Oh Snap!

Laura Beth recently learned how to snap her fingers. It was like a magical moment when her finger met her palm and NOISE was heard. She was so excited. Now, I catch her snapping all the time. She wants to be "bigger" (older really). Every day she wants me to "weigh" her (she really means MEASURE) to see if she has grown. She frequently tells me that she is so much bigger and she should just go to first grade (like her cousin Hannah Claire, I presume). She has even told me several times that she thought she was big enough for 6th grade (and naturally I am thinking, "Who told you about 6th grade?"). 

It's obvious, Laura Beth is getting bigger. She is even asking some hard (for us to explain) questions about God and Jesus (we haven't quite gotten to Holy Spirit yet). Here are a list of her current questions. She asks them at very random times in the day almost every other day. I think she asks every day because the answers we give her are HARD for our humans minds to sometimes understand and except. It's hard for us to believe what we can't SEE:

1. How old is Jesus?
2. Where is heaven?
3. How does God take me to heaven? Do we walk?
4. Where is Jesus, I can't see him?

Her questions have made me feel very convicted about "Truth" and how I can help Laura Beth understand this truth at 4 years old. Every time I answer the above questions for Laura Beth, many more questions begin to form (which is a good thing). All together, I don't want God to be like a fictional character to her. I want her to understand who He is, His power, and His sovereignty. 

18 months = illness

Well, it does in our house. 18 Months = the beginning of illness for sure. When Laura Beth was 18 months old, she was sick every week (or every other week) for 6 months. NOT EXAGGERATING! She contracted Swine flu, Stomach Virus, Ear infections, Strep, Hand Foot and Mouth disease, teething (fever= no school) for several of those weeks, several colds, Croup, and a "fever virus" (Fever for 7 straight days, no letting up). I am sure I am forgetting something she had, but it seemed like we caught everything that was out there, except RSV. So far, Julie Ann has been fairly healthy. She has had a couple of colds and RSV one time. However, NOW she has turned 18 months (last Thursday) and Yes, on her 18 month mark, she contracted a stomach virus. It was not good. We all ended up having it over the last weekend. We thank God for healing, modern medicine, a home for comfort, and His eternal promise: He takes care of His people today and one day there will be no more sickness. Even in sickness I am reminded that God holds all things together for our good and His glory...even if the next 6 months with Julie Ann are same as Laura Beth's 18-24 months.

Up Up and Away.

Her first time at a fair. Here first "fast and high" ride. She loved it.

Lounging with Laura Beth

Laura Beth had a weird throwing up incident this morning. She seems fine and hasn't gotten sick since that one time this morning. She is eating, drinking, and lounging around. Since Steve needed to work a little today, I came home after lunch to keep her the rest of the day. We are just lounging together watching t.v. Then, I realized my blog has been being neglected since I began work. So I am posting some updated pictures and activities that we have been doing in our "spare" time.

We went to the fair last weekend. Laura Beth looked like a celebrity wearing my sunglasses. ha!

 She loved all the animals. She especially like this baby goat.

I am just realizing that I never posted a "first day of pre-k" photo on the blog. Laura Beth loves school. She has done so well. 

A few weeks ago we to the circus. Laura Beth was super excited to have her face painted (and it has sparkles!).

Julie Ann thinks she is 4 years old. She does EVERYTHING that Laura Beth does. Here she is brushing her teeth. She would brush them 10 times a day if I would let her. :) 

All of my "Julie Ann pictures" are on my phone. I wish I had more pictures of her to post. At 18 months, She is singing songs, "reading" books, and just loving life. She is very tall for her age and heavier than all her friends. She wears 24 month and 2t clothes. She wears a size 6 shoe. She is combining all kinds of words into phrases. Here are the ones I can remember:

"my turn"

 "look mama"

"uh oh da da "

"mama snack"

"mama all done"

"uh oh look"

"bubbles open"

"again da da"

"mama help"

"itsy bitsy spider"

"night night sissy"

"shoe on"

"more milk"

"help me"

All together, these girls are growing fast. They surprise us all the time at what they are learning in church, school, and at home. 

