Praying for Daddy

I posted this on f@cebook a few days ago but wanted to also include it on our blog. Eleanor likes to pray and the other day she told me she wanted to pray for Daddy. This was her prayer:

I pray for Daddy. Thank you God for Daddy. Bless him. Help Daddy to obey my Mommy. Amen.

I just had to laugh!

Wordless Wednesday

Little Helper

E has recently decided that she really likes to help around the house. Here are a couple of "caught in the act" shots:

Helping daddy dry the dishes

Vacuuming for Mommy

Sweet Friends

We love our friends, John and Ryan! These two precious little boys are such good friends to E. They both fight for her attention and smother her with hugs and kisses every time we see them. We are so thankful for them and enjoy getting to see them every week at church and for playdates.

Springtime Fun

Spring is slowly creeping in to Northern IL. We are thankful for the extra daylight, the slightly warmer temperatures and the ever increasing sunshine. It is amazing how a little sunshine can totally change ones outlook on life.

We have been spending a little more time outside playing and look forward to the days of summer when we can be outside every day.

Trying hard to peddle

She did it!

Headed home!

Love this little girl to pieces!

What's on your SD Card?

Here are a few of the photos I found on our SD card today.

Playtime

E and her new friend Abigail

Dinner with a movie star

Still I Will Praise You

The past month has been one heck of a month. The passing of a dear friend, a health scare which resulted in a trip to the emergency room, a second trip to the emergency room followed by 2 consecutive days of surgery and 4 days in the hospital, disappointments, unmet expectations, deep hurt. We are spent, broken, poured out. We have pressed in hard to the Lord and today despite all this month has had to offer we can say, "still I will praise you!"

I want to remember how hard this month has been and I want to remember what we have learned about the Lord and His faithfulness. God's promise to Joshua, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" was ours to claim. He never lets go and because of that we can praise Him in all things.

Winds of Change

2011 has been the year of surprises for us. If you would have asked us on January 1, 2011 where this year would take us our answer would have been drastically different from our answer today.
The plan was for me to work full-time, Daniel to focus entirely on his school work and be home with Eleanor and for us to move back to Dallas mid-summer. As of today, Daniel is working full-time in an unexpected promotion, my last day of work will be April 1st and we are staying in IL at least another year but more likely two.

There are many transitions taking place in our lives but I am so thankful that we know and serve a God who does not change. Today, He is the same God who spoke the earth into creation and tomorrow He will remain.

No matter what the rest of this year holds we can walk forward in faith knowing that God is already there and that He will NOT change.

Neglected

Our blog has been severely neglected over the past few months. Overhaul and more frequent posting to come soon!

Blizzard 2011

It is not everyday a Floridian (that would be me) and 2 Texans (Daniel and Eleanor) get to experience a blizzard. Granted based on what we have heard, it is not everyday a Chicagoan gets to experience a blizzard either. In the past day and a half we have gotten somewhere between 20-23 inches of snow. This is the 3rd biggest snowstorm on record for Chicago and it's surrounding areas. It is amazing! We spent about 30 minutes outside and came in exhausted from walking in the knee deep snow and wind.

What do you do when it is 10 degrees outside?

We play in our tent
We practice making funny faces
We bake cookies

And we eat them

Nature

Not long ago, Daniel, Eleanor and I spent a day in the city with our friends Jordan and Jennifer. We had a wonderful time at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. We will definitely be making another trip back to the museum soon.

In the butterfly garden

Dancing with butterflies

School Fun

Eleanor goes to school two days at week at the YMCA in our town. She LOVES it! Every morning when she wakes up she asks, " I go to school today?". She spends her days playing in centers, dancing, reading books from the book mobile, learning her letters and numbers, playing outside when the weather permits and having a grand time with her friends. Just before Christmas her class had an open house and Daniel and I attended. She had a great time dancing with her friends. We are very thankful for her wonderful teachers, Ms. Carley and Ms. Charlene and are so glad she enjoys going to school.

E with Ms. Carley
Snowman Craft
Moving and Shaking

December in Review

It feels like December came and went and I barely had a chance to acknowledge it. The beginning part of the month was busy with preparations for Christmas and our trip to Dallas. We did not decorate at home because we would be gone for Christmas and I did not want to deal with having to clean it all up and put it away. We did buy a 3 ft. pre-lit tree for Eleanor and it has now become her everyday nightlight. It did not have any ornaments on it for Christmas but last week we bought some felt hearts and hung them on her tree.

Daniel and I bought E a nativity set for Christmas (even though we gave it to her on Dec 4th) and we loved watching her play with baby Jesus and act out the stories we had been reading with her. Baby Jesus was the source of much laughter in our home. Here are just a few of the baby Jesus funnies:

1. Mommy to Eleanor - "No, we don't lick baby Jesus."
2. Eleanor to Mommy - "Baby Jesus is in time out. He is just a little crabby."
3. Baby Jesus was born on a table (in a stable).

I loved hearing her talk about Mary, Jofef and Baby Jesus. She also liked to talk about King Herod and how he was a "mean and angry king."

