Weekend Without Daddy

 Matt's grandpa died last week, and he left Friday morning to head to Texas for the funeral. We talked a lot about it and decided that the trip would be too hard on the kids, so we stayed home and spent the weekend without Daddy. We missed him a lot, but we still managed to have some fun while he was gone.

On Friday, we didn't have any plans, so we had a jammy day! I'm treasuring these stay at home days with Nathan because I know they are numbered. Kindergarten is approaching way too fast.

He asked to play Catan several times on Friday. He really has it figured out (and it's pretty complicated for a kids' game). He likes to buy parrots almost exclusively, and I always think there's no way he can win with that strategy, but he beat me several times. He has the trading and resources figured out. We're training him young to love board games.

 He also spent a long time playing with Samuel's Legos. He built this without any help from me (he did follow the instructions that came with it), but did it all by himself. I was proud of him!

 Samuel and Elisabeth played all day too. I had some baking to do for a baby shower, so I just brought a whole bunch of toys down from upstairs and they played all day while I baked cupcakes.

 My mom picked the kids up after naps and they spent Friday night and Saturday morning with Grammy and Papa Joe.

 The timing for Matt to be gone worked out okay because I had plans Friday night and Saturday morning anyway, and since my mom was able to babysit, I didn't have to cancel anything.

Friday night our Sunday school class had a girls' night to eat, visit, and meet our church's new Women's Ministry Director. It was a fun night. We all stayed and visited until after 10:00. We were all talking that it was a rule that everyone had to stay past our kids' bedtimes, so we didn't have to put them to bed that night, and then we stayed so much later visiting. I love so many things about our new church, one being that everyone lives so much closer to us. The house that hosted the girls' night was a three minute WALK for me. It was awesome. The new director also asked several of the ladies what drew them to FBC-BA, and almost everyone answered that it was the children's ministry and our Sunday school class, which were the two big reasons we started looking for a new church. It was a reminder of God's faithfulness in leading us to such a great church.

 Saturday morning, we all got together again for a baby shower for Chandra. I'm on the Baby Shower Committee for our class, so I had fun getting to help celebrate baby Mackenzie. It was a beautiful shower!

 I picked the kids up after the shower and we headed home for naps. When I found out Matt was going to be gone for the weekend, I contacted my good friend Michelle whose husband is gone often on the weekends to see if he was out of town and if she wanted to get together, so as soon as the kids got up we headed out to visit them. We had the best time. Brett had a change of plans and ended up being home, but we still crashed their family night.

Our kids play SO well together. I loved watching them play and visiting with Brett and Michelle. It made what would have been a long, lonely Saturday night so much better.

 Nathan threw a pretty big fit, and Emma was in tears when we had to leave. We consoled them by planning our next play date, and ever since, Nathan has been asking how many days until he can see Emma again.

I told Nathan that when Daddy is gone, he can sleep in my bed, and he was so excited. He didn't want to just sleep in the bed, he kept saying that he wanted to sleep on my side with me and wanted to snuggle. Love that boy!

 Sunday morning was probably our hardest time without daddy. I never look forward to going to church without him. A friend mentioned needing help in the nursery during the church service on Sunday, so I jumped at the chance to volunteer, so I didn't have to sit in church without Matt. Nathan was in a bad mood, and things were hectic getting ready and trying to leave the house early to be there to help in nursery.

This is the best picture I got of the kids before church. It pretty much sums up our morning.

 Nathan was still in a weird mood and stayed with me while I worked in nursery. Thankfully, he snapped out of it and happily went to his class after church, so I could go to Sunday school.

We came home and ate lunch and played Candyland before naps. Matt made it home late Sunday afternoon, and we were so excited to have him home! I'm thankful for friends and family that make weekends without Matt easier.

17 Months Old

Elisabeth Kae, You are seventeen months old! Whenever I think about your age right now, I always think about how this is the age your brother was when you were born. And you seem so little to what I remember about Samuel. I think becoming a big brother turned him into such a big boy. You are welcome to stay a baby forever, Sweetheart!

We had a great month celebrating Christmas with you, but we were so sad that you got sick on Christmas morning. You definitely don't handle being sick very well, but thankfully you have been healthy since Christmas.

You are talking more and more. You are saying new words daily. Some new words you're saying this month are "milk" "baby" "trash" "mask" (When you want to watch PJ Masks- Thank you Nathan and Samuel), and "horse." You also learned "Me, my, and mine" this month. Oh dear. I hear "No! Mine!" way too often now. And you are even putting words together. You told me the other day, "More baa (bottle) mik (milk)" And you babble all the time that is completely random and we can't understand a word. I'm thinking it's a girl thing, because I don't remember your brothers doing that ever. Other people couldn't understand what they were saying, but I always could. I think you just like to talk. You're so animated and expressive too when you babble, like you are telling us something really important.

You are wearing 18 month and 18-24 month clothes. I've noticed that your 18 month clothes are fitting a little short these days.

You are learning animal sounds. You say, "Woof woof," "Meow," "Moo," "Quack Quack," and "Ribbit"

You are starting to spoon feed yourself and able to stay halfway neat. That has been so helpful for breakfast, especially. Now you eat yogurt for breakfast every morning. You usually also have some dry cereal or a banana too. You want to eat lots of things with a spoon now too including goldfish and yogurt melts. Your favorite foods are still protein and dairy. You're not a huge fan of any fruits or vegetables or carbohydrates, really (unless it's a snack). You are opinionated for sure, and you love to get your own snacks.

You got lots of new toys for Christmas, especially girly toys, and all of the sudden you are really into baby dolls, and I LOVE it!!! You will not let go of your Baby Margaret. She goes everywhere with us, and you snuggle with her for every nap and every bedtime. You want to feed her bottles and tea from your tea set, we brush her teeth, and you put her night night. I also have to fix her blanket all the time. You'll yell, "Uh oh" and hand her to me to fix it.

You also still love books. You like to play with your Klip Klop horses and stable (I can tell you have brothers because you use one horse to knock another one off the stable). You also like to play kitchen and with your new tea set. You make sound effects when you're pouring tea. It's adorable.

You are starting to like to watch TV. Your favorite shows are Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Paw Patrol.

 You are a doll and at a really fun age. You are starting to like jewelry and always ask for a bow in your hair. You are my dream come true and a precious gift to our family!