Happy Birthday to Sierra!

playing the toy keyboard she got (Andre seemed to have more fun with it than she did even! ).

She got to open a couple of gifts on Friday, but then her party was on Saturday with our sisters, my aunt, parents, and two family friends. We missed having Andre's parents and other siblings!

An attempt at a family photo--Sierra doesn't like having her picture taken most of the time.

She waited all day to be able to blow out her candles and have cake!

Her birthday cake for the party on Saturday.

She got a toy microphone which she calls a "singer". Earlier she'd been using a flashlight and turkey baster and always shoving them in my face wanting me to sing into them too.

Thoroughly enjoying her chocolate cupcake for breakfast!

We woke her up with singing happy birthday and a (lit) birthday cupcake on Friday morning. It took us two rounds of the song to wake her up!!


I am the mom of a two-year old. It was one thing to be the mom of a newborn to one-year old, another now that she's two and beginning to state her opinions and individual preferences. I think the difference for me is that up until age one or so we were keeping her alive, teaching her the basics of eating, walking, staying out of the dog's water dish, keeping away from the coffee table corners, and so forth, and now at two, it's becoming much more complicated. Now we're into teaching about kindness and respect, love and grace, Bible verses and discipline and so much more. It's a daily (and sometimes nightly), constant thing this parenting that we are in the midst of. We don't know what we're doing--it's all by grace--and we just pray that we are training her up to be a girl and then a young woman who loves Jesus.

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