Birthdays

Most people see New Year's as a chance to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. For me, that time comes a couple of weeks later on my birthday.

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday. And, although nobody considers 33 a milestone year (after all, who can even remember they are 33?), yesterday was a nostalgic, sappy, happy kinda day for me.

Carter started it off by wishing me a happy birthday at 3 a.m. in between his tossing and turning and teeth-gritting. I love that kid! And between my sweet family and friends at work and on Facebook, I felt so loved and lucky all day.

I walked in to a dark house with kids hiding and jumping out and screaming "HAPPY BIRTHDAY". Carter tossed a handful of "confetti" on me and Hannah was sweetly holding up her iPod as it played "Blue Skies and Rainbows" (our favorite song to sing to each other). Jason cooked a delicious supper (he gave me a choice of hot wings or squirrel -- I went with the wings) and Mama brought us a yummy birthday cake.

I am so blessed.

For as long as I can remember, Granddaddy always called me on my birthday to tell me the exact same thing: "It rained 33 years ago today. I worked all day at Chapman and came home and got Nanny and then we went to Montgomery where we had us a baby." Gosh I miss that. But I know he's celebrating in ways we can't even imagine! I don't know if we'll celebrate "birthdays" in Heaven, but if we do, I hope he can tell me that again.

My precious Daddy is taking the reins, though, because he called and asked me if I knew what it did 33 years ago today.

I consider each day a gift, and I pray that I will make the most of them. In these 33 short years, I have known the unconditional love of parents and grandparents (even through those rough teenage years); the excitement and apprehension of becoming a wife and having a husband to share my life with; the inexplicable joy and terrorizing fear of becoming a Mama for the first (and second) time; the comfort of friends who've got my back; the grief of saying goodbye to someone I love; the reward of a job well done; and the grace and love of God. And all the memories in between.

So as I look forward to what the future has in store for me and those I hold dear, I am thankful. Thankful for my past that has made me who I am today and for the years yet to come.

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalms 126:3

A little white lie...

Mama and Daddy (Mimi and Pop) have 3 cats now that our children adore (and torture...out of love, of course).

Ever since Whiskers threw up on Hannah, the cats are now restricted to the utility room only..and they come in there every time the kids are there.

A few weeks ago, Hannah and Carter and all three cats were in the utility room. There was all kinds of racket coming from in there, but since that's pretty typical where my kiddos are concerned, Pop and I just carried on as usual.

Hannah started crying, "POP! POP! Come heeeeeere!!"

And when Pop opened the door:

"Carter put the cat in the garbage can!"

Carter was wearing his "who me?" look (which he's perfected,  by the way).

Pop: "Carter! Did you put that cat in the garbage can?"

Carter: "No ma'am."

Pop: "Which one did you put it in?"

Carter (pointing): "That one!"

Hmmmmm....

In other news...We've discovered that Katie the cat is a boy. Not that knowing that piece of information changes anything. His name is still Katie. And Hannah still calls him a girl. Maybe he won't mind...

This morning...

Hannah turned on the TV for a few minutes before we left the house this morning...and I expected to hear SpongeBob's distinct laugh. Instead, I heard Tonya Terry on the WSFA morning show. I just figured it was taking her a minute to get the numbers punched in the remote, but when I went in there, she was actually watching the news.

When asked why, she said, "I have to see whether the groundhog saw his shadow." Duh.

Life happens

Despite my best intentions, my blog has fallen by the wayside. Could it be that I'm spending so much time living this wonderful dream that I don't have enough time to write it all down? Or maybe that I'm just lazy? Either way...time to play catch-up!

Here's the short version: Hannah has finished K4. Carter is potty trained.

Here's the long version:

Hannah

• Hannah has officially graduated from K4 (sniff sniff), complete with a "ticket" to kindergarten given to her by Mrs. Scott. The program was the cutest ever, with the kids reciting nursery rhymes and singing songs they'd learned in class. Roll the video...
  
