Girlie Girl

Jimmy and I have a girlie girl. Not sure where this came from since I am not really a girlie person, but alas, I am surround by a lot of pink, frills, princesses, Barbies, and lots of other cutesy girl things. Before Corrina was born, Jimmy and I adamantly stated that we would not get into the princess scene; we would not call her princess nor would we buy any princess stuff. Ha! Goes to show, you should never say never. Case in point...last Saturday, I took my little "Ariel" to the Disney on Ice Princess show. What!!???

She has watched almost every princess movie; she wears princess shirts, and she plays with princess dolls. She is all about the Disney princesses, especially Ariel. She names all her Barbies and dolls Ariel. Yes, I am definitely eating my words, but they actually don't taste too bad. It's fun to hear her play so imaginatively, and the look on her face as we watched the princesses skate across the ice made my heart melt. I can't even taste those words anymore. All I see is her excited, wide eyes and beautiful smile and how cute she looked in her in her little Ariel costume. (Thanks, KP and AP, for letting Corrina borrow it!) Here are some pics from the show.

Hello Kitty!

A couple of weeks ago we took Corrina to the mall to see Hello Kitty. She was soooo excited, as you can see by the look on her face when she first spotted Hello Kitty. Then she said, "Momma, is Hello Kitty real? Is that Hello Kitty really real, not pretend?" It was just too precious. Oh the heart of a child, so innocent and sweet. I just love my sweet girl! Later, we found her reading to Hello Kitty before bed. Too cute!

Six Flags

We were invited to go to Six Flags this past Thursday by our good friends the Pickers, who kindly gave us their guest passes. We had so much fun! KP was such a great friend to Corrina. She showed her how to be brave on all the rides. Corrina enjoyed the rides immensely, as you can see by her face in these pics. She couldn't stop smiling. Her favorite ride was the airplane. We were surprised that she wasn't scared; i think we have a thrill-seeker on our hands. Oh dear...

Papa's Surprise Graduation Party

This evening we went to a surprise graduation party for Papa. for the last year and a half, he has been taking accounting classes online through Phoenix, and now he has finished. We are so proud of you, Papa! You worked very hard. And way to go, Mimi, for pulling off the surprise!

Everyone Poops

"Everyone Poops" a classic in our house. Wish I had pics to post but I still haven't figured it out how to download them from our camera. Maybe it's time to finally ask J to help. Anyway, I just wanted to share with everyone how exciting our household has been in the last few days. We just decided one night to let Corrina sleep in just her big girl panties and no diaper. Big deal because she usually waits until nap and nighttime when she's wearing a diaper to poo. But we thought we'd give it a go. Well, she did it!!! She stayed dry all night for 3 nights in a row. And she has pooed in the potty 3 days in a row now. Can it be? Are we done with diapers?

Back in the Saddle (kinda)

Ok, I'm back, ready to blog about my amazing family again. J has started his new position as Maryland Heights Church of Christ minister, and he is doing an incredible job. God has blessed him with many gifts that he is able to use in service to the Kingdom, and we are indebted to the MH church family for their compassionate hearts and willingness to allow J to grow as a minister with them. They are so supportive and encouraging as he is learning his new role. Thank you, our MH family.

We now also have use of a computer at home, so I am able to write more often. Now all I need to do is figure out how to download pictures from my camera to the new computer. Hmmm....I haven't figured out how, but I have figured out that pressing the same button a million times doesn't really work. So, no pics with this post...sorry.

You're not going to believe how much Corrina has grown though. She's a little girl now, not a baby. She is sleeping in a big girl bed and doing pretty well with staying in it. Although every now and again I feel a little tug on my sheet and a little whisper saying, "Mommy, it's time to wake up now?" We have also found her lying on the floor in her bedroom door, peeking out around the corner at us watching TV when she's supposed to be in bed. Hard to be mad though when she looks so cute lying on her tummy, her hands framing her face, and smiling up at you.

