Just Pray to God About It...

So, somewhere over the course of the past few weeks, Ellie has decided that any and everything she can not find requires prayer. She tells me once every few days that she has prayed about where something is and still can not find it. This has happened with her shoes, her vacuum cleaner, games, toys, etc. Yesterday in the store I was looking for the cookie aisle. Ellie very simply reminded me that all I needed to do was stop and pray about it and God would show me the cookie aisle. Something about this is just precious every time she says it. It makes me smile because even though she is a little mixed up about what requires prayer, she is beginning to understand that she can go to God when she needs help. :)

The Weekend

This weekend we headed to Ashland for some time with Gran and Papaw. We visited Mimi (my grandmother) and Danny's parents and grandmother came up for lunch. It is so nice having them all so close. Ellie gets so excited about getting to see them. Our girls are so fortunate to have two sets of wonderful grandparents in their life who love them so much.

We returned to Lexington last night. We were all totally exhausted and it was snowing outside, so we decided to skip church and hang out at home this morning. Olivia was up bright and early, so Danny let me take a nap. I went to take a "short" nap at 8:30 and he woke me at 10:30. What a husband!!!

Olivia has grown SUPER attached to her Daddy lately. She cries when he leaves the room and wants him to hold her most of the time. This is new and although it is super sweet, I am a little jealous! :) I have a feeling she is going to be a lot like her daddy. Her passive personality is very different from Ellie's or mine. I guess Danny deserves a little of that around here!!!

Ellie's Friends

Ellie has had two make believe friends for months now. Their names are Emily and Allison and they are very much a part of our family. They drive, go to school, have jobs, dress up, go on trips, sleep with Ellie, etc. Every night at dinner as we are talking about our day, Ellie asks if she can tell us a story about Emily and Allison. A few weeks ago, Ellie told my mom that they are from Africa and now live off New Circle Rd. It is always something. I think the funniest thing about this whole situation is that I know that Ellie knows they are not real. She sometimes even laughs at herself when she is coming up with the crazy stories. I honestly think she just likes to hear herself talk and this gives her something to talk about. She MUST get that from her father!!!

Our Olivia

Olivia is about the most precious little girl that a parent could ask for. She turned 10 months old on the 11th and I think that is about the time she decided she preferred standing to sitting and "walking" to crawling. She pulls up on her little baby doll stroller and is off! We are having so much fun watching her learn to walk. I don't think it will be long. Ellie is super excited. She can't wait for them to be able to run and play together. Olivia is just a complete joy. Her little personality develops more each day and she is just so pleasant. I thank God for both of our girls every day!

Ellie - Our Child Who Does Not Need Sleep

As most of our family and friends know, we have struggled with getting Ellie to sleep for about two years now. I believe her last nap at home (other than when she was sick) was at the age of two. We have had to send her to daycare with a backpack full of things to keep her occupied while the other children are napping. She just doesn't need a nap.

And, even with no nap, she usually does not go to sleep at night until sometime around 10:00 or 10:30. So, we have had to get very creative. Going against everything I ever would have said I would do as a parent, we bought her a princess TV and DVD player for her room for her 4th birthday. Seems a bit extreme... but, this way she will at least go watch a movie and lay in her bed and rest from 9-10 giving Danny and I a little time together in the evenings.

We have talked to the doctor, read articles, tried every trick and reward possible to get her to sleep. Nothing works. We can make her go to her bed, but can not make her sleep. I guess all of that adds to the humor I have found in the way she has fallen asleep the past several nights. She asked us a few nights ago if she could lay in our bed until she fell asleep. At this point, anything is an option, so we said that would be fine and that we would take her to her own room when we came upstairs for the night.

These pictures were taken when we came upstairs to take her to her own bed. Not real sure of her reasoning, but she feels like she needs to wear these glasses to be able to sleep. Hey, whatever it takes. We have just played it up.... they are "sleep glasses".