"God, can we please have a baby sister?"

About a year ago we started having conversations about a baby sister. Tytus would ask me if we're going to have one and I would say " I don't know?" or "maybe" and that would be the end of it. (By the way he never asked for a brother and was always very specific about it being a sister each time this came up.) Sometimes we'd go weeks before he'd bring it up again, but it was never anything real drawn out and seemed like kind of just a random thought that would enter his head.

Then one day at lunch he asked, in a very serious and expectant tone, "Mom when are we going to have a baby sister?" I was a little surprised at his urgency and said that God puts babies in mommy's tummy and he could pray and ask God for that if he'd like to. He immediately said okay and folded his hands to pray so I did the same. We sat in silence. Then he said "Mommy, you pray" and I laughed and told him that if he wanted a baby sister then he could pray and ask God for one! At this point Ian and I hadn't really talked about having another little one because life was quite busy and we were really happy enjoying the stages our boys were currently in. Tytus responded with "maybe later" and we went on eating our lunch and didn't say another word about it all day....until bedtime. We did our whole bedtime routine, read a book, and started to say our prayers. At this age Tytus never really prayed with us. We'd ask him if he had anything he wanted to say or be thankful for, but his response was always pretty short and he never actually wanted to do the talking so we'd do it for him. That night was different. As Ian was praying, Tytus interrupted and said "Oh, I forgot! God, can we please have a baby sister? Amen!" And that was that. Ian was a little surprised because I hadn't even told him about our conversation earlier in the day.

I think this is about the age he was when he first started praying and asking for her

Our next conversation was in the bathroom one day while I was washing my face and getting ready for the day. I wrote this conversation down in my journal (dated Mother's Day 2014) because it seemed so unique and significant. I couldn't believe that he'd prayed and God had answered, but that is the amazing thing about our God! He's alive and answers us...even when we're 3!

Tytus: "Is that where a baby comes out of your tummy mommy?"

Mommy: "No, but do you think God will give mommy and daddy another baby?"
Tytus: "Yes! I prayed and asked God a lot of days ago for a baby sister"
Mommy: "Did he answer you? Did he tell you yes or no?"
Tytus: "Uh....He said Yes!"
Mommy: "Did He tell you when she would be here?"
Tytus: "Oh! Maybe Easter aaaannnd then maybe Christmas!"

There are several significant things about this conversation. It's the first time we've talked about God answering specific prayers, but Tytus replied like he already knew that. Also, at this point we did know that we were pregnant and we knew the due date would be Christmas day. We ended up loosing that baby pretty early and Tytus' response was right in tune as if he knew all along what was going on (even though we never told him we were pregnant). He only brought it up once during that period of loss and he told me that God said "maybe later" about having our baby sister. I also thought his response of Easter and Christmas were awfully specific and random. We hadn't talked about either in great detail recently (since it was May) and really I expected his response to be something more like: a day of the week, nighttime, my birthday, etc.

A couple months later Tytus started asking about a baby sister again and our conversation was very similar to the previous one, but this time when I asked him when God said she would be here he said "at the beach!". I immediately started laughing because the night before Ian and I had booked two plane flights to Florida for a get-away in September. I repeated the story to Ian that night and he too immediately burst out laughing and asked how Tytus knew about that. I have no idea. There's no way he knew! Once September came around we had just found out we were pregnant again. I knew the week we'd be on vacation is the same week we had a miscarriage previously. I remembered Tytus' response and believed that God gave me peace that this time would be different and I shouldn't be worried but just enjoy our vacation together as a family of four. We had an amazing time together!

Once we started announcing our pregnancy and people would talk to the boys about it, Tytus' confidence never wavered. I spent time explaining that it really could be a boy or a girl. He would listen and agree that God makes brothers and sisters, but he always called the baby a she and always spoke as if it was definitely a girl. We were even at Target one day just browsing and he picked out the cutest winter coat and with bright eyes said "Mom, this would be perfect for our baby sister! Can we get it?" We were just a week away from having our sonogram appointment where we could find out the gender so I asked him if we could wait just a little bit longer to buy the baby something. I just marvel at his belief through all of this! He was so sure and steady even through all of our telling him he might be wrong......but he always knew what God had told him.

