Graduation

Today, I managed to haul the toddler bed up from the basement and into Adelaide's room. I've decided to try putting her in the toddler bed in her room for a while before the baby is born... when that happens, I have to come up with a new plan. We may end up having all three girls upstairs! We'll see how it goes, I guess. Anyway, after I got the bed set up with the sheets on and the pillow (she's never had a pillow before) Adelaide came running in and said, "OH! My bed! My bed! I wuv it, I wuv it, I wuv it, I wuv it! I a big girl!" She was so excited, and it was so cute. She climbed right into bed to try it out during her nap. After she covered up, Sadie and Josie came in and, standing at the foot of the toddler bed with their arms around each other's waists, stood and stared down at her with pride. They said, "Oh, she has graduated! Our little girl has graduated from her crib!" I, however, have mixed feelings about it. I'm proud of her, but she's growing up too fast!

Saying Prayers

Last night Josie slept on the futon in the schoolroom because Sadie wasn't home (she spent the night with Grandpa and Grandma). Before I tucked her in, she got down on her little knees to say her prayers. It was so SWEET. I listened, and she prayed, "God, please help the little baby in Mommy's tummy not to be sick when it comes out. Help it to be okay. Oh, and God? Please help me not to pee in the bed any more, either. Amen."

Birt-Day

Today was my birthday, and we decided to have a picnic lunch under the umbrella outside in the yard. Sadie said the prayer, and it went like this: "Dear God, thank you for this pretty day and for my family and our food and for my Mommy and her birthday, even though she never wants to have a PARTY." (hint, hint, right?). When she finished, she looked over at Josie and said, "Okay, Jose...get ready. And a one-uh and a two-uh and a three-uh..." and they both started singing happy birthday to me while Adelaide echoed in in the background, "Birt-day, MOMMY! Hap birt-day to Mommy!" It was GREAT.

Sharing

While Josie had fun over at my mom's house, having "special Grammie time," eating tons of junk food, watching cartoons, playing dress-up, coloring, and swinging outside, Sadie rode along with Jesse and I while we delivered food with Grandpa Roy in the inner city. Our church collected a lot of groceries over the past month and last week Josie and I sorted everything out into separate bags (we couldn't give one family a case of chicken soup and nothing else!). Today, I was so proud of Sadie and she went with her daddy, talking to these people and giving them stuff that they needed and really appreciated. She even gave away an extra little bike that we'd had in the garage, and we know some little kid is going to be very happy with it! She also handed everyone a business card from our church so they'd know where the food was coming from, and WHY we were doing this... I know this is something that will make an impression on her and that she will remember for years to come.

Hey Gwammie, it's me. Adewaide.

A few weeks ago, my mom called our house. When I saw that it was her number on the caller ID, I let Adelaide answer the phone. For some reason, she decided to answer in a little raspy deep voice: "Hey. Gwammie. It's me. Adewaide." We have laughed over this for weeks now! My mom said she almost hung up because she thought she had called some weirdo accidentally!

This morning, I took dictation as Adelaide had yet another conversation on the phone that went like this: "Hey Gwammie. Where's Josie-bean? Oh. Uh-huh. Me. Okay. Uh-huh and me. Why? Dis Adewaide. And Mommy. Mommy's stays at home. Uh-huh. You-you-you got cheese? Buttered toast? Oh. Wuv you bye."

I don't think I can grow one of those...

While at Teagan's birthday party today, Sarah asked Adelaide if she wanted a little brother or a little sister. Adelaide replied, "I want twain set."

Traipse and Tail

While riverwalking and exploring in the woods with Grandma Beth this year, Sadie continued her self-narrative with "She traipses through the underbrush!" Grandma was mainly impressed with the term "traipses."

Josie taught me a song yesterday that she can't get out of her head. She learned it at Bible School and sang it in the Jonah play. In her mind, it goes like this:

Who is this man
Slowed up and who nowhere
His clothes is worn to tatter
And seaweed in his hand
A fish is swimming nearer
and his face is bleach unpale
Who is this man
And what can be his tail?

When we got home, I looked at the handout she'd gotten in class and found the actual words. She was pretty close, but we did have a rather fruitful talk about the difference between 'tail' and 'tale!'

Who is this man
Showed up from who knows where
His clothes are worn to tatters
With seaweed in his hair
A fishy smell still clings to him
and his face is bleached and pale
Who is this man
And what could be his tale?

Sadie, however, being her father's daughter, changed the ending lines to these:

Who is this man...
AND WHY DOES HE HAVE A TAIL!?

Grandpa's in the Slammer

While in the car on the highway today, a police car passed us in the left lane. I noticed that there was a guy in the backseat, so I told the girls that he must've broken a rule and that he was probably on the way to jail. Sadie said, "Can you get up there next to him? Can you see the guy? What did he look like?" I asked her why she was so interested. She sighed and said, "Well, I just hope it's not Grandpa. He steals my food, you know. He might've stolen something else."

