Dear Selah & Jadah

You're my girls.

There isn't much point in writing two separate notes to each of you, you practically do everything together.  I think I've passed a turning point: I now like having twins, genuinely!  I can't decide if I like it enough to want another set, but I am definitely seeing the benefits of raising two babies who do everything at the same time.

Oh where do I begin?
We've just moved to Indiana, the place of your birth, so you're hoosiers at heart.  Just like your brother, I loved seeing your excitement grow every time we saw your Pappy and Mammaw Henry.  It was very special to live close to them for that part of your lives, even though you won't remember it.  And now you get the chance to grow in relationship with Pappaw and Grandma Potteiger, and I can already see your faces light up when they walk in the room.  You did great on the drive to Indiana (it was just me and you two for the long drive).  You took turns taking naps, looked at books and ate snacks that I tried handing back to you while driving.  It was swell.
I love to watch you two play together (especially when your brother isn't around to bug you)(but sometimes he's really sweet and I like to watch that too).  You both love to look at books, especially the kind with flaps to lift.

Selah,
You are sweet, and stubborn.  You give us these looks where your face is down, but your eyes are looking up at us, and you just stare.  You have gorgeous blue eyes and dark eyelashes, and since your hair is longer, you always wear a clip to hold your bangs back.  You are more content to play on your own, and you don't seem to cuddle as much as your sister (although you do love a nice long hug).  You still have the mole on your right arm that is our final backup in case we ever forget which girl you are.

Both of you still have your leg chubs...

Dirty puddle bottom and leg chubs

Jadah,
My little flirty daredevil, you may someday be my first child to break a bone.  You like to try dangerous things.  As far as the flirty part, you also have a "look."  You act shy and turn your body away, but you look back with your face and flutter your eyelashes.  You still have your dimple, and you laugh easily.  When meeting new people, you warm up to them pretty quickly.  You pooped in the bathtub this morning.  I think you will be funny and can't wait for you to start talking.

...where I find Jadah at the park

I love you both dearly, and you love each other dearly.  Every night before bed we sing a song, pray, and then I tell you to give each other hugs, kisses, and say "nite nite."  You both love it, and it is funny to watch the different variations of hugs you come up with.

Glad I have both of you, can't imagine one of you without the other!
I love you,
Mommy

Dear Christian

You're my boy.

You are growing fast, and life has changed so much recently.

You were in your first wedding!  The rehearsal was rough and you were extremely embarrassed.  But on the day of the wedding, you were excited and pulled through (although I couldn't actually see you walking down the aisle, and I heard reports that you were holding the pillow in front of your face!?).  You were the cutest boy ever.  (I made your bow-tie!  It was fun.  And for the readers, I followed the tutorial here).

You were fun to watch during this process of moving.  You were very excited to "go live at Grandma's house in Indiana."  I was sad at the same time.  It had been wonderful seeing you grow in relationship with Pappy and Mammaw Henry over the last year, as well as learning what cousins are, of whom you are extremely possessive ("my cousins").  I know you probably won't remember ever living in Maryland, Indiana is going to be your home state.
The morning we moved, daddy promised to give you a new basketball game if you were good for the drive.  We decided to let you ride in the moving truck with dad, you were sooo excited.  All during breakfast you were talking about "riding in the big truck because we're moving to Indiana to live at grandma's house, and if I'm good, I get my new basketball game."  Pappy Henry gave you one of his special toy motorcycles that had been sitting on his windowsill (where you always went to find them), a very special little gift.  Dad said you played with it a lot during the drive to Indiana.  Seeing you up there in the great big truck made me smile every time I caught a glimpse (and I'm so mad I forgot to take a picture!).  Watching kids' movies kept you occupied most of the drive, and yes, you got your new basketball game.

You have now been promoted to a queen size bed, all to yourself.  You sleep right in the middle with your little doggy "Fruff Fruff."

At grandma's house there is a coloring book of Disney princesses, leftover from your aunt Ericka and myself, the little mermaid is on the cover.  As we sat at the table, you were just looking at her, and you asked "Where is her bottom?  How does she go to the bathroom?"  How is it that in all my years, I have never pondered how the little mermaid empties her bladder, and you're only 3 and you think of these things?

You've known what a fire hydrant is for a while, but I tried to explain it further to you on a walk yesterday.  After my explanation, you were telling me your version, and I realized you think that fire comes out of the fire hydrant.   I guess the term water hydrant would seem more appropriate.  Makes much more sense.

You have also started Awana's, a weekly event where you go to play organized games and learn Bible verses.  You were quite excited to go to "hawana's" and get your special vest.  You did a great job on the first night, and the verses you will be learning are way simpler than the ones you already know (I know you know them, even though you act like you don't most of the time).

