Huggy Bug!!!

Like I said in the previous post, life has been insanely crazy.  But in the midst of the craziness, life goes on.  Wouldn't you agree that in general, time just passes way too quickly?  Isn't there a pause button?  Or a stop and smell the roses button?  Something?! 

 It seems like we just started the "FAMILY HUG!" tradition. But no, it's been almost 10 years!  Jason or I would call it out from wherever we were in the house (usually close to bedtime) and 2 little pairs of feet would come pitter pattering from opposite ends of the house and jump into a big family hug with kisses all around.  Abbey and Maddie were maybe 4 and 2.

(in case the all caps didn't make it abundantly clear, FAMILY HUG is something you drag out and say loudly and exuberantly.  Give it all the southern you've got!)

And in case that wasn't enough background on the whole FAMILY HUG tradition,  when Jason is traveling we have to say "FAMILY HUG WITHOUT DADDY" for those in our midst who feel the need to be exact.  We have also been known to say, "FAMILY HUG WITH MIA!" when Mia puppy is jumping up trying to be included. Sometimes there's a FAMILY HUG WITHOUT (insert sister's name who is otherwise occupied).

So, I've mentioned before that Anabelle talks NON-STOP.  Literally, from the time she wakes up, until the time her sweet little head hits the pillow, she does. not. stop. talking.   A lot of it you can't understand.  You can usually catch the gist of what she is trying to communicate from the words at the beginning and end of the sentence.

For example,  "Mommy, eh bee do da be na bo do rara bb KISSES, Nomi!" means "I just gave Nomi a kiss".  Or, "Abbey, ba do rabe no no doo ba SHOES, GO, GO, GO!" means, "Abbey, I want my shoes it's time to go, go, go!"

 You get the idea.  

Well, occasionally there is something that she says over and over with the same inflection in the same general situation, but NONE of us can figure out what in the world it means.  That's been the case the last few days.  She would say the same thing in the same way and then usually lean in and give me a big kiss.  (shoulda been my first clue but I'm going on 2 weeks of Jason traveling and my brain is NOT working on full power...)  So anyway, tonight it hit me- she's saying FAMILY HUG, but in Anabelle-eese it comes out...

HUGGY BUG!!  

How awesome is that?!  

Tonight I had one of those precious FAMILY HUGS, or HUGGY BUGS as they will now forever and always be known as.  Anyway, I was hugging all of my sweet girls before bed and passing out kisses all around, and I just looked around at their precious faces and wanted to hold on to them so tightly and just freeze time for just a tiny minute.  It just all goes so fast!

How is Abbey 13 and taller than me?! (yes, it's official, I've always claimed 5'7" without quite being there and she is fully there!).  And her wisdom, oh Jesus, thank you for the wisdom you have given her beyond her years.  She teaches me.  

And Maddie- what happened to my chubby roly poly fatty Maddie?  She's long gone and has been replaced by this graceful, petite beauty who amazes me with her grace and sensitivity.  

Miss Naomi I believe has far surpassed us all with her wit and intellect.  Look out world is all I can say for this one!  She prayed this week to be baptized soon so that "all my sin can be washed out and I will be clean".  Will be so fun to see what her life becomes in the hand of the Potter!  

And Anabelle.  My heart.  All of our hearts.  She has completed our family, and the love I see in those precious eyes for her sisters just does something to my insides!  

So, yes, life has been crazy, but it is thankfully still full of precious, daily, often mundane moments that I hope I will not forget in the years to come.

It is not lost on this Momma that the years are going by way too quickly and I simply can't get them back.  

Here's the latest glimpse at some of the ordinary daily events, that make for extraordinary memories.

Maddie in the kitchen with Naomi as her sidekick is a regular (and pretty delicious!) occurrence.

Hard at work...

Look at their amazing "sleepover cupcakes"!

So Anabelle hardly eats at all (she's too busy talking!).  Thankfully, she's finally increasing her percentage on the growth chart a bit but she is definitely our most petite baby.  But don't get in between the girl and her hummus and falafel!

You can't tell in this picture, but my girl is taller than me! (and between her  first youth retreat, drama practice, baskeball practice, and Model UN I haven't gotten any pictures of her around the house so this will have to do)

Be still my heart.  I love this picture.  My favorite early morning site!

Anabelle now wants to eat her breakfast in the "other chair" which means basically that she doesn't want to sit in her high chair but would rather have her freedom on the bench thank you very much.  She sits beside Jason just about every morning and talks his ear off while he gets started on email.  Often she'll ask to color as she sees him writing in his notebook.  About every 2-3 minutes, she'll stop what she's doing and stand up and say "daddy, HUG!" and lean in and give him a hug.  Precious.  Who could ask for a better breakfast buddy?!  

So there's a glimpse into our ordinary days.

