.

Some of the things that are coming out of my mouth lately...

• STOP HITTING YOUR SISTER!
• GIVE THE BUNNY (or baby) TO YOUR SISSY!
  
• GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR PANTS!...lol....to Taylor
• NOOO!
• UT UT UT (and they repeat this)
  
• OUT OF YOUR MOUTH (to Taylor) or EWW....DON'T LICK THAT!
• BE NICE!!!!

I tried making a list of all the words they are now using.

Taylor
Mama, now Mommy
Dada, now Daddy
More
Please (peez)
Thank You (tank ew)
Ut oh
Ow (ouch)
Owl
Kitty Cat
Pup Dog
Ali (our dogs name)
Meow
Moo
Cow
Neigh
Baa baa
Woof woof
Bear (BEE-AIR)
Baby (BEE-BEE)
Belly
Boogie lol
Juice
Eye
Nose
Buh Byes
Hi
One
Two
Three (tee)
Nigh Night
Ball
Let's Pray
Amen (May-Men)
Book
Bible
Toes
Shoes
Bunny
Up (upt)
Out
Brother (brover)
Diaper
Hop hop
Go Go Go(Go Dog Go)
Flower
Bowl
Apple
E I E I O
All Done
Bee
Roar (like a lion)
No no no
Ut ut ut
Bless You
Monkey (MON-key)
Tractor
Heiny
Pappy
It's a Baby!
Oh Baby!
Boots
Hat
Jacket
Boo!
Boo Boo (when she gets hurt)
Potty
Yummy yummy
Mmmmm
Cup
Brush
Choo Choo (when they hear the train)
Shhhhhh
Shhhhh (airplane sound when they hear or see an airplane)
Boogie
Stop It!
Monkey
Ashes Ashes
Patty Cake Patty Cake
Poopy

Luke
Mama, now Mommy
Dada, now Daddy
More
Please (peez)
Thank You (tank ew)
Ut oh
Ow (ouch)
Owl
Dog
Ali (our dogs name)
Meow
Moo
Cow
Neigh
Baa baa
Woof woof
Bear (BEE-AIR)
Baby (BAY-BAY)
Juice
Eye
Nose
Buh Byes
Hi
One
Two
Nigh Night
Ball
Let's Pray
Amen (May-Men)
Book
Bible
Toes
Shoes
Up (upt)
Out
Brother (brover)
Hop hop
Go Go Go(Go Dog Go)
Flower
Bowl
Apple
E I E I O
All Done
Bee
Roar (like a lion)
No no no
Ut ut ut
Bless You
Monkey (MON-key)
Tractor
Boots
Hat
Boo!
Boo Boo (when he gets hurt)
Pee pee
Yummy yummy
Mmmmm
Shhhhhh
Shhhhh (airplane sound when they hear or see an airplane)
Monkey
Ashes Ashes
Patty Cake Patty Cake

Randoms

Luke walking around with the back pack as a purse saying bye byes! :)

They love dragging these around. Luke was afraid of the Cars logo at first and preferred Taylor's Tinkerbell.....now he's changed his mind. :)

Barking at the neighbors dog.

Miss Taylor stacks everything. She stacking everything in her crib then climbs it. I have to be careful about that now. :)

Typical lunch.

Playing piano with Jacob.

This is at our friends Daryll and Zoe's house and their girls always love sharing their toys with LT, This is Luke showing Nancy. :)

Head, shoulders, knees and toes...Taylor cracks me up at snack...she's a muncher.

Luckily for me, Nancy gave me another potty. This should help out A LOT. Especially for possessive potty Taylor.

So Taylor wants her sunglasses on...so I put them on and she's all proud.....then Luke looks at her and SCREAMS! He DID NOT like them at all.

His crying then made Taylor upset, as it usually does.

Luke NOT keeping his feet to himself and Taylor cracking up!

This is them saying they are "all done"

Getting a shot of them together, by myself is next to impossible these days.

This is when it wasn't so cold at the park.

