The Many Faces of Haven

Contemplating her dinner...

Mischief?

Gotta love that tongue :)

Happy face

Thoughtful

What big eyes you have!

Blurry...

Scrunchy smile

There's that tongue again...

These are post-haircut photos. See the baby bangs?

Sweetie

So serious

Laughing

So happy...

Serious as she talks on the camera lens cell phone.

Making Cornbread Muffins

Hope loves to help in the kitchen. Our kitchen is not very "kid-friendly" so it is usually off limits, unless Hope is helping me with something. She's getting much better at following directions and keeping her grabby hands to a minimum.

So, about a week ago we made some cornbread to go with our dinner. Hope helped me to add all the ingredients into the bowl and stir it all up. Then she helped me pour out the batter into the muffin tin.

Of course, the best part of helping to bake is the end result and being able to help consume it!

Welcome, Welcome...

For those of you who may not know... I am a Seventh-Day Adventist. Every Friday is spent in preparation for the Sabbath, which starts at sundown on Friday and lasts until sundown on Saturday. I am not always able to do everything that I want to get done in preparation for the Sabbath. But as the sun sinks below the horizon, I stop my preparation and begin to welcome the Sabbath.

Some of the things that we've incorporated into our time of welcoming the Sabbath are lighting a few candles and playing a special Sabbath song. I love the feeling of knowing that we can rest from all our labor and leave our weekly worries in God's more than capable hands. Having these few special things to welcome the Sabbath with helps to set it apart.

Sabbath is a time of rest, a time of re-creation, a time to re-connect with God in a meaningful, special way. I don't rest on Sabbath because I believe it saves me. I rest because God knows I need it and has asked me to remember it. I know that He desires to spend this time with me.

As I sit here this Sabbath evening, I have peace in my heart. "Welcome, welcome, ever welcome, blessed Sabbath Day!"

February is Over

So, the month of February just flew by and I only posted once... I even had an extra day in the month.

A stomach bug has hit our family, well only the girls so far. Robbie and I have managed to evade it, but I am the one cleaning up the evidence. Ugghhh... hopefully it gets out of here soon.

Haven got her cast removed a week ago. She's not used to being without it now. The angle of her foot in the cast was greater than 90 degrees, so she has a hard time flexing her foot or standing flat footed. Hopefully, she'll relearn and regain that flexibility. We're doing some stretching exercises with her a few times a day. She still isn't very keen about walking again, yet.

There's nothing much else to write at this time, so I think I'll just leave you with some pictures...

Funnies

List of Haven's words (and their meanings):
sissue: sister
hing: hair
pipoe: pillow
dang dang: thank you
eye yaw ying: I love you
wawa: water
mow (sounds like cow): milk
beh: bread
wee: read
daw: dog
paypay: paper
bathing: blanket
deedew: tickle

Hope Quotes:

To me, while I was tucking her into bed, "Your hair looks like a field."

About her bunny,"He's not warm in his fluffy."

When Robbie was combing his hair, "Not all boys comb their hairs."

"I have three friends that I can play with: Haven, David (her imaginary friend), and Pear."
    I asked, "Who is Pear?"
"She's a fruit," was Hope's response.

I asked Hope if she would rather stay here all by herself or go with us. She said, "If I stay here all by myself I want someone with me."

Hope to Haven, "Haven, if you cough one more time we'll have to take you to the hospital."
"'Tay," said Haven.

A Break

Haven fell off a chair. I was in our bedroom when I heard a thud and she started screaming and crying. I immediately went out to see what had happened, and found her on the floor behind a couple of chairs. Both girls had been sitting on the chairs, side by side, a few minutes earlier.

I thought that she'd probably bonked her head, so I examined her but couldn't find any knots on her head. Hope said, "Mommy, you need to rock her now," and handed me her blanket. What a sweet big sister...

I sat down, holding Haven on my lap, but she didn't want to be held anymore, and asked to be put down. I set her down to stand on the floor, but the second her right leg touched the ground she pulled it up and started screaming again. That's when I knew that she'd broken her leg.

I buckled the girls up and headed to the closest hospital (and the one the girls get all their shots at). Hope asked if we would go eat at the Holiday Inn after we were done at the hospital. "We only do that after we get shots, and we're not getting shots today,"I told her.

A quick check-in, small wait in the emergency room sitting area, a cursory health history and examination Haven and I were whisked off for a speedy x-ray of her leg. She protested about her leg being man-handled but it was necessary.

In no time, the films were available and we were called in to the doctor's office to see the results. Greenstick fractures of both tibia and fibula!!! Poor little girl. 

After getting a cast placed, receiving medication and paying for services (only about $60) we were free to go. When we got home, Haven didn't know what to do with herself. She didn't even want to crawl. All she would do was sit in her high chair or on a mat on the floor. Hope was sweet and brought her toys to play with.

These pictures were both taken the day of the break.

Thankfully, she's feeling much braver, and able to crawl around. She even pulls up to stand while holding on to a chair or the couch now, but she won't put any weight on her leg (which is good). Once or twice I've caught her trying to climb up on something, but I just can't allow that :) This girl is definitely our adventurer and explorer. Something tells me this might not be the only break we'll endure with her...

Family Tradition

In my family, one of the things we would do after Christmas was save all the used wrapping paper. Then, on New Year's eve we would make party hats out of the scraps. So, I thought that this year I would share that with Hope and Haven.

Robbie participated by sharing Hope's hat for a second...

Happy New Year!