Hey there, Old Friend!

We are just going to pretend that it hasn't been almost a year since I last wrote on here and jump right back in, mk?

I was very, very close to letting the blog go and forget ever updating it again. Life has kind of held me captive. Thankfully all is well. I have to admit, though, it is so much easier to capture a picture, add a short caption, post it to Facebook or Instagram, and have the moment recorded. But I do miss having updates and posts with actual words. So, I am dusting off the keyboard and getting back to blogging.

It feels overwhelming to try to go back and fill in the last year, so I will leave that up to you to look through Facebook and Instagram posts for all the details :) I am going to give a quick, picture-filled post to recap the most recent things. (Who am I kidding, it probably won't be quick... I always have too much to say!)

Let me tell ya, life with a toddler is FUN and definitely keeps me busy. Sarah is now 22 months. Not our little baby anymore! It seems like Eli and I keep saying each stage is so fun, but this is hands-down the best so far!

Sarah is full of life, giggles, and independence. She is extremely strong-willed, curious about everything, and has all of her grandparents, aunts, and uncle wrapped tightly around her finger. So I don't forget, here are some of my favorite things about this sweet girl:

• She loves to sing, but never on command. Some of her favorites include "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "You are My Sunshine," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Jesus Loves Me," "Old MacDonald," "Wheels on the Bus," "ABCs," and of course, "Let it Go." 
• Her favorite foods are "nummies" (gummy snacks), "stawbies, blackbies, bluebies" (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries), watermelon, any kind of chicken, avocado, brown rice, and chips and salsa. Really, she loves anything she can dip. hotdogs in ketchup, pancakes in syrup. Oh, and gluten free cupcakes, thanks to Nana ;)

• She has recently started praying before meals and before bed. Her prayer is the same every time, but couldn't be any sweeter. "Tan-too Jesus. We wuv you. Amem." If you don't speak toddler, that translates into "thank you Jesus, we love you, amen."
• She can count to 14, say all of her ABCs, knows most of her colors, and recognizes a few shapes. She proves how smart she is all the time!
• Any time she wakes up from a nap, she will yell "Momma.... arrrr you?" It melts my heart to hear that she wants me like that. Every time.

• Also, she has the best bed-head. All day long.
• "I need it." No matter what it is, if she wants it, it's important to her. Then if we ask her to ask nicely, she says "I need it, please?" 
• She talks in complete sentences and refers to herself as I, Me, or Sarah. Her sentences are not always understandable, but she does a very good job most of the time communicating to us. I love hearing her put words together and tell us what she is thinking or needs. She amazes me every day!
• Her favorite movie is Frozen. She asks to watch it  e v e r y d a y . 
• She can be a bit of a stinker, but she really is a very sweet girl. She loves to help around the house, like cleaning, picking up toys and washing veggies. She even sings "tean up eddybody" (clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere...) 

Goodness, I love her!


About 2 months ago, we had a very scary trip to the ER with Sarah, which resulted in an overnight stay at the hospital and many, many tests. We are not completely sure of the cause, but Sarah had a febrile seizure. While this was extremely scary and hard to handle, the doctors assured us that this is actually more common than we think and Sarah is completely fine. Our God is good and he is taking care of our girl. She was so brave and reacted much better than we thought to the hospital scene. And she was the cutest little patient ever.  * Don't let the right picture scare you - she has an EEG brain scan on to monitor for seizure activity. Baby had to have a "pretty hat" too :)

This post has gotten pretty long, so I'm going to end with a few pictures of recent things we've done.


Her first swim lessons. She has grown to love being in the water, but is still not fond of going under. But hey, we have progress!

We took her to the splash pad the other day, but she hated it... So, we ended up in the creek. This girl cracks us up. She wouldn't get close to the sprinklers at the splash pad, but she would wade in the creek up to her neck with her Daddy. I'm so grateful for him and how he shares his love for adventure with our girl. 

 Fourth of July parade.

Dear Sarah, 

It has been a while since I have written you a letter on here, but know that I grow more in love with you each day. You have a sweet spark to you that lights up our family. You can be quite the stinker sometimes, but Daddy and I wouldn't be who we are without it! It's your sass and independence that makes you our Sarah. You are so smart. You amaze us with your knowledge of numbers, letters, and words. I know God has big things in store for you. We pray every day that you would grow in your love for him and worship him with your life.

I love you more, 

Momma

**I have another post in the works about our upcoming trip to Turkey. Stay tuned!!