To cherish a dog...

For as long as I can remember, our family has always had a dog. I remember our beautiful, black, German shepherd in Ecuador, named Ebony. She was sweet and had a litter of precious puppies -- of which I named after my favorite "Sweet Valley High" characters. Pathetic, I know.
Then we had an cute little cocka-poo. His name was Meshach. No matter how much I wanted him to love me, he loved my mom more. Not a problem, since after all, she did feed him and take better care of him. He was probably sick of me constantly wanting to pet and hold him.
Now, Scott and I are blessed to have a wonderful black Lab, Coal. Aside from a heavy shedding problem, he is the sweetest and most obedient dog. I'm so glad he's a part of our family, and I'm thrilled Dani will have pictures and memories of him as she gets older. I do admit that I tend to complain a lot about having to clean up his hair that's all over the place, but I also cherish those special moments with him - when he rests his head on my leg for a little extra rub, when he joins me at Starbucks as I sip a frap and get into a good book, but most of all, just the comfort of having him around.
He loves Dani and enjoys being around her - most of the time. Today he let her just chill with him in his special corner of the laundry room. Sweet moments, hanging out with the dog...

Escuela!

Dani started school on Wednesday. We had Open House on Monday, and I wasn't sure how she would do. Her classroom is on the same hallway as her room for Sunday mornings at church. So, we walked in, she turned around and said, "Bye Bye, Mami! Te amo!" Only, I was planning on sticking around to meet her teacher.
When I dropped her off Wednesday morning, the first thing she did was run and get a book. She then found the "Happy Chair" which will be her favorite spot at the table, I'm sure. Come to find out, I think it's the time-out chair. I just hope that she doesn't like it so much she gets in trouble to sit in it. ha!
The day went well for her at school - so they said. She didn't nap, but I'm not surprised, as sometimes she doesn't nap until 2 anyhow.

This looks like it will be a good year for her, and I can't wait to start hearing about all her new adventures!

Daddy's home!!!

Scott is home to stay now! Yay! We're very happy his work has transferred him back to the local office.
Dani was ecstatic to see him, and it was just precious watching her joy and love for him.

Just wanted to share the good news!

Once Scott gets rid of the virus on our main computer, I'll post pics from the first day of school.

Summer

Well, it's almost time for a new school year to begin! Dani will be going to our church pre-school two days a week. We decided to sign her up, since Scott is still up in Tulsa, and it's nice for me to have those two days "off".
We recently got her new backpack, napmat, and lunchbox. It's so cute to watch her stroll through the house with her backpack on (blankie and books inside), and her lunchbox in hand. She also loves laying on her napmat and cuddling up in the attached blanket. Now, we'll see how she does with naptime in a room with 10 other 2 year olds. ha!
My sweet baby girl will be turning two next month. I hope to finally take some recent pics of her to post. Lately, I've been doing more videos than pics, so that Scott can watch her in action while he's away. It's sad how much he's missed out on, but at least she's still too young to remember this time of Daddy being away.
Maybe by the next time I post, he'll be back for good!

Blogging

You know... it's a weird blogging thing. I really enjoy reading all of my friends' blogs and seeing what they're up to. However, when it comes to me wanting to post on my blog, I feel guilty. I feel like I'm just writing about what's going on with us, and that it's a selfish thing. I don't know why I should feel that way, when I enjoy reading other blogs to keep up with what's going on in their lives.
I guess I was also noticing how few comments I get out there, and I started to wonder if people really even read this. If so, please leave me a word of encouragement. ;o)

Scott is still up in Tulsa - for who knows how long. We got to see him most weekends until summer came - now it's every other weekend. We miss him, but it's working out ok.

Dani is doing very well. She's soaking up vocabulary like a sponge! She's been counting in Spanish, but now she's picking up on the English numbers. It's fun to hear her say something in Spanish then give the English word too. Hooray for my bilingual baby!
She loves to hug and kiss - although most of the time, she's wanting to kiss on the lips (maybe from watching Mommy and Daddy?). We went to breakfast with my friend, Aprel, and her little girl, Liberty - Dani's sweet friend. As we were leaving, the girls hugged, and then Dani kissed her on the lips. he he he I'll work with her on the cheek kiss...

I've been staying busy here, and there will be company coming throughout the rest of the summer. Scott's fam will be celebrating the Fourth here with us - grandparents, parents, cousins, aunts/uncles, etc. Two weeks later, my bestest friend in the whole world, Joanne, will be coming with her hubby and little girl for a visit. Yay!!!
The following week, I will be blessed with the visit of an old friend from my high school days in Ecuador - Erin. I can't wait!

