Bedtime Prayers

1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

For bedtime prayers, we usually pray through Christmas/birthday cards that we receive throughout the year. Hannah has a pile of them in her room and we take turns praying for a different family each night. Of course, we also include various needs that arise within our church and with our family...but this works well for us. I got the idea from one of the full time staff families at Skyview and have had it tucked away in my brain for several years. Hannah loves "picking a card" and praying for those she loves.

I wasn't there for bedtime prayers tonight (I was putting Isaac to bed because of a late Wed. night :)), but Seth told me about this sweet interaction he had with Hannah.
They were finishing up Bible story time and getting ready to pray. Hannah wanted to pray for her two friends Amelia and Addison. The she remembered to "pick a card"...she picked the Mullin's (a dear couple from church that has become like family to us). Her and Seth prayed for the Mullins'...Seth for Mr. Mullins, because Seth is also a mister...and Hannah for Mrs. Mullins because Hannah is a Mrs. :) They finished up , and she said "Daddy, we forgot to pray for Amelia and Addison". Seth told her that she can pray for anyone that she wants while she's laying in bed. He said that as he left the room her heard her whisper "Dear Jesus, please be with Amelia and Addison...amen."

This story reminded me that I need to be teaching/modeling for Hannah how important it is to be talking to Jesus all through out the day. Yes, we pray before each meal and before bed...but He hears us all the time and is always there. He wants us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to walk with Him each day ("He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8).

Psalm 55:22a "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you"

Helmet Update

We took Isaac to what Hannah calls "the helmet doctor" last Tuesday for a check up. His head is growing and showing progress which is so encouraging and an answer to prayer. His head has grown 1/4" and the flat spot grew 1/8". She said not to expect growth every month, but was very encouraged by what she saw in just two weeks. Our visits from here on out will be monthly.

Tea Party

One of the themes for "toddler school" a few weeks ago was tea. We enjoyed reading books about tea and singing "I'm a Little Teapot". We finished the week with a tea party of our own. Hannah gathered some of her stuffed animal friends around and was a great little hostess to them. She thought it was great that I let her put water in the teapot. :)

I love our days at home together...

learning how to properly hold her tea cup.

Isaac @ 25 Weeks

5 Little Princesses

Hannah loves princesses. She loves to pretend and dress up. This was the first year that I let her choose the theme for her party...of course she chose a princess theme. Here is the invite:

Decorated and ready to go

excited about presents

The "Ariel" cake that she'd been asking for

the gangs all here and ready for some lunch!

onto games: We read "The Princess and the Pea" then pretended that we were the princess and tried to find the pillow with the "pea" under it.

excited about prizes from "pass the slipper"

friends :)

Hannah loved her cake

Addison

Presents! Her friends blessed her with some very kind/thoughtful gifts

this is my favorite picture of the girls from the afternoon. It's hard to get a posed picture, and sometimes these are even better. Love all the fluff and playfulness here...so sweet!

celebrating 3 wonderful years with my precious little girl! What a gift she is!!

Already a Computer Wiz

The past week or so...Hannah has discovered a new favorite activity...playing on Mommy's laptop! She figured out how to use the mouse...and has had a ball playing games. Her favorite websites are pbskids (where she plays sesame street) and Veggie Tales. She loves playing memory (which is what she is doing in the picture) sending ecards, and taking pictures of Murrah's word on the street). This is a special treat once a day, she gets to play in the kitchen with me while I make dinner...it works great for both of us! :)

Chicken Pox?!

At the beginning of March, right after the time of Hannah's birthday, we started noticing little spots on her torso. She has had the chicken pox vaccine, but we are figuring that she got a mild case anyway. She had a small case of itchy spots and a low grade fever for a day or so. He spots never really scabbed over, they kinda just disappeared. She would get a new spot or two everyday for about a week. We are thankful that it didn't cause her to be miserable at all! She was happy and played like normal...it just ended up being a quiet week at home, which is probably just what we needed...God always knows best doesn't he?!

