Called Me.....

Have you heard this song?!?!  If I could put into words the battles in me right now this is what I would write.  All Sons and Daughters nailed it with their song "Called Me Higher". 

I could just sit
I could just sit and wait for all Your goodness
Hope to feel Your presence
And I could just stay
I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel You
Hope to feel something again

And I could hold on
I could hold on to who I am and never let You
Change me from the inside
And I could be safe
I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home
Never let these walls down

But You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You will lead me Lord
You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You lead me Lord
Where You lead me
Where You lead me Lord

And I could hold on
I could hold on to who I am and never let You
Change me from the inside
And I could be safe
I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home
Never let these walls down

But You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You will lead me Lord
You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You lead me Lord
Where You lead me

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life
So let Your mercy

And I will be Yours, oh
I will be Yours for all my life
So let Your mercy light the path before me

Cause You have called me higher
You have called me deeper
And I'll go where You will lead me Lord
[x4]

Where You lead me
Where You lead me Lord x2



(Thanks Paul) :)

Pressing on

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some Hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance"

Read more: Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance Lyrics | MetroLyrics

I absolutely LOVE the beach!  This is a definite happy place for me.  There is nothing like standing on the beach in front of the ocean looking out into the vast waters that seems endless.  There is no other reality check that I serve a BIG God and I am but a speck of sand in His glorious plan.  It's humbling.  

 

Heading into this New Year I feel very much like a speck of sand.  There are oh so many mountains standing in our way, so many obstacles that seem impassible.  We have 7 (short) months to get to a point where we can move on to the next step of our mission. This alone seems HUGE!  We are having another baby in 6 months.  This mixed with preparing my sweet children to move, packing a house up, weeding out our life materials, saying good bye to our life in Dallas just seems like a huge task that I am not sure I want to dive into.  I hate knowing that there is going to be sadness, frustration, feeling like we are lost, watching my children hurt because they don't understand, and we are walking right into all of this willingly....who does that?  

When I was thinking about all of these overwhelming plans this song for some reason popped into my head.  I am very good at sucking things up and pressing on.  I am very good at doing this when a situation all of a sudden requires me too.  I am not so very good at it when I know I am willingly walking into it.  This scares me!  If I am scared how in the world am I suppose to guide my children through this in a godly, calm, "we got this because God has us" way?  While reading the words to this song it hit me....Philippians 3:12-14

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

 

Here Paul is saying that he is not perfect, and still struggles like everyone.  He presses on to make his future his own because Christ has made him His own.  There is a balance of faith and works of God and the response of the follower/believer.   There is a goal or target in life.  It's a heavenly target, and the prize is the fullness of blessings in the age to come.  Isn't that what living is all about? 

So dwelling on the events that need to take place in the next 7 months and the mountains that only God can move is not going to help me press on, or keep dancing as the song says.  I need to keep my eyes on Jesus and the mission that has been set out before us. There is no way that I can do any of this.... Jesus can, and He will work through me as long as my focus and pursuit is Him.

2014, you are going to be a crazy year, but I am pressing on, armed, and dangerous...be scared...be VERY scared!

 

 

Homeschooling

This makes me want to have 10 children!  This sweet girl is amazing on so many levels!  She loves to learn, sing, dance, get messy, read books, and potty trained herself!  Oh how thankful I am for her😃

The Cost

There is a cost for every choice that we make.  Some are good, some are bad, and some are both good and bad.  It is those "good and bad" costs that I struggle with.  Being a missionary I am finding that there are lots of choices to make and it seems that every choice has a good and bad cost. For example: I have this pull in me to hurry and sign Grace up for ballet classes because she will not be able to experience them again for a while once we are in Haiti, and then I want to get memberships to everything so she can experience the aquarium, zoo, arboretum, and splash parks.  Then there is the fact that we live in Dallas, TX and most of our family is in New Hampshire and North Carolina.  We don't have the funds to travel all the time so we are missing out on cousins, nieces and nephews being born, family events, and worse the passing of loved ones.  I feel like we are missing out on super great relationships we could be having, because we are here in Dallas doing what we feel the Lord is calling us to do (insert pity party here).

