ask permission afterwards

you know we've all done it; chosen to do something then asked forgiveness later if needed. well, Jane has become somewhat of an expert. who knew we learned this so young? the only cute part about it is that she asks permission later rather than forgiveness. story from tonight:

we got home from Bible study a little later than usual. I was getting ben ready for bed - normally Jane plays with pete during this time but he wasn't here - and Jane was in the living room, or so I thought... I finished putting Ben to bed, came in the kitchen, and Jane ran away. Then she immediately came back, smiling, and said, "I ate some marshmallows" sidebar: I usually give her two mini marshmallows after her nap if she sleeps, as she has decided not to sleep more times than not (great parenting, I know.) we left right after her nap (she ate her marshmallows in the car) so I didn't put the bag away. I just left it out on the counter. end sidebar... I said, "Jane, you do not get to take marshmallows without asking." so she said, "please!" After more discussion I asked her how many she had eaten. She said, "I ate four." I was happy it was only four - though Jane thinks four is a lot. So that's my little story of Jane and her little sinful ways that sometimes make me smile.

Hair

Two weeks ago I gave little Benjamin his first haircut. Yep, me. All by myself! I am proud of the fact that I didn't ruin his hair and it looks moderately good. I watched a Youtube video about giving boys haircuts and I remembered some tips from my good buddy stacy - such as the "point cut." I sat him on the bathroom counter in the Bumbo with a few toys and I started out on the bottom part near his neck with electric trimmers - yikes he is a moving baby and that was nerve racking. When I cut a bit too short near his right ear it was time to say good-bye to trimmers and hello scissors. Surprisingly the scissors weren't as scary as I thought and I could control them in relation to his movement much easier than the trimmers. I just kept cutting and snipping until I thought it was cleaned up enough and presentable to the world. It was pretty fun. I can see how you could get lost in the act of cutting hair - sort of the same feeling I get when I sit down to color with Jane. I am glad I can cut his hair myself but I need to learn more if it's going to become a regular thing; it is already getting long near the ears. Here are some before, during, and after pictures:  

His before hair, still cute but getting shaggy and in his eyes

half way through I remembered to take pictures

Like I said, he moves a lot so the pictures aren't great

He was ready to be out of the seat but I managed to get a few pictures 

side view. I didn't have to cut the back except at the neck because it's not that long yet

post bath. He can almost do the fohawk again but it's still a little too long

This is how ben combs his hair

He likes to show off this side verses the side I messed up on :) 

and about one week later, my happy baby with his hair out of his face

Christmas is coming

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat! please put a penny in the old man's hat. if you have no penny, a ha' penny will do. if you have no ha' penny then God bless you." that is the song that immediately pops into my head if i hear the words, "Christmas is coming." but, as silly as that is, i am happy to say, now, my brain quickly moves past the song to more serious things like advent. advent is a season of anticipating Christ's coming. not only remembering His coming to earth in bethlehem but in looking forward to His coming again to bring His kingdom to earth and reign forever - and ever, hallelujah, hallelujah! hallelujah... and He shall reign forever and ever! - right, you know you were singing it as you read along....

any-who, I hope you can take time this month to read God's word and dwell on what it means for us that He would humble himself and come to earth to dwell and redeem us all.

Merry Christmas

dear Lord...

i was reading my Bible today and told Jane to go play while I read. She wandered down the hall, singing some songs, and sat down. the next thing i hear is this sweet little prayer:

dear Lord, thank you for my day and for mommy to go to the dentist and for dad to go to work. thank you for me and ben dear Lord.... Jesus, amen.

it was so precious i had to stop my journaling and write this post before i forgot what she had said. i love that my little girl is learning to thank Jesus for her life and to talk with Him at any time.

so much yet so little

i enjoy talking to jane about the world. even though she is two and a bit years old she seems to know so much. compared to ben's knowledge of the world (his bed, and family) she knows so much more than him; but when compared to what we as her parents know, jane knows practically nothing. yesterday, i had a conversation that reminded me of how much she knows and yet how little all at the same time. here's what happened: pete went to san fransico for the day to attend a meeting. he left at 6am and arrived back in slc at 6:30pm. to me, the adult, i am amazed that we now fly to different states for a two hour meeting (all of which could have been complete via skype but pete's boss wanted to see the people and the place with his own eyes i guess.) 

lately pete has been working from home on thursday and every morning jane asks where dad is. thursday is also the night there is an elder's meeting at our church which plays into the conversation a bit. so thursday's conversation went this way: 

jane: where's dad?

mom: well, he's at work but today he went on an airplane to work

j: an airplane? 

m: yes, for a meeting

j: with pastor terry? 

m: no, with people from black diamond

m: he went to san fransico, it's a city in california

j: to see uncle craig? 

m: no, it's not near uncle craig, but uncle craig does live in california, just not san fransico

j: i go see dad? 

m: you can see him later tonight when he comes home

so that's what she knows. she knows that usually when i tell her, "dad is at a meeting" it means he is at church with pastor terry for elder's meeting. and when i mention california we are usually talking about where uncle craig lives in pasadena. so my baby girl is so smart but still has so far to go and I look forward to helping her learn as much as i can. 

the next time you see jane, ask her what country she lives in. we are starting to work on memorizing where we live and it is so cute to hear her say, "united states of america"