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November 12, 2012

Hi baby girl,

We have had a great few months. You are seriously the funniest little 2 year old girl I have had the privilege of knowing up to this point of my life. You have a vocabulary bigger than most 5 year olds and your comprehension is far above your age level. You never cease to amaze me Little B…

Most recent sayings “I don’t believe you”… “Ok, here’s the deal!”, “what are you talking about mom?” “I don’t want it to be dareyk” “I not can do it” these are the ones coming to mind at the moment…  and in all of these fabulous statements that come out of your mouth numerous times a day, you have developed a raspy little voice… I don’t know if its because you talk to much and your actual vocal chords are damaged… and if that’s the case their is no recovery for your voice because you are not slowing down with your word quota per day! I just LOVE hearing you talk with that raspy voice!!! I had to post a variety of photos from the past month or so. You are precious, joyful, funny, bossy, and passionate.

You need me to start preschool with you, but I am not ready or capable of juggling that with everything else I am doing but I am pretty sure you would be a reader by 3 1/2 if I had the time to work with you! So I love you and I appreciate your snuggles. You are once again going to be a big sister and with that comes a tired mama in the afternoon, so you have been so good to me by taking very snugly naps.  thank you.

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September 17, 2012
My Betsy, You have struggled lately with moments of rage particularly towards your little sister. You do it around the corner when no body is watching but that’s when your big sister does it to you… So it’s not surprising… I try to teach you in that moment to choose kindness or just walk away until your heart can change. Today however you decided to push Willow down the stairs, thankfully she was only a 3rd of the way up & thankfully all I had to deal with was a lot of blood… no broken bones, stitches or cracked teeth. Dad & I learned early on that spanking you was not the best form of discipline for you specifically. It’s not like you don’t ever get them but timeout & stern looks with a deep no, usually is enough to make you melt & move you towards a repentant heart. I chose to spank you today, I waited until the storm of crying baby & bleeding mouth had passed & I held you & in your super natural comprehension as a 2 year old I shared with why I was gonna spank you… Its so endearing that a tiny swat to you seems like a lasing… But then I prayed with you, rocking you & we together asked Jesus to remove that anger, & rage from your heart. You got down & went to Willow immediately & told her you were sorry. I see your greatness Betsy, even in your moments of sin I see the goodness that is so deeply rooted in your heart. It’s such an honor that I get to be apart of training Betsy to become the incredible Girl God made you to be! I love you.

My Betsy,

You have struggled lately with moments of rage particularly towards your little sister. You do it around the corner when no body is watching but that’s when your big sister does it to you… So it’s not surprising… I try to teach you in that moment to choose kindness or just walk away until your heart can change.

Today however you decided to push Willow down the stairs, thankfully she was only a 3rd of the way up & thankfully all I had to deal with was a lot of blood… no broken bones, stitches or cracked teeth.

Dad & I learned early on that spanking you was not the best form of discipline for you specifically. It’s not like you don’t ever get them but timeout & stern looks with a deep no, usually is enough to make you melt & move you towards a repentant heart.

I chose to spank you today, I waited until the storm of crying baby & bleeding mouth had passed & I held you & in your super natural comprehension as a 2 year old I shared with why I was gonna spank you… Its so endearing that a tiny swat to you seems like a lasing… But then I prayed with you, rocking you & we together asked Jesus to remove that anger, & rage from your heart. You got down & went to Willow immediately & told her you were sorry.

I see your greatness Betsy, even in your moments of sin I see the goodness that is so deeply rooted in your heart. It’s such an honor that I get to be apart of training Betsy to become the incredible Girl God made you to be! I love you.

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August 14, 2012
First time seeing the “unsalted ocean” aka Lake Michigan. You were slightly afraid of the sand, very concerned about the creeping water & frightened by the seagulls.

First time seeing the “unsalted ocean” aka Lake Michigan. You were slightly afraid of the sand, very concerned about the creeping water & frightened by the seagulls.

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July 10, 2012

yikes. you’ve been threw so many changes and hit so many milestones since the last time I posted. I have been meaning to get on here and spend time sharing things with you but life has been winning in the time department. I want to sit and rewind over the past four months, but then I also just want to camp out on this day. Today it’s July 9th, 2012. You are beaming with joy most days, you have difficulties dealing with the “strong” gift that God gave you but me & daddy are committed to teaching you how to use it to the best of your abilities. It’s just sometimes hard when your two years old. 

