LeAnne's 1st B-day party & Random babblings from Mama bear

LeAnne was invited & attended Drake's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. Drake & his parents live a few houses away from us and they seem like a very nice family! We have been trying to connect to get to know each other better so when we got the birthday invite I was very excited. The party was in the late afternoon so I was really nervous how are little girl would behave. She's a morning person and afternoon/evening time can be rough. She was scared of Drake's dad and all the people but the funniest thing was when we got in the door I put her down and she went straight up to Drake's mom and wanted her to pick her up. lol! She had lots of fun coloring, playing with Drake's toys and just wandering around. She didn't want to eat any of the dinner, but I wasn't surprised because she doesn't like spaghetti. She's not much into any pasta and will only eat rice once in a while. She did enjoy a piece of cake after helping Drake to blow out his birthday candles. Opening gifts was interesting, LeAnne helped and took to Drake's Thomas the Train very quickly. Drake is a very sweet little boy. I had a fun time talking to Drake's mama and found out that the kids go to the same Pediatrician & get this both have their 24 month appointments on Tuesday. :-) All in all it was a lot of fun! LeAnne only had a few minor melt downs over sharing and got pretty upset as we left because she wanted his Thomas the Train. His mama invited us to join them for some Halloween fun & trick or treating.

Halloween isn't a holiday I care for, would rather not celebrate, but I think we can find a happy place for this holiday. John and I will have to chat, but I think we must talk with her when she's old enough to understand, then if she ONLY dresses up in friendly costumes and attends Harvest festivals she won't feel we deprived her or be drawn to it because we just say no. It would also be a good time for her to learn about spreading the good news through distributing tracts or messages with the candy.

Prayers appreciated
Would you please pray that Drake's family & our family would develop a friendship. They seem like really nice people. I would also appreciate your prayers in regards to our family getting our buns back to church next Sunday. The plan is to go to Trinity Baptist Church in Walla Walla next Sunday. They are similar to the church we went to in Renton. We've had a rough time getting connect to a church and it's become easy to make excuses for not going. I think its very important for our family be apart of a church body so we can grow as Christians, so we can be connect with other believers, and so we can give back using the spiritual gifts God has blessed us with. Thank-you! One more prayer request; Would you pray for John's neck - He's been in a lot of pain. He will need to have surgery sometime in the near future to do a fusion. It will be a bit of a financial burden when he's off work for the surgery & on light duty (not getting full pay) and he's pretty nervous about the surgery and recovery time. I just want my man to feel better! Thank-you!

Have I told you lately how much I love being a wife & a mama? I love, love, love my awesome husband! I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an incredible man as my husband!! I am thankful for the leader he is in our home & at work. I am thankful for the care he takes of our home! I love how he finds time to connect with me although I do think we are over due for a date night. I appreciate the relationship he has with his daughters! I love how he supports me and encourages me. I love his playfulness! I love, love, love being a mama to our girls! I can't wait until Christmas when we have our whole family together for a short while. Oh how I miss our Amanda girl! I look forward to hugging her a lot, being able to tell her in person that I love her, watching the girls interact together & with daddy, and all the holiday memories we will make. I am so thankful God blessed our life with LeAnne. For a while there I was questioning if I would ever give birth to a child. Praise God! Thank-you Lord! Being LeAnne's mama is so COOL! I love watching her ever changing personality develop before my eyes! I had a chance this weekend to snuggle with her for about 45 minutes after she woke up from a nap & I enjoy kissing her, rubbing her back and just smelling her. I remember the many times we took naps in the chair together. She was so little then. Last night I really noticed that she's already starting to find things she must do before bed to put off reading then going to bed. ha ha it starts early! Our little family doesn't quite feel complete though. LeAnne needs a sibling and I'll admit I yearn to be pregnant again. The hubby & I have talked and I think another bundle of joy is in our future when the time is right and if it's in God's plan to bless us again. Stay tune & lift us up in prayer...

I am sure I could keep on babbling but it's just about time for me to take LeAnne to mom's, get her settled and head to work. I am looking forward to seeing my student today. He and a lot of other kids were out sick the all of last week with the flu. One day we only had 11 out of 28 kids at school. I felt lost without my purpose for being there but I did get to take some paid time off to be at home with LeAnne. I hope ya'll have a blessed week! LeAnne has her 24 month wellness check on Tuesday so I'll post her stats. :-)

LeAnne & I play with her Playdough almost every day. Yesterday she figured out how to make this tool work and was so excited!


Ready, set GO!


Watching her truck race across the kitchen floor!


This busy picture shows her faithful K-9 Companions are never far from her side and she was having a blast coloring in one of her new big books. I love how her feet are crossed and her sock monkey has one let sticking up. LOL!!