Luke did NOT like not being able to see his hands. :)

He insisted on having the chair INSIDE the pack and play for devotion time. :)

Believing at Christmas

So as I'm reading John and learning all about BELIEVING in Jesus...and how important that is. I'm not satisfied to just say..."Sure I believe in him." I want more. I want to believe more. I want my faith to increase. I want him to teach me more about him and about life. I want him to fill every void in me. I want him to help me make every decision. As I've been reading John and praying these prayers for more. I can't help but to feel convicted about my lack of focus on Jesus as Christmas approaches. We get so wrapped up in tradition, gifts, decorating, etc. We end up getting stressed out and worn down. I think this is the last thing God intended for the day of his son's birth. He gave us the gift of his son so we could be free and so we know how much we are loved by the one who created us.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I want to be in awe of what God has done for me. I want to take it in and believe it.

One of my favorite quotes from Max Lucado is this:

Jesus humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier—Why? Because that’s what love does.

So how do we celebrate Jesus on Christmas? I'd love to hear some ideas. We started reading the story of Jesus birth and will keep doing that every year with our kids first thing Christmas morning. Some families volunteer in soup kitchens, some invite the lonely over to spend Christmas with them. What does Christmas look like when we keep our focus on Jesus?

Our church this year has an amazing opportunity to reach out to it's community. On Christmas Eve we're inviting everyone for a free Christmas Event. It's at a beautiful theater in the city. This event is meant to reach people who wouldn't step foot in a church, the unloved, unwelcome and show them the love of Jesus. My initial instinct was to dress up and enjoy the show, because well, that's what you do on Christmas Eve, right? Then, I think...would a homeless or poor person feel comfortable walking into a place where everyone is dressed up fancy? Is this about me or them? Am I so stuck on tradition that I've lost the real true meaning of Christmas?

What about Santa?
I know this is a touchy topic among christians. Has Santa become an idol associated with Christmas for our kids? Have gifts become what we worship? Are your children asking you about Jesus or Santa? Do you put more effort into creating a fantasy that isn't real than teaching them the truth of how much God loves them? If you're doing both, why would they believe you about Jesus being real if you lied to them about Santa? There's a ton of stuff out there about Santa being from the devil, how rearranging the words spell Satan....etc etc. I don't know about all that. Frankly, I don't really care to research his origin or any more about him. All I know is this. Anything that takes our focus off of God, something we worship more than him, is an idol. God's clear about not worshipping idols. So for me, that's enough.


These two questions I can't get past:

How can I tell my kids to believe in Santa, and then expect them to believe me when I tell them about Jesus?

Should I teach my children to ask Santa for material things or to pray to Jesus for everything?

Children truly believe without doubt. They have pure hearts. Jesus said we are to be like them.

Matthew 18:3
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is talking about their faith. Their ability to believe. As parents I think we've got to protect that and cherish it and learn from them.

Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Are we hindering our children by our unbelief?

I've heard testimonies about children healing people in parts of Africa and other countries. They are able to heal because of their faith. They believe that Jesus can heal the deaf and blind. It is with that faith that God works through them. Why don't we see miracles? We don't believe God can do it. We don't even think we need him. Imagine what would happen if we believed?

I don't know it all. Far from it. I pray everyday, actually several times a day, for God to teach me how to raise Luke and Taylor. I pray that he teaches me as I am able to learn so my relationship with them would honor him in every way. I have a TON to learn. God works on me everyday. I KNOW I need his help. I can't possibly do anything right without him. I make mistakes, but his mercies are new every morning and I start over. I'm not writing this to judge anyone, I'm just sharing what God is sharing with me. I encourage you to pray and read your bible and ask God to reveal what he wants to teach you about this Christmas? Be open to what he may teach you and share it. Read John and underline every time you see the word believe. Meditate on his word.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

A friend of mine posted this little story and it ties in perfectly....

This morning I heard a story on the radio of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable. And after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year. Overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, getting that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, making sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way into the car and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up and shot."

From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't worry we already crucified him." For the rest of the trip down the elevator it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Don't forget this year to keep the One who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word. If we all did it, just think of how different this whole world would be.