I am a huge texture person. My textures of choice are chewy and crunchy.
Flan? No way.
Scallops? Not a chance.
Raw oysters? I think I just puked in my mouth.
But another texture that I'm not quite sure how to categorize, goes on my black list of food textures:
Squeaky.
Like what Lucky Charms marshmallow-y delishnastiness do when you bite into a big spoonful of them. Those little marshmallow nightmares just squeak across your teeth. Does anyone know what I'm sayin'?
Gives me the heebie-geebies if I think about it too long.
Meringues are a close second with the squeak factor. I don't think about those too long either. {shiver}
I've been reading Beth Moore's blog this morning and found my way to a website As Our Own that is countering child exploitation and slavery.
There is a line in one of the girl's stories that touched my heart this morning. Although the story belongs to a girl whose life was redeemed from the darkness of a brothel her mother was kidnapped to be a slave to, it is very applicable to life as a Mama of two girls.
"She's grown up to be a lovely young woman with a strong sense of her identity in Christ as a daughter of the King. She exudes a steady confidence in God's loving care."
It forced me to gain some perspective in my life. God is rescuing little girls from tragic horrors. He is working miracles to turn their little lives from ashes to beauty.
He is giving them life through identifying with Him and not the life that is surrounding them.
It made me have a lump in my throat as I looked over my laptop at my girls playing with crayons and coloring books. So innocent. Unaware of all the things that will soon compete for what they base their identity in. And I had to try and explain to Alexia why tears were streaming down my face. I think they were tears of sorrow, but also thankfulness of being made aware of the the importance of this identity issue. Because I know one of the biggest impacts on who/what they find their identity in will be my example of who/what I find my identity in. First Peter 3:3-4 came to my mind, because it is a painful reminder of what I battle being the source of my identity:
"Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." (New Living Translation)
And encouragement comes to me from the reminder of Proverbs 31:30:
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."
Lord, help me to have for myself, as well as teach my daughters, to have a strong identity in Jesus by being made beautiful on the inside, a result of being a daughter of the King. To have steady confidence in God's care for me, rather than inconsistent confidence that comes and goes by how I feel about my appearance. Thank you that you desire for me to have a story that has a praiseworthy ending!
I love when I'm reminded of healthy ideas for my girls. Ideas that I'm aware of, but need to be re-inspired by friends every now and then. So in honor of my friend who convinced her husband to go on a smoothie cleansing diet.....
I made smoothies. Masked as popsicles!
I let the girls help me with what they wanted in their smoothie popsicles and they came up with:
Strawberries, bananas, blueberries, apple juice, and yogurt. And I threw in wheat germ, fresh kale and fresh spinach.
All into the blender, and then into the popsicle molds for the next morning. I promised the girls they could have a popsicle for breakfast.
(A trick I like to do is throw bananas on the verge of being overly ripe, I peel and put in a ziplock and store in the freezer. I've started doing this with other fruit that is about to go bad as well. It's also saved me frustration for the times when the girls ask me for a banana, but only for the fun of peeling it. And then I just use for smoothies!)
You were the surprise of our lives, when we found out you would be joining us with just one year (and two weeks) between you and Alexia. My pregnancy with you proved to be just as miserable as the first, and many vows of never going through this pregnancy thing again were made. I might have even tried to convince your dad to agree. But he refused to have the conversation, convinced my tune would change once I was not pregnant.
And right he was.
You have been such a joy. Your easy going spirit has been so refreshing. Your ability to make people laugh has been so fun to watch. Your Daddy and I have thought countless times that we should change your name to Joy. You have no inhibitions, taking delight in entertaining yourself as well as others. People laughing with or at you just makes you laugh. Which then makes us laugh even more. I can't count how many times I've heard what an amazing little personality you have and how much fun you are to be around. You quickly win people's affections because of your love of life.
I'm pretty sure you are a verbal genius. And you have shocked so many with your well annunciated sentences coming out of such a tiny little body. You're like the Doogie Howser of talking. There have been so many times where we have directed a question to Alexia, underestimating your awareness, and you have piped in with the correct answer! You have an amazing ability to observe and comprehend. I wish I could take credit for it, but I'm sure it's pretty evident that is not my strength!
You also win the teeth award. Those suckers came in with full force. It felt like you and Alexia obtained a full mouth of teeth around the same time. And you are never afraid to show them:
This one, I just might take credit for though.
You are fearless, crawling into the waves, climbing up onto things, jumping off of things. You keep me on my toes! You want to do things on your own, I can hear you saying, "I do it! I do it!"
I love how cuddly you still feel. And that you still have baby cheeks. I check in quite frequently to make sure you are still committed to staying a baby forever. You're still on board as of now.
You love to sing and will dance to any kind of beat, even me saying over and over, "Go Naiya, go Naiya, go!"
On your actual birthday we celebrated you over breakfast with Grandma & Pops. And surprised you with an honored seat at the table:
You were showered with gifts from your grandparents near (Grandma & Pops) and far (Grandma & Grandpa Griff - my aunt and uncle in CA).
I imagine a day will come where it will be hard to believe that you were as tall as the bottom of the windowsill. But I will not think of such things right now.
We love you so much Naiya. You are truly one of the best unexpected gifts from the Lord to us. I am honored to be your Mama. Happy 2nd Birthday!
This year Ryan started the weekend off with picking up my favorite coffee drink, a vanilla breve, from a local coffee shop on Saturday morning. Then we made a last minute decision at dinner with friends that evening to go camping. I'm thankful it was spontaneous, because had I more time to think about it, I would have come up with enough reasons to not go with two toddlers.
We didn't get to the campsite until it was dark, but there was enough time to get settled in to our tent and then roast marshmallows for some good ol' fashioned s'mores. Yum. The girls, Ryan and I went to bed together and cozied up on the foam mattress and down comforter we brought. Luxury camping. No hip bones digging into rocks on the ground. And the next morning, everyone woke up well rested. I couldn't believe there weren't any tears during the whole camping experience. Except for the one time Naiya was crying in her sleep saying, "I want thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"
And so that it would end being a positive experience, we drove on home in time for naps. And a Happy Mother's Day weekend it was.
And to further celebrate the beloved day, I bought myself my favorite flowers. Ranunculus.
Aren't they the loveliest things you've ever set your eyes on? Like a cross between poppies and peonies.
Monday had come, my happy day of feeling appreciated and pampered had ended, and low and behold....these pretties allowed the celebration to continue throughout the week. Found them at Trader Joe's and bought them for myself. (To Ryan's credit, he said he had looked for them, but couldn't find any.) Didn't feel a bit cheated either. They made my life happy every time I walked into the kitchen and saw them on the dining table. Didn't last long, but were beautiful while they lasted.
