Predicaments

  A few weeks ago, AB found herself in one of the funniest predicaments to date.   I failed to take a picture, although I was laughing hysterically.  Fortunately, she found herself there again last night.  This time I remembered to grab the camera first.  No worries, she was not in danger, pain, or scared while I took a moment to capture this funny moment.  The sad face you see, is because she knows she's been "caught":



  She had managed to climb up onto the ledge of her window, but couldn't get down.  She was stuck in quite a predicament because she was supposed to be in bed...instead she was watching the cars go by and her daddy out in the yard.  Jacob saw her and told me.  I said, "Let me grab the camera first!"  She never lets us get bored or go too long without a funny story!!

Celebrating 3 Years

  Anna Beth is 3.  It's hard to believe it has been 3 years since she was born and how much has happened in 3 years!  We had a great family birthday celebration and we're looking forward to the friend party in just a few weeks.

  We started the day by Skyping with the grandparents.  She got to talk to Gram and Papa and Aunt Maci as soon as she woke up, before they headed off to work, and to Maw Maw and Paw Paw after breakfast.  She got phone calls from Nana and Denden and Aunt Maley and tons Facebook birthday wishes.  We ran errands that morning, then met some friends at the park for a picnic lunch and to play for a while.

  After not-so-much of a nap, the family celebration was underwary.  It was Jacob's short day at work, so he got home about 3 pm.  After Lynns' woke up, we gave Anna Beth her birthday presents.  She was very excited when she saw me come out of our bedroom with lots of presents.

She got a tee and ball, hot pink foam bat, hot pink sunglasses, and a hot pink sundress.  Wait...isn't her favorite color purple?  Hmm...she still seemed pleased, though ;)

She asked for (blue waffles) for supper all day, so off to IHOP we went.  The best they could do was a giant Belgian waffle with blueberry eyes, a strawberry nose, and a banana smile.  She loved it!!

Since it was Wednesday and we had church that night, we got her a special giant chocolate cookie to take and share with her church friends.  Yummy!!!

It's hard to believfe we went from here...

to here...

in just 3 years.

3 Years

  Three years ago today, I became a mommy.  Well, really I became a mommy many months before that, but I guess you could say (in military terms) I've been "active duty" for 3 years :)  And it is definitely active.  Anna Elizabeth Coleman turns 3 today.  For weeks we've been telling her she would be "3 in May", so it has been quite fun listening to her say "I'll be 3 in May" for this entire month!
  She has grown so much, so fast - but when I look at her, I still see this:

 She is only 3 days old in this picture and we are getting ready to head home - wondering why on earth the professional hospital staff are letting us leave with a real live baby who we have no idea what to do with!

  For the past 3 years, there have been many firsts:  baths, sleepless nights, sweetest kisses and snuggles, feelings of love that you could never know existed, smiles, steps, words, situations where I have no idea what to do, birthdays...the list goes on and on and will continue to grow as she continues to grow.  I can't wait for all of these "firsts" - well, maybe the first boyfriend, but I'm sure her gun-collecting, police officer, military, loves-to-hunt father can keep that away for a good while. Ha!!

  I love you, Miss Anna Beth, and I love being your mommy!!

 

One Last Funny Story (from school)

  So, Thursday was Anna Beth's last day of the year for her Mother's Day Out program - or "school" as she called it.  It was a sad day - we will miss seeing her friends and teachers every week - but it ended on a very funny note.  When I got there, Miss Karen and Miss Kelly said they had one last funny Anna Beth story for me.  My mind began to race trying to figure out what it could be! 
  Anna Beth was told it was time to line up to go to the bathroom.  At this point, she looked at her teachers and said, "I'm only allowed to go peepee in the grass when I'm on a deer hunt."  Can you imagine!?!?!  No, they were not trying to get her to go potty anywhere but in the potty, in the bathroom - but this is what came out of her mouth.  So, then I had to tell her teachers the background story to this statement:
  Earlier in the week, she and Lynnsie were playing outside in their kiddie pool with Jacob.  Anna Beth needed to go to the bathroom.  Instead of going through the "trouble" of drying her off and getting water through the house, he told her she could potty in the grass.  When I found out later - at the dinner table, no less (!) - I said, "We are raising little girls...they do not need to think it's ok to go potty in the grass outside!"  We were trying not to crack up, Jacob finally agreed and told AB she shouldn't do it again.  Then he added, "Unless we're on a deer hunt." He just have noticed my look because he said, "I can't have her think she can't go deer hunting because she won't be able to go potty out there!"
  Yes, this is my life.  And our dinner conversations.  And what we tell our teachers at school :)

