Go Back to Sleep, Samuel!

Is it just my family or did your parents tell you the story of Samuel who, as a small boy living with Eli in the Temple, was called from sleep by the voice of God? When we couldn't sleep, my Mom would suggest that we should talk to God and see if he wants to tell us something (in the privacy of our little beds, away from the sleeping parents). So, how can I suggest the same thing for our guest-dog, Bumbi? My parents are going out of town this week on a speaking-trip for my Mom (she's a national speaker for Christian Women's Clubs) so we are watching their Maltese, Bumbi (the one being chased by Riley in the photo). Apparently, God had a lot to say to Bumbi last night because he was WIDE awake most of the night (10pm, 1am, 3am--finally, after listening to him fidget and scratch for an hour, I got up too at 4am). So, here I am blogging at an insanely early hour on a morning that HAS to be the coldest on record (temperature is 19 F at our house!). Thank God for my Aldi coffee-which HAS to be the yuckiest coffee on record! Ha. Okay, so I'm not in the most positive of moods...but who knows, maybe I'm the Samuel who needs to hear from God and Bumbi is a very unpleasant version of God's wake up call.

We have a new 'routine' for Sunday mornings...after struggling to establish a consistent pattern on Sunday mornings, we have finally determined that 8am church followed by Sunday school will be our new routine on Sundays. I'm writing it here to 'ask' for accountability with my blog-friends who might also be IBC attenders. Getting to church ON TIME with a baby is harder than getting out of bed with an annoying dog...but I believe it's so important that I'm making it my NUMBER 1 goal each weekend. If God brings us to your mind on Sunday mornings, please pray for us to get to church and have teachable hearts to absorb what God wants for us. My pride is tempting me to delete this paragraph...'don't be so vulnerable and admit your struggles' it tells me...'stick to recording Cassie's advances and skip difficulties'. But, no...my goal and purpose for this blog is to make a true and honest record for our family...something for Cassie to have when she's a new mother-for her to read about how God had to grow me into the perfect person, I'm sure, I will be by the time I'm a grandmother (ha!).

Speaking of Cassie as an adult...here's a tidbit that might interest her. January 20, 2008 was the first time Cassie made an ACTUAL deposit in the big girl potty. We came home from church and she made it 'clear' that she had some business to conduct in the bathroom. Being the sensitive Mommy that I am, I snapped some shots of this momentous occasion! After we concluded that bathroom visit, Cassie announced she was 'sleepy' and it was time for 'night night' so we popped her in bed for the afternoon nap. What a total blessing to have a little one who helps me determine her needs with her little words and expressions!

Thanks for checking in with us (yes, you Miss Reno!)...we covet your prayers and would be honored if you left a little note to let us know you stopped by! Here's one last picture of Cassie-modeling a new dress from my sister, Beka.

No Tutoring, No baby...ahhhh

I'm a woman of leisure this morning! I slept late (6:45), checked the Internet (school has a 2 hour delay which means no tutoring for me), and am now lounging in bed under the fluffy down comforter with my coffee, laptop and sweet puppy.

Cassie spent the night with my parents so Tim and I could have our date night. I was planning to take Tim to the movies (to see I am Legend) but with our winter storm we decided to stay home and watch American Idol episodes we recorded from earlier in the week. I only made it through one...I can't handle seeing them make fun of real people who have feelings, emotions, etc. I know many people claim the Idol contestants 'deserve' it since they go on TV but it still hurts me to watch them...I'm way too empathetic, I suppose! Anyway, it was nice to have a quiet evening with my favorite guy!

Cassie was so fun to be with yesterday! We had much to accomplish yesterday so I bundled her up and we headed out the door. Right before our last stop, as I snapped Cassie in her car seat and she said, "sleepy sleepy". I was surprised..."are you sleepy, Cassie?" Her response, "night night". Am I blessed or WHAT!!?! I am SO glad I have a baby who can tell me when she's tired and ready for a nap. We went ahead into Safeway, but I made sure to be quick and to distract her with the fun of a ride in the car-cart. She LOVED it...said "beep beep" all through the store!