  

• Hannah did such a great job until she kicked off her shoe in a dancing frenzy. It embarassed her to the point that she just stood there for the rest of the show. My heart broke for her. It was probably the first time that I became a bystander to her pain. A tough lesson for the both of us.
• Although she graciously accepted her ticket to kindergarten, she's still adamant that she's not, in fact, going to K5 next year. She says she's staying in Mrs. Scott's class. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
• I became a blabbering, sobbing pile of mush during the slide show Mrs. Scott put together. Not so much because of the photos of these sweet babies throughout the year, but more because of the "Let them be little" song. Ugh! Songs always get the best of me! Later in the day, Hannah asked Jason why Mommy was crying at her program, so he explained that I was happy and sad because she was growing up. With hands on hips, she said (matter-of-factly), "I can't help it! I had the hiccups ALL DAY yesterday!"

Carter

• Potty training is a breeze! Especially when Mrs. Bev and Mimi tackle the task while Momma is out of town! That's right...Jason and I took a trip to D.C., and while we were gone, these wonderful ladies potty trained my little man. He still has an accident here and there, but don't we all? It took him a while to decide that standing up to do his business was a good thing...and now that the idea has taken hold, he makes no qualms about dropping his britches and taking care of business. No. Matter. Where. He. Is. Last Saturday, we were at a birthday party when he decided he had to go. So Jason took him over to the edge of the patio and pointed him away from the group. Hiney shining, Carter started to, well, you know. When the hostess came out and said, "Who wants cake?" Carter turned around mid-stream and said, "MEEEEE!", spraying a wide arc in the process. It looked just like a little sprinkler.
• Probably the funniest potty training incident (and he'll kill me for telling this one day) was when he got up from a nap and I immediately plopped him down on the potty. You know how little boys sometimes look a little different when they first wake up? I guess that was the first time he'd ever noticed that particular phenomenon, because he looked down and then back up at me and said (with eyes wide as saucers) "BIG Mama!" Oh my! Even though I couldn't breathe for laughing so hard, I tried to tell Jason about it. Jason said, "How big was it, boy?" And Carter said, holding his little hands as far apart as he could, "This big!" Yep. He's his daddy's son.
• Pop called Carter "Cotton Top" the other Sunday morning over breakfast. Carter sulled up and said, "Name Carter." Now that's the big joke...get him to say it sometime.

Lately…

Carter still loves tractors. So for his 2nd birthday party, we chose a John Deere theme. He dressed the part with his new hat (that he wore the whole party) and an applique tee that I made him the night before.

 

A few pics from the party:

 

Then came Easter…we had a great service at church. Brother Cooper led a beautiful song and praise service that helped us remember that Easter isn’t about eggs and bunny rabbits.

A few pics:

Just another day in paradise

Nothing like a couple of small children to keep life interesting!


Carter is definitely back to his old self after last week's bout with a yucky virus. Over the past few weeks, he's become increasingly destructive around the house. Here's what we know of:

• He brought the knob off the water heater to us. Hot water may never be the same again.


• He broke the switch off the dryer door...the one that tells the dryer that the door is closed and it's okay to turn on.


• He adjusted the thermostat -- up to 90 and switched on emergency heat. (And I wonder why we have a $400 power bill.)


• He jabbed a yellow crayon into the ground of an electrical socket at the end of the bar.


• He tried to use a knife to open a piece of candy that I told him he couldn't have...and nicked himself on his "hurt" hand.


• He broke the drawer in the fridge so that you have to pry it open and force it closed because it doesn't fit on the track any more.

They say he's just a typical little boy. Yeah right...and Mt. Everest is just a little hill.

He's also taken to hiding food around the house. Hannah says it's because he's part squirrel and he's getting ready to hibernate (her words exactly). Here's the run-down of known occurrences of late:

• He found a pickle so old it was shriveled up...and ate it.


• He found a half-eaten apple and ate off the un-molded side.


• He found a stash of grapes (I don't even remember giving him grapes)...and ate them.


• He stashed a pickle in his night-night -- Jason found it when he picked the blanket up off the couch to fold it up. It just fell out into the floor. Jason disposed of it, and then Carter came back a while later and started looking for it. Jason said, "What you looking for?" And Carter said, "Pickle." So he knew exactly what he was doing.


• He loaded up the back of Hannah's flintstone car with popcorn (for later).

Typical little boy? or mini-hoarder?

In other news -- Hannah started t-ball practice on Monday, and she definitely enjoyed herself. I don't know how much she actually learned, but if she got points for having a good time, she'd be set.