What about you, do you have enough HUGGY BUGS in your lives lately and if you do, do you take them for granted or do you relish how absolutely precious they are?!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil- this is the gift of God.  I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.  God does it so that men will revere him"

Ecclesiastes 3:11-14

Ideas

I think it would be hard to come by a better illustration of the creativity of God, than looking at the developing personalities of the little people in our lives.  If you have more than one kid, you probably understand what I mean.   Or I guess even if you have one, you understand, but when you have more than one, it definitely accentuates the differences!  Doesn't matter that they come from the same gene pool, raised by the same parents, kids are just so amazingly unique.

I love all of my girls, and they are all amazingly gifted in their own unique ways.  For the purpose of this post, though, I have to focus in on Miss Naomi.  If you know her, you know that she  marches to the beat of a different drummer.  And I mean that in the best possible way.  Naomi is just one of those kids whose mind seems to work on a different level.  She does things with her toys that I personally would NEVER think of (and honestly that may not be saying alot since my creativity level is pretty pathetic but still...).  And the things that come out of her mouth sometimes...  Oh. my. word.  I actually dedicated an entire post this fall to "Naomisms" from the last 4 years or so that I had recorded on my facebook wall.  You can find that here.  Anyway, in honor of her 7th birthday (!!!) a few weeks ago, this post is dedicated to Naomi and her ideas.

We had an interesting conversation recently about ideas.  Naomi and Maddie were cleaning their room, and Naomi had the "great idea" to have a play-off on a favorite Wii game and whoever won wouldn't have to help the other clean the bedroom.  Well.  I'm sure you can see where this is going.  They had the play-off, Maddie won by a landslide, but graciously told Naomi she would still help her finish cleaning the room.  Naomi was still extrememly upset.  In trying to get to the bottom of the conflict, I realized that it came down to the fact that Naomi was quite bothered that her "fabulous idea" hadn't turned out the way she wanted.  She was completely distraught despite the fact that Maddie was still going to help her.  Obviously she had hoped that she would be the one to get out of cleaning the room, then, of course, it would have been a great idea.  I finally got her calmed down (if you don't know Naomi, she is VERY dramatic and takes everything VERY seriously and VERY personally).  Anyway, I got her calmed down, and said, "Naomi, it just really wasn't a very good idea.".   Well.

To back track just a little.  My parenting style is not one to sugar-coat everything for my kids.  I love them dearly and desire for them to succeed, but sometimes the best life lessons come through failure.  How else do they learn?  I don't believe that every child who participates in a sport should necessarily get the trophy.  I don't believe that every conflict in the classroom is the teacher's fault and not the kids. Sorry, I digress.  The point is, I didn't have a problem telling my sweet little 6 year old (at the time), in the gentlest way possible, that her idea, in this context, simply was not a good one.

Well you would have thought that I told her that they closed Disney World forever.   "MOM!  That's so mean.  I'm right here, and I hear you saying that!"  "You said I had a bad idea!"  "You said my idea wasn't good!"  etc etc and on and on it went.

So we talked through the whole idea thing.  We talked about how I love her creativity and how I always want her to try out the amazing ideas that her mind comes up with.  But we also talked about how sometimes, ideas just aren't great.  They don't turn out the way we plan or think they will, and we learn and move on.  I've realized that one of the hardest things for Naomi that my other girls really didn't struggle with that much is accepting disappointment.  Of course, all kids deal with this to an extent, but I've really had to pay a lot of attention to Naomi in the area of accepting a disappointing turn of events.  I'm not really sure what it is about her particular personality that makes this difficult for her but it's provided some interesting parenting lessons for sure.  As I've prayed through helping Naomi in this area, I've realized that I think part of it is her level of confidence in the things her mind thinks up.  It's quite high, which overall is a wonderful thing.  But when something doesn't work out the way she envisioned it, it can be pretty traumatic for her!   When she was only 4, in response to me asking if she knew how much I loved her and that God had made her special, she replied "Yes, and I'm so cute and have very good ideas."   HA!  Little mess.

Well, she is learning that not all ideas are good, but I'm thankful that she is continuing to try things out.  Just a few weeks ago, I was sitting in the recliner in our kitchen working on email, and she was very hard at work at the kitchen table.  She was completely oblivious to my presence but was hard at work with her Toy Story Lotso bear.  She had shoe strings that she was attempting to attach to his hands and feet in order to turn him into a puppet.  After several unsuccessful attempts, she finally set him down and said to herself "huh, that's the first bad idea I've ever had!".  Sweet girl!  Funny thing is, she didn't even want help from me.  I could have jumped in at any point and helped her, but when she has these ideas, she likes to figure things out on her own.

Here is a sampling of Naomi ideas and projects from around house over the past year or so.  

It's not unusual for me to walk into my kitchen and find something like this...

Poor Mia is often the victim of one of her "ideas"....

(Naomi is obviously much more pleased with the results than Mia...)

Anabelle could probably also be referred to as a victim of some of the ideas.  Naomi is often the instigator behind some pretty creative babysitting tactics...

(the surrounded by pillow technique quit working a LONG time ago...)

Confining to a box definitely makes babysitting easier...

 Confining to a doll crib works too...

