Jesus! Jesus!

Every statue of a man that you see is Jesus to you. You beg to see Jesus in the manger at church, and you can stay there for a very long time just looking at the Nativity scene. You know that His body hangs on every crucifix you see, and you will give Him a kiss just like I taught you how to do when you were so very little.

Now you've come into a deeper knowledge of Jesus through the His Body and Blood. "Eucharist" is your new favorite word, and you ask me to show it to you on our flash cards. At first we thought you just like the word because it's fun to say - like "brachiosaurus" and "Francisco" - but I see an excitement in your eyes...an understanding that we couldn't imagine having ourselves at just two years old.

What a special gift this is for Jesus...this love you have for Him. We pray this Christmas that it will continue to grow...that you will always be excited to see Him and be with Him always!

Love,
Mommy

Comedianne

You have to be one of the funniest kids I know. You like to talk and share things with us...make us laugh...jump around...sing and dance. "Elmo Potty" is now your favorite DVD, and we have so much fun watching you dance around to "The Potty Song". Daddy says you have a really good memory. I have to agree because you easily memorize songs and lines from everything you watch. You even copy Daddy's mannerisms because you spend so much time with him.

Now at 26 months (tomorrow), you really love playing with Therese most of the time and she definitely enjoys your company. A couple of days ago when I was resting, I heard you push the bedroom door open and say, "Come on, Therese. Shhh...sleeping. Shhh...sleeping." It was so cute.

I wish I could write down every little thing that comes out of your mouth!

You call me Mommy now - as of a couple weeks ago - and I love it! Since I've been sick this past week, you'll come in and visit me, stand at the foot of the bed and say, "Hi, Mom."

You officially know all your letters and can count to 20. I think you've been doing this for over a month now.

You've also grown very attached to your monkey and the Sleeping Beauty baby that Ati gave you.

Daddy said you did a football move on your own today, which made him really happy. =)

I think it was super-sweet when you laid your head on Lola's lap on Thanksgiving at Tita Emeline's house.

Oh, so many things to remember, Lea! We love seeing what new things you're going to do next! Thank you for always keeping us entertained...it's a lot of fun having you around!

Love,
Mommy

ABC's

We have much to catch up on, little Lea!

You will be two years old in just a couple of weeks!  Tonight when we were hanging out, you asked for the cow in the iTouch.  When I turned the spelling game on, you took the iTouch from me and started moving the letters around into the right spots.  When you spelled your first word, you jumped up and down yelling, "I did it!  I did it!"  You were so happy!  You spent a long time spelling names of animals on our game, and you smiled saying, "Good job!" whenever you got another animal's name spelled.  After a while, you didn't seem to need the praise anymore...you were just determined to spell as many animals as you could. =)

I'm glad that you love to learn - you're such a good student!  It's fun to watch you get so excited about new things.  Earlier this week when I was opening the mail, you picked up a Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon and started naming the numbers and letters you saw!  I was so surprised and thrilled to tell Daddy because it meant that you've been paying attention to everything we've been teaching you!

Yay, Lea!

Lots more to come...

Love,

Mommy =)

Learning to read

This is the best picture I could take with your first reading word! =)  I was cleaning the living room and picking up the reading cards this morning.  You were over next to the rocker and said, "Jesus."  Then you walked over to me, handed me this card and said, "Jesus!"  Your read your first word, and it was JESUS!!  What a beautiful first word to read!  My heart melted...I was so touched... =)

Great job, baby girl!

Love,

Mommy =)

Praying with Mommy

Tonight:  1st Sorrowful mystery - I am praying...you and Therese are very squirmy.  2nd Sorrowful Mystery - I'm praying, you are rolling around on the bed, and Therese is squirmier.  3rd Sorrowful Mystery - I try another hold with Therese, you want me to hold you, too...then you start singing and dancing the "Disco Roll".  4th Sorrowful Mystery - I'm praying, you lie down next to me and start singing the "Goodbye" song...halfway through the 4th mystery you start praying the Hail Mary's with me for the first time!!  5 in a row - whoohoo!!  Then you looked tired so I told you that you could go to sleep.  5th Sorrowful Mystery - I'm praying, and you and Therese are asleep.

What a beautiful evening...

Love,

Mommy =)

Playing Catch-up

Hi, Meleana!

I'm sorry it's been a while since I posted. Life has been so busy since your baby sister was born and I went back to work. But don't worry! I will be on vacation soon and will be able to spend lots of time with you, Daddy, and Therese.

You are now almost 1 year and 8 months old. You do and say so many more things now! I think you inherited Daddy's humor, his love for dancing, and the ability to entertain yourself.

You talk a lot (most words in your conversations we can't understand yet, but you're definitely saying something!). And you do like to repeat words and phrases that Mommy and Daddy say to you - you're so smart!

Your favorite shows now are Yo Gabba Gabba, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Sid the Science Kid, and Veggie Tales. A couple of days ago, you were doing the "Freeze dance" from Yo Gabba - it was pretty funny!

You also say two complete sentences: "Hi, sister!" and "I poopoo". Last week you started saying "Therese". I'm so glad you love your baby sister. You are always aware of her in the room, going to check on her, and trying to play with her. You like to greet her with "Hi, sister!" and you pinch her clothes, saying "Doop!" I don't know what it means, but you always laugh after you do that!

On Memorial Day, we took you to Splash with your cousins, and you had so much fun going down the Lazy River. You were floating along in your swimming vest saying, "Wheee! Wheee!" In a couple of weeks we'll be going to Lawrence Welk with Lola and we can take you swimming again!

Sometimes I get sad when I realize that you're not a baby anymore, but we're looking forward to watching you grow up and go through the different phases of life.

Until next time!

Love,
Mommy

Ate Lea welcomes Baby Therese!

Yay! Your new baby sister, Therese Hope, was born on Friday, March 13th at 3:17pm at Queen of the Valley Medical Center...the same place you were born! You even had the same Labor & Delivery nurse, Alex! =)

As you can see, you love your sister very much. You like to give her kisses on her head and pat her back...today, you even helped me change her diaper! Her hiccups make you laugh and you have a lot of fun playing with her little hands.

God is so good to us...He gave us two beautiful daughters whom we love very much. It's exciting to know that there is a great plan He has for our family, and we will definitely enjoy watching you both grow up to walk this path together.

Thank you for being such a wonderful big sister!

Love always,
Mommy