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. :-)

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

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.

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!

Sayings

Here are some of Zoë's favorite words right now:

"PAWtea" = "Potty"

"PAWpee"= "Poopy"

"uck"= "Stuck"

"Ieess"= "eyes"

"CK"= "book", "blanket"

"ease" = "please"

"eSSS"= "Yes"

Zoë and What She is Doing

So, here is a quick update on what Zoë has been up to lately:

1. Learning to walk backwards.

2. Beginning to use the potty!! :-)

3. Says to Paul when we were at walmart: "Where are we going?" Paul says, "To the store." Zoë responds, "I want grandma!"

4. Likes to draw and says, "Sit, please." When she wants to sit and draw. She will then say, "Color, please." and we hand her her crayons.

5. Likes to pretend read. She will sit on her little elephant pillow and pretend to read a book to herself.

6. Spins to music. So funny!

7. Climbs up and down stairs.

8. LOVES blowing bubbles and will say, "bubbles, bubbles" all the time.

9. Plays with her baby dolls all the time as well. Loves her dollhouse and is always walking around caring for her babies.

I know that there are more things, just can't seem to think of them right now. :-)

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