Singing to Jesus

One of the most beautiful sounds in the whole world is hearing our little girl sing to Jesus. I made sure she didn't see us capturing the video because when she sings along to her worship CD it's so genuine and I don't ever want her to feel like it's a performance.

When we are in the car, she tells me to stop talking or to turn up the music because it's "too hard to hear Jesus". When we are at the end of our car rides, she asks us not to go home yet because she wants to sing more Jesus songs.

So we hid the camera and took a video to put on the blog because this is our family scrapbook and I never want to forget the sweetness of these moments.

26 weeks

26 weeks!

Delicious

Abby's new favorite exclamation is every kitchen loving mommy's dream. After everything she eats (and enjoys), she dramatically says, "Mmmmmmmmm! It's Deeessicioussss!" It never gets old and makes us smile each time. Especially since she says it like she means it every chance she gets.

This could be one of the reasons Abby's new favorite book is Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann.

We borrowed it from the library last Tuesday and by Wednesday morning, we had already read it six times and baked a batch of cupcakes.

Now, we are less than one week in and Abby has almost the whole book memorized. It's really a cute story. I'm not going to lie, Abby and I are smitten with all the pink covering each page. I can tell by the look on Abby's face that "Pinkalicious" is a really fun word to say. Almost as fun as "Deeeessiciousss".

I knew that this was a popular kid's book, but I didn't realize just how popular until I typed Pinkalicious into Google. There are lots of books, board games, video games, stickers,  party favors and a children's recliner. The phenomenon even has it's own website: http://thinkpinkalicious.com/kids AND....wait for it....there is a Pinkalicious musical. Wow!

Looks like this one is going on the need to own list. At this rate, she's not going to let me return it to the library!

Warning!

I overheard Abby and Joe in the kitchen tonight while they were making dinner together.

Joe: Abby do not touch the waffle iron. It's hot. It will hurt you. If you do, we will have to go to the hospital.

Abby (contemplating): Will I get to see my baby sister?  

love. love. love.

 Here's a picture from Abby and Joe's little impromptu date to Dunkin Donuts yesterday afternoon.  I sent them to the store to pick up a jalapeno for dinner and wondered why it was taking them longer than usual. When they got home, Abby walked in, sunglasses on, and told me all about her "daddy date", green donut and "Dunkin milk" (which I later learned is what Abby named chocolate milk). The smile (and sugar high) stayed with her all the way to bedtime! She has such a great Daddy!

Broken

A few weeks ago, Abby overheard Joe and I talking about brokenness within ourselves and sin. We had no idea how intently she was listening to our conversation while she played with her ABC magnets on the fridge. Abby jumped right into the middle of our conversation. 

Abby: Daddy broken? 
Joe: Yes Abby. Daddy is broken. That's one reason I need Jesus.
Abby:  Mommy broken too? 
Jen: Yes. Mommy is broken too. 
Abby: Need Jesus? 
Jen: Yes! I definitely need Jesus. Jesus fixes our broken hearts. 
Abby: Abby broken? 
Joe: Yes. Abby's broken too. 
Abby: Abby need Jesus? 
Jen: Yes. Abby needs Jesus too. 
Abby: Jesus fix my broken heart. 

That moment was such a precious little gift from God to us and a tangible reminder of childlike faith.

Fast forward a few days. Our car had been in the shop for about a week because of an accident we had been in and Joe had just brought it home. When we got Abby in the car to head to the store, she was a ball of questions.


Abby: Blue car back home? 
Joe: Yes. Our blue car is back home. 
Abby: Still broken? 
Joe: No, it isn't broken anymore. They fixed it. 
Abby: Not broken? Jesus fixed it? 

So sweet. She has been applying and trying to understand the idea of being broken and Jesus fixing things ever since.


Finally, last week I was slowly waking up, when Abby came running over to our radio alarm clock shouting:

Abby: Music, music mommy. 
Me: Not yet, Abby. No music right now. It's too early. 
Abby: Mommy, Jesus music. 
Me: Not yet, Abby. In a little while. 
Abby (with hand over her chest): Mommy, my heart hurts. I need Jesus.  

Done. Music on. Mommy is up and out of bed. Couldn't ask for a better start to the day. 

What's happening lately?

With the beautiful (and unseasonal) spring weather we've been blessed with in the middle of March, we've been so busy I've nearly forgotten to take out my camera. We've spent lots of time being in the moment and soaking up life. Here's a glimpse at some of the latest happenings around here.

We have become VERY aware recently that Abby studies our every moves. What a humbling thing to have your little toddler mirror YOU (and all your words, attitudes and actions). I'm reminded in a new way what a wonderful (and large) responsibility it is to shape our little girl for Jesus. I'm thankful.

One of my favorite things to see is Abby being a "mommy" to her babies. The other day, Abby had gone into my room, taken the monitor and my book off the nightstand, put the baby into her crib for bed and turned the noise machine on. When I walked around the corner, Abby was walking out of her bedroom, closing the door behind her and setting up in the hallway. Monitor ready. Book in hand. I've been doing that on the nights when Abby is really struggling to fall back to sleep because of her molars trying to pop through. When I walked around the corner, Abby quickly "shushed" me and told me the baby was sleeping.  I snuck into my room to peek around the corner and watch Abby as she flipped through my book and continually checked the monitor!

little mommy

Our friend Zakiya came to visit. We loved having her here and were so thankful she made the trip up from NYC for the day. It took a whole lot to convince Abby that Zakiya couldn't stay in Abby's room the whole time playing. Abby just didn't want to let her go. I mean who would...Abby got lessons on boys, economics, fashion and self defense within the first hour!

fellow bookworms

After Abby's nap, we went with Zakiya to TCBY for some dessert. I decided I would just share an ice cream with Abby. Note to self: If you want any ice cream, it's time to get your own. Abby is very capable of enjoying a whole cup all by herself!

 Thanks for coming! Now it's our turn to visit you....CA maybe? :)

What a treat!

Abby has been loving her rainboots.  Fully clothed....or not!

Abby called me into the kitchen to show me her words. 

 Abby (while pointing to the blue letters) : Mommy, I spelled Daddy! 

Yay Abby! :) 

toppled over right out of her toybox and she thought it was hysterical

 

 We've loved spending so much time outside. Yesterday we were outside for three hours straight and I wore out way before Abby. The sun is so refreshing. We took lots of walks with her baby, had a picnic in the front yard and played in the backyard for a while. To sweeten the deal even further, we got to eat dinner outside when Daddy came home.

 We've spent lots of mornings, afternoons and evenings with our neighbors. Playing, bbqing, walking and watching the kids soak each other in the hose. It's so much fun to have friends right down the street.

Abby and Isaiah playing in the water

I'll leave you with a little song to start your day.

I'

Faces

If you were a fly on the wall of our home, it wouldn't take you long to realize we like to keep things interesting around here and that we're all really expressive! ;) Making faces and laughing until our stomachs hurt is on our list of unofficial favorite pastimes. Abby wins the funny face all star award, hands down!

Warming up. Notice Abby checking me out to make sure I'm doing it right.

Make a goofy face.

Now...shake your dino tail and make a funny face. 

Proof that we look alike, perhaps? At least we know whose weird facial expressions she has!

Make your sour pickle face.

Just for the record, Abby taught me all of these!