Family Fellowship Night @ Church

Our last family fellowship was a lot of fun! Shelley did a great job planning games/activities for the kids. Hannah had so much fun scooting on the scooters and building towers.

the girls build a delux tower

Everyone worked together to build a great big tower with all the cups...I got a picture, but need permission from some parents before I post it here.

80's Rollerskating Night

We had an 80's rollerskating night with the teens a few weeks ago.

Kimberly and I had fun shopping for our outfits together...didn't hers turn out great!? You can't even see the teal leg warmers...they made the outfit!

Hannah's first time rollerskating...she had a ball!! She's getting lots of use out of those rollerblades from Auntie Erica and Uncle Cody!

me and my girl :)

The "2" of March

Hannah always says that her birthday is on "the 2 of March". The day finally came, and it was great one!

We went to story time at the library, which she loves. Ms. Dotty, the librarian, gave Hannah an "It's My Birthday" sticker. I think the sticker made her day! The whole rest of the day she showed everyone her sticker and told them it was her birthday.

To continue the tradition, we went out to lunch with Daddy. To our surprise, Hannah picked Taco Bell....she loves their chicken soft tacos. Her birthday fell on a Wednesday, so that night she got to start Cubbies at church. She was very excited and had a blast!

New Helmet...and Sitting Up!

Isaac is now sporting his new blue helmet. The helmet is to correct the shape of his head, as he has a flat spot on the side and a little in the back. No matter what we did...he favored one side of his head every time we laid him down. It was hard to make the decision to have him wear it, but in the end...we know that it is what's best for him. It's actually been a very smooth transition and he is doing great with it. Because I'm so behind in blogging, he has actually been wearing it for almost a month now. He wears his helmet for 23 hours a day with an hour break for cleaning (and snuggling :)). He sleeps great in it, and doesn't seem bothered at all. He tends to shake his head "no" since he started wearing it, esp. when it's off. It's kinda a bummer that his fuzzy little head is hidden...but the boy looks adorable no matter what :).

He's already showing improvements. At his last visit (just a week and a half after having it on), his head had grown a little less than 1/4 of an inch, which she said was good. He wasn't showing any pink spot (which show good pressure), so she decided to be a little more aggressive and add some more padding to the front of his helmet. He now has a pink circle on his forehead when we take the helmet off, but it quickly fades.

Our prayer request is that the helmet will be effective and will quickly make the corrections that it needs to.

We are very thankful for modern medicine that can take care of things like this. Not only is it a cosmetic issue, but will also help in in the future if he has to wear glasses, helmets for sports, hats, etc. We are also thankful for the way God has provided financially.

Right around the time that Isaac got his helmet...he also starting sitting up. He is growing so fast...I can hardly believe it!

Jeremy's Baptism

At the end of February, I was able to head "home" to see my brother be baptized. My baby brother....who definitely isn't a baby anymore. I'm so glad that we were able to be there! It was such a special day, and so neat to see Jeremy be obedient to the Lord in believers baptism. Jeremy shared his testimony about how God has worked in his life and brought him to a saving knowledge of himself. He publicly shared his faith in Christ and desire to continue serving the Lord with his life. Can't wait to see what God has in store for Jeremy!

We were there the weekend before Hannah's birthday, so we were also able to celebrate her 3rd birthday with my family. We were going to celebrate at Chick-Fil-A (which Hannah affectionately calls Chick-N-Play), but the place was packed. We headed next door to Wendys and had the place to ourselves.

3 candles for a sweet little 3 year old

lovin' her fuzzy coat from Nana and Pop

Isaac @23 weeks

Snow Day!

During mid-winter break, we had a "snow day" with the teens at church. We spent the whole day together (8am-5pm). We had worship time, played indoor games, and played in the snow....it was great! Hannah had fun spending the day with Daddy at "work". :) Here's a bit of what we did:

The kids played hockey...

and Hannah played hockey

we ate lots of oranges...yay for a healthy snack!

Hannah and Aaron being silly :)

time for fun in the snow!

Isaacs first time in the snow

Daddy and Isaac...two blue suits

what a great snowman!

At the sledding hill...Hannah's first time sledding

down the hill with Daddy, they even went backwards...she loved it!