The Sweetest 'First'

As a Mom you always enjoy all the 'firsts' your children will do and say as they grow. But there is always one that will be forever etched into a Mother's heart and mind... The first 'I LOVE YOU'.

It happened today with my sweet girl. I was buckling her into her car seat after dropping Micah off at music camp, and Amanda reach her arms out and said, "I love you Mom." Ahh... those four words completely melted my heart, and yes I did get a little teary. But what brought me to tears is when I turned on the car the song playing on the radio was, When Love Takes You In, by Steven Curtis Chapman. Coincidence? I think not. I believe it was a 'love note' from my Abba Father... Saying YOU and SHE are LOVED! :)

Summer Lovin'

It's certainly been a while since the last time I've written anything on my blog. We sure have been busy bees the past couple of months. Here's the readers digest version of what we've been up to.

~ Micah tried out for a select soccer league and he's now a member of the Crossfire Soccer Club. We love his new team and the coaches. We're looking forward to the season starting with a 3-day Labor Day tournament.

~ Micah is now an official 5th grader! Hard to believe this will be his last year in elementary school.

~ Amanda is fully potty trained!!! WOO-HOO!

~ Amanda's speech is improving more and more each day. She's building her vocabulary and is beginning to express her wants, needs and thoughts more independently... without prompting from us, or just parroting what we say.

~ We took an eleven day vacation to Williamsburg, VA and Washington DC. We had a blast! Micah is our little history buff so he enjoyed touring all the historical sites, museums and monuments. We also went to Virgina Beach for a day (felt sooooo good swim in the ocean and feel the sand in between my toes) and spent a day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg! Tons of fun!

~ Soowan is enjoying his new job and received a promotion last month! He is now regional sales director over the Houston, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle offices. This new position does require some additional travel, but the plus side is that myself and the kids are traveling with him on all the trips he will be taking this summer!

I think that covers it!!! There is still so much more of summer to enjoy, but it always seems to go by too fast. I received an email today from Micah's school this morning with the '09-'10 calendar and a request form for which elective he would like to take. CRAZY! Plus Target already has all their back-to-school junk out. BOO... HISS! I so don't want to think about school starting back up a month and a half from now.

Still so much for us to enjoy!!! Here's a run down of what we have planned...

~ We're having a HUGE block party for the 4th of July! Bounce houses, water slides, snow cone machine, good Texas BBQ and a round of water balloon baseball are all on the agenda! I love our new neighborhood (or should I say street)!!!

~ Micah has a music camp and VBS to look forward to. He will also be flying out to CA (by himself) to spend a week with his best bud Zachary in August.

~ A couple of 2-3 day trips to Dallas, San Antonio and Galveston!

~ Our 12 year wedding anniversary!!!

... and several birthday parties, bbq's and dinners with new friends we are meeting here in Austin. God is so good!

OK... I know I said I didn't want to talk about school starting, but I wanted to share that we found the PERFECT preschool for Amanda!!! She will be going 2 days a week starting after Labor Day! YEAH!

My Baby, Isn't A Baby Anymore

Yesterday, Amanda got a big girl's hair cut. She looks so cute! Doesn't she look so much older... Like a BIG GIRL? Whahhhh!!! My baby girl is growing up way too fast!!!

This afternoon, Amanda decided now that she's sporting a new Big Girl's hair style, she needed to play the role of a Big Girl in a broader fashion. To debut her newly founded independence, Amanda chose to climb out of her crib after she was done with her nap. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Not only does this mean naps are pretty much thrown out the window... It also means we had to take down her crib this evening. :( My baby, isn't a baby anymore.

After dinner we went out a bought Amanda a toddler bed. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm one of those nervous Nellie's who is scared to put my VERY petite, 24 pound toddler in a big twin size bed that is way too high off the ground for my comfort level. We purchased a simple, white metal toddler bed frame that is a VERY safe distance off the floor... Without Mommy having an anxiety attack at night, thinking she'll fall out of bed... bonk herself unconscious, and we won't know it until the morning! Yes! I am that much of a nervous Nelly!

Now back to Amanda's new bed. We played up the whole 'Big Girls bed' all night long. She anxiously watched her Daddy put her new bed together! It was so cute. Once it was put together we got her favorite blankies and babies all situated and she was ready for her first night in her new bed!







Now you're probably wondering 'how are things going?' So far, so GOOD! We put her down, said our prayers, exchanged lots of hugs and kisses... and I haven't heard a 'peep' from her. YAY! WOO-HOO!!! That was over an hour ago, and we only have 9-10 more hours to go! Hopefully she will stay in her new bed until morning!

My Little Donkey Whisperer

On Monday Amanda and I went to Crow's Nest Farm in Manor, TX for her speech therapy session. That's right... Speech therapy at a farm! How fun is that?!?! Crow's Nest Farm is the cutest, most educational farm I have ever been to. We went on a tractor ride, saw a cow milking demonstration, learned a bit about agriculture and took a walking tour of the farm.

Tinaya, Amanda's speech therapist thought it would be fun to take a little field trip to see if we could get Amanda talking... or at least get her to talk to the animals. At first Amanda didn't say much at all. She gestured and pointed at the animals a lot, and blurted out many "ooh's and aah's". She also preferred to make the animal sounds than say which animal it was... UNTIL we she met a Daisy. Daisy the Donkey!

