Saturday, August 1, 2009

Our sweet little girl...

I can't even begin to describe how sweet life has been having Hope for a daughter. We are so blessed after what we have been through to have her. Yes, she frustrates me sometimes, yes she throws the bigest temper tantrums you have ever seen in your life, but she is such a blessing to us. I am continually thanking God for her and am just amazed daily at how He is molding her and making her into a young lady.

Here are some of the things that Hope has been doing lately:

*Hope can sing almost any song she hears. She's totally like her Daddy in that way. She hears it and she just knows it. Her current favorite songs to sing are: Jesus Loves Me, ABC's, and any Disney song that she hears. Music soothes her in a way nothing else can. She will be throwing the hugest temper tantrum and I'll start singing and she'll calm down immediately and start singing along with me.

*To go along with the above statement, she is OBSESSED with anything Disney right now. She has a Disney book that has almost all of the Disney stories in it and she can look at that thing for HOURS, just talking to herself and singing the songs that go along with the story. It's quite amazing and funny to watch!

*She is a TOTAL diva. Now we knew this the moment she came out of course, but I'm afraid the diva-ness has only just begun to rear it's ugly head. She yells "NO!" at us countless times per day, doesn't listen, and throws massive temper tantrums. She has a mind of her own! She always adds the words "right now" to the end of anything she's asking us to do. For example, "Daddy, want cookie right now," or "Mommy, go swing right now;" funny but baffling at the same time. We've got to reign the ordering us around in soon, we realize. She does get disciplined for all of this, of course. We are not about to let her get away with the bad behavior, but I do fear that this is only the beginning of what we will see to come.

*She is soooo moody. She can go from all-out crying, screaming, throwing a fit to all-out laughing in about 5 seconds flat, maybe less than that. Oh I fear the teenage years...

*She is nowhere NEAR close to potty training. She is going to be one of those that has to just decide she is ready. If we even mention the potty she runs away yelling, "No potty! No potty!" So yeah, I think we will be changing her diapers still for a little while longer.

*She loves to torture the cat. She chases him around the house pulling his tail, sitting on him, stepping on him, trying to pick him up, and just yelling, "No, Hobbes, no no!!" at him over and over again. Why? I don't know, but she seems to think it's hilarious. Luckily he is very patient with her, and we are doing our best to protect him and teach her how to be gentle with him.

*She is incredibly loving and nurturing (most of the time ;). She's always giving us hugs and kisses and wanting to sit and just cuddle with us. She loves to take care of her baby dolls- brushing their hair, putting shoes on them, putting diapers on them, etc. She's such a little mommy.

*She loves to be outside and especially loves to be in the water. She would run around outside in the sprinkler all day and night if we let her.

*She hates art or any kind of crafts. She'd rather eat the crayons. Guess who she got that from...?

*She's a great eater and a great sleeper, and always has been for the most part. Right now she sleeps 12-13 hours at night and then takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Praise the Lord!

*She can recognize lots of different shapes, numbers, and letters. Colors are harder for her. I think it's just such an abstract concept that it's going to take a little while longer.

*She picks up on any little word that we say and echoes it. Yeah...that's been interesting, let me tell you...

*She is incredibly slow to get her teeth. She is in a lot of pain b/c they're just taking so long to come in, but she's learning to deal with the pain I think. Some days are better than others for her. She's currently trying to get her bottom canines and only has one set of molars, along with her front ones, so it's going to be awhile.

*We love her so much and thank God every day for the little miracle we have running around our house and screaming her head off!

Here are some recent pics from this summer...Hope you enjoy!


At my mom's lake house...

Swimming in the lake with her Grandma. She wouldn't stand up pr walk on her own in the water and only wanted us to hold her and entertain her. Yet another example of Hope the Diva....



On the way to church in the outfit Aunt Suzann and Uncle Barrett sent. Thanks ya'll!!



Playing in the sprinkler that my mom got her for her birthday. She LOVES it!















Pics from Children's Camp...
She got this dress from Uncle Collin and Aunt Janelle for her birthday! Thanks again guys!