Day to Day Blessings

Yeah...we start the kids early in the Weaver household! Actually, Andrew began going to our church's Mother's Day Out program this week. Our wonderful babysitter only had committed to watching him through November. She was a wonderful helper for the first 4 months since I've been back to work. I really hated that she couldn't watch him longer but am more than thankful that she watched him as long as she did. Andrew loved Mary Beth so much. He would just beam every morning when I would drop him off. She truly spoiled him...with lots of love! Just the way Mommy loves spoiling! While I do miss the one-on-one child care, it is more than fantastic only having one place to drop off and one place to pick up. I've actually made it a full week without needing to fill-up the van (I usually only make it about 6 days)!! WOW!!!

Andrew has transitioned wonderfully this week. There are about 5 other "friends" in his class. I'm not sure if each of them are there daily like he is or not. He has 2 main teachers during the main hours but has other teachers that love on him before and after the main hours. His 2 teachers have done a great job with learning his schedule. He's been so happy each afternoon I pick him up. During some "After Care" days, he gets to be in the same room with Molly (it depends on the total number of kids they have on that day). The teachers tell me that Molly and Andrew love being together. They tell me that Molly will play with Andrew and that he just adores it so much! I'm sure that he is loving all of the attention that he gets from all of the kids he is around.

We have been so pleased with the program. Molly began going there once a week when she was just over one year old. Last year, when she was two, we began sending her daily. Everyone that loves on our babies are so wonderful. Molly is so happy and is learning SO much. It amazes me how much she is truly learning. She really thinks about things and is starting to want to reason things out. You can see the wheels turning in her head as she ponders things. While she is learning those basic things they do at pre-school, she is also learning about Jesus and how much He loves her. It is touching to a mommy's heart to hear your child break out in songs about Jesus. To hear her prayers develop into meaningful prayers makes me thank Him even more.

Please join me in praying for the Weekday Program at our church. Pray for all of the staff members; pray for the teachers that not only care for my baby boy and baby girl daily, but show them God's love and teach them about Him and the importance of having Him in our lives. Pray for Ms. Jean, the director... she is more than wonderful!!!...pray that God would give her wisdom in running the program and preparing her staff for their jobs daily.

(Molly picked out her outfit for the big game all by herself!)

Along with her other interests, Molly LOVES to sing. She will be in the middle of playing and will break out in a random song. She will sing anything from her ABCs to Twinkle, Twinkle to her upcoming Christmas program songs. I no longer am able to listen to any of my songs while we are in the van because Molly must listen to her songs on my iPod.

This morning, Jeff thought he had to be at work for a 12 hour shift working the shopping center for "Black Friday". He left home around 5:20 only to return at 6:15...there was an error on the schedule and he was not scheduled to work today. So, currently Jeff is back asleep as Andrew naps, too. Molly started singing some songs as I'm updating the blog. She started to get a little loud so I asked her not to sing so loudly since Daddy and Andrew were sleeping. She looked at me and said, "But I'm singing to the Lord." Oh, yes...how we do need to shout to the Lord so much more often than we do. I do pray that Molly continues to shout and sing to her Lord.

This reminds me of a song I love that Chris Tomlin sings. Here are the lyrics from the song "How Can I Keep From Singing":

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring
And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I knowThat I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I love to look through other blogs to find ideas. When I was searching around a couple of weeks ago, I came across the following prayer idea. It is very powerful. It is a simple reminder to pray daily for your child.