So, I'm wondering - why is it that summer is so much busier than the rest of the year - when I'm not working either way? Do more people just plans things in the summer months? Why is it that it's already going to be the first of July soon, and I feel like summer just began? AGH! Where is the time going???

Anyhooo... to all my sweet friends out there, whom I haven't seen in a long time - I do think of you often. Really, I do... and I wonder why I have been so horrible at keeping in touch. Maybe blogs make that easier - but thus prevent the need to really get together - when you can read about what's going on.

Hmmm...

Well, I hope you all are having a fabulous summer!

Daddy Daddy

Dani loves saying "Daddy" twice every time she says his name. I'm still wondering why I never hear "Mommy Mommy."

This next month or two will be a new challenge as I take on the roll of single parent while Scott is away on business. We did well today, but after a few days of Daddy not being here for the regular evening thing, I have a feeling our little girl is going to be having a hard time. See, getting ready for bed is special 'Daddy time'. We decided a long time ago, since I'm staying home, and he usually comes home late in the evening, that would be his special time with her. So, around 6:50, she starts saying "ducha" (shower -- which she still thinks is bath... but we are working on correcting...), then she heads upstairs and Daddy does the whole bedtime routine: bath, diaper and pj's, then reading time before putting her in the crib. Tonight, she was saying "ducha, daddy daddy" over and over.
We might try letting her talk to him on the phone every evening before bed. She loves talking to Daddy on the phone, although we haven't quite made it past "Hi, Daddy Daddy" and "Bye bye, Daddy daddy".

I'm hoping time will fly so he's back here with us sooner. I can't imagine what it must have been like centuries ago, when one had to keep in touch with their love by writing them a letter -- then waiting weeks to hear back. I'm so thankful to have the means to communicate with him whenever.

If you have any suggestions of good books I should get my hands on, feel free to pass along the info. I'd like to start reading more in the evenings, instead of getting caught up in too may reality tv shows.

It's too late tonight to crack open a book. So, I will end with "night night".

Espeak espanish?

I know, I know - *gasp* - So I'm finally posting after a two month hiatus!

The first month of 08 has almost slipped through my fingers, and I already feel the whirlwind of another year passing me by.

I'm daily amazed and entertained by my sweet baby girl. Today, as I was im'ing a friend, Dani discovered that if she spins around and around in circles, she gets dizzy and falls over. It was fun to watch as she twirled with her hands over her head, saying "weeeee!" Oh, the carefree life of a toddler! So, I paused for a moment, left my to-do list on the counter, and joined her spinning around the family room.... then the kitchen... then the hallway.

Amidst the joys of watching her grow and have new experiences, one thing I've been sure to work with her on is Spanish. Her vocabulary continues to grow. She started out just saying parts of words, like "che" for "leche" (milk), and "gua" for "agua". Now she's putting more together. Eventually she'll use more English, but for now, I think we'll stick with espanol.

From the beginning, I've said different body parts as I dress her - "pie" as I put her pants on over her feet, "mano" as I put her hands through her sleeves. She's catching on. This weekend she started saying "mano" all the time. She'd get her jacket, put her hand inside the sleeve, and say "mano". It's cute.

I love just hearing her babble. One morning, we walked into her room as she was jabbering away, and she had all her stuffed animals circled around her -- I'm wondering what she was telling them. ha!
Now it seems her jabbering is turning into more of a vocabulary list she goes over and over. She just repeats all the words she knows in a sing-songy-way. "Hi, Mama. Hi, Daddy. Hi, Coal. Bye Bye, Mama. Bye Bye, Daddy. Bye Bye, Coal. Che. Agua. Tita! Mano. Mano. Mano. Coal. Coal. Tuta. Pooh. Tita!" (Tita is her blankie, Coal is our dog, tuta is short for fruta...)

I'm loving it! I do hope to raise a bilingual child who can be fluent both in mind and heart. I pray she developes a passion for the world just outside her doorstep, as well as oceans apart from us.

People often ask me what I do all day as a stay-at-home mom. I believe it is my current assignment from God. After all, what could be more important than instilling morals, character, and a love for the Lord into a precious little soul? Believe me, I have plenty of work to do, and I stay busy. But it's also one of the most rewarding times of my life. It's a blessing.