These are a few of Rowan's favorite things:

1. Blankets. Soft ones preferred.
2. Clocks. I'm not sure where or how she developed this obsession, but it's her first rule when visiting a new place- Find all the clocks in the room, point them out with a finger and a "Clock!" maybe a few tick tocks. And she's always excited. ALWAYS excited to discover clocks.
3. Pillows. She especially likes to bury herself under them. Burrow under them more like. Today after nap time she had to get all-count-four blankets out of bed with her and in my arms.
4. Food. Especally marshmallows, but we've been through that.
5. Barbie shoes to carry around in her mouth. Lately she's been discriminating about she puts in her mouth. If they are small, they make it. If not, no slobber.
6. Nakedness! Need I say more?
7. Baths!
8. Books. Lots and lots and lots of books.
9. (defeated) toothpaste. I found her sucking a tube the other day and had to call Poison Control. Nothing serious, but nevertheless, the tubes are all safely tucked away. She did smell nice for a couple of hours, though.
10. Wallowing in beds. (Pillows, blankets, softness, burrowing)
11. Three fingers in her mouth.
12. Transporting objects to different parts of the house. She also likes to give random things to random people to show her affection. If you get a leaf, cigarette butt, wood chip, barbie shoe, or blanket, feel special.
13. Blocks, cars, and BALLS! Throwing is also a favorite pasttime.

Rowan- here's to you, my queen of comfort, engineer, and transporter! You add such a unique presence to our household.

Now, repeat after me.

Bella. My little dictator. Her favorite thing to do now is play with those little disney princess barbies with the rubber clothes and shoes. She will play for hours upon hours. It's nice until little sissy comes and sneakily steals one. Off she goes, delirious and running and fast as she can. It makes it difficult, however, because she's laughing and squealing as fast as she can at the same time. What a rush! Until sister catches her and takes the stolen goody away.
Anyway, Bella only wants me to play with her so that I can make one or two talk to her other barbies. Oh, the adventures we have! Road trips! Doctor visits! Ghost hauntings! Resurrections! (Thank you, Lazarus bible story) Marriages! There are too many scenarios to list. The funny thing is, she doesn't just want me to talk. She tells me exactly what to say. . .

Bella: "Mommy, say 'Oh, you look so beautiful in that! But if you take it off, you will get into trouble.'"
Me: "Oh, you look so beautiful in that. But if you take it off, you will get into trouble." (I'm never as animated as she is).

I'm not sure WHY she has me say it. Only Bella knows. Maybe she pities me. Mommy never has as much fun as her barbies. I try to reason with her about it. "Bella, you are saying word for word everything you want me to say. Don't you just want to play that part?" Bella: "No, Mommy, you say, 'rescue him before he drowns!'" And off we go again.

Maybe she's just a playwright/director in the making.

Hot.

Rowan. She is such a treat. The other day, for the first time, we were able to "turn on" our fireplace. Is that stupid or what? You shouldn't be able to turn on your fireplace. Aahhh! I miss REAL fires, fires that actually burn something, crackle authentically, and require poking. Anyway, it was on. Rowan was A M A Z E D. Don't you wish you could go back to that kind of wonder? Her little mouth was open, in shock at this amazing feat we had accomplished by flipping a switch. She wanted to get closer and closer. . . until "NO NO! It's hot!" Poor girl. A little while later we look over at her again, and there she is, by the fire. Again. But this time she was working. Her little lips were sticking out and little puffs of wind were going out of her mouth.
She was trying to cool it off, dear thing. Ah, love it.

Swine flu survivors

I have an idea. Why don't we start a club called Swine flu survivors? All of us who have had swine flu and IT WASN'T A BIG DEAL! can join. Would you like to be a member?

Nervous

Bella is nervous, or so she says. About everything. "Daddy, it makes me nervous when you won't let me do what I want to do." "Mommy, that makes me nervous." "I don't like it when Rowan cries. It makes me nervous." etc, etc.

I love the experimentation with words. It makes me chuckle. I think that's why she does it.

I made the mistake of giggling deliriously one night when she started talking about poo poo. I can't remember the exact conversation, but it had something to do with eating, and then poo pooing, and then poo poo got on everything, and then she licked the poo poo, and then the poo poo wouldn't come off and poo poo (the word) was on everything. Poo poo popsicles, poo poo teddy bears, and made up words. Who knows what poo poo ga gooey is? Diarrhea? So now, potty talk is all the rage. What have I done?