Growing Girls

Julie Ann is just so much fun! Here are the stats on Julie Ann:

29 pounds of love

10 teeth (and 2 more coming in)

Her hair is long enough for a rubber band and bow

 She talks so much. Her favorite words are:

"No!"

"Stop"

"my turn"

"ba ba"

"fruit snack"

"outside"

"Lee Lee"

"All done"

"eat"

"more"

"mermaid"

"on"

"Off"

"open"

"hurts"

"up" 

"down"

"love you"

"book"

"yuck"

"eyes"

"nose" 

"mouth"

"Cracker"

"apple"

"Hot"

"chicken"

"yogurt"

"banana"

"Hot dog"

"cookie"

"milk"

"please"

"thank you"

"baby"

"doll"

"ball"

"bubbles"

 She NEVER Stops moving. UNLESS barney is on. She will sit and watch Barney for a few minutes.

 She loves her sister, but has learned to get a reaction from her. Therefore, Julie Ann has learned about Time out....YES, before 2 years old. She sometimes put herself in timeout.

 And THIS beautiful lady below is such a wonderful big sister. I am so proud of her transition to Pre-k. She learns a new song everyday, it seems. She is writing better and faster than even 3 weeks ago. Today, I dictated how to spell words, and she wrote them without me even helping her know how to make the letters. I am impressed with this handwriting skill because she has always been averted to writing and has just recently started to like it. I am so thankful to God for his provision of a wonderful teacher for Laura Beth. I am thankful for God's provision of Laura Beth being at the school where I work. Her ambition in life at this point is to ride the bus. She'll have to wait on that for a while. :) Especially since I hear the bus pass my house at 6:45 in the morning. (CRAZY!!!!).

Zoo fun!

Our last outing as a family before school started was to the local Zoo in Alexandria, LA. Here are a few pictures of that day. :)

 Steve is always willing to play with our girls. Even if it isn't real MANLY activities. :)

 Laura Beth is a wonderful big sister!

 She is so big. She loves to push strollers.

 I love the trees in Louisianna!!! Look at those peacocks way up there.

 Always wanting to ride on the caboose.

We love Zoos. We love the trains at Zoos too. ha! 

Laundry Room Update

Before.

After.

Steve built  me a shelf. Thanks babe. I love it. The idea came from Pinterest (of course, who thinks of things on their own anymore?). The round box is for coins and other "pocket treasures). The shelf helps the room look nicer, and socks and stuff don't fall behind the washer /dryer :). It also reminds me who I am doing the Laundry for and why...my family of course, from whom God has given me. So ultimately, He is the reason I do Laundry. ha. 

Father's Day

We at the Mear's Household know Steve in a TOTALLY different way then other people know him. For most people, he is a counselor/friend or a food buddy (HE LOVES TO EAT!).

 For us, he is all of that AND SO MUCH MORE!

For me, he is everything God knows that I need. :) BUT we'll save this description of his "husband abilities" for anniversary day (when I remember it, sorry babe).

Today's post is for Father's Day.

So, if my four year old and my 14 month old could put into words what Steve is for them, then I think it would sound a little like this at this point in their lives. From Laura Beth, she may say something like this, "Our daddy is a 'fixer'"(note how Steve is putting in a thermostat that we could adjust from China. Yes, that's right. A thermostat with wi-fi. WOW.)

Moreover, Laura Beth would say, "Just this week, he built an INCREDIBLE loft bed of my room and I truly adore it." (She even asks if it is rest time)

 From Julie Ann, you might hear something like this, "My daddy loves to give me kisses. When he sees me he smiles so big, gets down on the floor and plays. Then, he hugs, kisses, and loves me like I am the ONLY one year old on the planet."

 All together, Steve is one-of-a-kind. We love him so much and ALL that he does for us. Especially when he morphs his body into a human pillow. ha!

