AAAAANNNNNDDDD We are BACK!

Hello friends! We are back on! So much time has passed I am sorry. (For one thing our "normal" computer went out, boo!) So? Where to begin?? So much has happened and so much growth too. Eliza is finally sorta crawling and her first word was "bird," and Zoë read her first word, "hat". Paul keeps busy at church and is involved with the new building project. I stay busy with the girls going to the library, tutoring, bible studies, house "stuff", art projects, running and more!

This past month was a  BLAST! Paul took me to Chicago for my birthday and I ran the Chicago 1/2 marathon. I would recommend  it to anyone! It was seriously SO much fun!! 16,000 people +!! LOVED IT!! Can't wait to do another one next year. Maybe in Oregon? We shall see.

Today is a blustery sort of day, good for soup and snuggling up to watch a movie. Cinderella came out on video and of course Zoë remembered that I was going to buy it for us last spring, so guess what we will be watching tonight? :)

Alright, that was a quick update, but I WILL be writing more! Yay!

~Abbie

Jesus

Tonight Zoë was tucked into bed after discussing the birth of Jesus and why He came to Earth. She asked me for a drink of water which I left to go get. When I returned she said, "Weddy (ready)" I said, "ready for what?" she replied, "Jesus in my hearts." i said, "Jesus in your heart?" "yes mom." so she prayed to have him in her heart. It was so sweet. I am not sure how much she understands, but it was precious to know she already has a tender heart towards Christ. Thank you Jesus!!

:-)

So Zoë said her first full prayer tonight and it started like this... "Dear Jesus, thank you for 'crap-a' " LOL, that is what she calls her Grandpa Steve. :-)

Funny

We entered Sam's Club and Zoë saw a lady carrying a little dog. She looked up at me and in all seriousness said, "Mommy that doggy can't walk, it is too little." I had to laugh, that is what I say about Eliza except I say, "she can't walk because she is too little." :-)

Precious Moment

This morning Zoë crawled into bed with me (Abbie) and Eliza. Zoë leaned her head on Eliza and said, "Eliza... my best friend ever!" *tear in my eye!* I hope this love stays forever! :-)

Oh, The Things She Says!

Here is what Zoë says:

~"Mommy, you have your ear carrots in?" (I had my ear plugs in,LOL)

~ When something is really good Zoë will say, "Delicious!" or "Tasty!"

~"Guess what??? ..... I LOVE YOU!!!" (She says this all the time, in a whisper at first and then loudly)

~"See you later, I will miss you!" (Says this whenever she is leaving the room, or leaving the

house.)

~She will say, "Just a minute!" or "Wait a second!" She says this with the hand gestures to wait. :-)

*We are working on, "May I have....please?" she does VERY well with this and uses it to ask for things, she often gets confused though when she wants you to do something for her. Instead of saying, "Will you" she says, "may I" it makes for some funny sentences when she is trying to ask you for something.

*She is memorizing Ephesians 4:32 a little at a time. I say the reference and Zoë says, "Be kind..." we will add a little more each week. :-)

Fun

Fourth of July with Daddy! Zoë was afraid of the fireworks so she wore her ear protectors.
Eliza a few days old looking at her Daddy.
Very newborn Eliza with Daddy and big sis. :-)

Z and E

Zoë always asks to hold Eliza. :-) She finally got to.

Eliza, looking content.

What She Says

Here are a few things Zoë has said lately:

~While catching a glimpse of Wipeout she over heard something and then said it over and over again, "Shake it, don't break it! Shake it don't break it! Shake it don't break it!" Paul and I couldn't stop laughing.

~While playing Candyland Zoë and I review her colors all the time. Sometimes I add to it what a color is of in the real world so when Zoë chose green I said, "Oh, yes! That is green like the grass is green." On the following plays Zoë would choose a card and then say, "Oh, mommy, it is purple like the grass!" On the next draw, "Oh, mommy! It is orange like the grass!" I think I am going to have to keep reviewing what color the grass really is, LOL.

~Paul was putting together a chair and Zoë was playing with some cardboard pieces and I asked her what she was playing and she said, "Build a word!! Let's build a word!" She started dancing around like it was going to form something. If you watch Word World you will know what she was talking about! LOL

~When asked about her hurt lip Zoë will say, "I got 'itches'!" (she means stitches)LOL

Some pics

Zoë and her daddy :-)
Our little peanut.

Tennis anyone? :-)

A cut lip

Well, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. I thought I would start by telling you about Zoë's lip. We were leaving my last OB appointment on June 22nd when Zoë tripped exiting the doctor's office. :-( Poor peanut slammed face first into the metal door, splitting her lip wide open. We had to then go from one doctor to another as we rushed her to the ER to get stitches. We think in all she ended up with 5 or 6 stitches on her lip. It was NOT a fun experience. The doctors were great, I however could not stay in the room while they stitched her up. Paul had to be the one to comfort Zoë, while I stayed in a little room and waited until everything was done. When everything was done Zoë kept saying, "Wasn't so bad, mommy" , " It will heal", and "Doctor's help Mommy", "Got stitches". She says these things while bobbing her head up and down with a concerned look on her face.