Anabelle also benefits from Naomi's creativity.  She loved drawing with Naomi on this "runway".  I didn't get a picture but I think this set-up was intended as a runway for modeling...

And one day, Naomi set up a campsite and read stories to Anabelle in the sleeping bags

 (you can't tell from the picture, but AB did actually enjoy this!)

And like I said before, the things she does with her toys are quite creative.  All of these were things I walked into, not that I helped set up in any way....

An artist studio

A new hat stand for our front door..

Every cowgirl needs a horse...

And look out matey, this pirates on the prowl!

(she made the patch, Jason's belt is the strap for the telescope- otherwise known as an empty Pringles can...)

the perfect spot during hide-n-seek

 (yep, Naomi is under there)

And every so often, I'll find things randomly set up around the house...

Here was something Naomi created for gaining entrance to her bedroom..

(in case interpretation is needed it says that you have to be below Julie's hand to enter.  Also, no boys allowed!)

Apparently Lotso needed his own seat for watching TV...

I'm a little biased of course, but I know God has amazing plans for our little creator.  I'm thankful that she's learning early on how important it is to push forward with trying her ideas even if they turn out to be not so great.   I pray she will keep her sense of confidence and grow in wisdom and discernment in the years to come.  And of course, my ultimate prayer is that her confidence will be placed in her Creator, in the One who made her uniquely and is ultimately the source of her ideas.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him."

Jeremiah 17:7

Strange Conversations

I could have alternately made the title to this post, "things I never thought I'd say" or even "things I hoped I'd never say" but there were also some all out strange conversations thrown in the mix over the past 24 hours so I decided to stick with the conversation title...

Here's an example from about an hour time period yesterday morning...

(me to Jason) "Thanks for boiling then diluting the water, honey, so I could rinse the shampoo out of my hair after shivering on the bathtub floor for almost 10 minutes since every last drop of water ran out AFTER I was all lathered up."

(Ok, so obviously I didn't say all that as my lips were blue and I couldn't talk for 30 minutes after said incident but I wanted to give you an idea of how my day started...)

Fast forward about 45 minutes.  Jason leaves to attend an all day conference.  I'm straightening up the kitchen in preparation for the day of having 3 friends spend the day with the girls as their parents are also attending the all day conference.  I notice a "piece of dog food" that has managed to escape from Mia's bowl across the room.  Not at all unusual as Mia likes to get a piece of food, carry it across the room to a certain carpet and eat it there.  Whatever.  Forget about "piece of food".  As I'm cleaning Anabelle wanders in and is jabbering behind me.  She gets quiet.  I look back and notice her standing where the "piece of food" was.  Shoot, she's eating it, I think.  No big deal, right?  It's protein.  Head over to remove dog food from baby's mouth.  It's already down the pipe but I wipe some off her lip and get a whiff.  THAT'S NOT DOG FOOD, THAT'S DOG POOP!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Next thing I hoped I'd never say (or in this case text which is what I did to Jason):

"NOOOOOOO!!!!  Anabelle just ate dog poop!!!!!!"

And the answer to why there was a small piece of dog food shaped poop in the middle of our kitchen floor is "I have absolutely no idea".  Mia essentially has a litter box on our balcony and is very well house trained.  Who knows.  

Moving on.  

I mentioned we had friends come to play for the day.  It was a beautiful day so we headed to the park by the girl's school because Abbey and Maddie had rehearsal for their school Christmas program.  I figured we'd play while they rehearsed and then for an extra special treat we'd get McDonald's for lunch.  Mainly because I hadn't been to the grocery store since before Thanksgiving and although I've been known to feed MY kids really random things for lunch like popcorn and cereal on the day before my grocery store run (that happened today), I really didn't want to feed our guests any weird combinations.  So, McDonalds it was.  

First,  here are some fun pictures from our time at the park.

Anabelle loved climbing

And sliding

All the girls...

Big girl and little girl...

Little monkey

Anabelle's standard "cheese" pose whenever she is aware of the camera

Ok, so back to my strange conversations.  On the way from the park to McDonald's, I got everybody's order straightened out in my head.  If you've ever ordered for 7 kids at a fast food restaurant in America and found it at all confusing or challenging, well, try doing it at a fast food restaurant overseas.  That's all I'm going to say.  So I was very proud of my organization and planning ahead and had everybody's order grouped and figured out in my head down to who wanted what drink with what happy meal.  Aj and Maddie head the group into the playground while I go to the counter to order and have the following conversation with a McDonald's worker who I've chosen to name "Psycho Man"...

(first let me say that he saw me herding in 7 kids and was already chuckling when I started to order.  Thankfully the restuarant was virtually empty as we were WAY early for the typical lunch hour here even though it was noon)
Anyway..

(also keep in mind that some of this was in Arabic.  typically in fast food restaurants here there is a very random combination of English and Arabic because, well, "chicken nugget"and "happy meal" don't really translate)

Sorry, I WILL tell you this conversation.
 

Psycho Man (as I said, he was already chuckling):  Can I help you?

