Haiti

One aspect of my personality that I hadn't realized until recently is that I don't like to dwell on things that aren't...happy. One of my spiritual gifts is mercy, so that probably doesn't make much sense, but maybe I can explain a little better. When something terrible happens to those I love, strangers, animals (even a deer crossing the street), it hurts me very deeply. I often have a difficult time separating myself from them in that moment. I'm there with you. If you're hurting--I'm hurting. When it comes to horrible tragedies like that horrible tsunami, hurricane Katrina and now Haiti, sometimes it's easier (ok not sometimes...all the time) to just not think about it. As a mom of two little ones it's heartwrenching to think of spending several nights roaming the streets looking for your kids (or to imagine your kids roaming the streets looking for you). So I've basically ignored the news articles and the pictures and the statistics and lived in my safe bubble of grocery shopping, playdates and activities. Anytime I've heard of people donating money I feel a brief sense of relief that people are being helped, but then I go back to my day emotionally unscathed.

Until today, when I let myself go there; let myself feel the pain of the mothers who have lost children, children who have lost parents, people who would give anything for something to drink or eat.

I know God gave me the gift of mercy for a reason, and it's not to feel sad all the time: to be some kind of pathetic martyr roaming around in sackcloth and ashes. He made me this way so I'd PRAY. and help. and care. and love. And quit thinking about me me me me me me me me day in and day out.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

1 Corinthians 1:3-4

Anyway, I know this isn't my usual silly kind of posting, friends; it's just what's been on my heart. Thanks for listening. I hope you know that I'm here to walk any road with you. I hope you know that even if we don't talk for weeks on end, even if we haven't seen each other in ten years, that I think about you. And care.

Love,
Marie

Observations

Things I never imagined I'd be saying:

-Ainsley get away from the trash!
-Ainsley don't eat that diaper!
-Ainsley don't climb on the dishwasher!
-Ainsley we don't eat catfood!
-Ainsley quit digging in the trash!
-Diaper cream is not for eating Ainsley!
-Ainsley don't eat Huck's tail! That's not nice (don't tell the cat policewoman who monitors my site)!
-For the love of God, child, get OUT OF THE TRASH!

And she does it all with that precious, toothy grin. And yes, she's only 11 months old. I'm in some serious trouble!

Some more Ainsley facts:
-She likes pretty much all foods except for cantaloupe, but strawberries, blueberries, canned green beans, and acorn squash are her favorite. Oh, and Ritz Crackers.
-She loves hardboiled and fried eggs, but won't touch them scrambled.
-When she's about to do something bad (usually involving the stairs, trash, or cat food bowls) she takes one step or sticks one hand in, and stares at you for a reaction before proceeding.
-She already knows how to get a nice shriek out of Addison by giving that red hair a nice hard tug.
-She loves to wave and say hi. She also says "Da-Da!" when she sees Devin come in the room. It's pretty cute stuff.

Addison aka "The Sponge" has to know...everything.

"Mom, where are you going?"
"Who were you talking to? What did they say?"
"What's that in your mouth? Can I have some?"
"Where did you go?"
"What were you doing in there?"
"What are they doing? Where are their clothes?" ---uh oh. No more Grey's Anatomy in front of Addison....ever.
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
Oh and yes, I have resorted to "because I said so" more times than I'd like to admit.

One nice thing about having such an observant child is that she notices everything about Ainsley too, which helps when I am not so observant, like when Ainsley found my gum this morning. Truthfully Addison has had a very joyful spirit lately. Last night I made Amanda's Italian Sausage Bow-Ties and Addison said "That was a yummy dinner Mommy! Thanks for making it!!" after eating every single bite. After months and months of "I don't like that." and "I don't like this dinner." and "This dinner doesn't taste good" her little compliment made my day.

Here's a picture my friend Brenda took of us a month or so ago:















I'm so grateful the temps have climbed back up a bit. As much as I love Kansas, our weather is just the worst. 6 degrees. Ridiculous. Amanda and John drove up from Georgia last week and we had such a wonderful time together. We took one afternoon to visit Heather over at Children's Mercy. When we checked in they printed off a photo badge for Amanda but a regular one for me. I whispered obnoxiously "it's because you're Amish!" Some things never change, and Amanda is a good sport to let me embarrass her...still. Anyway, one visit a year is just not enough.

Goodnight!

First movie

A few weeks ago some wonderful friends and I decided to take our girls to see The Princess and the Frog. None of the girls had seen a movie in the theater before. In fact, when we were paying at the ticket desk Addison asked me if we could watch it at home. She thought we went there to buy the movie to watch on our tv. You should have seen her face as we walked into the theater with the huge screen.

It definitely wasn't on the same scale as The Little Mermaid or Cinderella, but the Princess and the Frog was a pretty great movie. It was funny (and a little sad) and had great music. There were a few scary parts, but Addison didn't seem to phased. The only issue she had was being closed up in her seat because she couldn't keep the chair down. Devin was laughing at me because when we lived in Manhattan we drove all the way to Olathe's AMC 30 to see Return of the King because Manhattan's theater was just not suitable. For this movie I picked Cinemark because it was the cheapest. ;)

Here are some pics of our little adventure: