Slide

Last week Gracie saw her slide in our garage and said she wanted to "side"... so since it's freezing outside and inside our garage...I brought the slide in to her playroom. She's had so much fun going down forwards, backwards, and with her baby doll Cali.

She's not only going through a sliding phase and a Daddy phase but also a no clothes, diaper only (thank goodness not totally naked) phase. We ask her repeatedly during the day if she's ready to put her clothes on to which she always replies no (I realize I should be telling her and not asking her to put on her clothes but whatever - we usually don't have anywhere we need to be). She will get dressed to "go bye-bye" but shortly after we get home she wants to strip down to her diaper. And PJs - forget it! We've even had to put her into time-out to get her jammies on...and she'll ultimately give in and let us put them on but most nights we hear her screaming within a half an hour of us laying her down because she's gotten all tangled up trying to take her jammies off by herself.

So, this is yet another example for me to learn to pick and choose my battles....and this naked phase is a battle that I'm not fighting, at least not right now...and she couldn't be happier being a "newknee" (we call her nudey when she doesn't have any clothes on, a word we stole from Carrie and Micah, and she says "newknee" - it makes me laugh every time!)!

Oh, in case you're wondering, we have a super cute, cuddly, and sweet house guest staying with us for the next several weeks. We're watching our friends' golden retriever, Cleo, while Ingrid and Maaike (the dutch spelling for Micah) are home visiting with Ingrid's family in Ontario for the holidays.

Andrew, Ingrid's husband and one of the sweetest guys I know (next to Todd, my Dad, Richard or Granddaddy, and Travis Pittman), is in the Canadian Army and is in Afghanistan for the next 4 months...if you pray please keep him in your prayers or keep him in your thoughts!

So watching Cleo is just a little way I'm trying to support a solider and his family!

I am forever grateful to the men and women who serve in the military and their families that support and miss them while they are away!