1. When they wake up: "Let the morning bring (child's name) word of your unfailing love, for she has put her trust in You. Show (her/him) the way (she/he) should go, for to you (he/she) lifts up her soul." (Adapted from Psalm 143:8)

2. When they are getting dressed: "Therefore, as God's chosen child, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Lord, help (him/her) bear with others and forgive whatever grievances (he/she) has against others. Help (him/her) forgive as the Lord forgave (him/her). And over all these virtues, help (him/her) put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Adapted from Colossians 3:12-14)

3. While they are eating: "Teach (child's name) the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Teach (him/her) that (he/she) can do everything through him who gives (him/her) strength." (Adapted from Philippians 4:12-13)

4. When they go out of the house: "(Name of child), do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Adapted from Romans 12:2)

5. While they are taking a bath: Lord, give (name of child) clean hands and a pure heart, and let (him/her) not lift (his/her) soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Let (him/her) receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God (his/her) Savior. Let (him/her) be part of the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. (Adapted from Psalm 24:4-6)

6. When they are going to bed: "The Lord Your God is with you; he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, be will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

7. While they are sleeping: "I pray that (name of child) will do everything without complaining or arguing, so that he/she may become blameless and pure, a child of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which he/she shines like a star in the universe as he/she holds out the word of life-in order that he/she may boast on the day of Christ that he/she did not run or labor for nothing." (Adapted from Philippians 2:14-16)
Created by Angie.

I've been tagged by Mary Beth to:


*Open the 4th picture folder on my computer
*Choose the 4th picture in that file
*Explain the picture
*Tag 4 people to do the same.

This is a picture of our yellow lab, Jake and our former black lab mix Obie. Obie stands for O.B. which stands for Orange and Blue which of course is for Auburn. Obie was a rescued dog. He was a part of our family for a couple of years. We had to make the hard decision to find another home for him right before Molly was born. Oh, Obie...so many memories of him...like coming home from work to find he had escaped from his cage (we nicknamed him Houdini since he always magically escaped from his cage. We even padlocked all the sides of his cage shut and he still would manage to get out). That day he got in to EVERYTHING...including permanent marker which got all over our carpet. Of course this was right when we were putting our old house on the market. Jake is still with us. He does great with the kids. He's like a true "big brother" with Molly though. He's always pestering her, especially when she is eating. It's like he knows which buttons to push with her.

Tag, you're it: Jill, Laura K., Allison, and Michelle

We had a wonderful day yesterday with family praising God for all of the special blessings He has provided us with in the past year. We had a house full late yesterday afternoon/evening. Mom and Roger, Grandma and Grandpa, Laura, Mike, Luke, Josh, and Eli, and Julie and her friend Sean came over for a very yummy meal. This was the first "big holiday meal" that we have had the family over for. It was fun preparing for it. Thanks to Aunt Cathy, I had a beautiful centerpiece.

I'm not sure who was more excited about Andrew starting cereal tonight...Andrew or Molly. Molly was more than ecstatic about this new milestone for her baby brother. Jeff got out Andrew's high chair seat before I got home with the kids. Molly was so excited to see it; she ran to tell him all about it! When I the time finally came for us to give this new adventure a try, Molly was jumping up and down.

Our sweet Andrew is 6 months old today. I just can't believe it. In fact, my sister thought he was only 4 months old today. I took him for his 6 month check-up yesterday and everything is great! He currently weighs 17 pounds 11 ounces (70th %) and is 27 inches (75th %). We were told to go ahead and start rice cereal followed by baby food. That will be an adventure for sure! Molly is ready for him to start eating real food. She has let me know that she is going to feed him every night. Now, that will be the true adventure. Stay tuned for those posts! HA!

Andrew is the happiest little guy. As I have stated in numerous posts, he is so laid back and easy going. He loves to laugh. He trully adores his big sister. He can be fussy one second and then big sis will come to save the world and life couldn't be any better for him! Molly loves to play football with him. She will throw the soft football to him and tell him to "catch". It will hit him square in the face and he just thinks it's the funniest thing ever. Andrew is also starting to love to play "Peek-a-Boo". He's actuall pretty good at hiding behind his burp cloths himself and pulling it away to reveal himself.

I am more than blessed with 2 healthy and happy children. I praise God daily for these precious children. They bring Jeff and I so much love and joy. I pray that God will use my children daily even at such a young age. I know that God has blessed Andrew with his sweet, sweet personality so that He can shine through Andrew and make others smile. I truly believe that. It is my prayer that Andrew will recognize these blessings one day.

