Two and Three Quarters!

Yikes! Elaine Karis is way closer to 3 than she is to 2!!!! I adore this girl, and I am in awe of the way God has wired her. She is feisty, yet she loves to cuddle. She is full of adventure, yet the ChicFil A cow terrifies her. She is confident, yet she needs reassurance that her ensambles are beautiful. Speaking of, Lainie K is my fashionista! If it sparkles, twirls, or has ruffles, life is GOOD! If she has a purse, a bracelet and a scarf on, there is no turning back! At bedtime, she insists on wearing only nightgowns, and even then she has a hierarchy of what she will wear- Hello Kitty (just has cats on it, but she insists they are Hello Kitty), Minnie Mouse, Candy, Princess, Stars, Dora. If mommy has been really lax on laundry, then we scrounge and occasionally wear a set of footies. As far as bedtime goes, Elaine is a routine girl! We read Bible book together as a family and then she wants to rock to sing and say verses. Her favorite songs these days are the Beauty (Booty) of the Cross, You Never Let Go, Grace Greater, and Hallelujah All I Have is Christ, . God has beautifully crafted her mind to embrace scripture! She can recite 1 John 3:1 (her verse), Ephesians 2:8-10 (Lizzie's verse), Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 5:33, Deuteronomy 6:5, and is working on John 13:34. Recently Elaine has begun to ask what these verses mean. Last night in the middle of Ephesians 2:8-10 she asked, "What does this mean mommy?" After explaining our helplessness without Jesus and God's grace, she said, "oh, like Grace, Grace, God's grace- grace that is greater than all our sin." I love that she is connecting the dots of Truth in song and in scripture! A few nights before, these were Elaine's bedtime questions, -What does God mean? -What about Jesus? -Why did he come here? HELLO! These are the exact questions you would want someone to ask you, so you could share the Gospel! I love that God is pursuing my girl's heart! What an honor and responsibility to answer her with Truth.

Elaine is sleeping in her big girl bed in Lizzie's room and does pretty well, although I have an occasional night time visitor. She sleeps with Lamb Chop who now has a hole in his bottom where she rubbed away the tag, then the fur, and now all that remains is a two inch hole that only Grammy can fix according to Elaine. A few nights ago, she tried to tell us that she is a big girl now and does not need Lamb Chop or her pink Paci. That was short-lived, but the paci is soon headed to Wal Mart for the great exchange. It's time!

Lainie pretty much potty trained herself between September and December. I really didn't do much, other than clean up accidents. This was an area where she said she was ready, so I went with it! She had been wearing pull ups at night until about a couple of months ago when we ran out, and I just put her in panties for bedtime. I think she has had 2 nighttime accidents- not bad my dear!

I think her hair has gotten blonder, and as with everything else, she is very insistent on the way we fix it. A few weeks ago, I realized that it was long enough for two braids, and oh they just look so stinkin' cute on her! Elaine is great company as I get ready in the mornings. She watches every single move I make and loves to imitate me putting on makeup, fixing my hair, etc. Lainie loves to pick out my clothes too, and I must say that her taste is pretty great!

Elaine is incredibly verbal and I love to have conversations with her about her friends, who include, to name a few, Juliet, Jett, Ani, Gillian, Chris, Grayson, Cade, Gavin, Adelia, Asher, and Jane. She loves this crew dearly, and her prayers for them are so sweet. She is one of the oldest in this crew of kids who are all within about 14 months of each other and a blast to watch at play! Lainie still has some phonetic sounds that she struggles with like the hard C sound, so her ever trusty credit card is her "hedit hard," cookies are "hoofies," cranberries are "banberries," questions are "pestions," and and Clifford is "hifford." I know that one day soon I will wake up and she will ask me for her "snaCK and drinK," and I will be sad! Her latest phrase is "I can do it Mommy/Daddy, don't worry about it!" This applies to folding towels, putting away dishes, and cleaning up messes. Since I mentioned messes, I am fairly confident that Elaine loves to clean so much that she often makes a mess, so she has an excuse to clean!! She also has an affinity for Kleenex! The other day, after she blew her nose, I noticed her tossing the tissue behind the entertainment center. When I investigated, I discovered at least 25 other Kleenex which she had kindly "thrown away!"

Elaine is a FABULOUS little mommy! Lulu, Lydia, and Jazzy are all well loved. On our recent long trip to Austin, she fed, snuggled, and talked to Lulu most of the time in the car. Before bed each night, Lulu is tucked into her pack and play with her "favorite" things. When it comes to Elaine's friends, she is the oldest for the most part and LOVES taking care of them and telling them what to do! She also has reports for me each Sunday after "first class" and "second class" about who did what. I love that she looks forward with great JOY to being with all of her little buddies.

Speaking of friends, Lizzie and Lainie have created a family of imaginary friends- Peetie, Poodoo, Podoo, Pula, and Green Bean. They make up stories and jokes about these characters, and their familial roles are uncertain, except for Green Bean who is the indisputable baby. A typical joke goes something like this: Why did the Podoo eat the giraffe (hiraffe)? Because he was hungry (hunfry)! Someone is always eating something, because he/she is hungry:)

Elaine can tell you her whole name, Elaine Karis Bassett and can spell her name ELA-INE (kinda sing songy). Elaine knows that her birthday is May 31st (sounds more like 41st). Her counting is improving, as she can now go from 1-13 and then jumps to 18, 19, 20teen. We have to start practicing the ABCs again, because she now sings A B C D E F G, how I wonder what you are... Impressive to hear the same melody there, but the goal is to know your alphabet, my love! Lainie gets to go to school next year, and she is soooo thrilled! She adores Lizzie's teachers this year and makes little drawings and notes to bring to them at pick up time. I am excited for her to have the school experience:)

A few of Elaine's favorites:

color: pink and purple

book: farm animals

store: Hobby Lobby

drink: Sonic slush, grape juice

breakfast: oatmeal

lunch: peanut butter on a spoon

healthy snack: oranges, cheese, almonds

naughty snack: gummy stuff

dinner: chicken and ketchup

thing to do with Daddy: "baby bundle drop"

thing to do with Mommy: make up and paint nails

thing to do with Lizzie: play ice cream stand (must have credit cards and cash register)

Oh Lainie K, I adore you! It is such a fun job to be your Mommy! Tiring, but a blast! Thanks for making my days brighter and for the many things you are teaching me about Jesus:) I love you more than orange Tic Tacs!