And by the way, potty talk isn't nearly as entertaining during normal waking hours. We've tried it.

My mentor

I love my mentor, Dail. I think it will be a very good thing, and I know God has brought us together for a reason. We are reading, Desiring God by John Piper. So far, it has been a good choice. I look forward to reading more.

Haven's head

We went to get our 4D ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. She's beautiful. Right now, we think she looks like Rowan, but all bets are on. She sure does feel heavy. I don't remember feeling so pregnant last time. Dr. Stanley suggested we book an induction date for Dec 31st, so we did. Tax write-off here we come! It's amazing to me how 5 days makes thousands of dollars difference. I guess that's one of the benefits of having a financially minded spouse. I've never made such a big decision based on money before. How do you feel about induction dates? Any holiday babies out there with suggestions?

We had the ultrasound done because Haven had a cyst in her brain at our last ultrasound. Praise the Lord, it was gone! All the other markers for chromosomal abnormalities were absent, so we are expecting a healthy little girl.

I'm teetering on the line between over-nesting her room and not doing anything at all. How is that possible? All I can say is third pregnancy.

How do you all feel about making decisions to limit the number of children? Is it lack of faith? Is it common sense? The wise men consults many, so please inform. I think we are all led differently (within the guidelines we have in the Bible), so don't be insulted if I don't follow your advice. Here are my reasons for stopping now:

1. This pregnancy has been harder on my body, to say the least.
2. I'm not called (yet) to adopt.
3. I want to be involved in my children's lives and in their children's lives.
4. I want to be available to the kiddos I have.
5. I would like to be able to fit our family comfortably in a normal sized vehicle and house.
6. I want to be able to teach them and spend one-on-one time with them in God's word.
7. I want to be the one (or one of the ones) to experience life with them and to know what's going on.
8. I think some people make it look easy. I feel like my body is about to fall apart. I feel like my brain is about to fall apart. I feel like my emotions are about to fall apart.
9. Two words: Three weddings. Two more words: Four periods. Two more words: Husband's sanity.
10. One word: Money (I'm not as worried about this. I think God provides what we need.)

And the other side: I love our girls more than my own life. If we had more, I would trust God to give me same love for them all. (I'm just worried that the quality of the girls we have is going downhill with my energy level.) Nevertheless, children are a gift of God. They are a blessing, and I do feel very blessed to be the mom of the girls I have. If we had more, I trust that I would be even more blessed. I'm just waiting on God's guidance. I've already given my life over to Him, and He is eternally faithful to me. If He wants me to have more, let it be done. And if He doesn't (or His plan for me is something else), then let that be done as well. And please help me to have peace with that decision. Even if that decision is waiting.

Home Improvements

Our house has a new roof thanks to the hail in July (and the Lord, of course). We have prayed over our roof since we moved in. We knew it would be expensive, and dangerous, to reroof. They took 2 1/2 days to finish the job, because they said it was the most difficult one they have ever done. But is was good practice, because they begin our neighbor's steeper roof this week. No broken bones and better traction for painting the outside which will begin this weekend (Lord willing). New roof, check. Paint job, almost check. New flowers, after paint. All the other little jobs to finish before Haven arrives? Many small miracles to come.

The nod

Yay! Rowan finally started answering questions with either a nod or shake of her little head! It is so nice to see the brains working in there. Communication! What a great milestone!
My favorite conversation went as follows:

(Oven beeps. Rowan thinks it's the alarm system for the garage door.)
Rowan: "Where Dada?"
Me: "At work, honey. He'll be coming home soon."
Rowan: "Car-car?"
Me: "Yes, in his car."
Rowan: "Beep?"
Me: "Yes, the oven beeped. Not the door."
Rowan: "Dada. Eat. Ba-ba. Bankie. Nigh-nigh. Dada. Nigh-nigh."
Me: "Okay, when daddy gets home, you want to eat, get your baba and blankie and go night night. With Daddy, not mommy."
Rowan: "Dada nigh-night."
Me: "Okay, daddy will put you to bed tonight."
Rowan: (smile) "Beep!"

And we traded "Beeps!" until Daddy finally got home.