 Steve is such a wonderful father. His mind is set on the Lord's will, which in turn means he is constantly thinking about our family and our family's needs. We are so blessed to have Steve in our lives. He rocks! 

Molars

So, Julie Ann has had 2 teeth until this week (she is 13 months old). A couple of days ago, I was cracking her up (because I am the funniest person ever to her) and I saw something! Something WHITE was in her mouth. I thought, "It's probably bread that got stuck" (the child LOVES bread). Upon closer inspection, I discovered a MOLAR....wait....2 MOLARS! That's right, Julie Ann now has 4 teeth. The most unexpected ones at that. First, Julie Ann had her 2 lower central incisors (my "speechie" friends know this means the bottoms 2 front teeth) . I thought, "That's normal and expected." Then, I would expect the upper central incisors or the lateral incisors to emerge....but not with this child who does NOTHING expected. She went straight for the molars. Upon closer inspection of Julie Ann's mouth, I discovered the top central incisors (top front teeth) not coming through, but just about to break the gums. WOW! TEETH! I am so thankful for this and NERVOUS at the same time. 4 teeth coming in at one time can make for a VERY fussy, not sleeping, over dramatic, little girl. ha! But isn't she CUTE!

En Pointe.

That's what Laura Beth's Alphabet Ballet book calls Tippy Toes.

Laura Beth loved her "tippy toes" dance class. She learned so much this year. Shuffle step, heel together, boogie boogie, and we can't forget the difference in her RIGHT AND LEFT foot! Yep, she learned that at dance class. :)

All in all, each week a sweet lady (who has lots of patience to deal with Laura Beth and 10 other girls) taught Laura Beth the sweetest Shirley Temple dance to "On Accounta I love You"

She was so excited to get that trophy in her left hand :)

Waiting for the trophy.

It's her party....

...and she cried when she wanted to. :) Julie Ann didn't actually cry the whole party, but let's just say she wasn't a fan of taking birthday pictures and having a party during her morning nap time.

She did enjoy the cake :)

It's hard for me to believe she is 13 months old yesterday.

I am sure I started singing "happy and you know it" at this point just trying to get her to smile.

 "If you're happy and you know it...clap yours hands."She clapped, even though she wasn't very happy. ha!

She loved that balloon, thats for sure. However, we couldn't get it out of in front of her face for a picture. ha!

See...no smiles. :( But she's still cute :)

Ann Thomas on the other hand was ready to smile at ANYTHING and ANYONE. :) Isn't she cute.

Julie Ann had a little practice on the smash cake. She knew exactly what to do.

Licking her lips. :)

Time to clean up.

My sweet friends Jennifer Collins and Lisa Nothstine came to the party. It was so nice to see them.

Wabee came to the party too, all the way from Texas. (Ignore the cheetos in Laura Beth's teeth. ha!)

In the mean time, we bought a house and moved to a new neighborhood (same town, just not renting anymore). Hence my absence from the blogging world. I have been packing, organizing, decorating, etc. The girls love the new house and we kinda like it too. ha! We are so thankful for the Lord's provision in this move. Surely, we won't moved again for a long long time. :)

Our Little Cupcake Turns ONE!

Julie Ann is 1 year old! Well, 1 year and  4 days old (it's harder to keep up with everything when you have multiple kids. I thought it was tough with one, but two children increases the madness joy.) These pictures are my attempt to get a one-year photo of Julie Ann for her birthday invitation. She was hilarious.

We love this little ball of energy so much. Her personality cracks us up every day. I was challenged by her at first, but she quickly taught me how blessed I am. She is absolutely wonderful!

 In case you missed it on Facebook, I am posting a movie of her walking last week. That's right, this girl loves to walk.

If you are wondering where the birthday party pictures are, then you'll have to wait. We are having her birthday party in MS in a couple of weeks with her 12 month old cousin, Ann Thomas. They have birthdays so close together that we decided to do their party together (helps with family travel too) I can't wait to show you guys her birthday outfit!