My Bella-Bug!

Miranda Nichole Photography

My Isabella Song.  She is growing by leaps and bounds these days!  She chose a Princess Anna costume for our Harvest Party at church (she hasn't seen Frozen yet, she just thought it was pretty!)  She's quickly adjusted to living in Texas.  I think her two favorite things are our spacious house she can run circles in to her heart's content, and the fact the Grandma Barbara lives across the street from us.  At least two or three times a day she asks to "go to Grandma's house" and takes off running, and I am teaching her to look both ways for cars.  She loves talking on the phone--and the phone can be any phone shaped object, from the TV remotes to a loose power strip!

She loves helping Daddy work on the house.  She brings him tools, and tries to use tools to imitate him.  One of her favorite toys is an old assembled doorknob, and she patiently pokes at it with a screwdriver, trying to learn the ways of doorknobs.  She helps me also, "cleaning" with our little vacuum cleaner or trying to sweep. Elizabeth is her special joy.  When Bella hears Lizzy's coos in the morning, she runs to her bed calling "Baby's awake!"  The other day she asked for shoes because  "Feet cold, mama."  When I finished putting her shoes and socks on, she said, "Baby's feet cold too!  Shoes?"  wanting me to make sure her sister's feet were also warm.  The other day we were shopping and I did my usual routine of finding a shopping cart in the parking lot, extracting first one baby from a car seat and then the other and placing them in the cart.  Bella was up front this time and Lizzy was sitting in the back.  As I walked away from the car towards the store, Bella looks all concerned and says "Where's Baby?!!"  "She's right here, sweetie," I replied, and she twisted around to look back and said "Oh!" with a smile.  She just wanted to make sure I didn't forget her baby sister.  What a thoughtful little person!

We haven't been able to watch action movies with Bella around for a while, because she gets scared.  I have to reassure her that "it's not real, honey, it's just a movie."  Now we can't watch sitcoms any more either.  We've been going through the show Friends again, and they use the phrase "O my God!" on it a lot.  Now that is an exclamation TJ and I have agreed never to use.  It is a disrespectful use of God's name.  We actually don't mind a lot of swear words when used correctly--they express passion and the seriousness of whatever you're saying (there's a whole different blog post right there!)  But using any of God's names incorrectly is a no-no for us.  Anyway, four different times now Bella has exclaimed in her sweet little voice, "Oh my God!!!" The only place I think of where she would have heard it is on Friends.  And she's too little to understand that there's certain words she shouldn't say!  It's adorably cute, but shouldn't be encouraged.  Sweet, innocent child!  You are already learning the ways of the world. :-(

Another thing my two year old has started to do recently is to bargain with me.  It is hilarious, and keeps me in stitches!  I bought a package of cookies when I was shopping, and when I put it into the cart Bella asked for a cookie.  "We have to pay for them first, sweetie.  Then you can have one," I told her. 
     She held up one finger and pleaded, "Just one?  Please mama, just one?" 
     Needless to say, she got her cookie.  I know I'll have to be firm in the future, but the first time was just too cute!  Child, you slay me with your big blue eyes and blond curls and dazzling smile.  It's easy to say No when you whine, but once you learn to ask nicely always, the world will be at your service!

Anyway, this post is all about my firstborn, my eldest, our Sweet-pea.  It's a beautiful chilly Texas morning and time for my coffee!

Hey Y'all!

Miranda Nichole Photography

Greetings from the Lone Star State, the second largest state in the Union, the land of cattle, horses, and the ranches to keep them in, the land of friendly people who think it's their business to say hi and wave to everyone they meet, and where you can walk into the neighbor's house and use the shower if you need to.  "Come in y'all, the door's unlocked!  Set yourself down and have a cup of coffee.  How's everything now?"