Me: Yes, first I'd like 3 Happy Meals with Chicken Nuggets with 2 sprites and 1 diet coke

Psycho Man:  No, you cannot

Me:  Oh?

Psycho Man:  Only chocolate milk or Tropicana

Me:  No, we always get soft drinks with Happy Meals, I dont' want milk or juice

Psycho Man: No, you cannot.  Problem with machine (he points to soft drink thingy)

Me:  OH, you mean with ANY meal, the only drinks I can get are chocolate milk or orange juice?

Psycho Man:  Yes, only.

(pause as I go re-take drink orders for all kids and return)

Me:  Ok, 3 chicken nugget meals with chocolate milk, 2 cheeseburger meals with chocolate milk

Psycho Man:  Ok

Me:  Also 2 Big Mac meals (my oldest 2 are way beyond Happy Meals...) with chocolate milk

Psycho Man:  No, you cannot

Me:  Huh?  

Psycho Man:  No chocolate milk with Big Mac meal.  

Me:  But you have not soft drinks and they don't like orange juice

Psycho Man:  You want coke?

Me:  You told me no coke

Psycho Man:  Now, there is coke (it's been like 2 minutes).

Me:  Ok, diet coke?

Psycho Man:  No, only coke

Me: Fine, coke.  

(get orders and send Abbey back to get nugget sauce and she's told by psycho man that she has to pay for it. good grief)

Me:  Sorry, I just bought nuggets and I have to pay for the sauce?

Psycho Man:  You must pay

Me: Seriously, that's ridiculous, I PAID for the nuggets...

Psycho Man:  You must pay.

Another worker:  Here is the sauce

WHAT IS HAPPENING!??

Ok, I think that story lost a bit of it's punch in the re-telling but it was quite Twilight Zone-ish....

Fast forward to tonight and we're sitting around the dinner table doing our Jesse Tree Advent devotional.  We're doing it around the dinner table because last night when we attempted it AFTER dinner it was a complete disaster because it was PAST Anabelle's bedtime and, well, it just wasn't pretty.  So we decided to do it over dinner tonight.  

Here's part of the conversation...

Me (pausing from reading the Scriputre):  Naomi, do you know who the serpent was?

Naomi:  Yep, a maid.

Me:  Umm, no.  

(pause to describe difference between serpent and, well, I guess she's thinking of "servant")

Fast forward to after we've read the Scripture passage and are discussing it...

Jason:  Naomi, can you tell us what happened to Adam and Eve in the garden?

Naomi:  Sure, they ate the Apple of Death (said in a witchy voice) and had to leave.  

Ok, as you can imagine, we've totally lost our audience at this point..

Seriously, the apple of death?  I honestly don't know where she gets this stuff!!

Things only a TCK (third culture kid) would say...

Third Culture Kids:

 A unique group of people

Kids whose parents are from one culture, but are raising them in another culture so they are stuck somewhere in between - their own third culture so to speak

Being married to one of these and raising 4 of my own, I have a special love for this unique group and the way their little minds work.  

Thought you'd enjoy some of these quotes that are unique to this special group!  

"Mom, what does USA stand for?"

"Mom, I don't like those round, brown cookies you put in my lunch"  (that would be OREOS!!)

"Wait, you mean George Washington is not still president?!"

"Home DepoT" (with the "T" pronounced)

"Mom, which America is Memphis in?"

"Mom, why do people in America think that it matters if you have brown skin or black skin or white skin?"

"Mom,  I'm not white, I'm kind of peachy colored, but people call me white"

"Mom, WHAT is the SEC and WHO is Ole Miss?" (after 1 week of school in the US)

"Do you think my teacher will understand English?" (before going to school in US for 1st time)

"Mom, was that a BOMB?" (during her first Memphis thunderstorm)

"Mom, WHY do I have to get IN the toilet?"  (first Memphis tornado- someone didn't understand the tornado drill...)

"Mom, LOOK, there's a bunch of open space- just go around all these cars"  (getting up on the shoulder to avoid all the interstate traffic)

"Mom, why are you STOPPING at every red light?  We never do that in Lebanon..."

"How come there aren't taxis in Memphis and Georgia?  Does everybody drive their own car?"

"Mom, why do girls here (America) think it's good for everyone to see so much of their skin?"

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away

That's a throwback, right?  Or maybe you've never even heard the song!  It IS a song (the title of the post I mean), but I guess I'm showing my age here!  It's Gloria Gaither and the funny thing is, it is NOT at all the kind of music that we listen to in our house.  However it's a song that Jason has sung to every one of our sweet girls as babies.  If you've never heard my man sing, well, you're missing out.  He can make even the cheesiest 70's gospel song sound amazing.  He holds them tight and sings right up in their little ears and it soothes and comforts like nothing else.

So this song is special to us.  Has been for 13 years now.  It's not a song we sing at any other moment except in our baby's nurseries at bedtime or naptime.  Not that there's anything wrong with the song.  The lyrics are actually pretty amazingly perfect.  It's just not exactly mainstream these days as far as praise and worship music goes!  Click here if you want to listen...