That sounds selfish right?  I mean I should be content with what I have and where God has called me.  This period of life is only but a moment and before I know it I will be in Haiti, finally where God has called me to be!  I can be established and start to put down some roots.  Then I can be content in where I am, right?

Did you catch that?  That whole pity party statement was all about me and how I think things should go, and how I can do what is best for me and my family.  If I can only get this, this, and this, then I will be content!  Oh silly Becca!  If you only understood.....

Luke 9: 57-62 hit me like a ton of bricks!  It was the understanding that I needed to put the "cost of following Christ" into perspective.  See in Luke 9:57-62 Luke is telling us of two men who are walking with Jesus and telling Him that they will follow Him.  One man tells Jesus that he will follow just as soon as he buries his father, and the other man tells Jesus that he will follow right after he says good bye to his family.  Jesus response to these men in verse 62 is "No one who put his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God."  Ouch! Jesus summons to discipleship take precedence over everything else.  If we are going to follow Him, then we need to DO IT!  Do it without stipulations, without complaining, and without questioning!  If there is anything these 6 years in TX have taught me it is that Jesus has us!  He will not abandon us.  We have story after story of God's amazing, miraculous provisions for us.  How can I remember these, yet forget that He is going to take care of our needs in the future?  I don't need to worry about cramming in everything so we can have these experiences now, because I believe without a doubt that God has something way better then ballet classes in store for Grace, and way better things in store for my family then I could every create by myself.

So there you have it.  The choice of following Christ seems to have good and bad costs, but there is no other choice that I would make then to give up myself and follow Jesus!

Life is like pacifiers

I don't know about your house, but in mine pacifiers are either every where or no where.  Lydia only takes a pacifier when she is tired and once she is asleep she spits it out.  Now where that pacifier lands is beyond me.  I may see it land somewhere, but those suckers bounce.  I don't mean they bounce just a couple inches away....they bounce to the other side of the room!  Usually way under the book shelf, or crib..you know where it takes you forever to retrieve it.  Anyway, pacifiers are either every where and I know that I can easily grab one when Lydia is ready for a nap or melting down, or they are just no where to be seen and I have 2.5 seconds to find one, clean it, and get it into Lydia's mouth or we are in total melt down mode for the next half hour. 

Yesterday was one of those days...I couldn't find a paci anywhere!  I finally found one and that thing stayed with me the whole day!  I knew where it was and I was not about to let it out of my sight!  This morning on the other hand there were pacis everywhere!  I mean where did these things come from?  They certainly were not on the counter yesterday, or in Lydia's car seat, or in her bed.  I am pretty sure there are paci elves that take them just to play mean tricks on this tired momma.  Where ever they came from I was so thankful that just about every room I went into I found another paci!  I now have sanitized pacis in a container on my counter :)  Hopefully they stay there where I can find them tomorrow! 

This whole pacifier concept got me thinking this morning.  Our life right now is kinda like the pacifier game we often play.  Some times it feels like we have nothing and are just barley hanging on, and out of the blue we have a bunch!  It is such a sweet reminder that we don't need to worry about what we have, want, or need.  The Lord has never left us needing anything!  We are abundantly blessed by sweet friends and family that encourage us through hard days and love on our sweet girls.  And moments like those fill us up in a way no amount of money or material things ever could. 


Matthew 6:25-34
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?
²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Laundry

Remember this post back in September: Laundry?  Well I am pleased to announce that just two months ago I had to replenish my supplies!  That's right!!  7 months of laundry detergent for about $30!  I add a scoop of Oxi Clean to my loads so I have had to buy that about every other month.  I have lost track of how many loads I have done, but it is a lot! 