Earlier, while we were in Walmart she made some connections too. I was trying to match toilet paper with my coupons so admittedly, I was distracted. Cassie pointed to the roof and kept saying, "loon" which is her way of saying "balloon." I didn't look up but sorta dismissed her "loon" as a jibber-jabber and not any sort of meaningful communication. For shame, Mommy because, lo and behold, when I did look up-there was a random Elmo Mylar balloon that had somehow drifted over the paper section of Walmart! Then, while we were checking out, again, I was distracted and dismissed her constant pointing and saying "Maaat" as jibber-jabber. Mommy has now learned her lesson: Cassie has officially become a communicator because, when I finally took notice, Cassie was pointing to the eye-center advertisement of a man wearing wire-frame glasses...a man who looked a LOT like Cassie's favorite Uncle "Maaat" who also wears wire-rimmed glasses! Isn't it sweet that she made the connection? To quote my husband, "she's a genius!"



After we got home I put Cassie in bed for her nap and, true to her earlier statement, she was indeed sleepy and went right to bed. We did wake her up prematurely, however, because my dad arrived around 2:30 to pick her up for the spend-the-night party at Mimi and Poppie's. Cassie LOVES her weekly slumber parties at my parents. She talks about them constantly and will hand me the phone requesting, "Mimi" which means...will you please call my Mimi? Of course, Cassie spends 3 mornings a week with my mom...they color (Cassie says her colors now, thanks to teacher-Mimi), play in the "moon-sand" (that's the wax coated sand stuff that is much cleaner and more fun than regular sand) and listen to Bible songs. Thursday nights though are Poppie's special time with Cassie since he's not home during the mornings. Poppie and Cassie have a special connection through music...they both enjoy singing and I'm convinced that many more precious musical moments are ahead for them both!

Speaking of music, Cassie goes to the nursery to play with Miss Greta on Tuesday mornings (while I'm at Bible study). This past week, Greta told me that Cassie was singing the "B-I-B-L-E" song, unprompted by them. I was encouraged by the fact that they indeed recognized her 'singing' an actual song! The other thing they noticed (and I have too) is how Cassie will say, "I Know" after you make a statement. Example: "These are Mommy's shoes." 'I know'. We'll need to be careful with that one...I don't want Cassie to become a "know-it-all"!

FINALLY, it seems to me that Cassie is getting close to potty-training. Already, she lets me know when she's having a...ummm..."private" moment. Usually, she'll go to an out of the way corner to do her business, first letting me know that she's going "poo poo" (NOT a word I taught her...we can credit that descriptive term to her father!). On Wednesday, however, I was putting on makeup in the bathroom when Cassie went to the toilet and leaned on closed lid while saying "poo poo". She then proceeded to have her moment. I suppose I should start thinking about putting her on the toilet more often. :)

I know this is an insanely long post. If you made it this far, you might want to check out these pictures and videos on our Picassa. Thank you for celebrating our baby's discoveries with us!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kayhoffman7/CarCartCassie?authkey=2pbUm1Klv0w

Cassie's PA adventure!

Cassie has been in Pennsylvania this weekend, enjoying special alone time with Tim's parents. I have deeply missed my little girl, but know that they need to have weekends together to build grandparently bonds! She's stuck to her routine pretty well...sleeping and eating normally...and apparently hasn't been fussy at all (or at least, that's what they're telling me!).

Tim had his Penn State Volleyball alumni weekend so Cassie was dropped off in Harrisburg on the way North. Shockingly, the Volleyball alums beat the Varsity team when they played each other Saturday afternoon. Tim was pretty pleased with the way he played too...he loves the challenge of real competitive play. Today all will return home to normal life-laundry, tutoring, work, etc.

Please pray for our family...we're dealing with some serious challenges right now and are in desperate need of God's intervention.