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

There's just something about that name

Master, Saviour, Jesus

Like the fragrance after the rain

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all heaven and earth proclaim

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away

But there's something about that name.

Anyway, I do have a point here.  I realized the other day when putting Miss Anabelle down for her nap and singing this song that I left this little jewel out of my IVF journey posts.  (I linked to part 4 because that's where this would fall chronologically).  It was in the spring of 2010 after yet another IVF attempt had not worked and it was, well, difficult to say the least.  Jason and I traveled to a meeting that spring, and I had the blessing of spending an evening with some wonderful ladies who knew of our journey and took some time to pray for Jason and I and our hopefully growing family.  At the end of this prayer time, one of these sweet ladies began singing.  And do you know that with absolutely no prompting from me and no knowledge at all that this had been and would continue to be our "baby song" she began singing this precious song.  Be still my heart and let the tears fall!  Everyone joined in and after praying for God to give us the baby we desired, my sweet sisters lifted these words up to Him together.  This was just one more precious nugget from the Lord, that we were continue to press on in the journey.  

I guess you can see why it makes me tear up when I pick Anabelle up for naptime and she says, "Jesus, Jesus" because she loves to sing this song too.  She sings it to her babies also, and let me tell you, it's about the most precious thing on the planet.  Video to come soon...

I also couldn't help but think that it's a pretty timely reminder for me, with the elections tomorrow, that kings and kingdoms do pass away, and while it is important to cast my vote and play my part in that way, it is much more important for me to remember in my day to day life who the true King is and that my ultimate goal should be seeking to give Him glory and make His name known.  

"As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.  But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-- with those who keep his covenant, and remember to obey his precepts.  The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.  Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.  Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.  Praise the Lord, all his works, everywhere in his dominion.  Prasie the Lord, O my soul. " 

Psalm 103: 15-22

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.  May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.  May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.  May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.  Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.  God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him."

Psalm 67

One final thing...  I mentioned to the girls when we were eating lunch today that tomorrow is elections in America so we should be praying.  Naomi responded much more enthusiastically than I would have expected saying,  "REALLY, we're getting a new president?!  You mean it's not going to be George Washington anymore?!"  

Naomi for President

Keep reading and you'll see what I'm quoting.  Too bad she can't ever be president being born in Beirut and all- she'd make a pretty good one I bet and would at least keep us laughing as she has been since she looked like this....

Ok, so I don't like to play favorites, and sometimes I almost hesitate to write something about one of the girls when I'm not doing something similar for all- I've already been reminded by one that I failed to do her birthday post...  Anyway.  

So for some reason the other day I was scrolling through old facebook statuses and I was laughing out loud at many of the things that our family comedian (that would be Naomi for those who don't know us well) has said over the years.  Many things I remembered, but some I'd completely forgotten about so for a moment I was oh so thankful for Facebook!  

If you're a parent, I'm sure you've had plenty of "out of the mouths of babes" type moments, but I truly believe that Naomi has provided us with more than a fair share of laughs over the years.  Little mess pot is just stinkin' hilarious.  She is still growing into her humor and is not always thrilled when we laugh at her but she's conflicted because we all know that she loves making people laugh.  The quotes dropped off a little recently as you'll see, not because there are less, but because she has discovered that "Naomi quotes" are pretty famous and she makes me promise not to tell.

And seriously, could you say no to those eyes?

(and yes, she's even mastered the art of the rapid blink sometimes resulting in tears that she can produce in a moment's notice when her sister's tell her to do "puppy dog eyes".  Ridiculous, right?

Here are my Naomi related facebook statuses going back to Dec 2009 just before she turned 4 in February.  Completely unedited as you will see that many of them sadly refer to my weight...

(with some random Naomi pictures thrown in ...)  If I feel the need to add real time commentary it will be in italics...

Dec 8, 2009 So Naomi just called from the bathroom and asked that I bring her a book

Dec 15, 2009 Naomi just walked into my bedroom wearing my glasses and said, "How do you like my spectacles?"  I never know what will come out of that girl's mouth!

Dec 18, 2009 Naomi quote (with hand on hip and much exasperation) "Mommy where are the heck is Maddie?"

January 29, 2011 Naomi, while watching the universal pictures logo come across the TV screen, "that's the earth.  We live on earth and blood helps us live."  guess someone's been paying attention in science!

this was the year I homeschooled Abbey and Maddie and Naomi was our constant companion...

for a little age perspective, Feb 21, 2010, Naomi turns 4

March 9, 2010  Naomi to Abbey and Maddie who were teasing her, "Stop it!  Mommy says not to agrabate me."

March 11, 2010 Naomi to me at the hospital this morning after a Lebanese man walked by and pinched her cheek, "Mom, all the peoples here think that I'm cute."

June 8, 2010 Naomi just came into my bedroom with a doll under her dress.  She said, "look Mom, I'm about to have a baby"  She then proceeded to "have" the baby while making "zerbert" (spitting) noises and pulling the baby out by the leg.  Then she says, "oh look, she's so precious, I'm going to name her fluffy...."

