J-O-Y

The girl has potential. Don't all children?

Reading is lovely and beautiful and fun. I have always read to all of our children. I question whether the girl has ever been read to in her nearly 4 years.

But today she has learned how to write the first letter of her nickname. She was so proud of herself. We celebrated her success.

I think that small victory makes up for the three crowns and the one filling she had to have this morning.

We are finding JOY each and every day with these dear children who are with us. 

Magdalena Turns 2

I did it!! I took all 5 kids to Park City to get Maggie's 2 year pictures taken. I survived (barely) and only lost one kid for about 5 minutes. Three of the kids fell asleep on the way home so I made many trips to and from the van to carry kids up to their beds. To say it was a long day is putting it mildly. But I was thankful I planned it for a Wednesday, knowing that we would be going to my in-laws for dinner so I wouldn't have to think about food. The more kids I have the more grateful I am for Wednesday nights with my mother and father-in-law.

 This is a funny Maggie-face. I can't tell who she looks like here. I guess she is just her own person!

Since this is an all about Maggie post, I thought I would think of what Maggie loves best at age 2. When she wakes up in the morning, the first things she wants is "nilky" (milk). She loves to play with the water table outside, but is not thrilled about the pool. She loves to take a bath but hates to have her hair washed. She is generally a good eater. I'm not sure what her favorite food is... maybe freeze pops!

She is opinionated. [Gasp! Surely this is not my child!] If she is upset that I am disciplining her she will say, "I don't like you, Mommy! You're yucky!"
 

But she can be very sweet, too. She likes to be held much more than either Anne or Abbey ever did. She can be very kind and helpful. She is starting to enjoy coloring more than she did before. She loves to paint. She loves her pink boots and her unicorn slippers and tea parties and babies. She really really loves babies. [Okay, she must be mine.]

I LOVE THIS FACE!!

 

For fun: Maggie's size and weight compared to Anne and Abbey at age 2:
Maggie: 33 inches tall and 22 pounds
Abbey: 32 1/4 inches tall and 21 pounds
Annie: 36 inches tall and 26 pounds

I think it is safe to say that she will soon catch up to Abbey.

Maggie has not been feeling great for the past couple of weeks. Yesterday and today she seemed much better. She has struggled to get along with our foster daughter since the day they arrived. But yesterday the two of them got along great. They were sharing and using kind words and sitting together nicely. I was thrilled at this change in both of them. Our foster-daughter has fiercely defended Maggie saying, "Don't you do that to my sister!" Maggie adores our foster-son. She crawls along the floor with him, makes sure he doesn't put small things in his mouth and refers to him using terms of endearments such as, "Babykins" and "sweetheart".

Magdalena continues to bring so much joy into our lives. We are thankful for her, for her fun-loving personality, for the different perspective she brings into our family. And I'm even thankful for the noise, the tears, and the hurts she brings. I cannot imagine life without her and am so often reminded of her small beginning, the uncertainty with her health, her gluten-intolerance, the long nights of being awake, and again, I'm thankful. The Lord has seen us through some very difficult days, and I'm confident that He will continue to see us through more of those days as she grows older.

I hope you have enjoyed the Maggie post.

Coming soon.... the Anne girl turns 5.