friends

We had such a lovely evening with some of our favorite girls, Crystal, Becca, Lexi, Addi, and Reagan.  Crystal and I grew up together and shared many things, ahem, (including using the potty... at the same time.  Not sure now how that's quite possible, but we did!).  I hope these little buddies have just as much fun as we did, playing house, barbies, more house, more barbies...


This may sound strange, but I never think about Lucy being black.  I LOVE her pretty brown skin (and we all know I'm drooling over her gorgeous hair!) but it's not something I'm consciously aware of--it's our normal.  I don't really think much about it at all, until I hold a little white baby, and then it really gets my attention how white this sweet child is!  That's what I feel a lot when I hold sweet Reagan.  I'm accostumed to a little more mocha with my Lucy!  They had a great time!

Good, clean fun!

 

Christmas and firsts

Christmas with a baby is FUN!  You're shocked, I'm sure :)  We had a wonderful Christmas, but I was totally lax about picture-taking.  I did take some video, so here are a few clips of fun times at Christmas.

This was Christmas Eve at my parent's house.  She LOVES her uncle John, and I think he was the smartest about Christmas of us all!  He wrapped up this baby, which she LOVES (and already had) and then gave Lucy some money for her savings account.  I think it was her favorite thing to open :)

This was Lucy rocking.  She has a rocking chair at home, too, and she loves to climb up in it with a baby and rock the baby and sing to her.  This is also the site of Lucy's first steps!  As we all were gathered around watching, she stood up out of the chair and walked to a table several feet away.  She looked kind of shocked and determined.  When she made it, we all cheered, and she was so tickled with herself.  I had wondered why she wasn't walking yet---we determined that she just needed a bigger audience for such a momentous occasion!

This is a baby bed that my aunt Bonnie found at my great grandmother's house and refinished for Lucy, including cute bedding that matches hers--isn't it adorable?  Lucy LOVES babies, so this was a big deal!  I grabbed the camera after she had leaned into the crib and gently picked up the baby and rocked/hugged her leaning over the crib.  So very sweet.  In this video she kind of tosses her aside, but it's still fun :)

So, we had a lovely Christmas.  I'm learning so much from Lucy. One thing I realized looking back at this Christmas is that she enjoyed her presents, but they were like the icing on the cake (a nice touch, but not essential.  I appreciate them because she'll enjoy them throughout the year!).  What she really enjoyed was interacting with her family.  I hope I can find a way to carry that on, even when she's older and knows to expect presents.  I want Christmas to be a meaningful time centered around the birth of the One who redeemed us from sin, who solved our biggest problem!  Now THAT'S a reason to celebrate!

this Christmas

last Christmas

 I got this picture of Lucy last Christmas.  It's usually a wonderful thing to receive new pictures of your child, who you can't wait to meet, but this one made me cry.  She just didn't look happy.  I was worried about my sweet baby and couldn't do anything about it!  Oh, how things have changed... Wait until you see sweet Lucy this Christmas!!

cozy little world

I LOVE my daughter.  If you don't want to hear me ramble on about this, just stop reading.  Because I just have to get this out:  Lucy is wonderful.  WONDERFUL, I say!  I've gotten to spend several whole (non-working) days in her sweet company, and I'm more smitten than before (although I'm not entirely sure how that's possible).  She has such a sweet personality, I want to remember what life is like with her RIGHT NOW.  (In fact, if I could freeze time, I'd be very tempted to stay in today :).  Some things I love seeing:

• She's saying "wow!" a lot.  It's SO fun, and sometimes surprising, to see what merits a "wow!"  (Today: new boots, a t.v. kiss, baby Jesus, a clementine, and a book, just to name a few).
• She touches the tops of bottles (lotions, shampoos), rubs her hands together, and then snaps them up to her hair.  It seems I put a lot of product in her hair :)
• She waves so her hand faces inward, waving at herself.
• She is sometimes in such a hurry crawling away that she has to wave behind her back.
• She says "bah-bye" really quietly when she can tell we're ready to leave (but before I've said it).
• She can go get a book or a baby when I ask her to.  It's so neat that we're communicating.  I love it!
• She climbs up into her little rocking chair, holds her baby tightly and pats her, rocks her, and sings to her. 
• I say "aww" when she holds a baby close or gives a hug sometimes, so now she says it for me.  It's so sweet to see her snuggle her baby and say "aww".
• She says "quack quack."  She makes the sound in the back of her throat and it kind of sounds like "cok cok" and it is SO cute.  She makes the sound whenever she sees a duck (and also for many other animals :)
• She is moving her hand back and forth as fast as she can.  It doesn't really seem very fast, but she kind of holds her head back and then is so thrilled with herself that you can tell she thinks it's out-of-control fast and pretty dang impressive!
• She says hi to everyone, and if they don't respond, they almost get a "hi" yelled at them, like, "Hey, what are you doing? I'm saying HI over here!"
• I pat my heart and say "mama" and then pat her heart and say "Lucy".  So now she (mimicking me) pats her heart and says "mama". 
• When she's really tired, she throws her body across my chest and puts her head on my shoulder and starts singing (as in, rock me and sing to me, I'm ready for bed).
• Her singing is mosly the syllable "ya", and is usually very soulful.  The eyebrows knit in, her head tilts back, her lips pucker out, and she croons a slow "ya ya yaaaa."  It's really funny when she  laughs at herself, and then switches back to the serious, soulful singing, and back.
• Sometimes when I tuck her in she has to take out her pacifier to sing with me a bit, then she pops it back in.
• She dances very happily.
• She bobs her head back and forth and says ba-ba-ba-baaa.
• She smiles at me every morning when I come in to get her, like, "Oh good!  There you are!"  Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a morning person, but that sure is nice way to start your day.

There was this moment today while she was drinking her bottle, and she took it out and we both ended up with milk splattered in our faces, and I wiped us off and we both just cracked up--really laughing, over something so silly.  It just made me so happy.

There is a book we read (Personal Penguin) where it says, "If I could be yours and you could be mine, our cozy little world would be twice as nice."  I feel like we have a very nice, cozy little world together, and I know this is just the beginning.  I am so blessed. 

Thank you Lord for bringing Lucy into my life.  Thank you for making that step of your plan clear and for this resulting joy.  Thank you for answering so very many prayers--a healthy baby, good bonding, laughter, financial peace, great support, and overwhelming love for my daughter!  AMEN.

snug and warm

This sweet baby from Africa is ready for her first Kentucky winter!

princess on the job

I officially have the best job ever!  I work with students who are still struggling with mastering the English language, and (being the complete language geek I am) I LOVE it!

Most days are pretty great, but today takes the cake!  I had a little group of 3 kindergarteners, who were telling me all kinds of silly stories, but they kept mixing up their subject pronouns (switching he and she, mostly).  To practice, we said sentences about the little girl (she's smart, she's fun, she's pretty) and the boys.  To get some more "she" sentences, I had them make sentences about me. 

Here's what I got:
"She is pretty." 
"She is... cute."
 And, finally, from a little boy covering his face because he was shy, "She is a princess."

That sweet boy made my day!  Now that he mentions it, I do feel a little... princess-y today!