June 22, 2010 Jason just walked through saying, "ughh, I"m sweating like a pig" to which Naomi responds, "well I'm sweating like a duck"

June 26, 2010 Naomi is trying very hard to join in the family excitement about the World Cup.  She says to Jason, "Oh sorry Dad, I don't know how to play hockey, but I'm pretty good at golf." ??

July 2, 2010 Just came into the kitchen to find Naomi filling several tupperware dishes with water.  She tells me she's getting the food and water ready for our new duckling and hippo.  Apparently I missed something...

July 6, 2010 Conversation in our van this afternoon (about the World Cup... sort of)  Jason to me, "I don't like Uruquay".  Abbey: "Who, daddy?"  Jason: "Uruguay"  Naomi piping up from the back, "Do you like mine daddy?"  Jason:  "Your what?"  Naomi:  "My guay"  All laugh and Naomi screams, I DON"T LIKE IT WHEN YOU LAUGH AT ME!!  better get used to it little girl!

she's gotten (a little) more sports savvy....

Aug 6, 2010  Jason is taking all 4 of his ladies on a date tonight and Naomi just said, "Mommy, all the peoples in the restaurant will love me and my beautiful jewelry"- she then walked out shaking her hips if that is at all possible for a 4 year old- Lord help us!

Aug 9, 2010 Naomi to me as I'm putting her to bed (and correcting her for disobeying), "MOM, you really bover me forever!"

Aug 10, 2012 Naomi to me, "Mom, 'because' is not a real answer when I ask you why."

Aug 10, 2010 Naomi just saluted me and said, "aye aye, cap'n" when I told her in no uncertain terms to be quiet and go to sleep- where does she get this stuff?!

Aug 12, 2010 When Naomi walked into the kitchen and saw me putting dinner on the table, she said, "Wow! This is just like Thanksgiving!"  I would be flattered except that we're having mac n cheese and hot dogs...

Aug 12 2010  So in Naomi world, not only is "clo" the singular of "clothes" but "che" is the singular of "cheese"- that one took me longer to figure out as I was doing nothing even remotely related to food when she was asking me for a "chee"...

Aug 23, 2010  Naomi just walks into my bedroom and out of the blue says, "Hi Mom, speaking of money, where's my wallet?"

Aug 30, 2010  Just gave Naomi a big hug and said, "Naomi I love you so much, did you know God made you special?"  and she says, "Yes, and I'm so cute and have very good ideas"  Obviously not lacking in the self esteem dept either...

November 8, 2010 Naomi is home today with a fever.  Questions I have been asked over the course of the day as she lounges around... "Mommy, do skunks have bottoms?  Mommy, what is in sprite and who named it Sprite?  Mommy who decides what color a car will be and who gets to paint them and do they paint the inside or just the outside?"  oh to be inside that little head...

Feb 21, 2011 Naomi turns 5

March 3, 2011 Naomi told me tonight that she will too eat green food- pears and apples

May 23, 2011 Naomi takes her hand and puts it on her forehead and runs it down the front of her body and says, "Mommy, I'm straight across".  She then does the same thing to me and says,"But you're pretty lumpy"

Aug 17, 2011 Naomi quote of the day, "I love doing inappropriate things!"

Sept 7, 2011 Convo with Naomi..  N: when I grow up I'm going to be a teacher just like Mrs. Miller (last years pre-K teacher) Me:  That's great!  N: AND, I'm going to own a restaurant!  Me: What kind of restaurant?  N:  Chick fil A.  And I'm going to be the girl that gives people food from the drive in window."...

Sept 8, 2011 Naomi to me, "Mom, you're belly is still really mushy, turn around, Mom.  And your bottom is really squooshy"  Leave it to a 5 year old to give that self esteem a much needed boost!

Sept 11, 2011 Naomi while watching me cut up raw chicken, "Mom are those red spots pits?"  Me- "huh?"  N: "YOu know, like arm pits"  A few minutes later I see Naomi contorted on the floor in a very weird position. Me: "Whatcha doing?"  N: "Trying to see if my legs have pits too..."

Oct 6, 2011 Naomi to me this morning while trying to convince me that she's "sick" and shouldn't go to school, "Mom, you're not very smart and I am.  When daddy says, "what do I want, Naomi?" i know he wants a hug so that means I'm very, very smart and you're not."


Oct 21, 2011 Abbey and Maddie are playing a game with some friends they have over.  I just hear Naomi apparently trying to fit in with this group of tweens say "guys, I cut the cheese"...

Oct 21, 2011 Naomi to me, "Mom, my finger really hurts.  I accidently put it in Maddie's pencil sharpener and then I accidently turned it and now it really hurts because I pulled the nail off."  Thinking we need to work on the definition of accident...

Oct 30, 2011 Naomi and Jason talking about our upcoming trip... J: Naomi are you excited about going to the big hotel?  N: Yeah, so I can have serpents!  J:  Huh?  N:  You know, like maids, serpents!  apparently she's been in the Middle East too long where everyone has housekeepers!

