And a One-a and a Two-a and a Three-a

Okay, after causing much confusion to my devoted readers, I must clarify and say that these are NOT the same baby. There are three different girls here!

Yakity Yak

Monday was Josie's actual birthday. Here we have the rundown of what happened:
She fell down, skinned her left knee. Fell down again, skinned her right knee. She was minding her own business next to the stairs and got stung by a bee on her hand. (When she was crying and showing me her swollen little hand, I asked her if she knew what happened to bees after they sting you. She snubbed, "N-n-no." I said, "They die!" She perked right up and laughed an evil laugh... "Heh-heh-heh-heh!" To top off the day, at supper, she fell down the stairs. When Jesse tried to stop her rapid descent with his foot (which was the closest part of him to her) he kicked her in the face. Sheesh. I am hoping that this does not foretell what the rest of her third year will be like.

Adelaide has a funny, funny cry. She says, "Gi! Gi! Gi!" (this rhymes with knee); she also says, "Weh. Weh. Weh." Just like you'd say it if you were pretending to be a crying baby. She also always has to be doing something with her left arm: raising it above her head, waving it around, making punching motions with it (she already tried to pop Jesse in the face), holding it over her ear, and sucking on her fist. I think it must've been her favorite when she was in the womb... she can't get enough of it. She spoke her first word with some vehemence, then looked mighty proud of herself. The word? "Yak." Fitting, considering that's what her two sisters do all day long. Yak, yak, yak.

Sadie thoroughly enjoyed herself at Bible School... she made some new friends, showed off her new swimming skills, rode the golf cart, ate popsicles to her heart's content, and was allowed to indulge herself in her favorite pastime (which I cannot stand!). No, it's not picking her nose, or doing anything really bad or yucky... It's... it's... Argh. I can't even stand it. It's collecting millions of little bitty things and putting them all together in one place. Doesn't matter what it is! Beads, silk flowers, jewelry, blocks, fake diamonds, a comb, a tea strainer, a golf ball... the list goes on and on. No matter what she has, if you can put something INTO it, she has a compulsion to FILL IT UP. MUST NOT STOP UNTIL IT IS FILLED UP. Me, being the obsessive sorting out type, finds this behavior to be like nails on a blackboard! I know it's probably just a phase and maybe I'll miss it when she grows out of it, but let me tell you: It is HARD for me to sit by and watch it happen without snatching her purse (bucket, pillowcase, cup, hat, shoe, whatever) and sorting it back out!

The girls made us so proud at the Children's "Sounds of the Kingdom" program... they actually got up on stage and sang "In the Highways, In the Hedges." Even though they wouldn't let me move off the stage and I had to sing with them, they still did it! Josie grabbed the microphone and hogged it the whole time, and Sadie fidgeted quite a bit, but THEY DID IT! In front of 200 people! That's my girl(s)!

Jumpy Party

After much anticipation, Josie's "JUMPY PARTY at the JUMPY PLACE!" was a resounding success. She wore her birthday girl shirt and tiara ALL day long, even to the grocery store to pick up the cake. Then, great happiness of happinesses, they got to skip naps! Then, off to the jumpy place we went to meet all kinds of friends and practically the entire Ohio family (the NC family has another party scheduled for the week we are down there). There was stuffed-animal making (Josie got a giraffe, Sadie got a pink poodle), sliding, jumping, and bouncing around to their hearts' content, then there was pizza, cake, ice cream, and fabulous presents - opened from the birthday girl chair. I can't believe she's already three! I told her, "Now you are 3 whole years old!" She said, "Now I am old... like Grammie!"

Sharks and Middles

Sadie finished her swimming lessons last week... she knows how to float on her back now, and she can put her whole head under water. Josie is trying as hard as she can to keep up, so hopefully they'll both be swimmers in the next year or so. She was so proud when she finished playing "Sharks and Minnows" (she thought it was Sharks and Middles) and got her certificate of completion and her popsicle!

We went over to Grandpa and Grandma's the other night and stayed very late... until the lightning bugs came out. The girls had a blast TRYING to catch them and since Grandma was housing some teenagers from church camp, they had some help. They thought it was so cool to have glowing bugs in their hands and in their jars! It was such a nice summer night... they had on their pj's and were catching lightning bugs with no shoes on! What says summer better than that?

Special Delivery

Last night when we were praying (saying the Lord's Prayer), Sadie said, "Mommy, does God deliver us GOOD? Like in an envelope? Like the mailman? He delivers evil from us and good to us?"

Today, Josie was "nudie-butt" in the pool yet again... after a rousing rendition of "I Skinny-dippin! I Skinny-dippin!" she proceeded with this fine little ditty: "Row, Row, Row this boat, jinly down a stweam, Mary Mewilly Mary Mewilly, like a bus a gween."

Don't fret None

Last Sunday we had a cookout at Beth and Roy's house with some friends that were visiting from England (they have a little girl, Leah, who is 2 1/2). Sadie and Josie were so sweet to her, including her in everything, and calling her "our new friend." Leah is so cute, and her little English accent cracks me up: "Mummy, may I have some more potatoes?" And "I have to go wee-wee." Speaking of wee-wee, while we were there, Josie went to the potty and no one knew it. We were all talking and laughing and then when there was finally a break in the conversation, we all heard this little voice (which had obviously been calling for a LONG time from the direction of the potty): "Mommy!!! Daddy!!! ANYBODY!!!"

The way the girls' minds work never stops making me think. For instance, Sadie keeps saying that her "foot is dizzy." I couldn't figure it out until she said that it felt like it was spinning around and she kept it in one place for too long. So, foot asleep = foot dizzy. Josie, on the other hand, keeps saying, "Mommy, I am sleepy of this." That one was easier to figure out: sleepy of this = tired of this. I think it's so interesting how their brains grow and develop and figure things out.

Adelaide went for her one month check-up on Thursday... she's gained 2 pounds and has grown an 1 3/4 inches! When they weighed her on the scale, she squirmed around like crazy and just about turned over all by herself! The nurse called the other nurses over and said, "Look at this! Look how strong she is!" She did really well with the doctor, and cooed at him and she didn't even cry when he was looking in her ears. I was impressed. She's a sweetie. She's starting to smile a lot more, and she definitely knows when I am around. I love it. Looking at her makes me happy and sad at the same time... happy because I have her and she's so sweet and cute and wonderful and a world of possibilities all rolled up together; sad because I know this is probably the last time for me to be the mommy of a newborn. But I must enjoy it to the fullest extent! I must not fret! Here is her latest picture, complete with a milk goatee!

Bliss

Every once in a while, you experience a moment of sheer bliss. These don't happen very often... I can count on one hand the times I've had in my life that would fall into this category; today I had one of them. Usually you don't notice it until later... today, for instance, I didn't really realize it until I had 30 seconds of peace and quiet (very rare around here) for reflection:

I was sitting in our yard, watching the sun go down... it was warm, there was a nice breeze, I was nursing my baby and she was looking up at me, Josie had stripped off all of her clothes and was sliding buck-naked into her swimming pool, Sadie was wearing her favorite dress, bicycle helmet, and elbow and knee pads and was riding around on her bike, and Jesse was working on something with a screwdriver inside the garage. It. Was. A. Perfect. Moment.

Suddenly, it hit me: The only things that matter in my life, that REALLY MATTER, were right there in front of me at that very moment. Could anything be more perfect than that?