My mama always told me...

that when things got reeeeally quiet, she knew my little brother Thys was in the other room doing something sneaky. Enter stage left into the room, and YES, there was some shinanagin he was pullin' and proud of it with a bit fat toothless grin to prove it. He was quiet about his sneakies from the very start!

"I'll never have a sneaker like that!!" I always told myself. That's just not me. I was always the rule keeper, you see.

Until today, when I ate a bit fat humble helping of my words yet AGAIN, from this parenting venture I'm on...

Little bug wasn't quite seeing the benefits of the strength building rest she could receive from a nap today and she was lettin' me know it with the volume she was producing from the room to my left, as I was distractingly typing away to prevent myself from hollering back with the same volumes. When all of a sudden...things got myyyyysteriously quiet back there. I took a gander over to the video monitor (one of the bestest shower gifts given to the Irwin 3) and saw that she was definitely quiet, but NOT so sleepy. There was a little paw reaching over the side of the bumper pad, outside the crib to something I couldn't quite see with my video monitor vision.

So, off I went to enforce and remind her of the strong benefits of a healthy nap for a growing toddler (and see what was lurking on the other side of the crib bumper, enticing little bug away from her precious slumber--durn temptations!!)

And what to my wondering eyes should appear?!?! No, not a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer.

Two tiny toddler hands re-folding the laundry that had already been folded once...by her mama, who left a heaping mile-high load of laundry in a basket, right at the foot of her crib, awaiting it's return to the proper home. The itty bitty sneaker had been running back and forth in the crib and must have spied this gem of a basket from a mile away and then realized it probaby wasn't the most proper way to spend her 1.5hr nap time: pulling each piece that she could reach into her crib and re-folding it into it's proper folding manner, according to her book. But by golly, she was gonna see if she could pull it off anyways!!! So, stealthily as she could do it, she snuck down to the corner of her crib, got all quiet as a mouse, and went to work.

UNTIL the mama arrived.

And had a REALLY hard time gently reminding this child that it was definitely still naptime, not laundry folding time while she received an 8-front-toothed grin that could have sold the sweat off a dead man's toe (as her daddy would put it).

I quickly slid the basket far out of her reach and just as quickly slid back out the door before I could not contain the bust-up of laughter that was dying to come out of me, any longer.

Should have figured something like this would have come by leaving laundry basket eye candy right at the end of her bed. We caught her last week unplugging her air purifying white noise maker every day at the end of her nap. We were wondering how the fan was always off, the three times we went in there, before we found the sneaky culprit. She was reaching under the crib bumper to see what she could find at short-toddler-arm-reaching level. The fan was also removed from the near vicinity of the crib.

Welp, time to go relieve her from toddler naptime torture. It's been an hour and a half and she's decided to use that to sing, burble, giggle and run and roll all around--the WHOLE time. Guess it's gonna be early to bed tonight!!

What can you do?! Not freak out, I'm learning. It doesn't help anybody or make anybody go to sleep, especially me.

Anyone else have these toddling woes?! Please shout out an amen!

SHE's a sneaker all right!! Can't you see it in those eyes?!?!

She's becoming...

bigger.

It was the mini-jeans and the mini-tennies that proved it to me today.

And her signing, telling me she had to go potty, as I raced her in to her big girl chair and watched her indulge herself for the 2nd time on the squishy potty training seat.

And the moment she answered my mom's phone, after looking at the image of me ringing in, and said "Mama?"

And the running into her cupboard, pulling out a bowl and shoving it into my face while pleading "Nack" (snack in her terms).

And the wiping down the kitchen floor with a towel, out of her own volition, because she had spilled some drips of bubbles.

Does anybody have the potion they drink to keep them mini, forever?

What happens when...

you give 2 easily excitable bubble-loving toddlers a bowl full-a bubbles

(bubbows in toddler-speak) on a kitchen floor?!
A BIG FAT WHOPPING mess of a wet floor,
WHICH equals 2 very happy bubbling-over-with-joy drenched girls!
WHATEVER it takes, is my new motto these days!
Another successful day of letting go of the mess and control!