We woke up this morning and just knowing that you are the girly that starts out the week, I usually stir before you & your sibs and I get so excited to see your arrival in our room in the morning, you normally come in beaming with happiness and you ask some silly question that usually has the word’s I want “unch” attached to the end of whatever thing you are saying. “Unch” is always corrected with “you want breakfast?” “Yeah, I want breffest”… with a scrunched up face for being annoyed that I can still grammatically correct you at the ripe age of two. 

Well today we went swimming with our Hansen cousins. They have been visiting from Texas since earlier this summer and this is the last official week they are staying in Illinois. So swimming is our agenda this week. At this point in your 2 year old journey you are NOT a fan of swimming. You walk around and let the water touch your feet but good ol’ swimming is not your idea of fun. 

But my goodness you rock an old hollywood swim cap like nobody’s business! I mean look at your cuteness! So you & your sister’s are growing daily in relationship. You most favorite person/place is still my womb, but your warming up to the idea of having some life long cackle mates. You & Willow do laughing very well, even if it is to one up each other to see who can get more attention from mom & dad! 

You & Paisley are a daily work in progress, thank Goodness God is so faithful to hear our prayers and He is working out the depth of your love for one another. You loved both of them a lot today. 

Thanks Betsy, you blessed my day today. I love you.

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February 20, 2012
BIG GIRL! 23 months old today! We’ve talking about going pee pee on the potty for 4 months now! But MY goodness you were scared of the toilet! Sheer screaming like it was torture for you! I didn’t give up, I just prayed through & my prayer was that God would replace your fear with peace! You were SO gripped with it. I could see it in your eyes. So for 2 months now we have faithfully asked the Lord to help us. I wasn’t asking for you to supernaturally be potty trained, I just asked the Lord “ONE TIME”… Give us one success with peace in your heart & not fear, & baby girl today could not have been any better!!

BIG GIRL! 23 months old today! We’ve talking about going pee pee on the potty for 4 months now! But MY goodness you were scared of the toilet! Sheer screaming like it was torture for you! I didn’t give up, I just prayed through & my prayer was that God would replace your fear with peace! You were SO gripped with it. I could see it in your eyes. So for 2 months now we have faithfully asked the Lord to help us. I wasn’t asking for you to supernaturally be potty trained, I just asked the Lord “ONE TIME”… Give us one success with peace in your heart & not fear, & baby girl today could not have been any better!!

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February 20, 2012
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February 06, 2012
Happy harper. Myers a great thing you start off the week!

Happy harper. Myers a great thing you start off the week!

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January 26, 2012

more teeth?

I counted your teeth yesterday. You only have 8 on the top and 8 on the bottom, I then counted Charlie’s and he had 10 & 10. THAT MEANS WE HAVE 4 MORE TEETH to get? I felt NO signs of them… which means this could take awhile… but, today, I saw the signs in the form of symptoms: you had a fever, you were drooling like crazy, and you sang to me in the form of a whine all day. Wow. I hope that crazy necklace you wear all the time pulls out its “powers” now, because that’s a lot of work for you.

love you, hope it doesn’t take long, for all parties included. OUR FAMILY.

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January 15, 2012
A glimmer in your eye… First genuine smile I’ve seen in a while. We’ve had a rough few weeks. We took your “fire” away 2 weeks ago… It’s been so difficult for you to adjust. You have grieved the loss of this ever so dear comfort. After an endless night of repeated spankings for screaming in the middle of the night, & climbing out of your bed, I awoke to your pee filled diaper & to my shock & disbelief a bruised of little rear. My heart fell into my stomach & I thought I might vomit. I did that. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t out of control, I was following through with what I committed to… Consequences get disciplined. I could go on & on about parenting philosophies & beliefs, but this is for you my sweet precious toddler that I have held & apologized so much to in the last 24hrs… So what you want to hear is my heart, not my head. I love you, & you got your paci back not because I was weak, but because I needed a lesson in pride. I am sorry that I have this unspoken expectation on you to hurry up & get older. Its like I want to catch up to your siblings & I refrain from wanting Willow moving at all. I was broken on Friday morning, but as I dressed you up in your sparkly play skirt with Paisley I watched you mimic & copy every move she made, & I saw you. I mean I really saw you… You need to me to see you, not see what I’ve done with your 17 mth older brother & sister or your oldest brother. You need me to see what’s best & right for you. Like you are the only one, not one of many. You deserve my best. You deserve to be a toddler. I love you Betsy. I’m sorry I think I have things figured out sometimes. I pray that in your strength you’ll have a desire to walk in humility. Getting a lesson in it from you has been good for my soul. Good night my firegirl.

