On June 14, 2014, we celebrated the baptism and chrismation of our little Juliana.

What a wonderful and special day!

We felt truly honored that Jason and Sara agreed to be her godparents.

They take this very, very seriously.  I know they are praying for her daily.

I know that they love her and want to raise her up in our Orthodox faith.

What a wonderful gift she has been given.

Here we all are-two families becoming one!

A little snapshot of my family.

Sara and our sweets!

What an absolute treasure we have here in Charlotte.

Father Michael is so special.  

Here she is with her new godparents!

14 months

Potty time

 Little Joe hasn't been to keen on using the potty yet.  He still seems pretty content to just do his business in diapers and have us take care of the mess.  

I'm fine with him taking his time, but thought we'd give it a whirl recently.

Well, he sat...and sat...and sat.

He read books.

He looked through his entire Locomotive Encyclopedia (which he LOVES).

Incidentally, he loves trains so much that he watches scenic train ride documentaries.

He would rather watch an hour of a steam locomotive documentary with a narrative on the different aspects of the train and local scenery than just about anything else.

Back to potty training.

  So, he sat for a LONG time.

He even had a little visitor sit with him for a spell.

Nothing.

He drank water.

Nothing.

He tried. 

Going on the potty is hard work. 

He gave great effort.

Well, it will happen...someday.

We aren't rushing or pushing the issue.

Little Joe Man..you are one of kind.

My sweets loves to sit in her rocking chair and*read*. 

Just like mommy and big brothers, I think she will have a love of books as well.

 

A servants heart.

I have no words to express how grateful I am today.

My sweet Juliana has been sick since Monday morning.  She developed a fever literally hours after Darryl left on a plane to Florida for work.  With a febrile baby that wants to nurse all.day.long and night and a 3 year old that wants more attention because said baby has been nursing all.day.long and night, I have been very, very tired these last couple of days.  

I woke up this morning to a spotless home.

My big boys got up at 7 am.

They vacuumed and mopped all the floors.

They cleaned the kitchen.

They dusted the furniture.

They cleaned up the toys.

They cleaned all the fingerprints on the walls and doors.

The house was beautiful and clean.

They did this for no other reason than to help me.

Matthew said he felt bad because I had been up all night the last two nights and he could tell I was tired.

They truly have servants hearts.

That my friends, what an act of love.

No 12 year old boy wants to clean all morning, but they did for me because they love me.

I am truly humbled.

I am so grateful and undeserving.

How I love them so much!

Thank you my sweet boys, you have made my day.

My sweet Nicholas keeps stealing roses from the house that is in front of us...no worries, no one lives there.  He found the rose bush by an abandoned shed on their property and keeps finding new ones and bringing them for me to enjoy (and for little lady to smell)

Don't you just love the sweaty head?  

Oh, my little sweets...how I love you!

I love my sweet Nicholas as well. 

  He is always spotting flowers everywhere to bring to me.

He loves to ask neighbors if he can take flowers from their gardens because he knows flowers make me smile. 

Our neighbor has a hydrangea bush.  He told me today he has been asking her constantly when she thinks it will bloom and if he can have one for me.

That truly melts my heart.

 I do not deserve him. 

I do not deserve any of them.

Yet, God in his infinite grace and mercy has granted me these four precious souls to raise.

I forget this nearly everyday.

  Shame on me.

As I sit in my evening prayer time, I am constantly reminded of my failures during the day. I need to strive to be better, to listen more, to do more, to be more.

These children are so precious and our time together is so short.

If God grants me another day, I will wake up tomorrow and give HIM the glory.

I will then kiss and hug my children and be grateful.