The Joy of Winter Jammies

Prayers for the Gino's

Our friends from church, the Gino's, lost their home (and all their belongings) in the recent Yorba Linda fires. They are a wonderful family and they always give glory to God! Please pray for peace as they look to resume their normal lives.

If you want to keep up with them, visit their blog here.

Below is a picture of their house burning. Amazing...

Maybe I Shouldn't Be Encouraging This

Wearing Mommy's heels around the house after church yesterday really isn't that bad. But the stories don't stop there.

Last week Maddox found one of my pearl necklaces and wanted to wear it. Then he wigged out when I suggested we take it off to run to Target, so my little cross dresser wore the necklace to Target, and received many compliments. Unfortunately, that had to be the day that I would run into one of the Kindergarten teachers from Eastbluff. She hadn't seen Mad since he was a tiny tot, so I was immensely proud to show off my gender confused toddler. Oh well, I'm sure that's the only thing he will ever do to embarrass me ... right?!

** Will someone please come to my defense when Maddox is a teenager and refuses to talk to me because I put pictures of him in high heels on the Internet?! **

Disneyland with Friends

Last weekend, we made a quick Sunday evening trip to Disneyland with our friends. We had a great time and we were even able to convince the guys to watch the parade and Fantasmic! Maddox and Jaxon did a fabulous job, even though we kept them out until almost 10:00.

What's For Dinner?

Just thought you would like to know that it doesn't really matter what's for dinner. Because no matter what you put in front of Maddox, he will look at you and say, "want pizza." He'll eat what you serve him, but he just wants to make it clear that he would rather have pizza.

Messy, Muddy Toddler

Maddox and I love taking "Mommy and Me" classes through the city ... it's cheap, fun, and within walking distance! We recently started taking a class called Messy, Muddy Toddler and it is a blast! (Of course, we all know how intense Maddox is. Despite his serious expression in most of the pictures, he was having a great time. For Maddox, playing is a science, and it's no laughing matter.)

I finally remembered to take the camera with me, so here are some shots of Maddox getting down and dirty...

...before we left this morning, playing in a box of Legos

...painting with plungers at the class

...taking a dip in the kiddie pool

...squishing shaving cream (which was, by far his favorite station of the day!)

...playing in the mud pit

...and rinsing off in the pool with his friends. (This class has 8 sets of twins in it! They all know each other through a twin group, and decided to take a class together. It's like being in a living, breathing Doublemint commercial!)

Here's Maddox dripping dry because, although she remembered the camera, Mommy forgot a towel. I can't be Supermommy all the time. Or ever, for that matter.

Prayers

When I was pregnant, I prayed all kinds of things as they related to my unborn Maddox. I didn't know his name, or even his gender, but I prayed earnestly for him anyway. I prayed a million things ... that he would be healthy, smart, strong, kind, a good sleeper, teachable, that he would find his own niche in life, and the list goes on and on. All those things were fine to pray for. But, in a way, I don't care.

I don't care if he's smart. We'll meet him where he is and work with it. I don't care if he's a good sleeper (which he wasn't then, but is now). His degree of teachability can be trained and encouraged.

It amazed me, though, how my prayers changed when I finally held him in my arms. As I looked at his sweet angelic face, I prayed for one thing and it remains my highest goal for him. I prayed that Maddox would grow to be "a man after God's own heart," and would be welcomed home with his savior someday.

I still pray that every day. I pray for Jeff and myself, that we have wisdom and patience to "train Maddox in the way he should go, so that when he is grown he will not depart from it." I pray to be filled up with God's grace so that I can show God to my son.

And now, Maddox prays. He babbles his adorably meaningful language to his beloved Father. And then yells "Amen" and looks up to smile at me. It is the most precious thing I have ever heard. It thrills me, and I know it thrills God.

If you've read my blog for any length of time, I'm sure you know the wisdom and grace I have seen at Bring the Rain. Today, Angie has a post about praying for our children. If it's in your heart to pray for us, please do. We covet your prayers as we raise Maddox in "the fear and admonition of the Lord." Because we're in a battle for Maddox's little soul, and we need all the soldiers we can get. And when all is said and done, I want to hear those words spoken to my son ... "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of your Father."

Halloween 2008

We had a fantastic Halloween! Maddox was Buzz Lightyear (of course!) and we got to go trick-or-treating for the first time. Little Buzz had a lot of fun! All day we practiced saying, "trick-or-treat" and "happy Halloween!" When the time came we got "tick-teet" and "ween!" Close enough.

Just for fun, click here to see photos from Maddox's first Halloween last year.

Some little thief kept stealing my Halloween candy from the bowl by the front door.
"Any candy in here?"

"Don't worry about it, Mom. I'll just eat it, wrapper and all."

I know they are just Buzz pajamas, but don't tell Maddox!

Maddox really liked to walk up to the neighbors' doors, put his fist to the door, and say "knock-knock."

Relaxing after a hard night of candy hunting.

X-Men

Every Monday and Thursday, I get to babysit Jaxon Young while Becky is at work. Maddox and Jaxon have so much fun playing together, and they get along so well! Here are some fun photos of the two little rug rats playing.

(By the way, I used to be able to upload my pictures so that they were in some kind of order that made sense. This worked for me, even though it took some time and planning, and I was able to resist the urge to use one of those slideshow effects. Blogger used to be my friend. But, lately Blogger has decided that it doesn't care what order I ask for, it is going to order the pictures however it sees fit. If it were human, I could reason with it. But it's a computer system and it is smarter than I. I just can't figure out how to argue with Blogger. So, you get to enjoy photos the way Blogger wants you to.)
The little men watching a movie after nap time.

I have no explanation for this. I was doing the dishes, and the boys arranged their chairs and sat in front of the open door. Apparently there was some kind of show going on outside. They reminded me of two old men sitting on a front porch sipping iced tea. From sippy cups.

These boys don't get a free ride; they have to work for their keep.