Our answered school prayer

I've always heard the phrase "God works in mysterious ways". And I don't know if I agree with the word mysterious. But in many situations I am humbled that God will always provide in his own way and time.

For several months David and I prayed about the school that Sara and Sam were attending. We really felt a need to get them in a Christian environment. It became extremely important to us that they hear the word of God all day including while we were at work. We even acted ourselves and put them on waiting lists at nearby church daycare centers. And then waited.

The school we really wanted to get in to said it would probably be 6 months or more. And so we waited some more. Then one day I picked up the kids at school and the owner of Bright Beginnings came to me  and told me they were closing the school in 2 weeks. What? "Okay, God. I want my kids to go to another school, but did you really have to close this one?" I don't understand the full situation, but I know God has a master plan that I don't fully comprehend.

So we freaked out for a day or more, then started calling and praying that we could find them a great school in just a couple of weeks. After a stressful two weeks we ended up at the school that we had waited to get in to after two spots just happened to open up.

Since then Sara has been a different child. She comes home from school singing new songs and telling us what she learned and all about her new friends. Sam on the other hand is getting the discipline he needs and not so happy about it all the time.

My prayers have since been with the employees of Bright Beginnings. We all miss you!

Thank you Lord for knowing what we need and when. And please pass on your blessings to others in this situation.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Wow...I'm really bad at this blogging thing!

I just realized after reading a friend's latest post that it has been a while since I wrote a blog post. And "a while" actually is 8 months! I'm going to try and get better at this, but no promises.

Since I've missed out on 8 months let me catch you up. Here are a few of the big milestones in our life:

-Sam turned 1!
-We had our first family vacation as a family of 4.
-Sara and Sam switched schools.
-David and Saranda went on a trip to Atlantis.

Good grief...those look like blog posts all on their own. If you super-moms out there know the trick to actually sticking with this help me out!

Saranda

Oh the life of potty training!

Not sure if other moms can chime in here, but the past year of potty training Sara has been an adventure! I am so jealous when I hear other mom's stories of potty training. 

"Girls are so easy!" 

"All I did was put you in panties. You thought they were so pretty and didn't want to mess them up that you were pretty much potty trained then."

"Elmo and a potty chart worked for my boys."

We started trying to introduce Sara to the potty when she was about 2. Zoe could already go to the potty, so why couldn't Sara? That got a little bit of her interest. We didn't push at all, but just tried to slowly encourage her to be a "big girl" and try out the potty. 

We then tried potty chart, stickers, Dora potty seat (thanks to Ms. Frances), surprises, cute panties, etc. etc. etc. All of this was working for a little while. Sara got to where she would potty at school. Then Sam came along! And one glorious morning while Mommy was feeding Sam, Sara and Daddy had a little potty run in which resulted in Sara not going at all for a full 24 hours. Then stopping all together.

A year later and lots of prayers and drama, I can officially say Sara Ellen is using the potty! And she is so happy about it. You should see her get so excited. And then announce it to her entire dance class. (Of course I really wanted to as well.)

What did it take you ask? Sara Ellen wanting to do it because her new friends at school go to the potty. With her teacher's and friends encouragement Sara is almost 100% potty trained in about a week. 

I better go ahead and start saying my prayers for patience with Sam!

Sara Ellen turns 3!

It was always strange as a child to listen to your family recount the day you were born. And of course you have no idea what they are talking about, but eventually come to learn the stories as your own.

A little annoying then, but I totally understand now. I remember perfectly the day my sweet Sara Ellen was born 3 years ago. From the induction, to labor pains, to c-section...it was all so worth it and barely a memory to compare to the first time I saw her sweet face! I never knew you could be instantly attached forever to a life. While I will probably annoy Sara in the future with my stories and memories I hope she always knows how special and loved she is!

For her 3rd birthday we celebrated at A Play Place with great friends and family DORA style! It took a lot of explaining of when her birthday would finally get here...Scarlett's birthday comes first, then Alyssa's birthday, then Daddy's birthday...then Sara's birthday!

And who's comes next? "Jesus' birthday!" Can't wait to see you all there. And just ask David she insists on candles and a cake.

BEWARE...Sam is mobile!

You heard it here first!

Samuel Bennett West is now crawling. And not just a little scooting type crawling. He's been doing that for a couple of weeks. This is full out "getting it":

Yay Sam! Now don't do it anymore....please. Just stay the stationary baby for a little longer.

Sara & AWANA

About a month ago we went to church on Wednesday night and went to drop the kids off. Much to our surprise Sara ended up getting moved up from the 2 year old class to AWANA. She is officially a Cubbie!

Made me a little nervous because I wasn't sure she could hang with the other big kids. However the first night she quoted her bible verse perfectly: "God loved us and sent his Son." Miss Julie was so excited she took her around to say it for everyone. 

Since then she has continued to learn her bible verses every week and just received her Lamb Patch. 

So proud of Sara!

Sam's getting BIG!

Sweet Sam turned 6 months old last week. I cannot believe he is getting so big...And when I say big I mean literally BIG!

At his check-up he weighed 21 lbs. Doesn't sound that big until I looked up the healthy range for a 6 month old: 13 to 21.1 lbs. Does that mean he is almost unhealthy? Not sure, but the doctor said he was doing well. 

 

Not only did Sam hit an important age, but I am also making him grow up a little too soon. Sam received his first haircut and first BAD haircut all at the same time. See picture below:

Yes it is very crooked! Unfortunately it's not just the picture. 

Sara also introduced Sam to the sandbox this week. Of course the first thing he does is take his wet hands and sticks them in the sand. Then puts both sandy hands in his mouth! Oh well. Has to eat dirt sometime. Might as well start them early. 

I thank God every day for my beautiful children. I am very blessed!

Saranda