Growing Too Fast

Oh how our Little Miss is growing up! It's such fun to watch her change from a toddler into a little girl. At the same time, my heart breaks at the thought of how fast time flies us by!

Yet another sign of the Little Miss growing up occurred this past weekend when Mr. Wagner converted her toddler day-bed into a real, full-sized "big bed". Our girl loves her new bed and has managed to stay put for the past three nights. The only mishap occurs when her blankie or favorite stuffed animal ("Lambie") falls out in the middle of the night. This results in dramatic tears and the call for mommy or daddy to rescue the fallen treasure.

Next project for her room is to paint the walls green. We have the paint selected but are focusing on yard work for the next few weeks. The walls have to wait for now. In the meantime, I need to brush up on sweet talking in effort to coerce my dear Mr. to help with this task. Painting is right near the top of his "most-dreaded-to-do-list". Let's face it, I won't be able to convince him but I have a secret weapon...as soon as our Little Miss bats her long lashes at Daddy, he's a goner. Wish me luck.

Happy Mother's Day!

...to all the moms out there, including our own!

I am sure thankful to be this little girl's mommy. What a blessing motherhood truly is!

Extended Arms

Just a quick update from the Wagner household...things have been busy the past few months and have just quadrupled in "busy-ness". Yours Truly traveled to Missouri last week for work and then got a hefty surprise upon my return. I was told that I would be overseeing another team at work (with 40 people and counting) on an interim basis. Needless to say, I've been feeling overwhelmed and am doing a lot of praying about how to get to a better family-work-life balance (wanting to be much more heavy on the "family" side of things!). I am thankful this is only temporary but it can't be over soon enough from my perspective (poor Mr. Wagner agrees since the added stress certainly doesn't help his wife's temperament!).

All of which leads me to what I've been mulling over lately...Isn't it awesome to know that no matter what our "life" situation, God is in control? I love that He is right there beside us with extended arms, just waiting for us to reach out and allow Him to carry our burdens.

Jesus, carry away!...and Calgon, take me away!
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Post-Update (5/4/10): A friend reminded me today that I shared a prayer request at our home fellowship group a few weeks ago about being too self-reliant and that I felt I needed to be better about giving things over to God. To think that many people wonder if God is truly faithful to answer our prayers (even when we should obviously think twice about what we are asking for)! Lesson learned.

Tulips and Tractors

In keeping with the new family tradition we started last year, the Little Miss and I headed north to the largest tulip festival in our state.

Mr. Wagner was excused this year since he was taking the exam he's been busy studying for (yes, we had a fun outing while he was stuck testing all day but hey, what is a girl to do?).


We will officially resume the "family" part of the tradition next year but the man-of-our-house was still remembered. The Little Miss made sure to drive a big John Deere tractor just to make her daddy proud.

Homecoming

Our apologies for the extended absence but it's been a long couple of weeks here in the Wagner family household. Mr. Wagner has been vacationing on his own in the central ski resort-filled part of our state while Yours Truly has been keeping pace with the housework, parenting duties, and work responsibilities. Do I have your sympathy yet? Good.

(Now that I do, I should probably clarify that while indeed Mr. Wagner has been away for the last couple of weeks, he has actually been in seclusion, studying hard everyday for a professional exam that he has coming up. I admit, I have had the easy job).

Best news of the week is that the Mr. is on his way home tomorrow and his girls are excited! This mom can't complain because our Little Miss has been a gem (for the most part) while her daddy was away. Still, things just aren't the same without the man of our house around. I keep thinking how thankful I am for our little family and how blessed I am to have married a man who believes it is very important to be home.

Love, love, love this family of mine. Welcome home (soon) Mr. Wagner!

He Is Risen!

Happy Easter from the West Coast Wagners,

He is risen indeed!

(Even though it may just look like a blank screen below, there really is a video of the Little Miss. Just scroll down and click on the arrow to play. One disclaimer: Yours Truly had absolutely nothing to do with her cheerleader type moves. That was actually all her doing. Totally promise).

Easter Festivities

I always enjoy spending time the week before Easter reflecting on all that Christ has done for us. This year we have also been celebrating with the Little Miss by watching and discussing a children's Thomas Nelson Bible DVD about the true meaning of Easter (we highly recommend all of these Bible DVDs by the way). While our girl's theology and understanding still needs a bit of work, she does know that Easter is about Jesus dying on the cross for us and that now, He is risen!

In addition to the Passover Seder earlier in the week, we also enjoyed an Easter party where the Little Miss colored eggs for the first time. We skipped the neighborhood Easter egg hunt today due to the weather but still had a great time baking these fun Easter Basket cupcakes for several of the Little Miss' friends.

How bunnies, baskets, and chocolate eggs tie to Easter, I don't know. Regardless, the festivities are still fun to enjoy and we will all be on a sugar high for the next week. May you and your families have a very blessed Easter!