I have stuck to the original recipe and the only thing I have changed is I add all the ingredients into one pot after I have melted the soap.  It instantly becomes liquid gel and stays that way!  This is awesome detergent and has been put to the test!  Let me tell you, anyone who has done cloth diapers knows that you just don't mess around with laundry detergents.  Those guys need to be cleaner then clean, and kept up with or else you get a stinky, non- absorbent mess!  I have done countless loads of stinky, messy cloth diapers and they come out clean and smelling fresh!  I have used a few different detergents from organic nuts, to tide and this homemade detergent holds its own. 

So all that to say, I am super excited with a money saving success!  I am in the process of trying out homemade cleaners.  I am please with one that I use on my hardwood floors and tried a new bathroom cleaner tonight.  There is something about making your own cleaner that not only saves money, but you are in control of the chemicals in your house.  Love that! 

Dance Party

Is there anything more fun then letting go of everything and dance and sing like no one is watching?!?!  

Grace loves music and dress up.  So today we combined these two things and just went crazy!  Crazy like dancing on the couch and coffee table while swinging our scarves and waving our hands around crazy.  Grace thought it was so awesome she asked to do it again after dinner.  

I love these sweet moments! 

Currently

Currently I am sitting on my couch listening to the monitor connected to my sweet little girl's room where she is having a conversation with her BFF Ella.  They are talking about it getting dark out, saying goodnight to everything in her room (including the bookshelf), pretending to snore, and giggles galore!  It's precious!

I have a sunburn from going to our neighborhood pool twice this week.  I always put sunscreen on the girls, but totally forget about myself until I am driving home and can feel the heat radiating from my skin.  These girls are fish and keep asking to go back. 

There is paint on my arm from finger painting last night, and I even showered this morning!  

My feet and back are just a little sore from carrying Lydia around in the ergo and chasing two giddy girls around the zoo.  They found a gorilla eating a snack and thought to was the greatest thing since the penguin they just saw swimming under the water. 

I have nail polish (blue) on the wrist from the painting party we had after dinner.  Ella wanted blue fingernails and pink toenails (Sorry Kendall, I tried to convince her to choose different colors), and Grace wanted blue fingernails, and sparkly toenails. 

There is popcorn in every crevasse of my couch, and on my floor from our movie night.  It was our first official movie night!  We had a blast laughing and squeezing each other :) 

I cannot even begin to explain how much my heart grows with every moment I get to spend with these girls! Providing them with new experiences, teachable moments, and just being able to have fun with them makes my heart swell!  I pray we get so many more moments like these where I sit down after a long day and tear up over the gratefulness I feel.  Even when it's 10:00pm and Lydia is still awake :) 

Making A Mess

We are a very busy family :). With two crazy dogs, two toddlers, an infant, and a constant mommy, there is always something going on.  

Today I needed to run outside to hang the load of diapers that just came out of the wash onto the line.  We had just finished making brownies and Grace and Ella were licking the bowl, Lydia was content in her bouncy seat, and the dogs were actually calm outside.  It was a perfect moment to run outside and hang the diapers real quick!

I booked it outside, hung them quickly (maybe 2 min), ran back inside to find that the girls were not in the kitchen where I left them.  I listen closely and hear faint giggles coming from the bathroom..... I snuck around the corner to peek my head into the bathroom unnoticed.  The girls were washing their hands and faces off while making up a song :). It was precious!  Have I mentioned how much I love being a mommy?!?! 

Fear

Can you remember your first fear?  I think I can.  Fear has been the theme in my heart the last couple months.  Luke finally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and we are filled with "what's next" questions.  We are following (blindly it seems) the Lord's direction and heading to Crossworld next weekend for two weeks to candidate with them.  This is a scary step into the unknown.  I am scared about leaving my girls with people I don't know for longer then they have every been with a stranger before, I am worried that they will not adjust well and that will take a toll out of us, and worried maybe this isn't what we are suppose to do and we are wasting God's time.  I am worried.....I do worry... a lot...too much.