Dec 4, 2011 Naomi quote: "Mommy we have lots in our family..  a mommy, a daddy, a Naomi- the rememberer, a Abbey- the smartest one, a Maddie- the one who rides things and a Anabelle- just the baby"

Dec 4, 2011  For some reason Naomi has never noticed smokers even though they are everywhere over here..  Tonight in a taxi- she noticed... (all in a high pitched "whisper"), "Mom, that man (our driver) is blowing smoke. WHY is he doing that?! uggh- it really stinks!  WHY is he blowing stinky smoke?!

Dec 6, 2011 Naomi quote, "ugghh!!  how come Mommy's ALWAYS get everything they want?!"

Dec 6, 2011 Another conversation with Naomi tonight, Me, "Naomi, at first it was kind of funny, but it kind of hurts mommy's feelings when you keep telling me my belly is fat and mashing it with your hand."  Naomi, "Ok mom,  I won't say it anymore, but it really is pretty squooshy."

Dec 27, 2011 Naomi quote of the day, "Uggh!!  I can hardly walk in this house because there's so many stuffs on the ground.  That's a compliment, mom."  (Thanks for clarifying, Naomi, it wasn't really feeling like a compliment!)

Jan 4, 2012  Naomi: "Mom, are hats important?"  Me (thinking she's been fussed at by her teacher for not wearing a hat): "Sure, in the winter they keep your head warm."  Naomi: "Well, they also keep our brains from falling out of our heads.  At least that's what I dreamed."...

January 19, 2012  So Naomi walks in on me changing clothes, literally gasps, puts her hand over her eyes and runs out yelling, GROSS!!!  GREEAATT for the self esteem!

Feb 12, 2012  Naomi and Abbey playing Wii- just heard Naomi say, "oh yeah, oh yeah, who's awesome now?!"

Feb 21, 2012  Naomi turns 6

March 5, 2012 Naomi to me, "Mom, could you please get me some umm, ummm (long pause), umm you know that green stuff in a bottle?"  Me:  "Sprite?"  Naomi, "oh yeah, oh yeah, sprite"  Good grief! My 6 year old is forgetting sprite! Maybe she's more sick than I thought!

The following status is borrowed from my sis-in-law.  Sarah Ann is her daughter, Naomi's identical cousin...

March 9, 2012 This morning Sarah Ann said, "you know what, when Naomi grows up she just might be president.  And I'll be second president."

March 11, 2012  Naomi to Maddie as they're cleaning up their room as requested, "Does Mom think we're maids or something? Cuz we're not..."  looks like someone is in for a talk about being helpers...

March 21, 2012  Convo with Naomi:  Me:  Naomi come out of Abbey's room, she need some alone time.  N:  She doesn't NEED it, she WANTS it  Me: Maybe so, but we need to let her have it.  N:  WHY would people WANT alone time?!   Me:  Because that's how God made some people.  N:  Uh, mom, I dont' think you're telling the truth...

April 2, 2012  Naomi quote of the day, "Beans, beans good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you bart."  hee hee

May 24, 2012 Naomi's prayer at lunch, "Dear Lord, thank you for this day and thank you for this yummy food and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU that I finally get to mop my room!

August 25, 2012 Naomi: If I don't eat my chicken can I still have a snicker doodle muffin?
Me: No sweetie, you're not having anything else to eat if you don't eat the food on your plate.
N:  You mean, you're MAKING me eat it?
Me:  Nope, you have a choice, you just don't get anything else to eat tonight if you don't eat your dinner.  it's your choice
N:  That's called MAKING me and it's not fair AT ALL.  Besides I just don't like the sauce.
Me:  It's just honey mustard chicken, Naomi, which you usually eat
N:  HONEY on chicken?!  WHO does THAT?

Funny, funny girl!  She'd have my vote for president!

Chatterbox

I'll say from the start that this post is mostly for the Cox family archives.  It's not going to be terribly exciting...  I just want to be sure and record all the things that Anabelle is saying at this stage because judging by my memory's history with the other girls, I will NOT remember what happened when etc.   

There's a statistic out there that says something to the effect of women speaking around 21,000 words per day on average while men only speak around 7,000.  I actually googled this and come to find out that study is now being refuted and it seems that women and men actually have (again, on average) about the same number of words per day.  Well, can I just say from my experience in living in a houseful of miniature women- I BEG TO DIFFER!!!   Let's face it, we girls have a lot to say.  I have 4 little women living under my roof and I can tell you that despite their very different personalities, they all LOVE to talk.  Of course, it looks different for each of them.  Recently during a particularly heavy assault of the verbal kind, Jason held up his hands looked around and said, YOU (Maddie) talk too much, YOU (Abbey) talk to fast, and YOU (me) talk WAY too quietly (I must have been having an off day... that and he's becoming increasingly frustrated by my mumbling habit...)  So, yes, the talking styles vary, but the amount of talking- yeah, it's up there...  It may take some digging to get the talking juices flowing with Naomi, while Maddie has to be reminded frequently that others might want a turn.  Abbey will talk your ear off on certain subjects if you can get her nose out of whatever book she is reading, and Anabelle, oh mercy, Anabelle!  I have a feeling she is going to far surpass them all!  (for those of you who know us well, yes, even Maddie!).  Sweet little angel (that would be Anabelle), DOES NOT STOP TALKING.   She's at that very fun stage at almost 17 months (WHERE does the time go??!!) where she will repeat absolutely anything we tell her to (or at least try to), much to the delight of her older sisters.  I came home the other day and Abbey was changing her diaper and had her saying "butt paste".  Lovely.  

