Happy 2nd birthday Scarlett!

My baby girl is a two year old!

We had birthday waffles with chocolate, fruit, and whipped cream for supper and scratched the cake altogether. She loved her presents and spent the rest of the evening playing with them. It took her a long time to open them though since she was very concerned about cleaning the wrapping paper up as she went (a girl after mama's own heart). We are going to celebrate this weekend with family, pizza, and cake. We keep things pretty simple for birthdays around here, especially when mama is 2 weeks away from her due date.

Scarlett still seems like such a baby to me in a way because she is so tiny. Most people who dare to guess her age based on size usually hit around the 12-15th month mark. At 19.5 months she was 17lbs8oz (still not on the growth chart) and 30 inches (10th percentile). She hasn't been weighed since but I'm sure she's not tipping any scales in a big way. However, like the rest of the children in our family, her pint sized body packs a giant personality.

She is still missing her eye teeth and 2 year molars.

She is a clever, bright girl who picks up way more than she should from her big brother and sister. (She thinks saying "shut up" is the way to get mum and dad to stop talking so she can say what she wants.) We do not let I and M talk to us this way obviously, but somehow from their infrequent use she has gathered what the meaning was and uses it to try and get her point across.

She also copies a lot of big sister's signature expressions like "how about... (insert a million different options after she is told she can't do or have something)" , or "No, I'm good" when she doesn't want something, or Gordon and I's favourite "I'm begging you!" when she really wants something.

She can count to 12, knows her colours and shapes, and has an incredible vocabulary and story telling ability. She easily uses 4-6 word sentences, and can recall events and describe them to you when asked concrete questions.

We love having little conversations with our chatty girl who has the sweetest tiniest voice, and yet somehow also has the most ear splitting screech.

She has a certain awareness and intuition about things that is definitely beyond her two years. I'll call it her super street smarts for lack of a better explanation.

She loves to dress up and play pretend with big sister. Usually it involves being mommies and taking baby dolls around the house on errands, playing princesses, or cooking us up something in their little kitchen.

She is also a huge fan of colouring, and will lie on her tummy doodling away on paper. She occasionally turns herself into an art canvas.

She loves to play outside in our little pool, at the park, or go for walks. She can never get enough of buckets, shovels and sand.

She can carry a tune quite easily, and I can often identify what song she is singing, even if it's not one we've sang recently. She also improvs her own lyrics and sang "change my diaper" to "twinkle twinkle little star". She loves to sing and provides us with dinner and a concert on a pretty regular basis.

She likes to boss (like everyone else in her family), and wags her finger around barking instructions and then saying "okaaaaay???" "Go away mummy" is a particular favourite of hers when she wants to get into something she shouldn't. She is also very good at making herself scarce when she does not want to be found. She hides behind towels, curtains, or quietly closes herself in a room and you don't even notice she's gone until the silence hits you. When out in the open, her method of hiding is covering her ears like that makes her invisible and slowly walking away.

She is very particular about certain things-especially the way her crib gets set up for sleeping. Her water has to be in one corner with certain carefully selected books in the other (in a particular order I might add). One blanket has to be underneath another-covering her feet and straight, and her pillow perfectly centered. If you fail to meet any of these requirements in an adequate manner, she will let you know in a less than cheerful way.

She is also very helpful and will often tidy up, put things away, or bring me something I need with a "sure mama" or "okay mummy".

She is my most affectionate little one, and still asks for cuddles or snuggles and gives the biggest hugs.

As of right now she is excited for a new baby sister and asks to "take her out and hold her on the couch". She says "I wuv baby sister. She so cute."

We are so blessed by this little treasure and her bright spunky nature.

Powered by faith and prayers

Once upon a time the kids and I spent a week in Calgary for spring break. We had a full van on the way back and were ready to go back to school and work the next day.

As always we started with a prayer that we would get home safely. Coming up to Airdrie I started hearing an awful loud grinding noise. I immediately pulled over and checked underneath the van, thinking we might be dragging something. The noise stopped as soon the vehicle was stopped but restarted again just as obvious as before. I stopped again and googled the nearest mechanic. Thankfully they were only a few minutes away and I gave them a call to see if I could make it in right then.

I slowly coaxed the van to the shop, and once there a mechanic hopped in with me to see what the noise was all about. Immediately he had me drive in to the garage, since there was no mistaking that that sound was trouble. He popped the front tire off and told me essentially that my brake was falling off. One of the bolts was missing-probably along the highway and the other was very loose. A very simple problem with a very simple fix-one that could have easily resulted in disastrous consequences.