At one point -- when she was supposed to be practicing batting -- she was literally skipping in a big circle around the tee. As happy as can be -- but clueless as to what she was supposed to do with it. When they ran the bases, she ran to first base then the pitcher's mound, then second base, then the pitcher's mound, then third base, then the pitcher's mound...maybe we need to work on that a little. I just know that she needs to be an in-fielder -- or else she'll be picking flowers, digging in the dirt, catching bugs, etc. -- and not paying attention to the game.

My biggest problem was keeping Carter off the field. I took his little ball and glove, thinking he'd be satisfied to play on the grass. But NO -- he wanted to be out there with his sister. I ended up sitting on the ground and bear-hugging him to keep him still -- and then we called Mimi. Good ol' Mimi -- what would we do without her?!

Last week, Hannah went for a ride on a real school bus. Mrs. Scott said she looked up at her and asked, "Mrs. Scott, is this a dream?"

On the mend (again)

The past week has been a whirlwind…but isn’t that just life in general?

Carter had surgery on his hand again last Wednesday…this was the third time Dr. Ray has operated on him. Each time we pray that God will continue to extend His merciful healing grace on our precious son, and each time God has granted our request.

We were blessed in that we were able to feed our little guy that morning on the way to Birmingham. After all – this is the child that has begun to squirrel away bits of food around the house in case he gets the munchies (more on this later). Since 9 a.m. was the cut-off, Mama and I fed him all the pineapple Jell-O and Apple Juice he could stand right up until the last minute. Thankfully, he never asked for “juice” or a “snack” once we got to the hospital.

The surgery went great (according to Dr. Ray), and he told Jason and me that it was “a miracle” (his exact words) that Carter’s hand had healed this well. He performed a z-plasty, which is essentially a series of zig-zags from Carter’s index finger around to his thumb. This allows more flexibility in his thumb, since the scarring from the burn had caused his skin to tighten and restrict mobility.

We left with Carter in a blue cast (War Eagle) up to his shoulder, with just the tips of his little fingers showing.

He slept all the way home (sleeping off those good meds), and even played and ate supper once we got here.

He never let on like he was in any pain, although he protected his hand and wouldn’t let anybody really touch the cast at all. Friday night while we were on our weekly Walmart run, he held it out to me and said, “Bug bite". I don’t know if it hurt or itched, but that’s how he described it – so sweet and innocent. So we made a game of squishing the bug several times. And today when the cast came off we looked for that bug…but he somehow got away before we got to him.

 

We had a moment (or two) of panic Sunday afternoon when Carter woke up from his nap with a 102.8 fever – one of the warning signs we were told to look for. After a few phone calls to docs in Birmingham and his pediatrician (and packing bags to go to B’ham), we settled on taking him to the ER in Andalusia for a quick exam. But after waiting for 2 hours and not seeing a single patient called back to the exam rooms, we decided to chance it at home.

He ran fever all night and woke up vomiting Monday morning – and since his blood tests, flu test and strep test all came back OK, Dr. Baldwin decided it had to be a stomach bug. Thankfully, he never threw up again, but he felt pretty crummy Monday and Tuesday. As if a hurt hand weren’t enough…

Today we took him back for his checkup and after the cast came off (and the smoke cleared), his incision didn’t look nearly as bad as I had pictured it. Sweet nurse Dana checked him over and gave her stamp of approval – along with a bag full of supplies to get us through until the 25th when we go back to see Dr. Ray.

The nurses and even Dr. Ray keep telling us how we’ve done a great job of taking care of Carter – Dana even told me today that Dr. Ray was bragging on us in the OR last week. But how could we not do the daily exercises? How could I not religiously massage Cocoa Butter on his little hand every day? Why would I not strap him into that splint every night before I put him to bed?

But what I do know is this: I know that God’s hand is in it all. I know that this has made us stronger, closer, more aware. I know I’ve learned how truly blessed we are in spite of it all -- you don’t have to go far to find someone less fortunate than yourself.

Enough of that…

Today Hannah rode a school bus for the first time. They are learning about ways we travel, and Mrs. Scott arranged a real-life bus ride for her class. Mrs. Scott said that everybody was so excited, and my child looked up at her and asked, “Is this a dream?” (Loved that!)