During all my worrying my sweet little Grace has also discovered fear!  My "no fear" little girl has learned what it is to be scared of something.  Now, she isn't scared of jumping off the arm of the couch onto a pile of pillows (even though she has fallen onto the floor instead a couple times), or standing on the edge of a water fountain, or the edge of a pool to jump in.  No, she is afraid of snuffleupagus from Sesame Street, and Elmo's nose when he is acting like Pinocchio.  Poor baby screamed a blood curtailing scream last night when Elmo told a lie and his nose started to grow.  She held her own nose screaming "no" and clutched my leg.  Even though she was clearly terrified she kept asking me to watch it all the way through to the end.  She wanted to go through the scariness and see how that situation ended.  Once Elmo told the truth and his nose returned to his face, Grace grew calm and announced that it was all better. 

I learned a lesson from her last night.  Even though I am worried I need to see this through clinging to Jesus and following His way.  In the end I know it will be all better :)

So thankful for my sweet, tender Grace.  Being a mom ROCKS!

In other news:  Look who is sitting up now!  She is almost able to sit up completely on her own without pillows!  She is growing up too fast.. 6 months tomorrow :)  

    

Crossworld

In less then a month we will be packing up and heading to Kansas City, Missouri for two weeks to candidate with Crossworld.  It seems a bit surreal that this part of our adventure is starting up.  Weren't we just packing up and moving to Dallas for Luke to attend DTS?  Now 6 years later, we have two children, graduated from DTS, and starting our new adventure towards Haiti!  Wild! 

I have mixed feelings about this trip.  I am anxious...oh so anxious about the toll it will take on our daughters, and how much more exhausting it will be on this already tired mommy.  I am excited to finally get started!  There are so many balls in the air right now and so many decisions we are tossing around, that taking a step forward just feels so good.  To just move forward and see what the Lord has in store for us makes me feel a little lighter. 

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Lydia Noel Perkins

On Friday, December 7, 2012 Lydia Noel Perkins was born perfectly in tact and healthy, but the events leading up to her birth gave us a reality check that things may not be "ok".

Friday morning at 3:46am I woke up to go to the bathroom for the bagillionth time when I realized I was having some contractions. I went back to bed and had another one. I stated timing them and they were pretty sporadic, but definitely per labor stuff. As the morning went on I was feeling them become more consistent and painful. I was so excited because my labor with Grace was so fast and awesome, I felt that I didn't get to experience labor and really wanted to. Luke planned to stay home for a couple hours to see how things progressed and I began to prep my house for us to be gone for a couple days :). An hour or so later things were really progressing and I called the doctor to see what I should do because I did not want to go to labor and delivery if this was false labor. They told me to come in and they would check me. Luke and I went straight in only to find that we were still the same as earlier that week, but to walk and check those contractions. I was super bummed. We went home where I started feeling a little achey and decided to lay down. As I drifted off to sleep I could tell I wasn't feeling well and this was more then nervousness. Luke took my temp and it was 100.4. I know fevers are not good when pregnant, but also, they sometimes appear in labor. My fever got a little worse then better, but still a fever so we called the doctor who told us to come back in. I was having very regular contractions at this point and just waiting for my water to break! At the office they took my temperature which was now 101.4 and the doctor checked me only to say we were still the same. She told me that they were going to keep me because they needed to figure out where the fever was coming from. They took blood, flu cultures, and all kinds of other tests. The doctor told me to get dressed and they would send me to be admitted and figure out what was going on. As I pulled my leg up to get dressed water gushed out all over the floor and my legs! I told Luke my water broke and he went to get the nurse and doctor. Sure enough it did :). We were so excited to be heading to labor and delivery to meet our sweet girl!

