Why I've been MIA and Lessons Learned Today

Part I
It's been a while since my last post. We had a wonderful visit with my high school youth pastor, John Taylor (click here). John and his wife are missionaries to Indonesia and they have been going from church to church raising the support needed to go back. John and Korie had a huge impact on my life when I was a teen and I'm so grateful for their prayers, encouragement, and discipleship during such an impressionable and hard time in my life. They both are very passionate about reaching out to people for God and have a heart for the people of Indonesia. I encourage everyone to check out their webpage and pray about helping to support their ministry.

Unfortunately, this trip Korie and their daughter, Ellia, couldn't make it to El Paso. However, we did have a good time visiting with Pastor John. Jaycie just adored him and is still asking where Pastor John went. In fact, currently she's sitting in the bumbo playing with the money he gave her and is whispering, "Pastor John gave me money. Where Pastor John go? Pastor Johhhn..." So cute! When I first introduced Jaycie to Pastor John she thought I had said "Pirate John". So he was Pirate John for a little bit until I realized she was saying Pirate instead of Pastor. It probably didn't help that she was wearing her pirate pj's at the time. Anyway, we all had a great time. John met my husband, Josh, for the first time and they hit it off right away. It makes being sent to El Paso worth it to be able to see an old friend again.

Part II
It's only 10:30am and we've already had some major life lessons learned.

1. I learned that when I go to the bathroom do not leave my phone within Jaycie's reach. I came back to find she had called half the people on my contact list and sent out at least one blank txt msg. Sorry to any of you she might have called and probably hung up on!
2. Jaycie learned that it's not a good idea to ignore mommy when she says to use the potty first thing in the morning. And especially not to drag the stool to the sink and stand on it in order to play with warm water. Warm water relaxes the bladder. All of a sudden I hear her frantic cries for help and had to stifle the urge to laugh hysterically as my daughter stands there peeing and unable to stop. Poor girl.
3. Jacobe learned that it's fun to torment your older sister, especially by pulling her hair.
4. Jaycie learned to keep her hair away from Jacobe's strong little hands. And that the game "let Co-baby pull my hair and see what happens" is not as fun as she thought it would be.
5. And finally, I'm sure tonight I'll learn the lesson that there are consequences for letting your toddler sleep in your bed no matter if the wind is blowing real strong outside or your husband is on 24hr duty and you're lonely. She'll still scream to sleep in mommy's bed when you try to put her to bed in her own room. But it was nice to cuddle with her last night!