Clinging to His Word

  I think most people that I know have a "favorite" verse from Scripture.  It's not that these favorite verses mean more or are more important than any other verse in Scripture, but it's a verse or passage that speaks loudly to them and really gets them through the day...for lack of a better phrase.  As a mommy, I have two verses that I find myself clinging to a lot.
  The first verse is 3 John 4: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth."  No greater joy...how true this verse is for mommies and daddies!!  I cling to this verse because it reminds me of what I am doing.  I am raising them, guiding them, and teaching them to live for Christ, or I am trying to anyway.  I am trying to point them in His direction, in the hopes that they will - very soon - commit their lives and their hearts to Him.  I want them to walk in the truth and know that God loves them and gave His Son, Jesus, for them.  I want them to live to please Him, not themselves, me, or anyone else.  There will be no greater joy in my life when they give their lives to Christ.
  The second verse is 2 Timothy 1:12 : "...I know who I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."  The writer, Paul, was a prisoner when he wrote this - sentenced because He loved God and shared His word.  And yet, during this suffering, He trusted God.  He had entrusted his life to God.  I have to trust God with my children - their health, their safety...their whole life.  This is hard for me because I am their mommy, I am supposed to be able to protect them from anything.  But the fact is, I can't.  And only God can.  There is nothing He can't handle or protect in their lives.  Does this mean that sickness, danger, or anything else will never come to my children?  No, it doesn't.  But I trust Him everyday that they are in His hands and He will carry them through whatever comes in their life.  I have to.  What other choice do I have? To rely on myself?  Um, that would not be such a good idea!!

Hi-Ho Cherry-O & Popsicles

  Today was a special day.  Today, I taught Anna Beth how to play her first board game...Hi-Ho Cherry-O.  It's the one where you have a cherry tree, orange tree, apple tree, and blueberry tree and you spin the spinner and "pick" the correct number of your fruit off of your tree.  Seems pretty simple, right?  Have you ever played with a 2/almost 3 year old?
  I must say, playing with Anna Beth was quite different from the last time I remember playing this game.  We had a blast.  She won 3 of the 5 games...and the competitive side of me is okay with that :)  The timing of playing this game was very important - Lynnsie is nowhere near ready to play such a game and I don't think we would have made very much progress had she also had her little hands in the fruits baskets on the board!  So, we played after Anna Beth got up from her nap while we waited on Lynnsie to wake up and have our special snack.  Call me cheesy, but I want our family to family game nights and stuff like that as we grow (in age and in family size).
  Now onto our second fun thing of the day...we had homemade popsicles!!  Not that these were hard to make at all, but the girls had great fun eating them.  They were an absolutely mess when all was said and done.  I found these popsicle trays at this great kitchen store in Gulfport last summer and I realized last night, we had a nice big pitcher of Kool-Aid in the fridge.  I poured some into the popsicle trays, popped the lids with the handle on them, and into the freezer they went.  The girls were pretty red and sticky when it was all over with, but they loved them!
  It may not seem like playing a board game and eating "homemade" popsicles are all that special, but it's something I did with my girls and that is the only requirement for "special" in my book!

Mommy of Four

  Today is Mother's Day. Today I celebrate being a mommy of 4.  One who is waiting for me in heaven.  Two of whom I have met and spent quite a bit of time with. And one who I will meet in just a few months.  I rejoice and I thank God for each of my children.  I am thankful for what He has taught me through each of them:
 
  Mary Grace, through you, God has taught me that He will carry and heal my broken heart and that every life, no matter how short or long, fits into His perfect plan.
  Anna Beth, through you, God has taught me that He knew what He was doing when He made me a mommy, even though I thought differently in those first several days.
  Lynnsie, through you, God has taught me that, again, He knew what He was doing when He blessed us with the sweetest little surprise I have ever received and that He will always provide.
  Creek, through you, God has taught me to anticipate new adventures in parenting with excitement and joy.
  Through all of you, God has taught me how love selflessly and unconditionally.

  I know that through the years, God will teach me a lot more through my children.  I love each of them in a way that I cannot describe, but I strive to show them constantly.  I love being a mommy to each of my children.  I love their hugs, their kisses, their "secrets", their laughs, and their smiles.  I love praying for them and dreaming of how God will use them to show His love.  I love them, all, just the way they are...forever.

Naming Our Little Boy

  Have you ever seen the movie "The Good Ole Boys"?  I have not.  But apparently, there is a little girl in there by the name of Rivers.  Cute little name, huh?  That is exactly what Jacob Coleman thought when he watched this movie as a little boy....around 8ish, I think?  Anyway, at some point after hearing this name he decided Rivers Lynn would be a great name for a little girl and that Creek Allen would be a great name for her brother.  He held on to these names for many, many years.
  At first, I was not a fan of either of these names.  Too different, I guess.  I've written before that Anna Elizabeth became our favorite girl name, but Jacob and I always had different favorite boy names.  My favorite was Isaac, Jacob's favorite was Creek.  I remember thinking, when we were pregnant with AB, 'What am I going to do if he still wants to use the name Creek for a little boy?' (we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, yet).  Obviously, the issue did not come up at that time.
  Then, all of a sudden, about two years ago, I completely fell in love with this name.  I realized how perfect the name "Creek" was for Jacob Coleman's son.  It is precious because, not only did Jacob come up with this name when he was a kid, but because it just describes a son of Jacob Coleman...if that makes sense.  If you know Jacob, you know what I mean :)  And I absolutely love the fact that he came with this name so very long ago.  It shows me that even as a child, he was thinking about his future wife and children.  He doesn't really know where "Allen" came from, he just thought it sounded good. 
  So, there you have it - Mr. Creek Allen Coleman!