An Effort to Try This Again

In an effort to encourage Alana in her daily writing, I am sitting down to blog at the same time.  I have missed blogging so much and have been inspired by other moms to get back into the daily routine.  I know I won't regret looking back and seeing the things that my children did.  We think we will remember everything, but I've already realized that this feeble mind forgets so easily. 

April was the last time that I posted on my blog.  WOW!  I'm so ashamed.  Just shows how busy I've been. Micah is now 22 months old.  He's doing so much.  His vocabulary has expanded. A month ago I was worried that something might be wrong, but now I know for sure that there is NO problem.  Here are some of his words:
Momma
Da-da
cat
dog (along with other animals)
Gigi (the dog)
A-way-na for Alana
Babbie for Abbie
Twe-bor for Trevor
Bwit-bwit for Britt-Britt (a young lady who comes to our home in the afternoons)
He-bor for Heather (another young lady who comes to our home in afternoons)
Gwanpa
Gwanda
Nana
Pap
Get Out!!
NO
Papple for Apple
shoes
socks
ears (but the r has a w sound)
nose
eyes
mouf for mouth
Pees  for Please
tank-oo  for thank you
deer
Mrs. Cheryl  (He says this one very clearly, she has won him over!Children's director and Christian Education Director at Church and dear family and friend to us.)
Faith (his sweet little friend)
bike
mulk for milk
more\
and he loves to call the girls...he shouts GIWLS!!
My favorite recent story that made me laugh so hard was when Grandpa came by to show off his deer the other day.  He said, "Micah what do you think about Grandpa's deer he killed?"  Micah pointed to the deer and responded, "Dead deer."  I'm sure there are more words, especially "food" words because the boy loves to eat.  His favorite snacks are apples, banannas, and chips.  He eats an apple each day.  This is interesting to all of us becasue my nephew, Trever, does the same thing.  I'm not sure if Micah saw Trever doing it and caught on to it, or if he has a natural taste for apples, but regardless we keep apples in our home at all times. Micah also surpises us with the 2 or three word short sentences that he says and it makes me so proud.  It also makes me giggle as I'm sure all moms do because some of the words have the funniest sounds, especially when the r sounds come out with the w sound for example.  It will fix itself and for now is what makes him so adorable.

Now on to little Miss Alana who is doing a wonderful job in school.  She is excelling in all subjects.  Math is her least favorite subject, however she gives it her best each day.  I have found some great supplement materials to spark a new fire and desire for "math" learning in her.  I'm suddenly seeing a new desire for grasping new concepts and wanting to do a little more than she was wanting to before.  This makes me so proud of her.  I know that it's hard to embrace doing something we just don't enjoy and then take it a step further and do it with excellence, but she is determined and I know that her determination is what's going to make her successful.  Now not only is she making the good grades in math, but she's starting to enjoy the math as well.  This is so rewarding to see as a mother and a teaching mom.  She is also enjoying the following activities: voice lessons, hanging out with her friends, Brittany and Heather, who spend each afternoon with us after school, riding her bike (her very favorite), playing her i-pod touch, going shopping (very into fashion), reading, Wed. night church activities, playing with her neighborhood friends: Hannah, Hope, Courtney, etc., reading, and watching movies. She will be turning 9 on February 5th, which I still can't beleive. I guess this explains all the interest in hair, fashion, magazines, etc...I'm loving it...makes for some fun mommy and daughter time.

The update on Jim and I is that we just celebrated 10 years.  We did it!  Wasn't too hard,LOL.  Although, I won't say a marriage doesn't come without challenges.  Let's be real, it does.  Isn't that what's wrong with our world?  We've painted a picture whether it's through romance novels, movies, or simple lies, that everything's perfect in marriage and easy.  I have thought many times in the past ten years, "he needs more time with me, more encouragement, more support."  Marriage to our spouse takes commitment to being engaged to their feelings and needs 24/7.  It's a selfless commitment.  It's give and take, right?  Well, how is that possible if it's selfless?  Yep, I'm still asking myself that after 10 years.  But, I've been aiming toward being "Selfless" (and so has he) and I'm still happy, so I'm not going to question it too much. I have to be honest, I pondered this thought for many years.  I didn't just come up with the selfless concept on a whim, that's for sure.  It's something that I've realized simply by watching those who have stayed the course and celebrated 20, 30, 40 and more years .  I want to be one of those people.  Some of those couples have watched thier spouse go thru terminal illness or health scares, others held their hand through family crisis, or emotional turmoil, and others had an easier journey.  But regardless, they've all had a journey and a story to tell.  I have a feeling if we sat down to talk with them, they would have many stories of this selflessness I'm speaking of and could inspire many couples.  As each January comes to a close and February,the LOVE month begins, I always focus on the best advice I have found in our ten years of marriage which is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 13:4- 13:
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.