Princess is 2!

Dear Princess,

It seems like yesterday you were born and now you are two years old! Time SLOW DOWN! You bring so much joy to our lives and we thank God daily for you and your brothers.

Your Favorites!

Books: Any but you especially like Curious George books,

Songs: You love to sing! Some of your favorite songs you like to sing are: "Amazing Grace," "Someday," "I want Jesus to Walk with Me," and "Jesus Loves Me." You have good rhythm and pick up songs easily.

Toys: You love your baby doll, Curious George doll, and all things related to playing with dolls. You got a kitchen set for your birthday and have enjoyed cooking in it and have made me a few things as well.

TV Show: We just started letting you watch a show on occasion about a month ago while I needed to care for Jackson. Your favorites are Curious George and Hermie and Friends. 

Foods: There are several and you are a great eater! If I ask you, you'll say "hot dogs" which you rarely get. You also like bananas, salad, watermelon, potatoes, and carrots. Your favorite cereal is Cheerios. 

Places to go: Church, you love your Bible class and love big church too! You also love going to the store with Mom and eating at Chick-fil-a. 

You love to dance and play with your brothers. You enjoy making both of them laugh. You have been speaking in complete sentences for a few months. You are very smart and pick up on things very easily. You are helpful, for example, I'll ask Blue Rock to pick up something and you'll say, "No! Me!" And proceed to go pick up what ever it was I asked him to do. 

You're the healthiest kid I've ever met! Praise God you have never had a fever or been sick. You've been exposed to a lot of things, Hand, Foot, and Mouth. You got a few spots on your bottom but that was it. 

We made it! When you were born I had hoped to nurse you until at least a year and wanted to make it to two years if you were still interested. Once I got pregnant with Blue Knight I thought I'd dry up and or you would no longer want to nurse. Well, sweet girl, you still wanted to nurse. Now that you are two, I'm starting to wean you and sooner than you'd like, Mama's milk will be replaced solely with big girl milk. I've enjoyed our journey and am so thankful that I've been able to provide you with one of the best foods on the planet. 

Your two year old check-up went great. Your doctor said you looked perfect and you are advanced in every area. Here are your stats.

Height: 26 inches (44%)

Weight: 26 lbs (42%)

Head: 47.5 cm (50%)

Your party is this coming week and I'll post more pictures then. We love you, Princess!!

Love,
Mom

On birthdays I decorate the door and hang the number of years you are!

 

"Look Mom, 2s!"

You thought it was neat.

You got a play kitchen as your big gift from Mom and Dad

You love it! I can see you having fun with it for several years.

We went to lunch at Chick-fil-a, your choice!

 

Your grandparents came too.

It's hard to hold up 2 fingers!

I had to get a few pictures with just you!

This mama loves her girl!

We had a chocolate cake after dinner

You loved your cake

Some gifts from your brothers

You got a Curious George book, a birthday George, and a dog you can walk

Walking your new pet

Christmas Book Countdown Make-Over

I LOVE Christmas. I love it even more now that I have children to do fun things with. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is reading a Christmas book every day as we count down to Christmas.  My book bag countdown to Christmas has gotten a make-over this year! I made these easy and super cute bags and added a few additional things. In addition to adding a book in each bag, I also added either a craft or Christmas movie. I did a very easy and affordable Christmas craft exchange with some friends so the craft part was very easy! We will also stream a few Christmas movies here and check out a couple from the library. In fact, you could do this Christmas tradition very cheaply, almost free by checking out all your Christmas books and movies from your library. Just remember the due dates and check out more as needed.   

Books added in back, movies in the middle, and crafts in front

You can see the fabric bags folded up with rope on top ready to stuff

Don't they look gorgeous under my Christmas tree?!

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Christmas Traditions with Kids

We are really trying to make Jesus the reason for the season of Christmas. Here are some of the things we're going to be doing as a family at home.

25 days of Christmas stories. We've done this the past few years. I wrap 25 Christmas books and everyday my child (now children) get to open a book to read. On December 25th, we read the story of Christ's birth.

We started celebrating Sankt Nikolaus' Day when we lived in Germany. We're adding a little different twist to it now that we're back in America. On December 6th, our children will find their stockings full of Christmas cheer rather than their boots.

We're going to be going through The Jesus Storybook Bible advent-style with our church. Everyday we read a passage from the Bible that leads up to Jesus' birth.

I'm going to read and go through The Donkey in the Living Room, starting December 15th. That's when the kids will find a different piece of the nativity scene in a special place. We'll read about the person and why they are part of Christ's birth.

We'll be doing lots of fun crafts. Today Caden and I made a Christmas countdown chain. We'll be counting down in lots of ways, including with the chocolate advent calendar. 