Your current favorite songs include Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, Jesus Loves Me (of course, it's  a classic),  Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man, and Only A Boy Named David (David and Goliath is your favorite story, you are quite taken with giants).

I wanted to note these few things, because they make me smile, and I want to remember them again later.  But don't get a big head: you have your fair share of whiney attitudes and disobedience, I keep doing my part and praying for God to work in your heart.

For the record, you are 3 years old, you are 3 feet all, and you weigh 30 pounds.

Love you so much.

Mommy.

Moving

We're getting pretty good at it, you know.

This time around involved getting rid of a lot more stuff, some of which we had just moved less than a year ago.  I realized I like getting rid of things.  I like it a LOT.  Some of you inquired about the items, thanks for looking and buying!

I have been a negligent parent/blogger recently, and seem to forget my camera all the time.  In one aspect, its nice to not have to carry it around, but then the day is done and I don't have anything to show for it.  The following pictures are taken with my cell phone (which doesn't take great pictures), as my meager attempt to share what in the world has been happening.

Our last weekend home included a wedding which Simon and Christian were in.  We were simultaneously attending a family weekend at a local campground.

Christian as the "official" ring bearer, he did super!

I couldn't think of a better way to spend our last weekend in Maryland, surrounded by family and friends, watching our kids make memories with cousins, and sending well-wishes to our newlywed friends, Pete and Sara.  It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and Monday morning came charging through the door: time to load up!

This was my view for the 10 hour drive.

The move went as well as it could have.  Everything fit in the truck (much thanks to Dad Henry and Isaac), the house got cleaned, the last night at Simon's parents was restful, the drive was long but surprisingly peaceful, unloading was quick thanks to the help of my parent's church friends, and the kids have loved every moment of living at their grandparent's house.

Alas, we are settled into my parents cozy basement and the kids have their rooms upstairs.  I think it will work just fine.  I get to use a lovely little kitchen (which isn't even quite finished yet, will be great when it is!).  Simon is enjoying his new job.  Over the next few months we will start looking for a home to buy.  And life goes on.  Thanks to each of you who said a prayer for us in this transition, we feel loved and supported by so many, we don't deserve it, but we are thankful.

Blessings!

Small Bathroom Towel Rod Idea

Today I am thrilled to have my sister writing a post while I am busy moving my family. Ericka keeps her own family blog called "Life in General and Specific" where she waxes eloquently about life's happenings.  I even learned something from this post....never knew where my sister's fear of someone hiding in the shower came from!   (Also, forgive the strange formatting with the pictures, the new blogger layout is throwing some curve balls...won't let me move them!).  Enjoy!

***

Recently, Rachel, her children, and our mother came out to visit my husband and myself (after much begging on my part). And the whole visit was wonderful (minus me being exhausted from pregnancy hormones and overwhelmed that my house may soon be just as active, loud, and busy as my sister's)! In the last few seconds before they left back to  Indiana, Rachel snapped the following pictures of my bathroom and asked me where this stroke of genius came from. She wanted to share with you, her readers. So, here goes.

We currently have three shower rods hanging in our bathroom. While I probably would have never gone out to purchase three shower rods for one shower, we recently moved from an apartment that had two showers to a house with only one. Our new rental also came with a shower rod. This left me with three shower rods. Overkill, I thought. But I also had a problem- our new bathroom had only one towel rack, and it was tiny. There had to be a solution somewhere here. The pictures are rather self explanatory. I wanted to use  one of my extra shower rods as a towel rack. But if you hang it outside the curtain, it's ugly in the bathroom. And if you hang it inside the shower curtain, the towels will get wet. Aha! I had TWO extra shower rods. Which meant I could hang the shower liner on one rack, the towels on the next (in the middle), and the pretty shower curtain on the very outside. Close the pretty shower curtain and the extra towel rack disappears! I find it rather difficult to explain clearly and succinctly, so I'm hoping the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," to be true. 

To be honest, we rarely close the outside shower curtain. (But that is mostly from my childhood fear that someone is behind the shower curtain- likely due to seeing a clip from the movie Psycho in an IMAX theater when I was on an elementary field trip...). However, if you don't have scars from old thriller movies, have limited towel space and don't want to install a new rod, and like to keep a tidy looking bathroom, this a perfect solution. Either way, writing this post and sharing my childhood fears with you has indeed being fun and freeing. Also, I totally would have folded my towels more nicely if I had known my sister was going to take pictures and post it for all you avid readers. My bad. 


Good luck!