Letters to Julia - Letters Letters Letters

Dear Julia,

What a smart little girl I have! And as a former preschool and kindergarten teacher, I love that you love letters! One day when you are older I hope you will defend me to all my teacher friends and assure them that I did not pressure you to learn letters and sounds before you were ready! :-)

You really do enjoy learning and playing with letters. I hope it always stays fun for you!

Right now, you are two years, six months old, and you really do love letters! You always want to watch Letter Factory and the Preschool Prep DVDs. Well, after asking for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Elf, your all-time favorites for some time now! You point out letters any time you see them, and you know most of them. (I won't be too teachery and give current recognition/identification stats. If I did that, I would also have to say that you know all your colors and shapes, too, even hexagon. :-) And then I would have to say that you have text directionality and story structure down, too!)

Auntie Jen and I laughed at you a lot this week. Your new favorite word is "really." You always say things like, "Mom, I am really eating my oatmeal now," and "I am really wearing my shoes," and "Mom, I want to really go outside to really play with the puppies." Most of the time you use it correctly, but it is a little funny when you don't.

Here you are watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse this morning. It is the only thing that you actually sit and watch, totally focused on.

Funny girl! I love you! And I missed you a lot when I went to Nairobi. I am glad to be back home with you. I know you had fun at the baby house and you were perfectly fine, but I still missed you. And you know what? I even cried after I told you goodnight on the phone. See? Sometimes it is okay to cry. But I am okay, and you were okay, and we both had a great time!

I love you, baby girl.

Love, Mommy

My Baby Big Girl - How Time Flies!!

I have come to the sad realization that my baby isn’t a baby anymore. She is a little girl. As sad as I am to see her baby-ness slowly fade away, I absolutely love each new thing she does! The hardest thing for me is that my family never saw or knew my “baby.” They will know Julia, but they will know the little girl that I love.

Don’t get me wrong…I am NOT rushing away the baby!! I am clinging to everything “baby” that I can! I look back, as I am sure most moms do, and I kick myself for not documenting her life and little achievements better. It feels so sad that that time is gone and I can’t get it back!

This time last year, I carried her everywhere! How did I end up with this little girl who walks everywhere on her own?!

This time last year, I was cutting soft foods into tiny pieces and being very careful about what I was giving her to eat. Now, she chomps away on big people food and I cook the same meal for both of us.

This time last year, I never left the house without a change of clothes, a bottle, extra diapers and a bib. Right now, I have a pair of big girl panties, a few picture books, some fruit snacks, and Little Girl’s sunglasses in my bag!

I soooooo wish I had done a better job of keeping up with Julia’s baby book. (And please tell me I am not the only mom who feels that way!!!) In all honestly, I was afraid to do too much “mommy” stuff early on, too unsure of the future. By the time reality set in and I had a peace and confidence in what God was allowing to happen and felt the freedom to delve into full mommy-hood, I was already behind on all that cutsie mom stuff I had wanted to do. And once I am behind, it is so hard not to get overwhelmed. Rather than just starting where I was and going from that point, I kept wanting to go back and start from the beginning. Mistake. It snowballs.

So, while I work on going back and completing her baby book, I am also forcing myself to do better to document the “here and now.” This is a time I don’t want to forget! There is still so much uncertainty and so many questions about our future and when we will ever make it back to the States. I want my family to know her now. Not just see pictures, but really know her.

But most of all, I want to remember this time I have with my little girl. I don’t want to look back at another year and not remember the “little things.” And she is SO funny and says so many adorable things, I have to find a better way of remembering them! She shocks me with her advanced conversational skills and thought processes. I absolutely love watching her grow and develop into such a bright little girl.

So, Sundays is going to be my “Mommy time” day on the blog. The rest of the week will be focused on the rest of life and ministry here in Kenya. And Sundays is our least-read read, so I am pretty sure it is just Kris and my mom who read on the weekends, anyway! Ha! :-) Of course, you may see Julia occasionally thrown in there throughout the week sometimes, but Sundays are going to be my time to share our life with our family and to tell Julia how much I love her and treasure the blessing of being her mommy….for such a time as THIS. 

My Sweet Petite

Another mommy moment post….

Just have to share how cute my little girl is in her new outfit from Papa! He mailed it in what we thought was plenty of time for Christmas (first week of Dec) but we just received it on Friday.