Have a Polar Express night. Our church has a movie night every year featuring the Polar Express. Since we unfortunately will not be able to make it, we'll watch it at home as a family movie night with Caden after Gracie goes to sleep. Then another night we'll surprise our kids with tickets to go see Christmas lights. I even bought little bells to give them. Originally, I was planning on us riding the train to the north pole but decided to wait until Gracie was a little older.

Lastly, we have added a cute little Elf to our Christmas traditions. He will help guide our children in the Christmas spirit. Everyday he'll be up to something and have with him our daily Bible passages to read. To start with, he left a note for the kids asking for a name and telling them about himself. He's hiding in our Christmas tree. Do you see him?

What are your Christmas traditions?

Texas German Christmas Market

Yesterday we took Princess to her first German Christmas market. When we lived in Germany we used to visit as many different ones as we could. They were always so much fun! The one near us is neat but not nearly as neat as the ones in Germany. In Germany they would have rides for the kids, delicious foods at very reasonable prices, and beautiful booths of things to buy. One of the booths at this Christmas market was Costco. I mean really? Costco was advertising at a German Christmas market? Germany ran Walmart out of their country so I know something like Costco would not survive either. Although I love Costco and am glad to be a member, I just thought it was interesting that they were advertising at the German Christmas market.

Last year we had our pictures taken with Santa at this market, so we decided to do the same this year. It was extra special because we now have two cute kids to see Santa. Princess was NOT impressed at all. Blue Rock was fine and told him he wanted a candy cane that lights up and makes sounds when you push a button. After thinking about it a while, I think he is referring to a candy cane we saw at Hobby Lobby. He was happy that Santa gave him a candy cane to eat. I love how his wishes are simple and pure.

Here are some pictures of us with Santa and at the Texas German Christmas market.

How to make a Felt Tooth Fairy Pillow

This is probably the cutest and cheapest project I've made in a very long time. Blue Rock is about to lose his first tooth. I have been looking for the right tooth fairy pillow but haven't found it. So I decided to make my own. I love how it turned out but more than anything, Blue Rock loves it! It's his special tooth pillow and it cost less than $1 to make. Felt at Michael's is $0.29 each. I needed three sheets and didn't use it all. I usually go to Hobby Lobby but decided to stop by Michael's today. Since I don't know how to use my sewing machine, I hand sewed this. I also stuffed it with cotton balls since I didn't have any batting. I already had the thread and cotton balls.  Blue Rock liked it so much he wrote his name on it with a marker. He's looking forward to losing his first tooth and getting his first visit from the Tooth Fairy. The guys had fun making felt mustaches when we were done.

I bought three sheets of felt, white, blue, and pink. I had black, red, and blue thread to sew it all together. I hand drew the template with computer paper for the tooth. Then I sewed on the eyes, mouth, and back pocket for the tooth. Then I sewed everything together and let Blue Rock help me stuff it. It took me about an hour with both kids on the floor with me "helping" in some way or other.

He has RISEN! Happy Easter!

I love Easter. I love the spring weather, I love how so much of the world takes extra time to remember Jesus raising from the dead. I love the hope we have through Christ. I love playing Easter Bunny and leaving some fun things for the kids. Kids, did I just say kids?! Oh, I love having 2 kids!

This was Princess's first Easter. She is such a sweet and cute baby. My husband and I both participated in our church service. Our service included cardboard testimonies and we were asked to help out. Since our family does not attend church with us, anything we volunteer for becomes a family event. My cardboard testimony included my kids so both were able to come up on stage with me. They both did great, overall. Princess started fussing a little right after she came on stage. We didn't take any pictures at church but we did at home to share with you.

If you've never seen cardboard testimonies done, look up a YouTube video. They are neat. I went first and when I turned my testimony over, My husband walked up with our kids. Then he went. It was really special. I love that I have this testimony to share. I don't like the 4 miscarriages but I believe my relationship with God is stronger because of it. A year ago I was angry and fearful. I couldn't understand why God would let me get pregnant only to keep losing my babies. When I got pregnant with Princess, I was excited but absolutely terrified! I didn't want to lose her! God was faithful and he blessed us with her and Blue Rock. I grew a lot between my 4th miscarriage and my pregnancy with Princess. My husband and I both had a testimony that dealt with fear. Thankfully we are set free to live through Christ! It was neat seeing everyone's testimony who shared. It's nice to know that we are NOT alone and that there is freedom through Christ.

Easter morning was nice. Blue Rock enjoyed seeing the Easter Bunny's tracks around our house and finding out what he left. He got some chalk, a book, a coloring book, bubbles, a puzzle, and some pretend eggs, including a giant blue egg. Princess got a bunny and chalk for when she's older.

Here are some sweet pictures of our kiddos. Happy Easter from our family to yours!