Here is our sweet Andrew on May 13th soon after he was born:



And look how much he has grown since:

I finally pulled out my boots this morning to wear. I've been dreading breaking them back in from last winter. My feet swelled so much with my pregnancy that they are a tad bigger than they were so my winter shoes have been so uncomfortable. I decided that I just needed to get it over with.


This was my conversation with Molly Kate when she came in the kitchen this morning:


Molly: "Mommy, where are your shoes?"

Mommy: "Baby, these are my shoes. These are called 'boots'."

Molly: "Boots?"

Mommy: I knew immediately what she was thinking...Boots from Dora. "Well, Boots from Dora wears boots, too. His are red."

Molly: "Oh! I wear boots, too."

Mommy: "You have to wear tennis shoes to school, baby; maybe one day we'll get you a pair."

Molly: "Okay."



So, on the way to drop the kids off after this conversation, Molly kept talking about my boots. She asked me more than once, "Mommy, you show Andrew your boots?"


She obviously was still thinking about this when I picked her up because it was one of the first things she asked about when we got in the van.


My feet did survive the day of teaching...but I won't be wearing them again tomorrow. Thankfully, they will have a day of rest tomorrow thanks to Veteran's Day. I was quick to take them off when we got home. Molly...well, she was quick to try them on!



Got to love the fashion statement!

Wow. The day is FINALLY here. I have been praying earnestly this morning as the polls are now beginning to open. I will be going to vote later this afternoon/early evening...right when I am sure it will be more than crowded (but what do you do when you are a teacher and then have to take a sick child to the doctor after the long day???). I'm planning on dropping off the kids with Jeff so that I don't have them to shuffle around. I don't need anymore confusions with Molly as to what we are doing...she may think we are getting on a boat again (see blog entry from this summer...going to vote...on a boat). Please be in prayer with me today, friends...and most importantly, even if you think your state will be a red state for sure, please go vote!

The other thing that Molly enjoyed at the festival was getting snowcones. She decided on "blue". She tried to convince me that she needed one of every color. Mommy won that battle!

Andrew was very happy while we were there. It was fun showing him off to my students, parents, and friends. This was the first school function he had been to.

I'm sure next year will be much more fun!

Molly loves to listen to her music on my iPod. One song she really likes is "Praise Him, Praise Him all you little children". One day the song came on and she was not in the mood for that song. She said, "No, Mommy. I not listen to the Raisin song." I tried to correct her but she kept insisting that it was the "Raisin Song". So, from now on, this song will forever be known as the Raisin Song"!

I decided that since September was almost over and that I've not posted an entry this month that I better hurry up and get things updated! Thanks to those of you who've "nicely enouraged" me to get something new on my blog! I hope to not take as long this next time.

The next second...

And the next...

Molly has always enjoyed reading. Here is a picture of her looking through a book right before she turned 1. I walked in her room that day and found her with the book.
Molly continues to love books. When she goes to bed (nap and night time), she must have books with her. We have to limit her to 2 books; she would make her bed her "bookshelf" if we did not limit her! I went to check on her the other night after she had fallen asleep and this is what I found:

Yesterday, Molly started to "read" a predictable text story. She would point to the words and tell the story. While I know she truly did not "know" the words, she was saying a majority of the words correctly. I'm sure that having heard the story before along with picture clues had a great deal to do with her accuracy!

Something else that we've noticed Molly doing is that she likes to "play teacher". She will sit in front of Andrew and "read" to him. She will then hold up the book and show him the pictures.

Andrew of course loves the extra attention from his sister. He loves the Duck Book because of the bright colors and the black polka dots.

Andrew had fun riding around in his stroller. Him being so laid-back makes taking fun trips to the zoo so much more enjoyable!

Molly had so much fun looking at all of the animals. Now that fall is here, I'm sure we will be visiting the zoo more often. Oh, and of course we were able to ride the train! So much fun! Molly kept on saying, "All Aboard!" It's a good thing that she loves trains; with her being the only girl in the family, she must have something in common with the boys!