Toilet Trouble

So, Zoë LOVES helping me around the house with cleaning. She is actually quite a big help. She puts her clothes away, is learning to fold clothes and LOVES to help "sweep and dust". It has been fun allowing her to help out. Well, as we finished putting laundry away together and cleaning the kitchen, we headed to the bathroom to do a little light cleaning. (I was just washing down the mirrors and wiping up the sink area quickly.) Zoë was pretending to wipe up the cupboards and then I heard her say, "yucky, hands dirty!" I turned quickly and much to my HORROR I saw her dip both of her hands into the toilet and begin to "wash" her hands. I FREAKED! I grabbed her quickly and helped her wash her hands in the sink, trying to tell her why we do not wash our hands in the toilet and that it was not a clean thing to do. Poor peanut cried and cried because she thought her hands would stay dirty. I held her and smiled at her innocence. I was also wondering how many times she might have done this without my knowledge. LOL.

Zoë's Sunday School First

So, Zoë has moved into the 2 year old sunday school class. :-) Today was here first day even though her birthday is next week. It was PRECIOUS! She is a hoot! She walked right in and said, " Bye, mommy, see you later!" and went to take a seat by some other kids. She then told the teacher, " I am hungry!" (SHE HAD JUST ATE!! LOL) I guess she knows that there are crackers for snacks and/or I don't feed her enough breakfast, LOL. When I came to pick her up she had a picture that she had made. I was surprised to see how much she had learned in one class. She had made a picture of the moon and the stars and there was a verse from Genesis attached to her picture. She proceeded to tell me that Jesus had made the world, the sun and the moon. I could have cried. My precious baby is beginning to form her foundation of faith. Thank you to ALL of you who volunteer your time/energy/money etc. in being a teacher, a leader, a mentor etc. in the church. You ARE needed and valued. Praise the Lord that people use their spiritual gifts to impact the lives of children, teens, young adults, adults and seniors... for Christ and His kingdom. I am so GRATEFUL and am seeing part of the impact in my daughter's life! Thank you!!

Locked Out!

So, I guess I should have wrote about this as well as the chocolate bunny story. We were invited over to a friends house for Easter dinner and Paul would not be able to join Zoë and I until much later. So, I was getting ready to go and put Hunter in his kennel while we were gone, I placed him in and headed to the back door... realizing, too late, that the door was LOCKED and Zoë was inside! I FREAKED! I knocked on the window and could see Zoë diving into her Easter basket to eat jelly beans. She waddled over to the window and said, "Hi momma!" I told her to wait right there while I ran to find a way in. I looked all around the house for any way to get in and finally I decided that I needed help. I ran to our neighbor's house, I have to laugh because I don't even know them yet. I introduced myself and they let me use their phones to try to contact Paul. Paul was in church and did not get any messages. I was thankful that the neighbor came over with me and had a key and was able to open up the house. PTL! I was SOOOO grateful! Zoë was precious and had stayed right where I told her. :-) It was nice to get in with her!!

Happy Easter!

Chocolate Bunny

Zoë asked for 3 jelly beans this morning from her Easter basket, I told her she could have them and then left the room. When I came back in I caught her throwing something into her basket quickly and looking at me with mischeiveous eyes. She then swung her dress from side to side and said, " I WUV you mommy, I do!" I then said, "Zoë, did you eat your chocolate bunny?" "mmm, hmm, Mommy, I did!" "Well," I said, "No more candy for today." I giggled quietly as I put her Easter basket up on top of the fridge. What a stinker! :-) LOL

Hello! We are back!

Here is an update, we are now in our new home and still unpacking and trying to purge our stuff. It is amazing what you can accumulate. Tomorrow Paul will be painting and getting pictures up on the walls. It is SO nice to finally be all together as a family. Easter was a blast. Zoë is at such a fun age and LOVED looking for Easter eggs. We brought Hunter to the dog park today and Zoë enjoyed seeing all the dogs, BUT Hunter wanted to fight all the dogs so we had to leave, :-(. Oh well, maybe we will try again later. Today I did meet our neighbors when I locked myself out of the house and Zoë was locked in. It was scary and I am thankful that Zoë is a good listener and stayed where I told her to.

Some funny sayings that Zoë says are:

"Hold you, Mommy!" (she says this when she wants you to hold her.)

" I ate a WHOLE orange!" (She says this while lifting her head up and putting it down fast while saying the phrase.)

While staying at a hotel Zoë saw two women smoking she yelled, "WANT ONE!! SUCKER!!" We laughed so hard at this one.

She really enjoys cleaning. She wants to help all around the house with whatever it is I may be doing.

Hope you are all well! I will start writing more. :-)

Zoë touched my tummy and said, " mommy, tummy, baby... Come out baby!!" she then looked up at me with a confused look and then said, " mommy, baby hiding!" I couldn't stop laughing after that!

Zoë 18 months plus!

Yes, Zoë is now 18 months and I have not written anything! :-) She is healthy and growing. She is 17 and a half pounds and we are thankful for every ounce. Zoë got her ears pierced on the 16th of November and has done really well with them. She is such a funny girl. She runs around and tells people, "see, ears!" she is always excited about them. I cannot believe just how fast she is rowing!

Zoë Firsts

Well, yesterday Zoë said her own name clear as a bell. It was so great! Funny how excited we get about it. She also got her first hair cut on the 6th. I will have to post some pics ASAP. She just had a trim, but they cut off about an inch. She cried sitting in the chair at first and then did great. She is 18 months now and is such a blessing everyday. :-)