Lessons from a 2 year old

Luke 11:11-13
Which of your fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

My morning conversation with Hannah went something like this:

Sarah: Hannah, what would you like to eat today?
Hannah: Rock
Sarah: Raisin bran?
Hannah: No. Rock.
Sarah: A cereal bar?
Hannah: No, rock.
Sarah (totally confused): Show me what you want to eat.
Hannah goes over to the bookshelf and points at a rock.
Sarah: Would you like to play with the rock?
Hannah: No, eat.
Sarah: You can't eat a rock!
Hannah: Please (said also in sign language)
Sarah: Hannah, we don't eat rocks. Come show me what cereal you want to eat.
Hannah falls to the floor and begins crying.

Hannah has me thinking about parents giving good gifts to their kids. I realize that the inverse is also true: as parents we don't give bad gifts to our kids, even if they ask for it. No, you can't eat a rock for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner for that matter.

It's moments like these that it hits me: I have been asking God for rocks when He wants to give me something good. He wants to give me the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I begin to ask for tangible things that won't last (which God does care about, but there really is so much more than the here and now that will fade away).

I was sad to tell Hannah that she couldn't eat the rock this morning (albeit mostly for selfish reasons - who wants to start their day off with a fussy toddler?) but even if I had given it to her and if she had tried to eat it I would probably be in the emergency room now, or a dentist office. I find Hannah's behavior so childish, and yet, her actions show me how childlike my prayer life is most of the time.

Praise God for continually teaching me and drawing me closer to his image. He does not promise a nice house in good school district, friends to hang out with and extra spending money for Starbucks, but he does promise His Holy Spirit and if I can just remember this simple lesson from my two year old I would understand the greatest gift I have ever been given. Sweet Hannah, she has no idea how much she is teaching me about the depth of God's love.

I'll leave you with some pictures I took this morning while Kate was sleeping.

Good morning!

Good morning from my crazy monkeys!

Play Groups

Since living in San Diego we have settled on a church (I think) and I have found two good play groups. One on Monday and one on Friday. Here are some pics of the Friday play group:
The older kids ate outside
The younger kids rolled around inside

I think I was one of the few that had a kid outside and inside - m girls keep me busy!

Hannah is determined to dress herself these days despite her lack of fine motor ability. Today while dressing Kate she found some clean clothes in the laundry basked and decided to dress herself.

Yes, she found Kate's pants. I let it go, thinking that when she went potty I would swap out Kate's pants for a pair of her own, but she noticed the difference and asked for Kate's pants. I had already let her wear them all day, so I put them on and called them capris. There are worse things, right??

To end, here are a few cute videos of Hannah entertaining Kate - I have to sneak up on Hannah because if she sees the camera she clams up.

San Diegans

This is a story for all those who live where it actually gets cold:

I met a girl at church that has a 3 mth old. She heard that I go to the zoo with the girls and told me to email her when I went so she could tag along. I emailed her last night and she said she would go - great! a friend!! This morning she called and said that it looked cold and it rained last night so maybe we could meet for lunch at Panera instead?

Does this strike anyone as funny? Rain, last night, and looking cold? It's 65 degrees now and has been sunny with a few clouds all day. And the rain - I thought there was some water on the ground this morning from the sprinklers, turns out it "rained" last night. I wonder what will happen tomorrow with the high of 59 and cloudy all day? Seriously, was I like this when I moved to Boston?? I love San Diegans - they just don't get how cold cold can be.

Well, I did go to the zoo and we had a fun time. We didn't make it to Panera because my crew was fading by lunch time and I just didn't have the strength to keep Hannah sitting, eating and entertained while spoon feeding Kate, eating myself and trying to carry on a conversation. It's exhausting to even type all that!

This is a series of pictures I took recently trying to get one good shot of my two girls together - not an easy task:



And we're done!

Things To Remember

There are so many precious things about this stage of our life I often wonder what I will remember and what I will forget. Here are some little things I want to remember:

1. Last night Jeff and I were strategizing about how to get Kate to sleep through the night. He said:
It's like she dangles a carrot in front of us and then whacks us with a stick (with whacking sound effects).
When he said this I nearly laughed so hard I peed - I still chuckle now. He's so right too. Kate will give us one good night and we think, "Ahh, finally, the worst is over" and then the next night she's up almost all night leaving us yawning all day and rubbing our heads at night.

2. My house at 7:30 am (notice both my girls are dressed - go me!)
3. Hannah learning to do things herself. She is so eager to say, "No, Nah-nah do." I usually say, okay, and then wait for the, "Help please" which usually comes soon thereafter. This is her dressing herself and then throwing a tantrum when I told her that I would help her. Look how cute she is with her arm in her neck hole. She also had both legs in one leg hole, but by the time I found my camera she had taken her pants off.
4 Hannah discovering dandilions

5. Cute baby buns

* There was a photo of Kate's baby buns, but Jeff asked me to edit it - sorry folks, but my husband wants to raise two modest girls, and I guess it starts somewhere


6. My girls laughing and playing together. When people see how close in age my girls are they often tell me they will be good friends. I don't know what the future has in store, but I know they love each other now and that is precious in my sight.

By Popular Demand...

...more video!!

I finally caught Kate doing her raspberries, which are becoming less frequent these days. You'll notice her new behavior which is hitting her sides and going, "Ugh!"

My little talker:

Watch out Jackson Five, here come the Murry Two!


So this morning after I finished Hannah's hair she had something in her left hand. I asked to see what was in her hand and she said "Empty" showing me her right hand. I asked to see the other hand, and she transferred two hair clips from her left hand into her right hand, then showed me her left hand and said, "Empty." I asked to see both hands, thinking that she had no way out now, and she said, "No thank you." Ahh yea, another unprompted thank you, only this one got her sent to her room -- you don't say no to mama.

Kate is getting over her ear infection and is becoming more like her peaceful little self that wakes up multiple times at night to be held - could she be another social little girl?? Only time will tell.

It happened...

I always encourage Hannah to behave how I want her to act, not how she is developmental acting. That means that as I take her away from the playground screaming and kicking I am modeling what I want her to say, "Mom, thanks for taking me to the park today. I'm really sad to leave the park. I would like to play all day. Can we come again tomorrow?" If nothing more it helps me stay calm in the midst of an unpleasant scene.

Well folks, today was the first time that Hannah unpromptedly thanked me. It feels good to be thanked. I will treasure it all day.