The beauty pageant a couple of weeks ago was quite an experience for all of us. Hannah was such a doll in the dress I made for her, and she did such an excellent job on stage – she hit all her marks and smiled her best smile. We were so proud of her! At first, she was utterly devastated that she didn’t get a trophy (the winners did), but we made such a big deal about her medal and wand that she quickly decided the medal was better than any ole’ trophy.

It was probably the first time (for all of us) that she wanted something we couldn’t give her. I know she thought that if she cried enough Mama would fix it. But she has to learn that Mama can’t always do that – and Mama has to learn, too, I guess. A tough lesson for both of us.

She says she wants to do more pageants, and I will probably let her do a couple more this spring – with the understanding that she shouldn’t cry if she doesn’t win. Even though she didn’t really understand that some won and some didn’t, she needs to know that she just has to do her best and smile pretty for us…and what really matters most is what’s INSIDE your heart.

I did an awful job of taking photos that day, but maybe I can redeem myself soon…

a Wordle...

I discovered the cool website www.wordle.com where you can either provide a block of text or a URL and have it generate a nifty graphic with the words you use most often. This is the one I made for this blog...pretty much sums up our lives, I think.

Snow day 2010

It’s a once-in-a-childhood event here in south Alabama…snow day!

Hannah was so excited about the possibility of snow, and she had big plans for what she’d do if it snowed. Her list included: run in it, play in it, throw snowballs, make a snowman, play with Snoopy in it, play frisbee and make a snow angel. I’d say we pretty much checked everything off the list except the frisbee (I totally forgot until it was too late.)

Carter wasn’t a big fan – not sure if it was the snow or the cold or the fact that his poor little runny nose turned his face into an icicle. At one point, he just stood in one spot and refused to move. Jason stood him in a spot of grass (where the kiddie pool had been) and he stayed within the boundaries of the grass – just like an invisible fence.

A few pics from our experience:

 

~0~

In other news, Carter had new tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed on Thursday. It all happened so fast – I just took him to Dr. Agro on Wednesday – and he’s still not feeling up to par. Maybe tomorrow he’ll feel better.

His next surgery on his hand is scheduled for March 4th, when Dr. Ray will do a z-plasty procedure to release the remaining restrictive scarring between his index finger and thumb and also between his first two fingers. We’re praying (as always) for God’s hand to be on the doctors as they perform this delicate procedure on our precious son, and we trust that God will heal Carter (as he has done already) and minimize his discomfort during and following his surgery.

Celebrating!!

My grandparents celebrate 60 years of marriage today. During our visit with them last night, Granny shared this photo with me, taken in 1951 (she was expecting my daddy at the time).

Just look at them -- so much in love! I love the way she's got her arm draped around his shoulders and the obvious adoration they share for each other. I asked her if she still felt this way about him after all these years. And her answer to me was:

"I don't feel like that. Not really all mushy any more, but I think I love him more now than ever, especially knowing that our time together is short."

What a special bond!

Today

Today I woke up at 6:00 with a little nose pressed against mine and a tiny voice saying, “Mommmeeee…I was sleepin’ in my bed and woke up and can’t find my panties.”

Today Carter said his first sentence. I was in the bedroom and heard him cry out and then the sound of pounding feet. When he got to me, he looked up at me and said, “Zha zha…poosh…me.” [Translation: Hannah pushed me.] He even put his little hand on his chest and pushed himself to make sure I understood. Of course, Hannah denied it, but I suspected that what really went down was Carter pushed Hannah and she retaliated. So I made a big deal of telling both of them not to push each other. (See how long that lasts!)

Today I made amends with a dear friend and told her how much I care about her. True friends are too hard to find to let something so ridiculous come between us.

Today I took my children to the store and they acted like little angels. Unlike the last time we were there, when they ran around like wild animals. Guess that little “understanding” we came to the last time really made a difference!

No doubt about it…

As I was going through some old photos last weekend, I found these. It’s almost scary how much this little girl favors Hannah:

 

It’s unbelievable that my daughter looks so much like me at her age. Guess we know what she has to look “forward” to!