She's also now into princesses!?? How did this happen?!!! How do I, tomboy extraordinaire, end up with a girly girl? It is pretty cute though when she asks us to call her Ariel and when she pretends she has lost her glass slipper. J is now Sebastian and the Prince, and I am Flounder. (Guess that's better than Ursula the evil sea witch)

My favorite moments are her prayers. She won't let anyone else pray at mealtime or bedtime; she has to say it. It's so adorable. She thanks God for different things that made her day, but she always ends it with, "Thank you for your love. In Jesus Name, Amen." So precious. What sweet words from her innocent child mouth. I love it.

I hope to have figured out the pictures for my next post so y'all can see how much Corrina has grown. She's sooooo tall!

New Adventure

I know I don't write that often anyway, but just wanted everyone to know that I probably won't write much over the next month or so because we no longer have a computer. Reason being...Jimmy has accepted a position as pulpit minister at the Maryland Heights Church of Christ! Hooray!!!! The computer belongs to McKnight, so right now we have very limited internet access.

Anyway, we're sad to be seeing less of our McKnight family but really super excited about getting to know our Maryland Heights brothers and sisters. We feel so welcome already and can't wait to start worshiping and serving with them. With that, I'll say toodles for a short time and get back to writing (hopefully more often) as soon as we get a new computer. love y'all.

Our Little Singer

Music is a big part of our household. Jimmy is constantly making up songs and raps and walks around the house singing them. I just love him for that! Now, Corrina is making up her own songs and just loves to sing. She especially likes to perform for the camera. Hopefully, she'll take after her Daddy and have a voice like him. He can really sing. Here are some videos of Corrina singing some of her favorite songs.

Ode to My Sweetheart

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet love Jimmy. He is such an amazing father and husband; he takes such good care of us and is very gentle with our hearts. I have heard that your love for your special someone grows deeper as go, but I really thought I couldn't love Jimmy more than on the day we were married. Now, almost 5 years later and my love for him has grown to much more depths and heights. He still makes my heart pitter-patter, but he also continuously acts in a way that I just can't help respecting and trusting him. I love you, Jimmy, and my love continues to get stronger with every passing day as we walk hand in hand towards our Father above. Thank you for walking with me.



Here is a video of my amazing man, playing one of my all-time favorite songs. Isn't he incredible!

Science Center and Sad Day

This morning we had a blast taking Corrina to the St. Louis Science Center. As we entered the building, we saw our friends who happened to be there on this cold Saturday morning as well, so we joined them for some fun. Here are some pics from earlier today. It's been a while since I posted anything, so prepare to be amazed at how much Corrina has grown (hehe...)

Here we are sitting under the arch we made. She happens to be obsessed with the Arch. She is constantly asking to see it when we're in the car, and every time she sees it on TV or if she's sees anything that even resembles the Arch, she gets really excited. ???

The following pics show us building the arch with our friends. Really what happened was that the daddies were trying to build the arch and the kids thought it was funny to try and knock it over before they could get it all built. It was pretty funny!

Daddy and Corrina standing in the dinosaur paw print. They had a gigantic dinosaur that moved and made sounds on display there, and Corrina was both fascinated and terrified of it, asking to get closer while she had a death grip on my arm.

Playing with the puppets

There's a link from the Science Center to the Planetarium that crosses over the highway, so you can watch the fast cars, clock their speeds, etc. There are also holes in the floor so you can watch them go under you. Pretty cool!

Time to go get some lunch!

And now the sad part of the day....I'm trying to be less of a pack rat and to finally get rid of some things. I have this favorite pair of shoes; I've had them for seriously about 15 years. I LOVE them. They're comfy and classic and they remind me of my great-grandma May Grahn (whom Corrina is named after). She always, always would be wearing shoes exactly like these. I don't ever remember her without them. She was very special to me; I used to ride my bike to her house all the time in the summers. She taught me how to sew quilt blocks, the importance of family, and other great lessons that I won't get into now, but I love her dearly. She was an amazing lady. Anyway, I digress. The point is that I do really need to get rid of these shoes, but it makes me sad because they are my all-time favs. Today, however, they are going in the trash (much to Jimmy's happiness...hehe...), and this picture shows why I finally have agreed to say goodbye.

Goodbye my old friend. We've been through a lot of mud and miles together, and you've kept my feet warm and cushy. Thank you and au revoir!