Beautiful day!
Sophie & daddy looking tough
Chase thought that since Zoe couldn't hack the trails,
Superdad, for the record, carried BOTH kids over MUCH of the terrain (including wet rocks)
...you guessed it! Yeah, I'm a little "owl-obsessed" as B calls me.
Thank you God for the seasons!
Devoted to my son, Chase Alexander
“Heelstruck”
I know the real battle lies within
But even the outward, I’d be content to win
A heart of stone I can attest
So apparent at two
Also buried deep in my chest
Like a miniature mirror reflecting my sin
You walk around in need of Him
Only Christ can make your spirit new
So look to Him, for your worth and value
Even though God placed me over you
He knew I would falter and need Him too
And when I fail to do what I say
Let me not be your stumbling block, but instead pray
That I would shepherd you well in truth and grace
With understanding that you face what I face
The words He’s given me I now give you
Obey His commands, for they are right and true.
My heels are bruised from digging in
I refuse to let my toddler win!
Get out your shield. Get out the armor.
The battle is worth fighting! I have waged the war!
Your soul is at stake and the winner takes all
Parenting is only the microcosm,
Let us not forget the Fall.
The greater battle involves man and the snake
Evil has made its way in, now our eternity is at stake.
Cling to Jesus in the face of the serpent, my dear son
Take courage that the victory is already won!
The greater battle is inward you see!
Not about all the rules given by mommy.
Those are there to point you on the narrow path.
That you may inherit God’s blessing and not His wrath.
In this fight we are on the same side.
Against us the world, flesh, and devil collide.
They will all compete for the throne of your heart
This has been man’s struggle, even from the start.
The bruises we have from digging in
Are windows to the greater war of sin.
The mundane arguments encompassing this season of life
Are not without pain, not without strife.
But rather the fuel that forces us to our knees
Confessing aloud our guilty pleas
We eagerly bow our heads to receive
Your forgiveness, your love, your empathy
We reflect on the cost of our own stubbornness
How relentless our sin! But how much greater Your rest!
We remember that You paid the greater price
By Your atoning sacrifice.
By Your Spirit our salvation is sealed
And by Your wounds we are healed.
(Gen 3:15 & Isaiah 53:5-6)
3 has been an interesting age. Chase has gone from completely dependent on me to slowly learning to do things on his own. He wakes up earlier and earlier these days, puts his clothes in the laundry basket, wants to feed the dog and give her treats; he can get through all of our "baby" gates so we've found him wandering into certain places of the house where we don't want him! He gets his sippy out of the fridge and sometimes grabs fruit and proceeds to eat all of the strawberries and put them back in the container. Some mornings there is a puddle of water in the floor from him dumping the pitcher over b/c it was in the way of his sippy in the fridge. He enjoys going on tricycle rides but still loves the "baby" swing that is in our front yard. He's enjoying the water more and more and daddy even took him on the lake in a kayak.
He knows 1-20, is learning opposites, and all his ABC's and is becoming very good at jigsaw puzzles (the cardboard kind without any border as opposed to the wooden kind for toddlers). He works with daddy on the catechism and seems like he understand more and more about God and His creation. He says things like "you are beautiful Zoe" or "Soap-eeee. She's cute!" or "I love you da-da." He seems to understand manners and being compassionate more and more as he'll often say "I'm sorry 'bout dat mama" or "here ya go Soap-ee" (giving her a toy to make her happy). He also tells me about his dreams which 99.9999% of the time involve Lightning McQueen or Mater. He is eating better (as in more variety) but it is still often a struggle to get him to eat. Some days he will clean his plate and other days it's a battle to get him to eat one bite. We are in the throws of potty training. 
Let's just say the will of a toddler is a powerful thing. (READ: pray for Krisha in this! It can be super discouraging at times.) On the bright side, Chase gets lots of gummy bears ("yummy bears") , M&Ms ("emmawemms") and marshmallows as his treats for going. Currently his favorite toy is his lightning McQueen with his flashlight which he calls "smashlight". Brian and I thought it was funny the first time we heard it, we haven't felt the need to correct it. They are only 3 once, right?
Her hair is just spiraling everywhere and she apparently reminds a lot of people of me. She still has only the 6 teeth (her smile is pretty cute with only 2 teeth on the bottom)! She still isn't very comforted by me or anyone for that matter when she is tired. She cries and then curls up on her belly (bum in air) and puts one set of fingers in her mouth and the other set twists her curly locks. (See below for the standing variation)
It's prob my favorite Sophie pose. Why? A) for cuteness B) practicality- b/c it's her telltale sign she wants to go to bed C) it isn't a forced pose but a natural one that she made up so I can actually get it on camera!
(no Soap-ees were harmed in the capturing of this photo)