Another thing that strikes me in these pictures is the bond between my daddy and me. Look at him…in the floor doing “exercises” with me after a long day’s work. (Notice how he still has his boots on.) I see this same bond between Pop and Hannah. Those two are like peas and carrots. What a lucky little lady to have so many people to love her and spoil her. We are SO blessed!

He’s a big boy now.

It’s official – Carter is now a big boy with a “big boy” haircut! Hannah and I took him to the barber shop yesterday to get his first haircut. He looked so “growny” sitting up in that barber’s chair…

He was a little unsure of the snippers at first, but his big sister did such a good job of distracting him with a water bottle and her big sister chatter.

 

When he got really antsy, I gave him my cell phone and he pretended to call Pop. After a few minutes, my phone rang – and it was Pop. Turns out Carter had really called him!

I was so proud of both of my babies – they behaved like little angels in the barber shop (wonder if my threats had anything to do with it?).

--0--

In other news – today is my birthday, and Hannah has had a ball with it. She’s sang her little song over and over…

Guess what I heard from a little birdie – Mama is turning 30…

Of course, she had a little help from her daddy on that one.

She picked out the prettiest necklace for me – it has two gold hearts that say “mother” and “daughter.” Jason said she picked it out all by herself and said, “Mama needs this one. It has a heart for me and one for her.”

I also got a Tom Tom – I just LOVE gadgets!!

The kids helped Mama decorate my cake, and it turned out SO cute. Then they piled 30 candles on there. I thought we were going to need the fire department to get them all put out, but the kiddos helped me get the job done.

So now I’m no longer in my 20’s. A little bittersweet for me, but I’m looking forward to many more special moments and memories yet to come.

Backtracking…

Wanted to share a few pics from Christmas:

 

Carter helping Daddy put his new fire truck together.

 

 

Even though this isn’t the cutest expression of hers, I wanted to share this to show how Hannah was decked out on Christmas Eve. She’s wearing her most favorite Rudolph shirt (the one I couldn’t get off of her for longer than a day at a time) and her reindeer antlers she made at school.

 

The tractor Santa brought to Carter is a tad too big for his short little legs but just right for my short ones. So Carter and I made “arrangements” for him to ride his tractor. If he got points for ambition and effort, though, he’d be tractoring all over the place!

By the way – his shirt says “It hurts to be this handsome” :)

 

Hannah’s big gift from Santa was this “real” horse that she immediately named “Ornament.”

Carter has become such a little chatterbox. His thing right now is to recount our mini-fireworks-extravaganza from Thursday night. You wouldn't know it by the way he talks about it now, but he wasn't a big fan of the fireworks. He watched his daddy and Josh light the fuse and then trembled as he watched it go up. By the time the "boom" came, his head was buried in my shoulder. I think he may have actually seen the "boom" once or twice.

Anyway...here's a little clip of our dinner conversation. I tried to translate as we went, but he threw me off at the end. See if YOU can guess what he's saying...

Give up?

He's saying "Santa Claus" and "ho ho ho" and "Merry Christmas." (It took me watching this about 3 times before I figured it out, and I speak fluent "Carter-ese".

The way he talks is so funny -- one word at a time -- over and over -- until you repeat it back to him. I guess that way he knows you got it. Even though his vocabulary is pretty limited, he's quite adept at getting you to understand him. Hand signals and full body language is helpful, too.

Christmas and New Year's was wonderful for our family. Everybody was healthy, and we got more than we possibly needed. I even put some of the kids' toys up (on top of the china cabinet), and I'll pull 'em down in a few months when they're tired of the rest of them.

Hannah's favorite gifts were "little miss pet shop" toys; a big Radio Flyer spring horse (which Carter thinks is his, too ... but then Santa didn't exactly put a nametag on him); several games, a smaller horse with a saddle, brush, etc.; and a stuffed "Mada-NASACAR" Alex toy.

Carter got a big pedal tractor -- too big for him but just right for Mommy to drive with Carter on the hood; tractors; and a big truck hauler full of hot wheels.

Mommy got a digital video camera that Daddy picked up at the Walmart after-Thanksgiving sale and took back the day after Christmas when it quit working. Still waiting on the new one to come in. Hannah and Carter gave me a pretty necklace and a feather all wrapped together. Before I opened it, Hannah said, "You're gonna like this so much you're gonna cry." She meant the feather...not the necklace. Turns out that the day she went shopping with Pop, she picked out the necklace for me and found the feather in the parking lot. She's so thoughtful!

