Swimming and Praising God

Thank you all so much for your prayers and kind words about my last blog post. It does help to know that there are so many others who know what I'm feeling and understand what it's like to struggle with your weight, body image, and self-confidence. This has been such a huge issue for me for so long and it's been refreshing to read all your comments and learn from you. It also feels nice get this out and to let others know this personal struggle I have had. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement. It truly has shown me that friendships go beyond this, so thank you.

On a different note...we SOLD our house!! It sure has been interesting and busy around here. We don't move to Waco until December but wanted to put it up early because we had heard that the market here is terrible. Well, in my opinion selling it too early is better than not selling it at all or stressing about having it so clean when you have a tollder constantly tearing it up. The house had only been on the market for one week when we got an offer and we will close sometime next month. We are going to be sad to leave this house, especially since it's the home in which Elizabeth was born. I think she'll be really sad not to go "back home" (every time we get in the car, no matter where we are, she says, "Back home!") to this home and that we won't have cows and horses behind our house anymore. But Praise God we sold it!

Elizabeth has been doing some really funny (and crazy!) things lately. Here are a few:

1. The other night, we went into her bedroom two hours after we had put her down to sleep and found her buck naked in a puddle of urine--asleep. Apparently, as she was going to sleep--crying (She HATES being put to bed)--she de-clothed herself, clothes and diaper, and fell asleep like that. It sure was an interesting sight. Hours earlier, I bet she was thinking, "Well, since I can't get out of this bed, I'll show you! I'll just take off my diaper instead." We have a picture of this, but we didn't want to post it here for her privacy, but it sure is funny...

2. Elizabeth loves her cousins. She's got to see them a lot recently, which has been nice. I was showing her some recent pictures Kim and Suzy had both sent me, and she named all of them. There wasn't a picture of Shaelyn in the stack I was showing her and when I showed her Jackson's picture, she said, "Where's Shaelyn?" She knows that they go together, I guess. They are my brother Kurt's kids.

Here is a picture of Barrett and Elizabeth at a wedding we went to. When they get together, they sure are rambunctious and rebellious. I'm not sure what to expect in the coming years from these two!

3. Elizabeth loves the water--swimming pools, bathtubs, mud, sprinklers, etc. Here are a couple of pictures of her in her favorite places.

Swimming with her floaties.

Elizabeth loves her floaties and is so independent in the pool that she doesn't really want you to touch her. She'll even jump in and go under water for a bit. I'm glad she likes to swim because so do I. We'll have some good times doing this together.

4. Elizabeth is still smiling with her eyes closed when you tell her to smile for the camera. 5. Her favorite person to pray for is Pawpaw (her great-grandfather). She prays for him every single time she prays and calls him (pretend) several times a day to tell him what's going on. She loves going and visiting him on his ranch and seeing all of his cows. 6. We're brainwashing Elizabeth to love the Astros. I think she's had an Astros outfit at every size she's been in. That and the Longhorns are so much of what she wears!! 7. I LOVE this dress. My mom got it for her for Easter (from Marshall's!!) and it is just so cute. She spins around and the petticoat goes with her.


8. She loves to go to the park. This one is at our church. It's amazing how quickly they become so confident at playing on these big things. Here, she's hanging from the bar. 9. When we get to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, it is common for Elizabeth to start clapping and screaming, "Chuch, Chuch!" What a wonderful expression of her love for church.

10. We were sitting in church a few weeks ago when Shane did the Call to Worship. He read a passage from Psalms in which he used the words, "Praise the Lord." Immediately after Elizabeth heard them, she raised her hands and yelled, "Praise da Dord." I love that she is so expressive during worship. I think it's just beautiful.

11. On a sad note, The Wiggles have permanently been replaced by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Elizabeth no longer asks for them and the ONLY thing she wants to watch on TV are Minnie, Daisy, Mickey, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy. She loves to say, "Oh, Toodles." Bye-bye Greg, Anthony, Maury, and Jeff and hello to Mickey and friends. Disney sure has a way with getting children to like their shows!!