(LINK to slideshow...http://picasaweb.google.com/turtle.irwin/ABowlFullABubbles?authkey=Gv1sRgCI604Zq4soPEwAE&feat=directlink)

Thank you Lord for your bubbling-over new mercies and fresh grace every morning!

A little CAPTIVATING shout-out...

These don't need much of a commentary... Just a BIG FAT thank you to my fabooooooo fotographic friend,

Kellie Trenkle with Captivating Photography and Design Co.

(http://vividly-captivating.blogspot.com/)

for a CAPTIVATINGLY beautiful year full o' pics

that captured our little darling in all of her glory and spunk,

enough to last us a lifetime.

Wonder where she gets it from?!

The Most Incredible Gift

Left us speechless, which is very difficult to do to the Irwin 3, as most of you know.

We arrived back at home today from 2 fun-filled days at Depoe Bay with Will's 'rents.

A large white package was anxiously awaiting our arrival, beckoning us to spill it's contents out all over the floor and pore over every last minute detail.

And so we did...

We inspected every last square...

Picked out every last ducky (the favorite parts for A-bug of course)

Drew out every last kleenex for every last sentence written in a well-thought out, well-orchestrated, well-loved, much pored over book to explain each quilt square that had a story behind it or a letter written, with a scripture given to savor in the heart of this little girl, for a lifetime.

You see, Anna has this aunty...This fabulously darling little blond thing right here...

Who obviously has a deep love for this babe from afar. And she decided that for Christmas, she was going to collaborate 100 different squares of fabric into a breathtakingly beautiful tapestry, mixed with pieces from my wedding jacket, her wedding dress, my mom-in-law's-from-my-wedding dress, grandpa's old ties, grandma's old fabric scraps, and the list goes on... And for each square there is a story. A bit of life story from Will's family's past and even open squares to add in from my family's past. So for each square, there is a coordinating paragraph in a fabulous binder o' explanation, with a personal letter written from a family member, or a quote, or a scripture for Anna to hang onto through life. I can't even fathom the time, the creativity, the coordination of other people's additions, the planning, the cutting, the arranging, the hand stitching and sewing and the great heart that went into this beauty. So, this is just a small tribute for the deep gratitude this family feels towards Sister Charissa and the others who added their loving words of life into her Christmas quilt.

Oh, I already can't wait for the day for her to understand the depth and height of love that was poured into this gift (and recognize there's more to the fabric than just the duckies.)

It's us, on a quilt.

Our story, of how little Anna came to be,

and of all those who love her and what they desire her to become.

I kept mulling over this verse as we were perusing each specially prepared and planned out square...

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." -Eph 2:10

Workmanship: masterpiece, poiema, handiwork, a "thing of His making".

Man, this quilt is quite the masterpiece of a workmanship, if I've ever seen one.

But even more so, I pray that this little girl, that I was privileged to be the carrying vessel for her to enter this earth by, who is SO deeply loved by so many others on this earth,

will ALWAYS know that just as this piece was created by her aunty with so much love and intimate care and detail, she too is one of God's greatest works.

A perfect "thing of His making".

There is nothing that could be added to or taken away from her to make her any more perfect than He made her to be...just her, just perfectly Anna.
And I feel so blessed to just sit back and watch her life continue on as she grows to know Her Maker, the Workman, the Masterpiece Designer who has His good works for her to discover and walk in.

Thank you Aunty Charissa for walking in one of God's good works for your life

and creating this beautiful poiema for our specially loved girl.

And a funny little sidenote...if you notice any blank squares, she even added squares for names of more babes to come!

Isn't she a sneaky lil' hinting sis?!
Yes more Irwin's will join in on the adventures SOMEday,

but until then we're enjoying the ride for 3!