Daddy got new seat covers for his Jeep and a t-shirt from us. It was kinda crude humor, but so totally Jason.

Even though I say this every year, I think we're really going to scale back next year. Focus more on the important stuff than the gifts. We have everything we possibly need and want...we are so spoiled! (But blessed).

~0~

In other news...did y'all notice that it's a little chilly outside?

Looking back...and forward

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." ~Psalm 126:3

I ran across this verse today, and it's now one of my all-time favorites. My! The blessings of my life continue to astound me, and I'm not only filled with joy and thanksgiving, but also humility and even a bit of sadness.

I don't want 2009 to be marked in our memories as the year of Carter's accident. Instead, I want to remember all the good times we enjoyed and the milestones of our lives that I've often written about here.

I want to remember Hannah's first day of school. How she was so excited to finally go to "big school" with all her friends to play on the big slide.

I want to remember Carter's first birthday and the way he dove into his cake face first.

I want to remember our trip to Las Vegas when these two country bumpkins tried our best (and failed) to blend in with the big city crowd. And how I got felt up by the Coca-Cola polar bear.

I want to remember our family trip to Six Flags, where Hannah wanted to ride all the coasters -- even the big ones. It was Carter's first time spending the night in a hotel room, and Pop and I drove him around Atlanta for an hour in an attempt to get him to sleep.

I want to remember how much the kids enjoyed chasing Paw Paw and Maw Maw's chickens around their yard. And Hannah named hers Kenny.

I want to remember how, even though during the "bad" times, we gained strength from our love for each other and our faith in God. That through our trials we gained a renewed sense of family, togetherness, compassion and gratitude. That, no matter how difficult our situation, we can see God's blessings and purpose for our lives.

Yes, the Lord has certainly done great things for us. 2009 has been a year to remember, and I pray that God blesses us with many more to come.

Blessings!

We are so excited over the good check-up we had with Drs. Ray and Chaignaud today. Both docs and our wonderful occupational therapist, Lynn, seemed to be thrilled at Carter’s progress thus far. Carter, as always, was such a good little patient…holding his “bo-bo” out for them to see and letting them pull and pinch and prod without the first complaint. Well, except for when Jason had to take his raisins away!

Lynn re-fitted Carter’s splint and said he had improved flexibility in his fingers by 7% and his thumb stretch by 12%. She was practically jumping up and down, saying that was so remarkable for such a short time period (since October).

Even though Carter is doing so well with the daily exercises and stretches, Dr. Ray thinks now is a good time to go ahead with the “z-plasty” to release the worst scars between his thumb and index finger and between the index and middle fingers. After that, Dr. Ray says Carter’s range of motion will be back to normal. This will hopefully be Carter’s final procedure for a while. We didn’t get it scheduled today, but we’re expecting it to be sometime early in January.

Now that we’re well on the road to recovery, we’re realizing just how bad this could have been. Dr. Ray (talking to his entourage) said that it wasn’t uncommon in palm burns as bad as Carter’s for all the fingers to be sealed together and to have complete loss of use. Thank God that’s not the case for our Carter.

I am so thankful that God has kept His healing hands on our son throughout this ordeal. Carter’s pain has been manageable, and his scars will heal. He’s a baby and won’t remember any of this in a couple of years. And God has blessed us with an amazing team of medical professionals (the best in their field) to guide us through and make the best choices for his well-being.

Funnies...

Hannah informed me last night that her dog's name isn't Snoopy any more...now it's Puppy Paws (from the new Santa Buddies movie). But, she said that after Christmas it can go back to being Snoopy again. Jury's still out on how Snoopy, er Puppy Paws, feels about it.

After Christmas last year, I bought her a Rudolph tee that has a little light inside Rudolph's nose that lights up when she moves. It's been hanging in her closet all year, and she's never noticed it. So Monday I pull it out and put it on her for school. She liked it so much that on our way home she informed me that she would be wearing it to school every day. And she wasn't joking. I had to PRY her out of it to get a bath and she put it right back on afterward. Tuesday morning, I struggled to get her into a different shirt, and finally I won the battle. After I got Carter dressed, she met me in the hall...with her jacket already on. Odd. Hmmm. Why do I see a little piece of red sticking out from the collar of the jacket (that's zipped all the way to her chin)? Could it be? Yep. Outsmarted by a 4-year-old. Again. Seems to happen quite regular around here.

