Anna in Action

 

 

My Anna is a very happy girl!  She is starting to be a mover and  a shaker!  It is no longer safe to leave her in the car seat while I do things in the same room!  At lunch today, she wiggled and wormed her way out of her car seat!  So Papa decided she needed a "harness"!

Ruth...I had to take 5 pictures to get a good post-able face.  Totally Josh's daughter!

So it isn't her best smile...it was either this one, or the one of her picking her nose!

Anna-Bear...my chunky monkey I mean bear.

My girls.  They take up all my time.  All of my day.  Oops, there goes the buzzer.  Back to being a Mama again!

A Mama's Confession

I must admit to you and to myself that I am not SuperMom, nor am I Wonder Woman. I am a Stay-at-Home-Mama who doesn't have it all together. My home is cluttered. Food is hardly ever on the table on time. I lose my temper. I get angry at my girls. My girls whine. They complain. They sometimes don't make it to the toilet on time, and mess their pants. They sometimes don't do what I ask or tell them to do.

But there are times when they melt my heart. For instance, tonight, I was rereading Gracia Burnham's autobiography of when she and her husband Martin were held hostage for a year. I was at the end, and reading how she was explaining to her kids how their Papa died. Ruth asked me an insignificant question, and I started bawling. Ruth (as she has since she was 6 months old) got really concerned that her Mama was crying. She got off the couch, where she was sitting next to me, stood in front of me and said, "Mama, do you need me to hug you?" I readily accepted, as you can imagine!
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There are times when Shalom will come to me and say, "Mama, can I hold you?" or "Mama, can I sit on you lap?" Again, my heart melts, and I pull my little cuddle-bug into my lap!

I really do love my girls. They do melt my heart, and remind me of God's grace and new mercies every morning!

My Cuddle~Bugs

Family Picture Time

In the girls room

in our room

In the doorway

In the living room

In the kitchen

The question is: Which one to send out in a newsletter? If you have already voted on Facebook, you can't vote again!

Pop Quiz - Who Am I?

Note: Papa didn't even get this one right!

Three Years Ago

I sailed with my two (then) loves to Israel with Friend Ships

This is Ruth (no really, it isn't Anna!) on 9/24/06.

Sheesh...I am having a hard time telling the difference, and I am looking at Anna right now!

Three years ago, September 2nd, God sent Josh and me to Israel with our Ruthie~Bear. We sailed with Danette, Debi, (Capt.) Jake, and Jonathan along with a whole cast of others. What a trip. Learned a lot. Thought a lot. Prayed a lot. Sang a lot. Came home preggo with Shalom Elkanah - interesting name...it means Peace God Has Obtained. There will not be peace in Israel unless God makes it so...interesting, huh?

The trip is over. The lessons were (hopefully) learned. Would I do it again? Trip to Israel - ANYTIME! Sailing for a month to get there - LO! Oh, that is Hebrew for no.

Ooops

It has been almost two months since I last wrote or posted anything. Guess you could say three is a handful! Plus, it kind of ruins posting pics if your camera batteries are dead, and you don't have new ones in the house!

So, what's new? Or, what has been happening in the Larson home? Let me sum it up for you. Dishes, cleaning, blow-outs, showering, eating, blow-outs, growing, learning, blow-outs, laundry, laundry and more laundry.

Anna is going to be FOUR MONTHS OLD in 16 days. She is over 11lbs, over 24 inches long, and busting out of 3-6 months sizes! This past week, I put her in a 9 month size outfit...and she was almost long enough to fill it out. She downs about 7 to 8 ounces a feeding via me and a bottle. she has a LOT of Ruth-like qualities, but I am noticing a few laid-back Shalom qualities too.

Shalom is 26 months old (2 and two months) and fully potty trained. That's right, she is out of diapers! WooHoo! She is also getting to the point where she would rather go on the big people potty (yes, she can get herself on it too), instead of on her easily accessible potty chair. Now I get to "deal" with two voices calling, "I need wiped!" while nursing Anna! Shalom is about 26-28lbs, and tall enough to climb into the bath tub all by herself! She loves both of her sisters a whole lot!

Ruth is 39 months old (3 1/4), and just over 30 lbs. Ruth loves her sisters. She loves playing Mama with her babies, and wants to carry them around in a pack. Ruth is gaining wit, and wisdom as she grows. Yesterday, I was making bread for lunch. She grabbed the cup that I had had the flour in, and was licking out the flour (I don't know where she gets it! Honest.), and getting little bits of flour on the floor. I exclaimed, "Ruth! I just swept the floor!" To which she calmly replied, "Well...it can get dirty again!"

Josh and I are both doing well (nope, no weights posted on us!!! But we DO both have birthdays coming up in the next two months!). Josh is busy - as usual - with all thing shop related. He and I are also quite busy this canning season. We have 9 gallons of juice canned (grape and apple), lots of salsa, pumpkin, peaches, and cherries. Next on the list is apples for sauce and slices to make into crisps. We will actually be picking apples later today, and will be given some more tomorrow.

I am learning what being a Mama of 3 is all about. Learning that I need to WAY up my consistency level...that is the biggest thing. Looking into (not fully, just perusing) homeschool curriculum...suggestions welcome!

What follows is recent pics of my girls. Enjoy!

Ruth loves her Anna!

Anna and her red hair!

Told ya, they love each other!