I Remember When....

If you would like to join other bloggers on this Wednesday walk, visit Lynnette's site for all the details.

Can we play a game today??? Well, I suppose since it is my blog you really don't get a say in that, now do you!!!
Yes, I'm feeling a bit snarky....thanks for noticing!!!

Somewhat still on the subject of letting go, what are some of your favorite memories from your babies...ya know, when they were still babies??? And because it is my blog, that means I get to go first! Yippee!!!

I remember when....

...She would not go to sleep when it was bedtime!!! The first approx. 6 wks of CD's life and about 8 wks of Bunny's, they simply REFUSED to go to sleep before 2 AM!!! They would do so well during the day, not always taking really long naps and waking around 7 pm to nurse, get a diaper change and hopefully interact with us! By the time 11 pm rolled around, I was getting tired but my girls were just getting going good!!! At around midnight, they would begin to get fussy - didn't want to nurse, had clean diaper, nothing was poking them, they would just get fussy! Closer to 1 AM, they were no longer fussy...they were all out crying!!! For up to two hours!!! Screaming at the top of their little bitty lungs!!! They refused to nurse, did not want a pacifier, just wanted a little lung work out apparently!!!

Finally, at close to two months, both of them learned to go to sleep somewhere between 9 and 10 pm. Other Moms would tell me this was normal behaviour but I was really never sure about that!!! Man, am I ever thankful they finally started sleeping at a decent hour!!!

I remember when...

...I woke up one morning, shortly after having Bunny, listening to a baby cry and wondering why in the world my Mom did not get the baby!!! I even went so far as to look out the front window to see if there was a car out front before I came to the full realization that this was my home, my baby and my job to go get her!!! I must have been really tired...ya know, that whole staying up half the night thing!

I remember when....

...CD would play with her sippy cup by shaking it violently up and down and having fun watching all the liquid splash out!!! Yes, this was long before the no-drip sippy cups!!! It didn't take long, though, for her to realize that the only sippy cup she could truly play with was one filled with water. So, in order to get 10 min. of peace to clean the kitchen, I would put water in a sippy, snap on the lid, put her in the middle of the kitchen floor with the cup and say, 'Play'! I do believe between the ages of 12 and 18 months, that was her favorite thing to do!

I remember when...

...Bunny would go outside, just inside the gate to the backyard and scoop up dirt by her fingernail and put it in her mouth!!! She loved to eat dirt!!!

I remember when....

...Bunny was just figuring out how to go downstairs and the girls wanted to go out and play, having to go down two stairs to get out the door. Hubs had recently changed the oil in the vehicle and left it standing in the large round container right by the stairs! By now, I'm sure you have guessed that Bunny made it from the first to the second step but when trying to maneuver down to the ground, she fell head first into the oil!!! Poor baby, we laughed so hard and she was screaming!!!

I remember when....

...It was 114 degrees on CD's 4th birthday!!! El Paso can get hot, y'all!!!
...They loved to sit on the patio and finger paint!
...They would want to play in the water but drink more from the sprinkler than went on the lawn!
...They wanted to sleep together in the same bed...and it only lasted about an hour!

I remember when....

...Barney was the first thing we watched on TV. But their favorite show was Lambchop!
...Life seemed simpler! I knew where my babies were...right under my feet no matter what I was doing! It was hard, I do remember that, but I knew where they were!

Okay, now it is your turn!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....like my beautiful daughters

God's girl, Pamela

She Still Calls Me Daddy

by Robert Wolgemuth

I will have to be honest: I was kind of in a hurry the day I chose this book for my next review and didn't really take the time to read what it was about! I am so far out of the prime demographic - Dads that have recently given their daughters in marriage or those with a daughter's impending marriage on the horizon - but truly found so much practical advice for now and in the future, when our two girls do make that walk down the aisle!

If you have read my blog at all over the last few months, you have noticed that 'letting go' has been heavy on my mind for our oldest daughter! While I realize that we do not yet fully let go (she is still under our physical, spiritual and emotional protection) there is some breaking away that needs to be done so that in just a few years, when she does find the man God has set aside for her, we will be gracious in doing just that - let her go!

One thing that caught my attention was how the author parallels letting go with how we raised our daughters in our home. The chapter on protection will be re-read a few times around here, I'm sure! When they are small, it is our job as parents to protect our children in so many ways; touching a hot stove, crossing the street, talking to strangers. When we give them away in marriage, it becomes our job to protect their marriage....even if that means from us! Protecting their marriage means we give them respect as a family and let them grow together, and not expecting our children to always be available to meet our needs.

I really enjoyed how the author, Robert Wolgemuth, made the book personal by using stories, good and bad, of letting his own two daughters go. His story of purchasing a dining table for his daughter is a reminder that none of us are immune to doing the wrong thing in regards to our grown children. I have relayed several stories from the book to my daughters in hopes that we will remember to put into use what was learned from this book - several years from now!!!

I would certainly recommend She Still Calls Me Daddy to anyone - Mom, Dad, Grandma - who is realizing just how fast the children in our lives are growing up and are beginning to see a need to simply let go.

My favorite part is when he acknowledges that the young man at the end of the aisle does not deserve our daughter, but that she was first a gift to us and we are simply re-gifting this precious young lady! Did we deserve the gift God gave us twenty or so years ago??? Do we deserve the gift of His Son???

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.....

God's girl, Pamela