We got to labor and delivery, checked in, got hooked up to monitors, and started contracting on while the nurses rushed around, got information, took more cultures, and tagged me to be in "isolation" because they thought I had the flu (Turns out I didn't and they still don't know what I had, but after being loaded for 48 hours with antibiotics I was back to being normal.) Lydia's heart rate jumped and wasn't calming down, the nurses were scrambling and got the doctor and as I was getting an epidural prepped for my back and having contractions and in the most uncomfortable position ever the doctor told Luke and I that I had to have an emergency cesarean section because the baby was in distress and I had a fever. It was horrible! I broke down feeling a million emotions, Luke was trying to process everything and calm me down. I was freaking out as they rushed me to the operating room, continued to stick my body lots of unnecessary times for blood (they seriously couldn't get a vein to work or something, but by the time we left the hospital I had about 8 holes in my arms and hands from their attempts), tried 3 times before they had success on the 4th time for my spinal tap (which took over 25min in the most uncomfortable position, while still have contractions..oh and Luke couldn't be in the room yet), and then they were explaining the process to me. They started cutting before Luke came in and I heard them say the baby had her first bowel movement in the womb and to get the NICU team down here. That team came in and introduced themselves. Luke came in and sat by me. For some reason I was feeling at peace (must have been those drugs) and Luke was amazing!! We heard Lydia cry and that is when me heart sank realizing I was about to find out what was wrong with my sweet precious baby. I started crying again, she sounded so good, the NICU team jumped into action and Luke just held me looking into my eyes telling me it was ok. He started to take some pictures and before we knew it the NICU doctor came over to us and told us he was going back upstairs because our daughter was perfect!!! PRAISES TO THE LORD went through my head as Luke got to tend to our sweet Lydia and I got to try to relax knowing she was ok. It then hit me that I was sliced open and was actually having a c section! The doctor yelled over from the other side of the curtain to tell me that she is looking at my appendix and it looks great so she can rule that out for the cause of the fever (for some reason that wasn't comforting). Then before I know it I was sewn up and on a different bed heading back to labor and delivery. Before they started rolling me away they took Lydia from Luke and put her on my chest. This moment was the happiest of the day! Part of my emotions before the surgery was that I wouldn't get any bonding time with her, or get to nurse her. I had a good hour with her before they took her to get clean. Luke went with her and I went up to my room only to be reunited with Lydia again shortly after that :). It was so good to have a perfectly healthy baby!

It was a crazy adventure and recovery is horrible, but I have a sweet precious baby girl who is perfect and healthy, a big girl who adores her little sister, and the most amazing husband in the whole world.

The Lord is GOOD

I feel so guilty when great things happen and my first thought is to praise God for His goodness.  I feel guilty because He is always good not just in the "good times" and I fail to recognize that.  We are going through lots of life changes lately and depending more on God has really caused our faith to grow.  Seeing how things have played out has been an adventure.  

Last Sunday we attended our churches Thanksgiving praise service.  It was so neat to sit back and listen to a few elderly stand up and talk about why they were thankful.  They have been through a lot and at the end they would say "God is GOOD"!  The things they have seen, loved ones they have lost, hardships they have endured, and still in the end "God is GOOD". 

GOD IS GOOD.........ALL THE TIME!! 

Happy Sunday friends :)

More lake fun

Here are some more :)

Lake House

Who can pass up a free weekend away with great friends?!?  Not us!  We packed up and went to Trinidad, TX to a lake house with some friends and had a blast!  It was so warm the first day we got there we thought it would be fun for Grace and Ella to stick their feet in the water.  That quickly turned into laying in the water and Grace putting mud in her hair.  It was really funny.  That resulted in immediate baths.

The rest on the weekend was cool temperatures that really made it feel like fall.  It was fabulous to bundle up for golf cart rides, walking and running around in the fallen leaves, make chilli for dinner, have s'mores by the bonfire, and of course hot chocolate!  Grace was not too sure about marshmallows, but did at least take a bite. 

AND....I SAW AN ARMADILLO!!!  I have been waiting to see a live one for the past 5 years and can say that I finally saw one.  Granted I totally thought it was a hedgehog (it was dark and apparently just saw his head), but after I went in Luke and Paul said they saw it come out from under the deck and it was in fact an armadillo.  How cool is that!?!? 