A glimmer in your eye…

First genuine smile I’ve seen in a while. We’ve had a rough few weeks.

We took your “fire” away 2 weeks ago…
It’s been so difficult for you to adjust. You have grieved the loss of this ever so dear comfort.

After an endless night of repeated spankings for screaming in the middle of the night, & climbing out of your bed,

I awoke to your pee filled diaper & to my shock & disbelief a bruised of little rear. My heart fell into my stomach & I thought I might vomit.

I did that. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t out of control, I was following through with what I committed to… Consequences get disciplined.

I could go on & on about parenting philosophies & beliefs, but this is for you my sweet precious toddler that I have held & apologized so much to in the last 24hrs… So what you want to hear is my heart, not my head.

I love you, & you got your paci back not because I was weak, but because I needed a lesson in pride. I am sorry that I have this unspoken expectation on you to hurry up & get older. Its like I want to catch up to your siblings & I refrain from wanting Willow moving at all.

I was broken on Friday morning, but as I dressed you up in your sparkly play skirt with Paisley I watched you mimic & copy every move she made, & I saw you. I mean I really saw you…

You need to me to see you, not see what I’ve done with your 17 mth older brother & sister or your oldest brother. You need me to see what’s best & right for you. Like you are the only one, not one of many.

You deserve my best. You deserve to be a toddler. I love you Betsy. I’m sorry I think I have things figured out sometimes. I pray that in your strength you’ll have a desire to walk in humility. Getting a lesson in it from you has been good for my soul.
Good night my firegirl.

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January 09, 2012

OH MY GOSH! First of all you are swinging with the most infectious laughter I have heard come from your little person! 

This picture of you in these glasses… I was rolling!! you LOOK LIKE KEENAN, the youtube sensation! You loved trying glasses on, but thank goodness you are not in need of them as of now! Hopefully never!!!

I love you Bets. Happy Monday.

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January 03, 2012
My little happy bean. 24 hrs post pacifier removal. You are strong! Not happy AT ALL when it’s bed/nap time but you eventually sleep. Thanks for giving me this moment of happiness;)

My little happy bean. 24 hrs post pacifier removal. You are strong! Not happy AT ALL when it’s bed/nap time but you eventually sleep. Thanks for giving me this moment of happiness;)

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December 13, 2011
I am posting a day late… It’s Charlie’s day. It’s funny because I was in & out all day yesterday so in reality I didn’t get much one on one time with you on your day. Well you fought for it today whew!!! I think you were either in my arms, on my lap, hugging my knees or trailing behind me crying for at least 90% of this whole day! I was on a mission: 13 rooms in this house need a makeover & I’m not even talking cosmetically I just talking about mess, & junk to be organized or tossed. I got one room done;) I made the choice numerous times today to choose you. In the midst of going thru boxes, sorting, cleaning & organizing I sensed the Lord’s heart for you today was to console you, rock you, sing to you & snuggle. I did those things, I have an even longer list of to do’s for tomorrow because now I’ve got days worth of laundry. Its ok though, You’re worth my time. Love you much much bean.

I am posting a day late… It’s Charlie’s day. It’s funny because I was in & out all day yesterday so in reality I didn’t get much one on one time with you on your day. Well you fought for it today whew!!!

I think you were either in my arms, on my lap, hugging my knees or trailing behind me crying for at least 90% of this whole day! I was on a mission: 13 rooms in this house need a makeover & I’m not even talking cosmetically I just talking about mess, & junk to be organized or tossed. I got one room done;)

I made the choice numerous times today to choose you. In the midst of going thru boxes, sorting, cleaning & organizing I sensed the Lord’s heart for you today was to console you, rock you, sing to you & snuggle. I did those things, I have an even longer list of to do’s for tomorrow because now I’ve got days worth of laundry. Its ok though, You’re worth my time. Love you much much bean.