It is precious! It came with a cute little doggy purse with matching sunglasses and several sets of matching bows/clips, which I am sure Nana had something to do with.

And the little diva was loving some picture ops yesterday, too. She was looking at the chickens at the boys' home when she noticed me taking her picture, so she stood beside it and said, "Peek-cha me!" (= "picture") 

She was whispering "Chicken. Hey, Chicken."

 "Peek-cha me!"

(These pictures were taken with my new iPhone camera, which I am pretty impressed with! I am still learning, though.)

And just to throw in another one….this was Julia at church this morning. We are raising money to concrete the floor. Oh, how I long for that day!! Her adorable little dress from Auntie Kris got a little dirty today. Another “gotta love” about the Kenyan churches. 

I want to be just like You

Little eyes are watching.

Little ears are listening.

Little hands are copying.

Little mouths are repeating. 

What do I want her to see? What do I want her to hear? What do I want her to know? I want her to know Jesus. I want her to see Jesus in me.

“…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…” 
(John 14:9)

Lord, may I walk each day, so engrossed in Your Spirit that my little girl sees You as she watches me.

She wants to be like Mommy. And that warms my heart. And it scares me. And it reminds me of an old Philips, Craig and Dean song:

“Lord, I want to be just like You

Cause (s)he wants to be just like me

I want to be a living example

For [her] innocent eyes to see

Help me be a living Bible, Lord

That [her] little eyes can see

I want to be just like You

Cause she wants to be like me”

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 
(I Corinthians 11:1)

As my little girl keeps her eyes on me, may I keep my eyes on You, Father. May I look to You for every need, every desire, and every hope.

May she see me running to Your feet in times of need.

May she see me give You glory for every blessing we receive.

May she see me placing my trust in Your unfailing love.

And may she see me imitating You, showing kindness from above.

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a gragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” 
(Ephesians 5:1)

I hope and pray that this year, as I continue my journey with Christ, striving to be more like Him, that my little one will see Jesus in me. May I be that living example to her, showing her each day what it is to walk in the love of God. 

I Think I'm Getting the Hang of this Tortilla Thing

I'm a Texas girl. And I live in Africa. That's not a good match for finding good Tex-Mex. And what good Texas girl can survive for long without good Tex-Mex?

And though I have considered myself pretty much a novice in the kitchen, I'm learning to make due in this world of sukuma wiki and ugali by stretching my wings and busting out the flour and baking powder to make the staple part of any Mexican food meal - the TORTILLA!  Oh, how I have missed tortillas!


Well, the common thought would have been to try making tortillas two years ago. But like I said, I'm not much for making from scratch. 

Maybe it is living in a third-world country that is quite different my "homeland" that drives me to desperate measures, or maybe it is the fact that I am so close to going home for a short visit that I can almost taste the fajitas looming in the somewhat near future that I just can't wait another minute and must take measures into my own hands, or maybe it's the whole "mom thing" making me feeling a bit more domestic and driving me to strive to attain that accomplished feeling of feeding my daughter something made from my own hands. Whatever it is....I like it. Cause it resulted in fresh, homemade tortillas! Yea, Trena!

 On my tiny stove top, using my awesomely heavy chapati pan. Oh, how Kenyan of me!

And, I must say that I am quite impressed with myself for actually enjoying the process of cooking, even the fun moments of interruption by a brand new 2 year old. 

"Mama, pamas (pajamas) off." (It wasn't that late to still be in pajamas. It was only about 9am, I just got an early start. ;-) )

"Hap-Birt-Day Julia! Nana."

(Happy Birthday, Julia. This is from Nana.) 

And now, off to finish "the rest of the story" as I prepare to fill those tortillas.

A Cookie Baking Mommy

That's me. Kind of a weird realization, but it's great.


I had friends coming over for tea, so I made cookies while Julia was napping. I know cookies aren't a very healthy snack, but I couldn't resist giving her one when she woke up. It was the first time I have made chocolate chip cookies since we've been in our house. (Chocolate chips are a rare commodity so I rarely use them.) 

I made such a big deal about it. "Mommy made you cookies!" She was so excited and didn't even know what she was excited about. To my surprise, and relief, she wasn't crazy about them. 

She did, however, love the banana bread. I've made banana muffins many times but this was my first attempt at banana bread. It was YUMMY, if I do say so myself. 


What a domestic day I had! And it was fun.