 Here are some pics of our fabulous weekend away :)

Fall

Texas lacks fall-ness big time! The leaves turn yellow and brown then fall off quickly, the temperatures are all over the place, the pumpkins rot way too fast, and we won't even go into the crazy Halloween market here in Dallas. I think that Halloween stores that hang posters in their windows for the public to see should have a certain rating. I mean who wants to see zombies with their eyes falling out, or Chucky the doll all bloody and gross? Seriously, keep that stuff inside the store.

Anyway, growing up in New Hampshire we have been super spoiled by the beautiful fall season! Waking up to cool crisp air, going outside to be greeted with glorious, vibrant reds, oranges,yellows, purples on the trees like God took a paint brush and painted each on by hand while you were sleeping. The weather is perfect, you can actually appreciate yummy fall foods. I miss New England falls. So what is a girl to do? I walk through the supermarket and Home Depot where they are still using their air conditioners and walk through their fall decorations and pretend it is like home. Not quite the same, but almost. I also burn apple pie candles at home to remind me of fall. I am sad that I used up my last apple cinnamon candle! I wish Yankee candles weren't so darn expensive. We also went to the Dallas Arboretum with our church mom group where they are all decked out in pumpkins! It is really fun! Grace could not get enough of the BIG pumpkins that she could sit on. So cute!

Failed!

Ok, so remember the laundry detergent making skills I shared?  Well that is still going fabulous and I love it.  In fact it was going so well I figured there must be more things I can make myself and save more money.  I discovered that dish washer detergent has almost the same ingredients and looked just as easy, so I gave it a shot.  The first load of dishes came out ok...kinda cloudy, but the websites said if this was the case then add more vinegar.  Guys...I added LOTS more vinegar and my glasses and silverware looked horrible!  So after two weeks of playing around with different ingredients I am giving up.  I have failed at making dishwashing detergent.  I am kinda bummed and feel like less of a women, but hey there are still loads of other things to make and get going with, so there you go....laundry detergent great, dishwashing detergent not so great :)

 

Finger Paint

I have been looking into fun things to do with the girls that will stimulate their senses and things I can do with them to integrate numbers and letters.  What better way to do this then finger paint?  I know there are tons of things that can be used instead of paint for toddlers, but my little one still puts things in her mouth as a way of learning and experiencing and I don't want her to think that she can play with food or that finger paint goes in our mouth.  So with that said I wanted to make something made with edible ingredients.  I found the perfect recipe!

Momtastic is a great resource for moms looking to get creative with their day to day doings.  Her finger paint recipe is great and edible.  I tried it, and it tastes salty and not really appealing so hopefully Grace will not think she can just eat it, and actually paint with it.  We will see! 

Mama

It is no shocker that Grace's first word was "dada".  She is such a daddy's girl and I love that.  It makes my heart swell to watch them play and interact together.  Shortly after she started saying "dada" she did say "mamamama", but I wasn't convinced it was in reference to me.  She has been saying "dada" ever since she learned to say it, but "mama" quickly went away.  I didn't think much of it since I was always with her and daddy wasn't, so obviously she would learn to call out his name to get his attention or wonder where he was.

It wasn't until the last week that Grace started needing me and my attention and just not sure how to call out to me.  Luke and I have been working on calling me "mama", but again I am always around so why call out when you can just walk up to me.  She is becoming so much more independent and wanting to play on her own.   I love watching her explore and learn and now call out "mama" when she needs something.  The last couple days she will just look at me and say "mama hi"!  I LOVE IT! 

Yesterday at church we kept her with us to worship with the church during the first set of songs.  Luke was holding her and she glanced over at me, smiled, said "hi mama", and leaned over to hug me.  Then she sat back up in Luke's arms and continued to worship!  Melted my heart.  There is nothing as sweet as that! 

So now Grace knows that I am "mama" not just that crazy lady that entertains her :)  I love being a mommy!