Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

Last night, as I rocked my sweet little boy at bedtime, I remembered my mom, my grandpa, and my grandma doing the same thing with me so many years ago. I started with the first song I always sing, Baby Mine, which is from Disney's movie Dumbo. I followed Baby Mine with the first line of Jesus Loves Me, when Evan promptly started singing along with me. He got almost every word in the song! To hear your 2 year-old sing about Jesus' love is the most amazing thing. Even though I know Evan doesn't quite understand what the song is all about, I am confident that planting the seed of who Jesus is and that He loves each of us can never be done too early. When I tell him we are getting ready to go to church to play with the kids, he always says BIBLE!! He knows that when we go to church we learn about the Bible. This should be the goal of every Christian parent, to teach their children about Jesus from the day they are born.

Deuteronomy 11:13, 18-19 From now on if you listen obediently to the commandments that I am commanding you today, love GOD, your God, and serve him with everything you have within you...Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.

Can You Tell Me How to Get, How to Get to Sesame Street?

What a great Labor Day weekend! We spent time getting a lot of chores done, visiting with friends, and taking a day trip to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. For those of you who don't know, Sesame Place is a theme park devoted entirely to Sesame Street characters and rides. It is geared toward kids ages 12 and under (although I think 10 is probably the max that kids would actually want to be seen there). Evan was able to go on all the rides and Michael and I could go too! He had a blast! There is also a water park that he was able to enjoy since they have life jackets for kids under 36 inches tall. Evan was excited to meet Elmo, Cookie Monster, The Count, Bert and Ernie, and Big Bird. He even got to hug some of them! The best part was that he got into the park for free since he is under 2 (until the 25th!) so I would recommend doing the park before that age.

Start Spreading the News...It's Been 4 Years!

Michael and I celebrated our 4th anniversary in New York City on July 3 and it was amazing! I left Evan overnight for the first time ever, which was really hard for me to do. I felt guilty for leaving him, even though I knew he was in good hands with my mom and dad. I was able to enjoy the 2 days we were away and I tried not to call every 2 hours!

During our stay, we saw on Broadway "Grease" starring Laura Osnes and Max Crumm, the pair who won the reality show (Grease: You're the One that I Want) and also guest star Taylor Hicks

(of American Idol fame). We got autographs and pictures with the celebs which was fun! We also saw Disney's "The Little Mermaid" which was absolutely breathtaking! I would recommend either of the shows to anyone going to Broadway in the near future. We also managed to get hour massages from a little Asian Massage place near Times Square. A well-kept secret of NYC! We had a relaxing time seeing shows, grabbing dinner, and catching up. Evan did fine, but he was ready to be back with Mommy and Daddy!

Taking Trips and Turning Twenty-Nine

Since I last blogged, I turned 29 years old and took a family vacation to Nova Scotia, Canada. My birthday was great. I don't mind the number since I don't look or feel my age. If I were 29 and not married with a kid, I might feel badly about it, but I am in a great place in my life! I had three celebrations: Michael surprised me with a dinner with our friends in Georgetown the Saturday before my birthday; on my actual birthday, Michael made me breakfast and then I had dinner with my parents and cousin; the Saturday after, we had lunch with Michael's family, my family and some friends. SO the party was extended over a week, which made it even more fun!

Last week was our family fun trip to Nova Scotia. We flew into Halifax and then spent 2 days there, 2 days in Prince Edward Island, and 2 days on the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton. We saw where author L.M. Montgomery was born and raised and many places that inspired her books such as Anne of Green Gables and the Emily of New Moon series. She has always been one of my favorite authors so this was an amazing trip for me. We also drove to several lighthouses for Michael to take pictures.

Dani's Duds

Over the weekend, I went to a huge consignment sale called Dani's Duds that comes to the area 2 times a year. I signed up to consign a few things which allowed me to shop before the general public on Friday night. Although I didn't find the toddler tricycle I was looking for, I did come across a toy bin shelf for 50% off the price in stores. It looks like it has barely been used. What a find! We have been looking for one since we began planning to build the wall unit in the basement. The other side of the basement is now Evan's play area. He has a tv and VCR/DVD player and toys, and we eventually want to buy a car road rug from IKEA. I also found an AquaDoodle that Evan likes and is clean and safe.

I discovered that most of the clothes at the sale that were Evan's size were either ratty or overpriced. I am glad I found clothes at my mom's church's consignment sale in March. We were also blessed to get hand-me-down clothes from some friends at church. They have given us 4 big bags of clothes all the way up to size 4T! I guess when you have toddler boys, you are lucky to have clothes to consign at all, since most boys' clothes need to be burned at the end of the day from the grime and muck! Thank the Lord for OxyClean!

Inspiration

I guess it might seem random and strange to just start a blog. My two biggest motivators have been wanting to share the exciting milestones Evan has been accomplishing and the fact that this may be the only time I can share what I write with the world. I love what my friend Sabrina writes and she has inspired me to give blogging a try. So, thank you Sabrina!

This week Evan has amazed me every day. He has developed a taste for raisins (yay!), he has learned to drink with a straw, and he can count to ONE! This morning he accidentally dumped his cup of fish (crackers) and I started counting them as I put them in the cup. He promptly dumped them out again and started putting them back in the cup, saying "oine" as the first one went in the cup. My first thought was, "my son is a genius!" I don't think he is quite ready for first grade though...

Today, we start construction on our basement built-in wall unit. I am excited for the finished product, but not looking forward to the process of dust and debris in our basement! Hopefully, it should be finished by Saturday and we can begin to enjoy it.

Another Opening, Another Show

Can anyone explain why I always think of what to blog while I am lying in bed at night with the lights out? I am not going to get out of bed to go to the basement to write on the computer at midnight, although that is the only time I have a minute free during the day! I wanted to start blogging about Evan's milestones since he was born, but couldn't get it together for 19 months. So here it begins. I don't even know who will read what I write but I guess we will find out!!