Playing..Such a Precious Gift

Anna Mei had a five minute appointment to pick up her glasses at the U the other morning.  Because it is quite a drive, I decided to take advantage of the day by taking the girls to play at the local children's museum.  It did not disappoint.  Being with my girls playing and enjoying their company fills my heart so much.  I can't help but think that I really wasn't ever planning on being here in such a place during this phase of my life.  How I am so grateful that God didn't follow my plans because watching these babies is such a miraculous blessing to me!

 The grocery store play area is always a favorite with this one.

 The baby nursery was a favored stop too.

 These two were adorable making pizza side by side to serve up to me at my table.

 Anna Mei included mushrooms on hers...my favorite.

 The flight room was Anna Mei's all time favorite.  She loved the flight simulator.

 Molly was just tall enough on her tippy toes to get this ball high enough to float in the air coming out of the shoot.  She thought it was hilarious!

 Driving the various vehicles was a hit wtih  Molly all day too.  I made her an experience book about it as she loved driving everything.

Building vertically is such a great play scenario to build core strength muscles.  Molly loved it, and it left me wanting a vertical lego wall at home.

 She was darling building this car.

 It was the end of the day and she was getting tired.

It was a great way to spend our day.  We can't wait to have Jilly with us here as there are some exhibits she will enjoy.  They even have a free night once month for kiddos with special needs so I think this may be a place we go to play often as it was so much fun.

We Are Getting Some Language

Expressive Language that is soooo adorable..

and some receptive too..

I love watching this beautiful, valuable, adorable babe taking off!

The Desires of Her Heart

My Anna Mei's love language is gifts.  She will be the first to tell you that.  Recently, my littlest girls fell in love with the Toy Story movie as I picked up the dvd at a thrift store for a couple of bucks and they began to watch it.  It wasn't long before my little was wishing for a Jesse and Woody of her own.  Well, I googled to try to find one because her birthday was so close.  When I found them, I discovered they were out of our budget, and so I prayed because my God cares about the desires of my littlest girl's heart.  He also longs to provide for us in every sense of the word.  I knew that He would provide a way to get the dolls or He would move my little girl's heart on to something else that I could more easily access.  I check craigslist regularly because I buy lots of things (most everything) second hand.  Shortly after my littlest girl shared her heart's desire with me, these two dolls were listed on craigslist for $10.00.  Insert large, beaming smile from this momma here!  God is in the details of every single aspect of my life, and sometimes it is just so miraculous that you can't believe it.  Needless to say, I contacted the seller the moment I saw them and told her I would buy them.  Right before I was leaving to pick them up, my Anna said she really wished Jesse would have a stand that she could use.  In my foolishness, I told her not to get her hopes up that most dolls didn't come with stands, but maybe we could find one for her later.  Well as I picked up the dolls from their previous owner, she handed them to me while saying.. "This Jesse comes with a stand too.  Here it is."  God.  Only God.  He cares for even the most minute details in our lives, and He uses those to teach us about His provision because He longs to be all we need!

Glasses

Somebody is celebrating turning five with a new prescription for glasses!  She couldn't be more excited!  This is going to be a long week while we wait for them to arrive as she is asking a hundred times a day when they will be here.  She has a plan to store them safely, when to wear them, and how to keep her adoring little sister away from them.  She is most excited to have glasses just like Daddy, Emily, and Mommy as she loves being like her family.  This girl doesn't miss a beat, and she looks adorable in her new glasses!  

Five Years Old

 I can hardly fathom that this little one is five years old, but, despite my best efforts, she just keeps growing up.  Truthfully, the road to building our relationship has been rocky at times, and we are coming to a more stable, solid place on this journey which means I am just enjoying her so much these days.

 She wanted a lion guard party.  I was happy to plan a little gathering just to celebrate her complete with a kion cake, ono games, a fuli t-shirt, and lots of fun.

 She loves being the center of attention so she ate this day up.

 We had a couple of friends, and a few important teens here to help us celebrate.

It was a perfect day to celebrate our precious, amazing little girl.

Sensory Fun For Winter Days

Cold, winter days haven't stopped our fun.  Though we prefer to be outside, we have come up with some sensory play and a few art projects to keep us busy.  Anna is painting an egg carton that we turned into a shoe tying toy.  She is getting the hang of tying her shoes with it too.

Molly is painting herself and the table which is her usual routine when the paint comes out.  We turned her egg carton into a button practicing toy.  It actually got very little paint on it though. :)

I had a couple of boxes of jello, and I wasn't sure why.  I made them one day just play in as my kids don't eat it.

Anna loved the science behind this jiggly stuff.

She played in it for 90 minutes.

Eventually, I got out some droppers, and food color.  She loved mixing and creating new colors.

Molly saw that mixing blue with the yellow jello turned it green.

They were quite stained, but, after a good soak, they came clean again.

It was well worth the twenty minutes it took me to clean up.  Thank goodness we have wood floors everywhere though as it wipes up easily.

Jilly is really into (literally) cloud dough right now.  I often let her play with flour last winter, but it was so hard to pick up all that dusty flour.  Cloud dough cleans up like a breeze as it clumps so much easier.

This girl needs to scoop and fling.  In the backyard, she spends hours flinging dirt, gravel, wood chips, and anything else she can find in nature.  I am thankful to have this substitute for the winter months as she really does need it.  Though we are managing to hang in there while playing inside I can't wait for spring to be here so we can be back in the yard playing.  Counting the days!

Her Smile

She smiles.  

When you get the camera out, and ask her to smile..

she finally can!

After nearly five years home, this girl is finally finding her smile.

She is still nonverbal, but is beginning to sign how she is feeling.

There is nothing like having her look in your eyes, and sign "jillian, happy"because there were days as we were fighting for her heart and mind in the beginning that I couldn't imagine her so happy and so connected in our family!  This little babe has come so very far!

It is priceless and it melts my heart!

Hearing Aids..Two Weeks In

I am not sure I have the words to describe what it was like to see this little peanut hear my voice clearly for the first time.  There were so many emotions swirling in my head as I sat there and watched her fitted with her helper ears.  Honestly, this technology will give her so many opportunities, and to think that she would have likely never had the chance to access it if she wasn't home is so much for my heart to bear as I just keep thinking about the millions of other children waiting for a momma and daddy who will never know sound.  While I rejoice that she is hearing, my heart breaks for the others daily as I have watched her thrive with these new ears.  Yesterday, she heard the phone ring for the first time and she brought it to me.  She heard me come in the font door and up the steps for the first time too just a few days after having her aids placed.  She has loved having her new ears to help her and she doesn't ever fuss about having them on.  She wants them on as soon as she gets up and points to the other ear as soon as the first one is placed.  Time will tell if her language skills will catch up, but we are continuing to use both sign and speech with her.  She is bright and growing more and more each day!  While I am an so anxious for her ability to grow to communicate, it is bitter sweet to watch her becoming such a big girl as I missed so much of her babyhood.  I wish that I could make these days last forever somehow as I enjoy her so very much! Praying for wisdom as we navigate the road ahead, but resting in knowing that Jesus is already there and knows exactly what this baby girl's future will be.

Christmas Eve Worship...

I am so behind with posting, but I don't want to forget the smiles, the laughter, or the memories of our Christmas.  I am so grateful to God for the blessing of these babes.  They fill my days with more love and joy than I could have ever dreamed when I was "planning" my life.  God is good!