I do it!

Adelaide has all of us talking like her now. For instance, Jesse and I now constantly say "I WIIILLLLLLLL!" and at dinner when she says, "No like it steak," Sadie will say, "Well, I like it steak!"

Other "its" that she likes to say:
Wash it hands
Brush it teeth
Comb it hair
Bonk it head
I do it. IIIIIIII DOOOOO IIIIITTTT!

And thanks to Aunt Sarah, instead of "kissing it" when she sees a boo-boo on someone, she now pokes out her little finger and runs up and says, "Push it!"

When she saw a rooster in her farmyard puzzle, I asked her what it was. I said, "It's a boy one, not a girl." She thought for a minute, then said, "It's a duck-ter!"

Kalahari, here we come!

Much to Josie's joy and excitement, we finally made to the land of enchantment, aka Kalahari Waterpark, for her birthday. We ended up going straight there after Bible School, and Grandma Beth met us there for a day, a night, and another day of splashy good fun. Adelaide was very impressed with the outdoor landscaping; she kept saying, "Look! A waterfault! A waterfault!" After a fun afternoon of water-play, most of us crashed in the blissfully cold hotel room for a nap. When I say most of us, I mean ALL of us except Sadie and Josie, who were just too excited to sleep. I finally got up and the three of us snuck out of the room at 7:30 for some fun. We ended up staying out until after 10:00pm, playing in the indoor playground, exploring, eating really yummy cheese fries, and watching people on the super-high zip line shoot across the sky. My favorite memory is sitting in the outdoor patio, surrounded by other guests, when "That's the way, uh-huh uh-huh I like it," came on the DJs loudspeakers. Josie (shortly thereafter followed by Sadie) got up and began to SHAKE IT in front of everyone. The whole place was cracking up and it was SO much fun to watch my two little goofy show-offs having a great time.

The next day we all had fun in the lazy river, the kiddie pools (once Adelaide got the hang of the baby slides, there was no getting her off of them... "Again! Again!"). Sadie and Josie had a blast on all the waterslides, with their favorite one being the 'scary boat ride' that Grandma did not like! It was a great time, and we were very blessed to be able to go and have super family time with Grandma Beth. :)

Who did Who did Who did Who did

So last week, Jesse the Wonderdad took Sadie and Josie and went BY HIMSELF to our church's big Bible School downstate for the week. Adelaide and I ended up joining them 3 days later, but apparently, he was like Super Dad the whole time we weren't there. I had at least 5 different people tell me what a great job he did with them, not including those two - they told me he spoiled them like crazy and let them drink pop once a day AND eat ice cream sandwiches!

Adelaide, my mom, and I went on Wednesday for my "big ultrasound." The good news is, everything looks great as far as the baby being healthy... the heart, the brain, the lungs, the kidneys, etc. were all in perfect shape. The not so good news is that the baby was keeping its little legs crossed and we could not tell for sure if it's a boy (as the doctor THINKS it is according to my 18 week ultrasound) or a girl. I was disappointed because I really wanted to firm things up and get psyched up for whatever he or she is! Plus there's always The Great Name Debate to contend with. Anyway, after the ultrasound, Adelaide and I rode to Bible School (about a 3 hour trip) with a couple from our church and their teenage son, whom Adelaide dubbed "The Kid" and/or "Children" (his name is "Chandler"). She proceeded to talk NON-STOP for the ENTIRE trip. I am not kidding. I never really notice just how MUCH she talks until I'm with people that aren't around her that much... then I kind of "hear her through their ears." Sheesh. The kid was unstoppable. They especially enjoyed her weird growling voice and when she said, "I will eat you!" to Chandler. She is such a goof.

We had fun at Bible School, once we FINALLY got there. I was happy that pretty much everything we had to eat looked good to me (I was afraid I might starve to death there, what with no slushies and all :). The girls made lots of new friends, including some "big kids," which is what they call teenagers. They were especially enamored of Sean, Emily, Chloe, and Conner. They both also really liked a little girl named Erin (from Georgia, I think), and they thoroughly enjoyed their classes about prophets. Sadie made a little Jonah doll that is so cute, and Adelaide and Josie made tons of crafts in their classes... Josie volunteered to stay and help Adelaide so she "wouldn't be scared." Jesse took them swimming 3 or 4 times, and both Sadie AND Josie WENT OFF THE HIGH DIVE. This was very scary for old mommmy here, but they did it like it was nothing!

The week ended with a great presentation of a Jonah musical play and all three girls dressed up like tiny little Ninevites and sang, "Who did, who did, who did, who did, who did swallow Jo Jo Jo Jo...." Now the song is stuck in all of our heads!