They didn't have a replacement bolt for me there but were able to locate one at a nearby dealership, and get it over to the shop within 15 minutes. About 45 minutes later, we were all fixed up and ready to go. Scarlett unfortunately had chosen the few minutes before we arrived to fall asleep but was now awake. And the other kids were getting antsy, having been stuck in their seats. However, we said a prayer of gratitude that nothing more serious happened, and that the fix was easy and relatively cheap. After a quick pee break and leg stretch, we hopped back on the highway.

I'm fairly certain I said (jokingly) "Let's hope nothing else happens". I should not have been so quick to tempt fate, for 100km down the road right by Red Deer all my dashboard lights started coming on. The van slowly started slowing down, without me braking or taking my foot off the gas. I quickly pulled over again right as the van died on the side of the road with no services in site.

I turned everything off that I thought might drain power and we said yet another prayer. This time way more sincere and desperate. I also called my dad to tell him what was going on, because even though he couldn't help me at the moment, it always give me a sense of comfort when I'm facing challenges. I hesitantly turned the key after a few minutes and the van started. We again started on our way, hoping we could make it home before we needed to attend to the problem.

Buuuuut, it quickly became apparent we weren't going to make it home without this problem being corrected. The van sadly puttered to a stop right outside Red Deer, and I didn't know how we would make it to the mechanics or what we were going to do. The options were call a tow truck to get us there, sit and wait for someone to come rescue us and then get a tow truck, or rely on tender mercies and pure faith. Since the last option was the cheapest, I opted for that first. We said a family prayer, and then I told the kids they needed to pray the hardest they had ever prayed and believe that Heavenly Father would answer their prayers.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, the van started and I slowly drove off the highway into the city. The mechanic's was only 3km away but to be honest I didn't know if we could make it. I could barely go over 30 or 40km/h. The whole entire way I was saying a fervent and pleading prayer in my head that we would just make it there. I saw the shop but we needed to turn left across traffic to pull in, and the van was drawing its last breaths. I might have been shouting my prayer at that point but I was not going to have my vehicle die in the middle of the intersection with my babies in it. As soon as there was a clear path, we literally coasted into the parking lot and the van gave up the ghost.

I felt like the van had literally been powered by faith and prayer to get us there. I breathed a sigh of relief and joy that we were right next to a McDonalds with a play place. Another tender mercy-reminding me that even though our van was broken down, full of our stuff, an hour and a half away from home, and no husband to help out, we had somewhere to eat, pee, and play.

The kids actually were really well behaved considering. But there were still lots of tears, whining, and complaints to be endured which made the experience more exhausting. Especially now that we were 4 hours into our road trip.

My dad was already on his way up from Calgary to rescue us and Gordon was on his way down from Edmonton as well. The van was not going to be fixed before closing so we would have to leave it in Red Deer overnight. We were still waiting for an hour before my dad arrived, and we packed everything we could into his vehicle and I drove the kids and I back to Edmonton. My dad waited with the stuff that wouldn't fit in the vehicle for Gordon to arrive and bring him back to Edmonton as well. From there, he picked up his vehicle and drove back to Calgary the same night. We didn't get home until gone 9-over 8 hours after we had left.

We were all tired, emotionally exhausted, and yet I was overcome with gratitude for my family and the fact that we did get home safely after all. It was a reminder to me, a fiercely independent and stubborn person, that I did need others. That I can't, and shouldn't, try and manage all of the problems and challenges I face on my own.

Gordon had to leave for out of town the day after this fiasco, but his work allowed him to take a company vehicle and a coworker to pick up our van from Red Deer. Yet another unexpected tender mercy, since that's the only vehicle that can transport our whole family, and without it we would be housebound. The mechanic told Gordon he had no idea how we made it to the shop because there was virtually no voltage going to the battery. I knew. Prayers and faith were the voltage that powered us there. There was and still is no mistaking it or denying it.

It was not the most fun road trip I've taken. It was probably the worst. Although the time we got stranded in Winnipeg, and the time Gordon broke his collar bone in the States, were very close contenders. But there were very many lessons to be learned from it. Not the least of which that trials and challenges are a part of this life, but that the tender mercies of the Lord are always available to us. He hasn't shut out or put a temporary hold on blessings when we experience difficulties. Rather the blessings are always available to us-maybe in a different form or delivery method than what we were expecting. Our children need to see us endure and response to challenges with obedience and hope, rather than despair and discouragement. They need to know where they should go to face their own trials, and they need to learn resilience.

I am not eager to repeat any similar experience ever again. But since it was one that I had no choice about participating in, I might as well make the choice to learn something from it.