No joke! Amanda fell in love with this donkey at first sight! Daisy was trying really hard to reach for some grass outside of her enclosure and Amanda noticed this. She then pulled up some grass out of the ground and began feeding this donkey! At first I freaked out a bit, thinking the donkey might bite her! But Daisy was sweet as could be and gently took the grass from Amanda's closed fist. We stood there (in the blazing, hot and humid sun) for over a half an hour, while Amanda fed Daisy. It was so cute! Amanda 'talked' to Daisy the whole time too. It was hilarious! It took a lot of convincing, but we finally got Amanda to say "bye-bye" to Daisy and we went on to see the rest of the animals. She didn't take much interest in the rest of the farm animals after meeting Daisy, but when it was time to go she did turned back and said, "bye-bye Donkey". So cute!

WARRIORS!

A few weeks ago we headed up to Dallas for a quick visit. I had plans to meet some friends for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, while Soowan, Micah and a couple of his buddies were going to go to Dave & Busters next door to play. We arrived at the mall early to do a little shopping, and while browsing around I made an awesome discovery! Micah's favorite author of the children's book series 'Warriors' and 'Seekers', Erin Hunter was doing a book reading & signing at the Barnes and Nobles at the mall! Micah LOVES these book and has read almost all of them! I couldn't wait to tell Micah... and when I did he was bouncing off the walls!

At the time of this great discovery it was a little before Noon, and Erin Hunter was to begin her book reading/signing around 2 o'clock. The was already a heap of people in the bookstore waiting to see her as well. Micah wanted to forgo Dave & Busters so he could meet his favorite author. At first we thought we were in a bit of a pickle because we already committed to Micah's friends to go to D&B for the afternoon. We were not too sure they would want to sit around in Barnes & Nobles for hours over playing video games at D&B. To our surprise when Micah's friends arrived, they too wanted to skip D&B and see Erin Hunter as well! Apparently they LOVE Erin Hunter's books too!



The boys ran into the bookstore, got their wristbands and each purchased a book to get signed. They waited almost 2 hours for Erin Hunter to arrive and stayed perfectly quiet while she read a chapter from her new book. After the reading, these 3 boys gleefully waited ANOTHER 2 hours to get their books signed. They did this with no complaining and COMPLETELY WILLINGLY! We were all blown away by their patience and ENTHUSIASM to me an AUTHOR! I know when I was 10 years old, I could care less about meeting an author, let alone reading for fun! But then, I've never been a big book person.

After 4+ hours of waiting the boys finally got to the head of the line and had their books signed. It was worth every minute of waiting to see the expression on their faces when it was their turn to meet Erin Hunter. PRICELESS!!!

Amanda's First Gymnastics Class

Yesterday was Amanda's first gymnastics class. It went pretty well, but she did become a bit antsy the last 20 minutes of the 50 minute class. Amanda did such a good job, and waited in line so patiently!!! Something her big bro was never good at at her age. Amanda is the youngest and tiniest one in the group. Most of the kiddos are 3 or 4years old. The class is designed for 2-4 years old. Everything went well enough, that I decided to enroll her into the program. YEAH!

Amanda was soooo excited to 'tell' Soowan and brother all about her gymnastics class yesterday. When she tries to say 'gymnastics' it sounds more like she's saying 'nasty'. So you can imagine the belly laughs we belted out when she was jumping up and down in excitement yelling, "Nasty... Nasty... Nasty!"

Easter Pics!

Better late than never... Right! ;0)

8 THINGS

I was tagged to do this '8 Things' list by Jeana... THANKS! I think. :0)

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Seeing my sister and brother-in-law in June!!! I need my sister sooooo badly right now, it hurts.

2. The vacation we're taking in November. I'm not stating the location because Micah doesn't know where we are going yet. We are planning on letting him know on his birthday... Four days before we leave! I'm worried someone might accidentally mention where we are going and spoil the surprise! So my lips are sealed.

3. I'm looking forward to seeing most of my Dallas friends this weekend! I'M SOOOOO EXCITED FOR OUR LADIES NIGHT OUT!!!

4. To meet new people in my neighborhood and community.

5. To develop a more missional mindset.

6. Amanda's progression in her speech, so myself and others can understand her better.

7. Amanda being fully potty trained. She's in panties at home and has had no accidents in over a week! We're still using pull-ups while we're out and about though.

8. Micah being home for the summer! Only 6 weeks of school left!


8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Took Amanda to her first gymnastics class.

2. Talked with several people on the phone asking them what they are looking for in a church and what community groups/activities they would be interested in attending.

3. Had a funny conversation with my 10 year old. (see post below )

4. Made chili dogs for dinner.

5. Cleaned the house.

6. Chatted with my neighbor Erica and her sweet daughter Lexi.

7. Put up with a grumpy toddler who refused to nap and drove Mommy crazy.

8. Watched TV by my lonesome because Soowan spent the evening watching the Lakers game.


8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Add to my family.

2. Have more energy than I currently do.

3. Fly... but not too high because I'm scared of heights.

4. Go on a vacation with just Soowan and I.

5. Do a weekend girls trip with my friends from California. We've been talking about it for over 5 years now, and have never planned anything. (hint, hint ladies)

6. Convince my brother-in-law that living in Sweden is NOT better than living in the North America. This way my sister and I could live on the same CONTINENT at least... because I know he'd rather move to Canada then live in the U.S.A. again.

7. Go back to school to become a Pharmacist.

8. To sleep 8 hours strait without waking up. Any sound wakes me up. I honestly can't remember the last time I slept through the night... EVEN before having children, I didn't sleep well.


8 Shows I Watch:

1. Law and Order SVU
2. The Office
3. House Hunters (HGTV)
4. Throwdown With Bobby Flay
5. Iron Chef
6. Landscapers Challenge (HGTV)
7. Curb Appeal (HGTV
8. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition


8 People who are tagged:

Maggie (sister)
Soowan (got to get you blogging again babe!)
Kelli I
Crissy Y
Michelle H (give you something to do before you go into labor)
Jill Y
Sarah T
Rachel L (I think you still read my blog)