Mirabel Update

Some things that Mirabel is doing (just a point in time):
- Vocab explosion - sentences, repeating what we say, adding phrases and words like crazy. Some of my favorites- "No worries." "Oh, my goodness!" "Good job, Mirabel Grace." "More Jesus, Mommy, more Jesus." (when she wants another Bible story at night).
- Still in constant motion. She tires me out. She can ride a little two wheel bike with training wheels now. She swings on a regular swing by herself, pumps her legs, and lately has taken to leaning back as she swings. She loves having her dad swing her upside down and side to side (tick-tock clock).
- She is a great eater. She loves fruit and vegetables, and of late pancakes are a favorite treat.
- She still sleeps pretty well, taking a nap daily, going down well and staying asleep until 7:30 or so in the morning.
-Exciting for us- potty training since mid-July. She's been rocking on that, and is wearing diapers just for nap and nighttime.

She's starting Montessori preschool/daycare next week Monday. I think she will really like it a lot. I'm excited to see how it ends up going for her.

The end of summer

We're enjoying our family vacation this week, spending it with Dave's family (sisters and their husbands and kids and his parents). We all have cabins right in a row next to each other up at Heartwood. We've enjoyed tubing down the river, kayaking on the lake, biking, walking, eating, boating, talking, and resting. Dave and I have gotten 8+ hours of sleep each night since we've been here which was much needed.

When we get back, we'll be welcoming Lisa to our house as well as two foreign exchange students, Paulina from Poland (though she's been living in Mexico the past few years) and Yirui from China. Full house and exciting times ahead!

Feet that go where God sends

Before I was pregnant with Mirabel, I heard a sermon that talked about blessing, not cursing. One thing that specifically stood out to me was an admonition to parents to intentionally bless their children and not curse them. While most parents don't actually curse their kids with swear words or phrases like "you'll never amount to anything," they do say hurtful things like "I can't believe you did that" or "Why do you always ..." or "That was a stupid decision" etc. It stuck with me. I have tried to specifically bless Mirabel each night when I put her to bed and try to avoid cursing behavior.

For the past few months, I have been praying for her this way- God, please bless Mirabel with a strong mind, eyes that see, ears that hear, a mouth that speaks truth, a kind and compassionate heart, hands that serve, a strong body, and feet that go where God sends. For the past few weeks, she has been saying "baa-dee" along with me and "fee..go...God...senns" when I say the last two phrases. It's a sweet memory for me.

Little Mirabel- may your feet always run along the path where God sends.

Big, big, big BOOM!

We had a great 4th of July celebration yesterday- church, then a BBQ party after church, then hanging out at home, then off to the Party in the Park. Mirabel saw a few fireworks set off by individual households during the music session and was dancing all around, but when it came time for the real display, the booms scared her. Last year we watched the show from someone's yard, and it must have been far enough away that she could just enjoy the show without being scared of the sound.

We went to the park with my friend Lisa and it was great to be able to bike home faster than the cars! We finally tumbled into bed around 11:30...the latest she's been up since she was a little skipper!

(Note the excitement of my day...I bought an Old Navy tank top in 2003, which has been my goto shirt for the 4th ever since. I found a matching tank for Mirabel for 50 cents at a garage sale and it made me smile all day long.)

Our little bean counter

I was eating dinner with Mirabel the other night and she took a handful of her green beans out of the dish and plopped them on the table. Slightly frustrated, I said to her that I thought it might be better to keep them in the dish. (I'm sure that's exactly how I said it, too.) I went back to eating my meal and heard her talking. Vun, too, free, for, fiv!! Clap, clap, clap. I looked over and she had lined up five green beans right in a row. I didn't even know she knew how to count, but I guess she has been paying attention to her number books and puzzle.

Our little wonder turns two next month and we're looking forward to other wonders this spring and summer. I'm hoping one of them is potty training. :)

Winter Weekend

I enjoyed going to Winter Weekend this year- it's our annual celebration of winter in my living history group. We dressed up in 1860s clothes on Friday night and played various parlor games (including cards and the largest sized game of pickup sticks I've ever seen- the sticks were taller than a toddler). Saturday was the ball and today we had a party/lunch at a member's home. Then two other members and I went out coasting (sledding). What fun! You can see a video of us here. I have the purple dress and blue hood with the white maribou (swan feather) trim. Many thanks to my mom, dad, and sister for taking turns with Mirabel babysitting this weekend.

Getting Organized....

Just a quick post...big organizational changes at the Pestel home. I'm finally getting to cleaning the dungeon (uh, basement). Dave asked for it for his Christmas present and after 5 years here and having a kid, I'm finally ready to part with some of my clutter stuff. My dear friend Lisa came over today to help me out and we got a game plan together and went through all of my wrapping materials. I culled of at least 2/3rds of it, which I offered to people at our church. (We have a cool email list where you can give away things or put out a need and most of the time someone will take it or has what you need. A redistribution of things within the church body as it were.)

Dave's sister is coming over next weekend to help us rearrange our first floor (we don't feel like we really utilize two of the four rooms to their full extent possible) and I am so excited to get organized. I felt really overwhelmed but with these two ladies helping out I feel like I can finally do it!

In other news, we are still looking for someone to move in with us- no inquiries yet.

And a brief note...do not eat months old yogurt in a tube, even if it hasn't been opened. Those two ounces can harbor a lot of bacteria and make for a generally unpleasant night and following day. This is the first time I got food poisoning, and I did it to myself!!