It's been one solid week of Texas living for us, and we are completely hooked.  It's even better here than we hoped for!  Thirty years of living in California, and one week of living in Texas.....and we feel like we fit in here so much better.  It was like entering a time warp--first of all the 2 hour time difference, and secondly the fact that everyone has TIME.  It feels like we left the busyness of California behind us, and people actually have time here for the things that really matter--friends, family, and God.  I've never seen so many churches before in my life!

I have already seen strange and wonderful things in this strange and wonderful land.

The cashier at Walmart not only bags my stuff, but also places it in the cart for me and makes small talk while they do it.

At Lowe's I was struggling handling two tired and fussy babies while trying to find some items for TJ.  I had FOUR Lowe's employees jump to help me--one went and found my items, one checked them out, one carried the items to the car for me, and a fourth carried my baby.

Eating out at a local Mexican restaurant, the people at the table next to us were so nice and friendly I thought TJ had met them already but he hadn't.  Just strangers chatting to us about everything because they were nice and being neighborly.

Walking to the local park 11 blocks away, I can walk with the girls in the stroller down the city street and the two or three people who pass me always wave and smile.  We stopped to visit with a lady and her little boy playing in the front yard.  Our girls fit right in!  Elizabeth smiles and coos at everyone, and Bella always has to wave and say in her sweet little voice, "Hello!  How are you?"

Our family here has been amazing and supportive.  The church helped us unload our truck and trailer in about thirty minutes.  We've had folks bring us food or take us to dinner almost every night, which is helpful as my kitchen at our house is gutted and it will be a while before it's fully functional.  TJ has been working very hard on getting one bathroom finished so we can perform sanitary functions at home instead of having to go across the street to Grandma Barbara's every time.  She has been so kind to let us use her house when we need to, and it's fun having neighbors across the street like that.  (My cousins Emerald and Amy live there too but they are working most of the time so we only get to see them on weekends.)

Miranda Nichole Photography

Oh, and our house.  Our wonderful, glorious house and land.  What a blessing God has blessed us with!!!  It's a four bedroom, two bathroom house with high ceilings that make it look even bigger than it really is.  We like spaciousness, and getting rid of most of our stuff helps it look even more spacious because there isn't much in the rooms.  It needs a lot of work, but we are having way too much fun customizing it to be just how we like it.  It's going to be beautiful outside and inside when we're done with it!  I am especially enjoying the fact that we get to benefit from and enjoy TJ's handiwork.  He has done so much good work in the past both with his company and the rentals we lived in, and we always had to walk away from it when he was finished and didn't get to enjoy it.  So it's really fun for me to see the tile he put in and the floors he installed and the mudding of the walls he does so well.   He is building me and the girls a lovely home and we appreciate him so much!  I love my man and the girls sure love their daddy.

I am hoping to be more faithful with updating my blog in the future.  We're pretty much settled in now and the girls are my full time job.  As our routine develops we'll see how much actual time I have for writing. 

See y'all later!  Come by and visit if you ever come through the Amarillo/Canyon area.

One Man's Trash....

Everything is going pretty smoothly around here.  The Greers are so ready to hit the road that we feel like Texans already, from our cowboy hats to our jeans and boots!  Boxes are mostly packed, emotions are excited, job offers  have been pouring in, our families are loving and supportive even though they'll miss us (so they claim).

Elizabeth is very proud of her
newly acquired climbing ability!

Bella helping out at the yard sale

Two Saturdays in a row have seen our front yard littered with our worldly goods for sale.  It's amazing how much STUFF one can accumulate in thirty years!  Really, it's 58 years because of our combined ages.  I had the lion's share of the hoard though--TJ left home four years ago with only the stuff that fit in the backseat of his little Honda Accord, whereas when I moved in with him it took about six trailer loads to transfer my STUFF to our apartment.  Plus all the STUFF we collected in three years of marriage.  It feels so good getting rid of STUFF!  It's cleansing, like taking a shower.  We've pretty much sold everything but our oldest child.  It's amazing that people will pay actual real money for STUFF like that!  I need to revamp my mind and get out of the mentality that "someday I might use this so I should keep it and store it and love it and give it a name and not let it be pried out of my cold dead fingers..."