So in an effort to document this stage of her toddlerhood, I thought it would be fun to make a list of the vocabulary that makes up Anabelle's days.  These are things that she says on her own free will spelled according to her pronunciation- not things that we prompt her to repeat because I don't know that that list would end!  

Words...

Hiiieeee! (after staring around a room and finding a stranger- this was also one of her first words)

WOOOOW!

Mommy, Daddy, Mamee (Maddie), Nomi, Abbey

meeeeyaaaahh!  (Mia- always said enthusiastically) 

Bapa, Nana, Annie, Da (occasionally throws a Nannie in there- a combo of her grandma's!

Bob, Warry (Veggie Tales)

Woowy, Jessie, REX  (Toy Story)

Baby, Ra Ra (rock, rock), Jesus! (as she Ra Ra's baby)

Bopper, wops (wipes)

ELMO!

Maii!  (milk)

I, I, I, I, I!!!  (ice)- notice the repetition and the emphasis- comes out like this at top volume!

Tay tay (Abbey's best buddy here whom Anabelle adores)

nigh, nigh (she will ask to go if she's way tired)

Wuvy (her pink giraffe lovey from target- EXTREMELY important)

book

paaay (play)

ahside (outside)

wa wa (water or walk, walk- gotta know the context)

kee cat (kitty cat)

stower (stroller)

nana (banana)

appall

peezA!

cacker (cracker)

goalfeesh (goldfish)

nak! (snack)

MO! (no)

uh hmm (yes)

otay

pat pat (for baby's, Mia, anything she needs to be gentle with)

Yalla!  (Arabic for let's go!)

Go, go, go! (anytime we are leaving the house or she wants to leave...)

shuuu (loves shoes and brings them from around the house to whoever they belong to)

dance, dance

pri-py (pretty)

bash, bash (brush, brush)

hello?!  (when doorbell or phone rings)

BAAA!!!  (bath, very excitedly)

bahhl (ball)

Maya, Dain (Zain)- recent friends who came to visit who she really loved playing with

peeez (please)

mamin (muffin)

i keem (ice cream)

yoyurt (yogurt)

offee (coffee- she is her daddy's daughter!)

biiy, biiy (bite)

Phrases...

hur yup (hurry up- she walks around yelling this each morning as the girls are getting ready for school...)

was tat? (what's that?)

who dat?  (points at pictures)

wher dit go?

i da no (I don't know)

there tis (there it is)

hee ya go (giving you something)

bom bom bom bom (when she sees Veggie Tales)

seet down

uh oh

ummm maaa (giving kisses)

ta too (thank you)

And if we're friends on facebook, you've probably seen this video but it totally cracks me up everytime I watch it so I wanted to share.   Here's AJ trying to get her to say some things- this was about a month ago.  And just fyi, her eye is halfway swollen shut because of a mosquito bite..

Deep dead doo-doo...

Didn't know there was such a thing?  Me neither!  But apparently in Naomi world there is...  I guess there are levels- deep DEAD doo-doo is apparently a step worse than simple deep doodoo.  And according to Naomi, deep DEAD doodoo is what she was afraid I would be in when Jason discovered what I did to his pants.   Let me back up a bit though.  If you know my husband you know that he is fairly particular about some things and let me just say that I am oh so thankful for that trait (and yes, I am serious).  Him being particular means that he is very helpful around the house- he actually keeps things neater than I do!  So let's just say that I have a not so great history of ruining his clothes.  I'm not always great with laundry- I miss stains, sometimes I wash the wrong colored things together and I've been known to shrink a sweater or two.  Well, I struck again...  This time with a vengeance!  He bought these pants before we came back overseas this summer and they've kind of gotten on my nerves...

Here's why- they are called insect repellant (in his defense, Jason didn't know it at the time of purchase- just thought he was buying light weight cargo pants).  Basically, they have to be washed and dried separately because of what they are made of (no idea what!) Not such a great thing since we live in a country where you can only do laundry once a week on the water day for your neighborhood when the govt fills your water tank continuously through the day...

Well.

Apparently a few weeks ago when i was doing laundry, I tossed this pair of pants to the side so that they wouldn't get in with the other clothes.

They landed on this...

Which resulted in this..

(WHAT were those things made of??!!)

and this...

There you have it- deep dead doodoo...

(and I lived to tell about it!)