So guess what...she wore the shirt to school on Tuesday. Again. But she's settled for just sleeping in it ever since. What in the world am I going to do when that battery goes dead?!

I have a similar "problem" with Carter...he has 2 John Deere tractor tees that he begs to wear (in his own way). Every time we go to his closet to pick out a shirt, he starts fumbling through them saying "tractor" over and over. So if you're looking for a gift for Carter...I suggest a 24m - 2T shirt with a picture of a tractor on it.

He also begs for medicine every night before bed. Ever since his bout with pneumonia a few weeks ago, he thinks he's got to have his "me-mes" before turning in. I mean to the point of tears and everything. How did I get so lucky to have a baby that actually asks for medicine?!

A lot of joy in a little package

This past Sunday, Hannah and I had the joy of helping deliver Christmas packages to the residents at the nursing home. Even though I tried to talk her into staying home with her Daddy and brother, she insisted that she wanted to go. So I put on her new Santa shirt, and she accessorized the outfit with a silver beaded necklace and her new “boots with the fur.”

All the way there, I tried to prepare her (myself) for what lay ahead. I told her that there would be no children except for her and that some people would be sick and in bed. I threatened her to within an inch of her life to only use “nice words”  while we were there. “I will, Mama,” she assured me.

What I saw her do once she got inside those doors was nothing short of amazing. My shy, hide-behind-Mama’s-legs-when-somebody-tries-to-speak-to-me, don’t-even-THINK-about-touching-me child turned into this sweet, kind-hearted, warm and loving little angel. (She also turned into the boss and took charge of our cart of goodies, making sure we covered every room.)

She took gifts into the rooms and sat them on tables or in residents’ laps. She let them hug her and pinch her cheeks and even sat on a few laps. She wasn’t afraid and didn’t ask the first question. She just went room-to-room handing out the little packages. Come to think of it, she didn’t talk much at all.

On a few occasions, Hannah would peek into the rooms and say, “Shhh Mama…she’s asleep. Let’s leave it on the table.”

And what brought me more joy than I could imagine was the residents’ reaction to HER. Some simply smiled at her. Some wanted to just touch her. Several tried to give her candy (which I accepted for her) or cookies.

One husband and wife couple invited us in their room and tried their best to adopt us. The lady said to Hannah, “Come on in, baby. Go see Paw Paw.” And Hannah went right on over. The lady showed us all her pictures and told us where she used to live and just seemed utterly delighted to have visitors.

Another lady was laying in her bed looking out the door into the hall. I watched her watch people file past her door with not much expression until she saw Hannah. Her whole face lit up and she cackled and squealed and reached out for Hannah. So we made a special trip inside to visit with her for a minute.

As we gathered in the lobby to leave, my Daddy told Hannah to go over to a gentleman sitting alone on the other side of the room and tell him “Merry Christmas.” So she did, and he smiled and said the same to her. Then he left. And fast….who knew he could peddle that wheelchair that fast?! As we were literally walking out the door, he rounded the corner and called out to her. He was digging in his shirt pocket, and pulled out a small pearl necklace. He handed to Hannah and said, “I won this at Bingo and been lookin’ for a purty girl to give it to.” What a treasure!

I left there with my heart filled to overflowing. Not just for having visited with those precious souls, but for the feeling of fulfillment that only comes from knowing you’ve brought someone else a bit of joy. Hannah is much too young to understand just what an impact her presence made in those people’s day. I am so proud of her for showing such compassion and allowing them to love on her the way she did…something well beyond her typical comfort zone.

Children are such a blessing…and I thank God every day that He has trusted me to care for the two beautiful and perfect gifts that are my children.

A couple of goofy videos...

Dinnertime at the Scruggs household is never boring. Tonight, Carter practiced his "oh-my-goodness" face:

Not to be outdone, Hannah practiced the Pledge of Allegiance:

I'll translate:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the nice snakes of America, and to the pleasure for which it stands -- one nature under God, invisible, until you touch the straw.