Hats and sticks--best childhood ever!

STUFF is so temporary.  It really doesn't matter at all in the long run--it's only real value is it's immediate usefulness.  I hope my children grow up learning not to be emotionally attached to STUFF  in an unhealthy way.  It's sad when people are hoarders--it shows a lack of love and fulfillment in other areas of their lives.

I find that the older I get, the less sentimental I become.  I honestly don't care if my great-great grandmother used that hideous chartreuse glass bowl--I don't want the thing in my kitchen.  My wedding shoes were awful and killed my feet with blisters and almost caused a twisted ankle--into the yard sale they went (nobody bought them and they ended up in the kids' costume chest because Bella loves clomping about in mommy's shoes!)  Knickknacks and glass items passed down to me from remote ancestors--I'm sorry ancestors, but you're going to have to turn over in your graves because I'm not keeping them around.  As TJ says, "They aren't our memories--so why keep them?"

Hiding among and climbing over the packed moving boxes
is Bella's latest hobby.

 Bella just came in with her bleached blonde hair in disarray, her monkey pajamas, and her sleepy morning smile on her face.  I love my darlings so much!  The other day we were having dinner at a friend's house and their little boy asked his mother, "Can I ask Bella's mommy if she can have a cookie?"  I realized that wow, this is how other kids see me now--as "Bella's mommy."  I am incredibly privileged to hold that title!  In this crazy dangerous world with shootings and fires and hurricanes all around us I want to hold my babies so tightly and never let them go!  But they are in God's keeping and I will cherish every precious moment that I have with them.

Isabella Song

Last Friday was our sweet little daughter's birthday--our firstborn, the one who blessed us with her presence from the beginning of our marriage.  I still can't believe she is officially two years old already!  I am the only one who has real memories of her beyond her birthday, and in my mommy heart she's about two years six months old.  I remember how she kicked and squiggled inside me, how she would respond to our voices, and dance to loud music.  Two years ago I was weeping over my tiny baby in the NICU unit at the hospital, crying for joy over my daughter, pain at seeing all the tiny wires and needles in her delicate little body, and in frustration trying to get her to eat enough so she could come HOME.

Well, she's been part of our family for two years now and we can't imagine life without her smile, laughter, little feet running about the house and yard, and sober observations in her rapidly expanding vocabulary.  TJ and I are beyond blessed!!!!

Yesterday I was out in the detached garage doing laundry, and I heard Bella calling for me from the house, "Mommy!  Mommy!" (My heart melts every time I hear my name in her little voice!)  I answered, "Bella!  Bella!"
     "I'm coming!" she called, and ran to find me.  She found me, gave me a kiss, and said "Bye now!" and went off to play.

Oh my darling little daughter, your father and I love you so!  I hope you always know that, and know we will support you 100% in every area of your life, guiding you towards the smart, correct, loving, and godly way of living, and lifting you up when you fall down and make mistakes.  It will be hard keeping our hands off and letting you fly, and yet our hearts will burst with pride when you soar to heights we ourselves did not achieve.  You are smart, amazing, beautiful, and so full of potential I want to cry when I think of it.  Keep your innocent, trusting, loving heart, my girl.  You will be hurt because of it, but the pain is worth it.  Your sweet spirit is to be valued above all things, and when all the sordid world around you gossips and snipes at each other and looks out for only themselves, you will be a shining star, a song whispering hope into the wind.  Song is your name, and a beautiful song you are, in our lives and the lives of all who know you!

On Saturday we had a birthday party for Bella at the park nearest our house.  It was so much fun seeing friends old and new!  They were generous with their gifts, and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.  The kids played on the play equipment, the ladies visited and played with the babies, and the guys had a vigorous game of basketball.  We ate chocolate cake and strawberries, and Bella opened her presents.  She was like a little princess in her fancy dress and cowboy boots!

As everyone says, they grow up way too quickly.

I love you, my Isabella Greer!