Little Miss Personality

At 9:30 this morning, I was finally getting myself ready to exercise. I had already told Emma that I would exercise (or "exersaucer" as she calls it) in the living room so that there would be enough room for both of us to do the workout together.

Emma said, "Mommy, I need to go get on my exersaucer clothes. I'll be right back!" And this is what she came back wearing:

No one could ever accuse her of being a tomboy! She brings so much joy to so many days. I love this girl!

July

Hard to believe July is winding down. I guess we've been pretty busy. Dan has gotten into the swing of things at his new job, Emma, Ethan, and I have been going to Summer Dreams (our church's summer camp) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we've been staying busy with family stuff. I think it's just a busy season for us!

And I've finally gotten my act together and started trying to get in better shape. I just reached a point where I was always tired and did not feel good about myself. I've been at it for 8 days now, and so far I've lost four pounds. I also have more energy and a better attitude in general. I know I can stick with it this time!

Emma is excited that she gets to start "school at [her] house after [her] birthday" (she has made this statement to several people now). We'll be doing two days of reading, one day of math, one day of science, and one day of educational games. We're certainly not going to do anything too intense, as she is still young and we're only starting homeschooling this year per her request. (I wanted to wait a year, but when a child says "I really want to have school now" you don't want to squelch that desire to learn!)

Our little Ethan is, of course, into EVERYTHING. It is almost a full-time job keeping up with him. He does stuff at his age that Emma never would have tried. Just this morning, I caught him standing on top of a box trying to pull something off of a shelf. Ha! He is all boy, and I am trying to get used to it. But when he gives me that sweet little grin, I cannot stay mad at him. Yes, I admit it: My little boy can melt my heart in a minute.

Finally, since it wouldn't be a good post without some pictures, here you are. Enjoy!

Celebrating Jehovah Jireh today. Found this little excerpt online (isn't the internet grand sometimes?):

This name means "the God who provides" or "God will see to it". The Hebrew word transliterated jireh is actually a form of the common verb Ra'ah ('to see'). In Genesis 22:7 when Isaac asked Abraham where the lamb was for the burnt offering and Abraham replied, 'God himself will see to it,' he was declaring that God had everything under His control and would provide what was needed at the right time.

He is a God who meets EVERY need at HIS appointed time.

One more thing I was reading last week in my quiet time:

Our Father is not surprised by the events of our life nor is He unaware of our struggles. Each and every one of them must pass through His hands and came to us with His permission. Trust Him. Abandon yourself to Him in childlike faith, knowing that no matter how you feel, no matter what you see - He is in control.

I love the small reminders of who He is in my daily life!

Mars and Venus, Spaghetti and Waffles, and whatever else you want to call it.

Another entire month has gone by since I last blogged. June has been a wonderful month for us. So far we:

1. completed three weeks of Summer Dreams, our summer camp at the Dream Center. The kids and I are having a blast!
2. celebrated our fifth anniversary. I guess I'll eventually get around to posting some pictures of that fun evening on here.
3. had Ethan's nine-month check-up. He's 22 lbs. 10 oz. (75th percentile), 30.25 inches (95th percentile), and is otherwise growing into a healthy little boy.
4. have avoided the beach. Good thing, because it's been really hot.
5. got our budget set for the next three months as we prepare for Dan to transition to a new job. Five weeks of vacation/sick time a year plus a nice raise in pay. We are now preparing to hit our debt square in the gut. Praise God for providing!

But that's not quite the point of this post. I have just been noticing as I watch Ethan and Emma grow...what a HUGE difference between boys and girls. I just thought I'd list a few of those differences here. Some of the differences...

...girls can sit and watch a movie at a fairly young age. Ethan's only relationship with the television is that it's a great big drum on which he can bang his hand.

...girls just casually notice their surroundings, but boys have to explore their surroundings. And everything in their surroundings.

...girls like to be clean. Boys don't, unless it means they're naked in the bath tub splashing the water.

...girls like to see how high they can build their block towers. Boys have to see how quickly they can knock the block tower down.

...girls don't like to admit when they've passed gas. Boys laugh at themselves farting at such an early age. Seriously, he just laughed at himself two days ago after he passed gas.

Just a few things that I've learned. I am all-girl (as is Emma), so I imagine that she and I are in for a lot of learning with her 100% boy little brother.

Still, it's so amazing to me how God wired us so differently from the get-go. Just incredible...

Funny stuff

I used to love the show Kids Say the Darndest Things. Although, I always wondered what the parents thought. Were they embarassed? Proud? Wondering where their children heard the things they were saying?

I think Emma is in that stage now. She says things, and I am not sure if she's repeating something she's heard me say or if she's learning to express her own thoughts more eloquently. Either way, here are a few funny conversations we've had lately.

(While riding in the car to her grandparents' house)
Emma: Why we have to go to Papoo and Gigi's?
Me: We don't have to, but we want to go see our family.
Emma: Oh.

(Five minutes later...)
Emma: Why we have to go to Papoo and Gigi's?
Me: Because we love our family, and we want to spend time with them. Why, do you not want to go?
Emma: No, I wanna go.
Me: Okay.

(Two minutes later...)
Emma: Why we have to go to Papoo and Gigi's?
Me: We just do. Why do you have to ask so many questions?
Emma: (without a second thought) 'Cuz I a kid.

(And on another occasion in our bedroom, when Emma was obviously feeling a little jealous about the attention we were giving her brother)
Me: Emma, are you sad?
Emma: Yeah.
Me: Why? Do you not want a brother anymore?
Emma: No. I not want a brother.
Me: Why not?
Emma: I want a baby sister now.
Me: Oh.
Emma: Can we go get her tomorrow?

Don't you just love the way the three-year-olds look at the world?

Just because I love my husband

Dan asked me to post some pictures to the blog, just for those who don't have Facebook or can't access it on a regular basis. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Emma decided to have a little fashion show in all of her princess costumes...In less than 10 minutes.

Ethan's first dip in the pool. He wasn't sure what to think at first, but eventually he really enjoyed it!

Emma DID NOT care for the pool last year. Of course this year, she was jumping in from the sides and doggie-paddling around the pool. Yay!

I love my babies. So sweet!

I love you, Dan!

Catching up is hard to do

I can't believe we're already more than half-way done with May. 2009 is flying by, and the kids are growing like crazy!

Our little football player Ethan is ON THE MOVE! He's got the army crawl down to a sport, and with our slick, wood floors he is superfast. I was telling someone today that having a little boy as a second child is a huge adjustment. Even as an infant, Emma was fairly content most of the time to sit still and play with her toys. Not Ethan. And for some reason, he is always after the power cords. He's our super-adventurous little man, and I have realized that as much as Emma is all prissy girl, he is rough-and-tumble boy. Just how God designed them to be...

And our sweet little princess is learning and growing so much. She's just gone through a huge growth spurt and put on about three inches. Makes those summer shorts we bought in March a little too short, so we had to get some new ones. She's getting really excited that she gets to have her "own school" at her "own house" starting this fall. I was going to wait another year to start homeschooling, but she really wants to learn about her "A-B-C"s and her "alphabets".

Here are a few pictures of what May has looked like so far for "Team Delaney" (that's what we call our family when we're talking to the kids).

Daddy and Ethan showing off his muscles. Grrrrrrr!

Emma and her pal playing in the inflatable pool. The great part is, we didn't even have to put on sunscreen because they were under the patio!

Hopefully May will bring lots more excitement and we'll be able to post some new pictures soon...