Emma, this story is just for you. I have to write it now so that I won't forget it because it is very important. You have always been a very picky eater, my love. It's not your fault, or mine. You just don't like many foods. When your older brother and sisters were young, I thought that parents of picky eaters were simply not giving them enough of a variety of foods to try (that is called being judgemental, by the way... not a very nice thing to do). When you came along, you taught me to have empathy for all the other parents in the world with picky little eaters. You see, I offered you the same variety of foods that I offered your older siblings. The difference is, they liked most of those foods and you don't like most of those foods.

But here is why this story is very important for you to hear. You are 3 1/2 years old right now and you absolutely LOVE grilled cheese sandwiches. You ask for them almost daily and your eyes light up if I tell you I'm making one for you for lunch. But, the first time I offered you a grilled cheese sandwich, before you had ever tried one, you ran from me, crying with both of your hands clamped over your mouth, insisting that you did NOT like them. It took quite a bit of coaxing on my part to get you to agree to take one tiny nibble of a taste. You reluctantly bit the corner off of the sandwich, and then your eyes brightened. "Mmmm!" you told me. And you have never looked back.

So sweetness, while there may never be a food in this world that you like more than grilled cheese sandwiches, I am completely certain that there are foods in this world that you will like almost as much. You simply have to keep trying new things. If you try something and really don't like it, I will always try to be reasonable about not making you eat it. But, you will be missing out on some very delicious food if you won't simply try them.

Time again

Wow, it's officially been a full year since I last blogged. What on earth happened to the time? My baby is not so much of a baby any longer. She's practically grown up - or so she thinks. Emma has decided that the world is hers and all within it are being allowed to share all of her things. Every time we see Mt. Hood, she shouts out: "my mountain!!" She refers to Disneyland as hers as well. She is sharing it with everyone - isn't she generous. One of my favorite Disney moments was when I was pushing her along in the stroller near the castle and she saw all the people wandering in and out of it. She looked at me and said: "my people are in my castle!" I loved that.

Emma has become very articulate, but I still don't always know what she is talking about. This morning she told me that she wants to watch something slowly. Hmmm.... what? She wanted to watch one of her shows (Little Bear) while she ate breakfast. But she wanted to watch it slowly. I don't know what that means, and I told her so. She just shrugged it off. This sort of thing happens all the time. She also recently asked me where her "beautiful cd" was at. I don't know what that is, and I told her so. She said: "it has Sleeping Beauty on it!" "Oh, THAT cd!" Connection made, communication successful. This time. Thankfully, she's patient with me.

Isn't it great to know that as children of God, anything we say to Him is immediately understood? No need to clarify for Father God. He even understands how we feel when we don't entirely understand it ourselves. And I am always struck by the knowledge that the tremendous love that I have for each of my kids is only a drop in the bucket compared to the vast, immeasurable love that God has for each of us. Wow! Blessing overload :)