We did indeed find out at our appointment that he's having a baby sister! We all laughed a little bit and asked if they were sure, but Tytus was totally unfazed. I asked him, a few days after the appointment, if he was surprised. Nope. I asked him if he already knew. Yep. He answered with "Mom, I prayed a long time ago and God told me yes. And I believed Him."

Here are some things the boys and us picked out for her after our appointment :)

Also, her due date is right after Easter! And knowing that both of our boys came 1-2 weeks early, there's quite a chance that Tytus' prediction of Easter could be completely right!

Moving On Up!

Tytus had his performance for gymnastics today. He started going in August right around when school started. Since we hadn't looked into schools for him to go to, we thought this would be a fun thing for him to get to do on his own each week. So far he's loved going each time and enjoys showing off his skills at home, too. Witten has also had fun seeing what Tytus is doing while we sit and watch his class. For the winter set of classes, Tytus will get to move from his Yellow class to the Orange class and Witten will also get to join in on the fun as he starts his first class in his age level. They're both so excited!

Tytus is one of the few 3 year olds that got to move up to the next level, and he did such a great job showing off his skills!

Rainy Days and Fun Projects

Ever since we've moved there has been a good amount of transition time. We don't have commitments we're running to on a regular basis as we're still trying to get to know friends and find what we want to do with our time during the week. It's given us the ability to have some pretty slow days that usually turn into something creative and fun! One of the first days it was really cold and rainy was, of course, a moment to go outside and play in the puddle the roof of our deck created. We had nowhere to go, so I thought "Why not?". Even if they got filthy and freezing, we could just throw everything in the washer and warm up inside together. I was FREEZING just sitting out there drinking my warm coffee and couldn't imagine how they weren't so cold! I kept asking them if they were cold or wanted to go inside and the answer was always a happy "nope!". I really think they could've played out there for hours. The jumped, splashed, went and got supplies to dump and dig, and pretended lots of different scenarios with the toys they found. It was such a fun morning!

One day this week I decided to start fixing a table we got for free. It's definitely old and needed to be glued back together in several places. I first had to take off all the wooden support boards that had been screwed in to hold it all together. I thought it would be a fun thing for the boys to help with, and they loved it! Using real tools is always a hit with them. I decided to finish unscrewing and gluing the main part of the table while Witten was napping one day, so it was just Tytus and I working together. He started taking the scrap boards I had removed and putting them together. He asked me to help hold them a certain way and he used his screwdriver to screw the screws in tight enough so it wouldn't come apart. Then we laid out some paper and got markers out to make his creation complete!

Look mom!

"It's my airplane"

finishing touches

You can see the table in the background. It's laying down so
the glue can dry to hold the boards together a certain way.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween wasn't as planned out this year even though the boys are older and knew more of what to expect. I went under the assumption that with the many dress-up options we have around our house, it would be easy to just choose one to go trick-or-treating with. We knew that Ian had a work party where he was going as Darth Vader and the boys have light sabers, but as the day got closer and closer I hadn't given any kind of Star Wars costume a thought. I had no ideas and was lacking the energy to be creative enough to come up with something. The day of the party I decided I should at least try a little and go to Goodwill to see if they had something (anything!) that could possibly pass off as an Obi Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Yoda.....something. We went to one Goodwill and amazingly found a Luke Skywalker getup in exactly Tytus' size. Then I saw a jumper that could pass off as Yoda (in Witten's size) if I could make him some ears to go with it. After several attempts at the ears, they worked! Unfortunately I couldn't figure out the ears in time for the party and Witten preferred to go as a lion anyway. Fun was still had :)

 For the actual Halloween day we wanted to stick with our usual plans of handing out candy and visiting with neighbors, and we wanted to take the boys trick-or-treating if they seemed interested. Our neighbor, Nixon, went trick-or-treating with us so it was a fun first experience with our guys! Overall it was a pretty fun day and now they can dress up in character any time a light saber fight takes place. Sounds pretty good to me!

all in character (Yoda is trying not to be too intimidating)

a pretty common sight around our house

The group (unfortunately I couldn't fit into my princess Leia
costume from high school to match...a little tough when your 16 weeks pregnant)

defeated