If the tag says 6 - 9 months.......it probably won't fit.

I had a startling realization yesterday. My baby is actually getting bigger.

Sounds silly, I know, but Savannah has been so small, off-the-charts small, for such a long time. I got to the point where I just assumed she would be at least a year behind in her clothing sizes. When she turned a year old, all of the 12 month clothes that she got for her birthday just hung on her, and I could still get some of her 6 month clothes on her. Last summer when she was 18 mos. she had several 6-9 months dresses that fit her beautifully. And at her 2 year birthday, she was wearing one of the 12 month outfits that she got last year when she turned one. So, recently, when I went through her closet and brought to the forefront all of her pretty summery dresses, I looked at the 6-9 month dresses that she had worn last year, held them up to her,and determined that she could get another summer's use out of them.

This past Sunday was my day to work in the nursery, which means I have to be there earlier than Ricardo. On these days it becomes his job to dress Savannah, comb and "fix" her hair (I use the term "fix" loosely here), and get her presentable for church. I, of course, have her dress, tights, shoes, and hair accessories laid out and ready to go the night before. He is a trooper about it and never complains, and I concentrate on the fact that while her hair may not be adorned properly with one of her many bows, at least the tangles have been combed out.

As I was walking down the nursery hallway, I noticed Ricardo and Savannah coming towards me. She was wearing the dress I had picked out the previous night. I couldn't believe it.....the dress was obviously too tight on her.

"Wow, is that dress a little small?" I asked Ricardo.

"Well, yeah....look at it! I had to make her lay on her tummy just to get it zipped up!"

"What! Why didn't you just pick something else out for her to wear?" I thought I was stating an obvious solution.

""Cause you had that all ready to go, you picked it out, so I thought that's what she should wear." Makes perfect sense to me.

I do believe he has a phobia of venturing in Savannah's closet and being responsible for actual clothing choices for her. This is probably not helped by the fact that I have laughed (more than once) when he actually has picked something out for her, with unfavorable results.

So today I retired that dress along with a couple of other ones. It always makes me sad to put away clothing that has been outgrown, because it means that phase in her life is over, and she will never go back to being that size. Which is a good thing. But sad nontheless. My baby is growing up.

So proud of you, honey!

I am So. Incredibly. Proud. of my wonderful husband right now. I am actually in tears, that is how proud of him I am. :) This week the regional manager, Brien, came down from Seattle to accompany him to some of his meetings and presentations. I wasn't sure how it would all work out, Ricardo is so new at this, and I felt that Ricardo might be intimidated in his presentations with Brien there. Well! I shouldn't have bothered to worry. I just received an email that Brien sent to corporate, and he copied me on it. Here is a small excerpt:

Per our conversation regarding the high quality of Ricardo's Presentations. When I questioned him as to precisely how he came to be so proficient and polished in such a short period of time he indicated that a majority of his skill came from watching the video you did of a structured full blown Presentation and practicing it. The quality of his Presentations this week have been the best I have seen in 10 years from someone who has been in the field such a short period of time.

So. Did I mention I was proud? Sorry, I'll stop now, but it is another reminder to me that this was the right step for us to take, and that it's all going to be ok .

Love you, honey!

When the day is done

One of my very favorite times of the day is 9:00 in the evening, when Savannah goes to bed. And not for the obvious reason that she is down for the night and out of my hair...not at all. I love it because we all lay down together on the big bed in her room, Ricardo, Savannah, and I, and talk and giggle together, and then finally pray together. She loves the little routine. She climbes up on the bed, unassisted, of course, since all 2 years olds like to do things themselves.

"Lay down, Mama," she instructs, if she doesn't like the way I am positioned on the bed. "Lay down, Dada."

Ricardo tickles her and makes her giggle that sweet baby giggle, then she plugs her thumb in her mouth and lays her curly little head down between us.

And then Ricardo prays.

And it is the sweetest moment imaginable.

He prays our thankfulness for the good day that we have had, and that we would have a restful night and sweet dreams. He prays that we would be good parents to our little treasure, and that she would grow up to love Jesus all the days of her life. I have heard him pray this hundreds of times, but I never get tired of it. When he is done, she echoes our "Amen", and sits up to give hugs and kisses. I place her in her crib, and as I leave she calls out, "I love you! Good Night! See you in the morning! See you tomorrow! I love you! I love you! I love you!"

Yes, definitely one of my favorite times of the day.

A Breakfast Prayer

Her little face looks so angelic as she concentrates on keeping her eyes closed (no small feat when you are 2). I also love how small her hands look resting in the bigger ones next to her.

Spring in the Land of Enchantment

I am so homesick for green right now. As in, green trees, green grass, anything but blowing dust and tumbleweeds. I love the mild weather here, and am so excited that it's spring, but it makes me sad when I see the tiny little plot of grass that we put in our backyard last year. Sure, it's better than nothing, but we have to water it every single day, sometimes twice a day, in order for it to stay alive through the summer.

Here is a shot of our little backyard (it looks better in the summer, I promise...it hasn't turned green yet).



Here is a shot of Dad and Mom's yard (go ahead and ignore the fact that there is a wedding party in the foreground and just concentrate on the yard).



See what I mean? That is a real yard.

We have a little nectarine tree, which provided us with a little pop of color this spring.



And our little violets, which started peeking out of the ground in late January.



Happy Spring, everybody!