Are you ready for the results??

Me too! Unfortunately, we will all have to wait until January 27th to find out the gender of our baby. :( After 20 weeks of waiting, Mark and I and Maggie went to Dr. Rowles' office to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. The very nice technician tried her best to find out for us, however BabyLee3.0 wasn't quite cooperating. Not that he or she was being shy, just super active and wouldn't stop squirming around. It's a good thing this baby will be active, because we don't have one of those already! :)
So, the tech suggested that we come back at the end of January for another looksy. Not just to determine gender but for other measurements....this child would NOT stop moving! She did think that the baby COULD be a girl, but told us not to go out just yet to buy pink. So, you'll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned for the update!

What Month Are We In??

So Saturday, we decided it was finally time to rake up the leaves in our yard. Our neighbors have some great Poplar trees that provide us terrific shade in the summer. However, come Fall, the trees drop all their leaves into our yard. I guess that's the price we pay for getting the shade. As much as we are disappointed that we haven't had snow yet, we are blessed in the fact that we haven't had snow fall on our foot or so of leaves that have been sitting since October. So, since I am getting my energy back and breathing better, we decided we should tackle this job. We bundled up and headed out to the cold.

My job was to rake the leaves from the corners and out from under the swingset. Mark's job was to run the lawn mower over the leaves and frequently empty the mower bag into the dumpster. Maggie's job was, well, to keep busy and stay away from the lawn mower. As I started raking up leaves, the piles began to get really tall. So, we created a new job for Maggie. She got to kick the leaves to make a smaller pile for Mark to mow. What child, or adult for that matter, doesn't enjoy kicking huge piles of leaves that have just been raked up?

It was such a beautiful (allbeit, chilly) day, that we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in the first week of December and not the first week of April.

Every once in awhile, Maggie took a slide break while Mark and I took a coffee break.

It's a strange feeling to already be reminiscing about when she was "smaller." I mean, she's only 3 for goodness sake! But, as we were taking our break, we were thinking about when we first got the swingset. Maggie was terrified of the slide. Then, when she wanted to use it, we had to lift her up to the top of the slide. Last Spring, we were teaching her how to climb the ladder, with one of us standing right there to catch her when she missed the top step. Now, she goes up and down like she's been doing it from birth. It's amazing how fast she is growing up and how much she needs to learn from us.

I didn't intend for this to be a PSA, but these thoughts just lend itself to what Pastor John preached about last week. How have I been spending my time, especially when it comes to Maggie and her spiritual growth? Yes, climbing slide ladders is an important part of childhood....but what about the most important part of her life? The part where Mark and I are supposed to be guiding her and instructing her in the path of righteousness?

Yes, Maggie is only 3. Next year she will be 4 and so on and so on. When is it the "right" time for this? NOW. Not when I think she is "ready to handle the gospel truth."

Now.

Can I Ride My Bike, Mommy?

That's what Mark and I heard this past Sunday afternoon at about 4:00. Mark had been trying to get her back tire to stay inflated, and had finally succeeded. Maggie knew this and woke up from her nap that afternoon wanting only to know if she could ride her bicycle. I tell you, you can't tell a 3 year-old she can do something before and nap, and hope she forgets about it. At least, not this 3 year-old! After trying to explain to her that it was getting dark and it was pretty cold outside (33 degrees and dropping!) she still wanted to ride her bike. Knowing that we are pretty blessed to be in December and still even have the option of taking a bike ride, we decided we better take advantage before the snow comes...or if it comes, I guess! We bundled up and headed out.

Here she is with gloves, hat, helmet and coat...oh yeah and capris (who dresses this kid, anyways...) ready to ride her bike.

Maggie really enjoys it when Mark gets his bike out, too. Fortunately, Maggie isn't so fast that I can't keep up with her just by walking next to her. We'll see if that changes next year!