Jesus is "Magic"

Today we were reading a story from our children's bible and Luke looked at me and asked, "Why did Jesus die on the cross?". I told him that we do bad things and because of that we can't go to heaven, so Jesus came and took our punishment so we can go to heaven--He died on the cross for us...BUT, God made Him alive again!" Luke looked at me and said, "WOW, that's like MAGIC!"

3 Months, 3 Weeks and 3 Days.

That's how old Aaron is today. He is an absolute doll, so sweet, so smiley, so bright-eyed...such a blessing. He slept for 5 + hours straight last night...ahhhhh...it was fantastic! He woke at midnight and slept until 5:15am. It feels so good to get such a nice, long chunk of sleep.

Tonight the girls are with Jeremy at my brothers house because tomorrow they're all going to Great America. It will be a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I won't be there because I could NOT handle seeing my little Abby going on a scary roller coaster. I know she's so excited about it, but it FREAKS me out. Thankfully Savannah has some sense and doesn't want to go near them (that's my girl!). So tonight it's just me and Luke and Aaron. Luke had a bit of a hard time because he's gotten so used to sleeping with his girls that he doesn't like sleeping alone in his room anymore. Awwwhhhh. He asked me if he could sleep with me, but I know I wouldn't sleep at all if that happened, so I had to tell him no. Poor little guy. Oh well, it's just one night. We went to the park this evening and played a bit and then walked home and had baths, then Luke played quietly while I got Aaron to bed and I had some time playing blocks with Luke. It was nice to have that one on one time that we so rarely get. He's such a sweet little guy. I am truly blessed.

Happy Half Birthday To You!!

Luke is 3.5 years old today!!! Do you know what that means?!?! In our home (yeah yeah, I know!) it means that pacis are for NIGHT time ONLY! I've found with Luke that things are fairly easy to implement if there is a definite time line for it. For example: When he turned 3, he woke up and I said, "Today you're going to be potty trained...NO more pull-ups and no more accidents!" It worked like a charm! This morning when I reminded him that he was now 3 and a half and took his paci away, he willingly gave it up...and he was just VERY happy to go down for his nap, because he gets his paci! If he was my first paci lover, I'd be a bit concerned...but the fact that Abby also love, love, loved her paci and no longer uses it (and hasn't since she turned 4) gives me hope for the future! Pacis offer me much peace, so no matter what anyone says (as Aaron happily sucks on HIS paci), I LOVE PACIFIERS and I will continue to use them!

Luke is funny.

This morning Jeremy and I were talking and Abby walked in and started talking to us, Luke looked at Abby and said, "Daddy's talking to MOMMY!" Why, thank you, Lukie! It's nice to have an advocate. Later we were watching a video online from The Survival Podcast about "Yoder's Bacon" of all things. The guy took the bacon out of the can and Luke said, "Jack, you do a good job with that!".

Luke never ceases to crack me up.

I just want to sleep.

Dearest, Precious Aaron,
You are 3 months old now. It is time to sleep. Mommy needs rest again and the only thing preventing it is you. I love you, darling...but it's time to start sleeping better. Tonight would be a great night to start. I'll still love you with everything I've got if you don't, but it sure would make me happy if you did.
Most Sincerely,
Mommy

My Grandma.

My grandma passed away last night. I had the privilege of being there for her last breath. Aaron was with me and it was nice to have him there to lighten the atmosphere during those long, last hours. It was hard on my grandpa and my sister and my mom, but having a fresh, smiling, sweet little baby who readily gives the brightest, sparkliest smiles helped a lot. It was sad to see her go, but I felt more joy than anything else, knowing that she was leaving her earthly body...full of scars, cancers, tubes and pain for her heavenly body...her youthful, perfect, sinless heavenly body. I rejoice in the fact that she is now with her 3 children and 1 great grand child that went before her. When she passed, tears filled my eyes...tears for the loss my grandpa was experiencing, losing his bride of 50+ years...tears for my mom, losing HER mom...tears for my sister to whom my grandma was like another mother...and tears for my dad, who saw his father go through this not long ago and lost his own mother a year later. But most of all tears of joy at the amazing fact that those of us who believe will all one day be sitting at the foot of the throne of the Almighty, in the arms of our Jesus--perfected. No death, no pain, no sorrow, no tears. How can you not be joyful? She put up a good fight, she lived a good life, she gave everything her all...and now she gets her reward. I'll miss you, Grandma, but I'll be seeing you soon!

Cute.

Yesterday I was holding Aaron and he was being extremely cute, as usual and Abby said, "He's so cute, I just want to SQUEEZE him!" Luke looked at her and very seriously said, "Abby, then we wouldn't have a baby anymore!"
Awwwhhhh...Luke loves his little Aaron. We all love Aaron. He's just plain cute. Unless it's 3am and his SECOND waking of the night...then he's just marginally cute.