Heard in My House This Morning . . .

"Mommy, I don't want to get up."

"Neither do I, Daddy."

"Wait . . . we have to get up, we're the parents."

Some weekends I really miss being able to sleep in.

Copy Cat

We keep a few things that we don't use very often on top of our kitchen cabinets. I usually use a stool to get to these items, but this past Friday I was in a hurry and just decided to climb up onto the counter and then stand on the counter to reach the item.

Today in the kitchen, while I was cleaning up after lunch, I happen to turn around just in time to see Addison trying to climb up on the counter of her toy kitchen. I told her to get down and she said "mommy do it." And that is when I remembered that I had done the same thing a few days ago.

I am continually learning I have to be careful about what I say and do around Addison.

Walmart No More

I normally do my grocery shopping at Kroger. But yesterday I was out running some other errands and on my way home I knew I would pass by Super Walmart. In my mind I thought this was great, because I assumed groceries would be cheaper at Walmart then they are at Kroger. I WAS WRONG!!! Milk at Kroger is $2.99, milk at Walmart was $3.38 (and yes I get the cheapest brand they have at both places.) I can't remember the exact prices for everything else, but I do remember that cheese, bread, drinks, spaghetti sauce, meat, etc. were all more expensive at Walmart.

Not only was my trip to Walmart more expensive, it also took a lot longer. I didn't know where anything was and there were so many people. When I finally did get everything, the lines to check out were crazy long.

No more Walmart grocery shopping for me.

Toy Kitchen - Praise God!!!!!

A few months ago Daniel and I talked about getting Addison a play Kitchen for her birthday. But when I saw how much they are (from $100 to $700) we decided not to. Then I was talking with a good friend and she said that the best toy her two year old played with for many years was her play kitchen. So we decided we would look around and see if we could find one used. We went to Toys R Us to check out what they actually looked like. Some of them were too short for Addison (she is really tall for her age). The one we REALLY liked was $160. After seeing what we would like to get, we started looking for a used one.


Two weeks ago we went to a consignment sale, but they didn't have any play kitchens. I have been looking on Craig's List for two weeks and though there have been some kitchens on there, they were not really want we wanted, so we just decided to keep looking.


Then, today, on Craig's List was the exact kitchen we wanted for ONLY $60!!!!!! I emailed the lady and she emailed me back with her number and said that there were a number of other people who also wanted the kitchen, so I needed to call her ASAP if I still wanted it. Needless to say, I called and we got the kitchen. It is perfect! It doesn't even look like it has been played with. They still had all the accessories that went with it. We save $100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited. I just hope Addison gets as excited as I am over her new kitchen.

God has blessed us many times using Craig's List. Thank you God.

Such a Wonderful Big Sister

One day last week I had Hunter sitting in his Bumbo chair (yes that is really the name of the chair). Addison sat down beside him with one of her books. She proceeded to open each page, show it to Hunter and say "Look Hunter. What is this Hunter? . . . Dog, Hunter, dog. . . Hunter, what is this? . . . Duck, Hunter, duck." She went through the whole book showing Hunter each page and telling him what was on each page. It was so cute.

Addison has a baby doll that she calls baby Hunter. The other day I heard her saying, "Feed Hunter, Feed Hunter." It was about time for me to feed Hunter, so I walked into the room to tell her, yes mommy was going to feed Hunter. But when I walked into the room and saw her, she had her shirt up and her doll, baby Hunter, was to her chest. She was "breastfeeding" her baby doll. After a few seconds, she then put the doll up on her shoulder and said "Burp, Hunter, burp Hunter," and proceeded to pat the doll on it's back to burp it. It was so funny.

Journal - 6-29-09

I got to hold my wonderful baby, Hunter, today for a long while. Addison is growing up so fast and it makes me treasure the moments I get to hold Hunter. Because of Addison, I realize that Hunter will not be a baby for very long. Not nearly as long as I would like him to be. Addison only lets me hold her for short periods of time, in between her running around and playing. She no longer lets me hold her like a baby and stare into her beautiful eyes. So every moment I get, to hold Hunter and stare into his beautiful eyes, I want to fully enjoy and treasure. The age Addison is at also has incredibly precious moments. Like when she says something so funny, Daniel and I laugh so hard we are almost crying. Or when she says “I love you” how is melts my heart. But there is just something so enjoyable about holding your baby and I now understand that this time, for holding Hunter, will be gone before I know it.

Hunter is almost 3 months old now. He is almost to the point of having full control of his head and neck movements. He is FINALLY, sleeping through most of the night, about 6.5 to 7.5 hours. He is staying awake longer during the day and loves looking around at all the commotion that is going on in our house.

Addison is getting ready to be 2 years old in August. I can't believe how fast these two years have gone. She is such an incredible child. She loves to sing. She loves bath time. She loves chasing Bailey around the house. But more than anything, she loves for someone to read to her. I am so grateful that she loves books so much. Not only do I think this will help her with learning, but I look forward to the day when Addison and I can sip coffee (or tea) and talk about the wonderful books we are reading.

Thank you God for blessing me with the most wonderful children I could ever imagine. And thank you for blessing me with their wonderful father, who is the best husband I could ever have asked for.

Romans Chapters 1 - 7

I have started a study of Romans, via John Piper's website (this is a great website, check it out). Today I learned the difference between justification and sanctification, according to Romans, chapters 1 - 7. To justify is to pronnouce free from guilt or blame. To become sanctified is to become holy.

In Romans it discusses that Christains are justified from their sin as soon as they believe in Jesus Christ. This justification is an instantaneous, free gift from God. There is nothing we do (besides believing in Jesus Christ) to receive this free gift. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that comes by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24, NIV

Sanctification on the other hand is a process of transforming ourselves from the sin centered person we were to the Christ centered person we are working to become. Sanctification is something that we work at each day (by building a relationship with God) and it is a transformation that we will continue to work on for our whole lives.