Prayer with Abigail

This week has been a DOOZY.

Abigail has not been sleeping very well. She has her mind set.

When it is dark, she sleeps, when it is not dark, she doesn't.

Ever.

That makes things rough when it doesn't get dark until after 9, and is light before 6.

When she is well rested, she truly is a delight to be around. When she is tired, she gets down right ornery, and defiant. Today I had a prime example.

I was up at 4 with Ellie, and then just as I got back to bed, Abigail woke up, saw a glimmer of light outside, and was up for the day.

I knew we were in for it.

When we came home from church and she was having one melt down after another, I put my foot down and insisted on her taking a nap. FYI, my insistence did no good.

I took her to her bed, and trying to wind her down I thought maybe a prayer would be a good idea. Besides, I needed all the help I could get. Here was her prayer as she "repeated" what I said.

Me: Dear Heavenly Father,

Abi: " "

Me: Please help me to be able to relax...

Abi: Please help me to be able to play.

Me: So I can get some rest.

Abi: So I can get some play.

Me: So Mommy and Daddy, Can have a good day.

Abi: So Abi and Ellie, Can have a good play

Me: In the name of Jesus Christ,

Abi: In the name of Nephi,

Me: Amen.

Abi: All done.

Dress Up

Ellie got a precious pink tutu skirt from her Aunt Lindsay.

She had fun exploring it while I snapped some photos.

Baby Love

The gang

This is Abigail's bedtime gang. It started as an infant with one bear snuggly. Then she came home from a trip to Mimi's house with a hand-me-down doll from the twins. She took that doll everywhere, and of course, had to sleep with it. Then, one day she lost her bear snuggly. I thought the world was going to end. We couldn't find the same one anywhere. So I bought the Elephant. It did not suffice. So I ordered a bear online. Then we found the old bear at nursery. We held on to the elephant for Ellie. The Lion was an impulse buy at Target one day. Minnie Mouse was a sympathy purchase mid-move when Abigail had very few toys, and we were living out of suitcases in a hotel. Then Ellie was born, and suddenly the elephant wasn't so repulsive anymore. They all have to be tucked away nicely at bedtime. She snuggles with the bears, the others watch over her from the edge of her bed as she sleeps. These are not just toys. Let me inform you, in order from left to right, we have:

Mommy, Big girl, baby bear, blanket (she uses this to tuck the others in), Ellie, and Daddy.

There are nights that she tries to add to the party. She makes requests for her kitty cat, her doggy... we have to draw the line somewhere right?

Right. You know who's boss around here.

Words?

There are so many things that could be said about this photo.

I'll leave it up to you.

Fast Friends

You know that we had visitors recently. Today is Emily's birthday. Instead of posting any pictures of her and I... I thought I would share a few of our girls together. They became fast friends during their short visit last weekend. Watching them run around and play together, I felt like we were watching a replay of us as little girls. Emily has been a friend for as long as I can remember. I am so blessed to have her as a friend, and so excited that our girls are close enough that they will be friends too (no choice there).

Happy Birthday Em!!

Rolls a plenty

We love this squishy girl and all of her delicious rolls.

Meet the Family

Here we have Trilla, Baby Horsey, Charles, Mommy Horsey, and Jack

And they are ALL part of our family. Abigail LOVES these horses, and we play with them all day long.

Life.

Sometimes being a little sister is hard.

Visitors

When we decided to move to Texas, I was really excited about several things. At the top of the list was being closer to my family, and being closer to a long time friend, Emily, who I had not seen since... my wedding. We visited them shortly after Ellie was born, and last weekend they came for a visit here. Emily is a great photographer, so thanks to her- we have some great shots of their visit- mostly of our trip to the splash pad.

Braids

Abigail has been wanting her hair braided every day lately. My favorite part is that I have to get it totally wet to braid it, and by the time it dries... the braid begins to curl. Am I crazy for being afraid that braiding it every day will make it lose some of its curl?? I just love this girls crazy curly hair.

Texas Rain

Texas storms are VERY different than the constant drizzle of Washington. I think I could seriously count on one hand the the times it has rained since we moved here almost 7 months ago. Maybe it has rained here as many days as it has not rained in Washington :)

A while ago we got a pretty good storm. You know, thunder, lightening, HUGE raindrops. Abigail just stood in the window watching in amazement. You would never know this girl spent most of the first two years of her life living in the rain.

Splash Pad

We have spent A LOT of time at the splash pad by our house this summer. The last couple of times we've gone it has been really crowded, so we may take a break for a while. It has been our go-to place for play dates. We took Breklyn with us a couple of weeks ago, and they had a lot of fun.

Back to Blogging.

It seems I live my life in a series of all or nothings. Blogging hits in there, all to often with the nothings. When I am on... I'll do daily posts. When I'm off, I'm lucky to get one up monthly. We have had A LOT going on around here lately. So, lots to blog about. One day at a time...

Two weeks ago, we got to fly to Utah to go to Stuart's wedding. We had a great time visiting with family. We were able to fly in just in time to make it to Grandpa John's birthday party on Friday. Saturday was filled with wedding festivities, Sunday we split between visiting both sides of our families, and then we left Monday.

It was a whirl wind.

It was so good to see family, although- I realize now, I didn't take enough pictures. Somehow, chasing around Abigail and taking care of Ellie kept me a little preoccupied. Here are a few of our trip.

I got Abigail a little suitcase of her own for the trip. When I opened it up to pack it, this is what I found.

Count your many blessings...

I can try to count them. But I am realizing more and more every day,

that the blessings in my life are numberless.

For some reason, it is so easy to forget that though. Why is that?

Why does it sometimes take tragic things to make me realize all that I have?

We have had a pretty heavy week this week. Charles started off his week at work with the news that a coworker that he worked closely with was killed in a hit and run accident on his bike over the weekend. Something so sudden really puts life into perspective. It makes you realize how important it is to live every day to the fullest, and to love and serve others like there is no tomorrow. What it really makes me want to do is just to pull my family in close, and never ever let go.

Late last night we got another call that has weighed heavy on my heart all day. When we moved here, we had a couple of families that really opened their arms to us and helped us and loved us instantly. One of those families happens to live just up the road, and has continued to be great friends to us. They have two little girls, who Abigail adores, and a baby boy. Kajsa has been a great friend to me from the first time I met her, often taking Abigail when I had doctor's appointments, or when I had a new baby. She has showed up here multiple times to take Abigail off of my hands when Ellie was sick, or she knew I needed a break. She has brought gifts and meals. They are a wonderful family. Yesterday they found out that their oldest, 5 year old Jaylie, has a tumor on her brain. They have been in the hospital since then. She will have surgery tomorrow and hopefully the doctors will be able to remove the entire tumor. My heart breaks for this sweet family and this trial they are facing. Please pray for them. Fast for them. Wish on a star, cross your fingers, whatever it is you do.

I haven't been able to stop hugging and kissing on my girls all day long.

I can count my blessings... Or I can just go love on them.