Each night when we would read the story of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her she was with child, we would read the part of the story that said "the angel appeared and Mary was afraid," Eleanor would immediately say, "sometimes I am afraid." We would ask her what she was afraid of and she would say "whales." Not sure where that came from but it was so cute.

Every time we would ask Eleanor what she wanted for Christmas she would say, "a sheep." When we took her to see Santa she did not skip a beat when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, A SHEEP!" Oh, if only I could have captured the look on Santa's face. He looked at me and said, I have never heard that one before. Only our little E!

We spent 10 days in Dallas and had a good time visiting with family and a few friends. We ate at some of our favorite Dallas eateries, attend Christmas Eve service, celebrated Christmas with both sides of Daniel's family, ate some more, played with cousins, and ate some more.

Before we knew the clock struck 12 and January was ushered in. Here's to a fabulous 2011!

Baking with Mom

Eleanor loves to help me bake. Our kitchen is the size of a small closet so my solution to the problem is to move it to the dining room table. Our friend Seth turned 2 on Thanksgiving Day and Eleanor helped me bake school bus cupcakes in his honor.

It's A Snowy Day

Although we have lived in Chicago for 2 years now, this is the first winter that Eleanor is old enough to really enjoy the snow. Last Wednesday as the sun came up she ran to the window and exclaimed, "Mommy, it's a snowy day!" We only received a dusting that day and it had all melted away by the next morning. Fast forward to yesterday morning. We woke up to a very steady snowfall and a couple of inches already on the ground. A beautiful winter wonderland! Eleanor could not wait to go outside. Unfortunately, we did not have snow pants so her time in the snow was brief but I think she enjoyed it just the same.

"I touched it Mommy!"
Just for the record, she does have mittens she just didn't want to wear them.

So cute

I love this picture. It looks like she is conducting an orchestra.

27 months

I probably say this every month but I cannot believe how quickly my baby girl is growing up. I haven't had as much time to blog lately but don't want to forget some of the funny things E has said and done over the past few months.

The other night we were having soup for dinner. I handed E a spoon and her response was "Actually, I want to use a fork." I had to laugh at my two year old using the word "actually."
She used it again on Thursday when I said, "It's time to go to school." E responded, "Actually, I go to preschool."

We hear the phrase, "I do it all by myself!" at least 5 times a day if not more. I love her independent spirit but sometimes it really slows down the process.

E still is not a big fan of meat. The other night I asked what she wanted for dinner and her response was "I want to eat salad." One of her favorite salads is Barnelli's Chopped Salad minus the bacon and chicken. Because of course she "can't like chicken!" When she does eat meat it is normally a "burger cheese" or lo-loaf (meatloaf).

E goes to school 2 days a week while I am at work. This past week her teacher shared a funny story with me. While walking down the hall E tripped over the leg of a scarecrow that was decorating the hall. E jumped up, put her hands on her hips, and declared, "that man just tripped me!" Her teacher said she about busted a gut laughing and had to ask how E knew the word "tripped." It goes on the list with actually.

The 2's are hard but also so enjoyable at the same time. I am continually blessed by my little Kamikaze and am so thankful for her.

Trick -or- Treating

This was our view for most of the night. Our little giraffe had a grand time trick-or-treating!

I Be Like My Mommy

One night a couple of weeks ago as I was putting Eleanor to bed she declared, "I be like my mommy!" I had just grabbed one of her stuffed animals and was using it as a pillow and as she said those five simple words she did the same. Obviously, in that context those words did not mean a whole lot, but it certainly got me thinking. Her words were so sweet and it definitely made this mama smile, but it also made me wonder about the example I am setting for my precious girl. I hope and pray that I am living my life in such a way that I would want my daughter to grow up and "be like me." Those five words have definitely made me rethink the way I handle certain situations or how I react to things because I know there is a bright-eyed little girl watching and mirroring me throughout my day! Thank you sweet girl for helping me strive to be a better wife and mom!

Thoughts of God

Being a mom is hard. Or maybe it is just hard for me. This week has proven to be the hardest thus far in my short tenure as a mom.

Eleanor has not felt well which has equated to a number of sleepless nights and lots of tears (from her and me). Tuesday night I felt completely helpless as my sweet girl screamed in pain for hours. She had a virus which caused sores to develop on her tongue. She was in a tremendous amount of pain and there was nothing her daddy and I could do for her. We rocked, we sang, we rubbed her back. Nothing could console her. At one point I was rocking her and began to sob as she screamed "ow, ow, ow, it hurts." It made me think about God and how it must have felt for him to watch his Son suffer on the cross. Just as Eleanor did nothing to deserve the pain she was experiencing, Jesus, perfectly sinless, endured a pain far greater than anything I could ever imagine, which He did not deserve.

Yesterday, as I tried to coax Eleanor into letting me swab her mouth with some medicine the Dr. prescribed to help with the pain, I again thought about God. He does not coax but He does continually offer healing that at times I am too stubborn to accept.

Tonight, as Daniel and I put Eleanor to bed, she cried for almost an hour. I know that she needs to go to bed and I want her to go to bed, but as her mom, I felt guilty for not coming to her rescue. I wonder if God felt guilty for not coming to His Son's rescue when He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?".

Being a mom is hard but if it were easy I may miss out on the lessons I am learning about God.