19/20 months

I cannot believe how fast this little girl changes! Every day new things happen or new words are said. It is crazy to think about everything she has learned since she was a baby, and it hasn't even been 2 full years!!

Now, she is quite the talker and has made our communication much easier (for the most part) :) I can decipher most of what she is saying or asking for which is really helpful. I did have my first instance of the "guessing game" in trying to figure out what she was saying the other day and after several wrong guesses she very frustratedly said "no!!" then said it one more time and PTL (praise the Lord) I got it right :) Some of the things she talks about constantly are:

milk*juice*dilla (quesadilla, which she asks for almost every day)*bars (little healthy snack bars we have)*crackers*banana*apple*orange*melon*Gunnar(s), Rowen, Canon (Patterson Boys)*Rosie and Pravis (Travis)*Big Truck (any time she sees a truck on the road, although her rendition of "big truck" sounds A LOT like "peacock")*ABC's*Twinkle Twinkle Little Star*Stairs (big step)*Bama and Pepaw (grandma and grandpa)*soggy diaper*'toot'ing*potty*

.....and a whole slew of other things. I could go on and on! Like I said, it is so helpful that she is talking so much because it makes communicating a lot easier :) Here are just a few random (and funny!!) pictures from September.

She LOVES Blackberries and we had several bushes nearby our house so we picked some and she ate them faster than I've seen her eat anything before. Seriously, within 30 seconds, she had eaten 10-15 berries. She cannot shovel them in fast enough :)

She loves to pray and that is such a delight to us! Before we eat she always says "pray" and we pray before bed. We also pray after times of discipline. It is cute to hear her pray on her own where she just gets out a few random words that we often use while praying. One night, during dinner, her prayer went something like this "Dear God, thank you...Jesus...obey...spankins" Last night in the car she kept repeating herself over and over saying to us "obey dada, obey mama". :) She is starting to understand how that all works, and now we're working on responding the right way to obedience. I like what my sis in law has taught her daughter--to "obey all the time, all the way, and with a happy heart" We're working toward those things--meanwhile being humbled and convicted myself. Parenting is such a joy because in the process of striving to teach and bring Makaela up in the ways of the Lord, I am convicted myself of my own shortcomings and failures. My gracious Father is using me teaching my daughter to teach His daughter (me). I'm reminded of and thankful for his mercy and lovingkindness every day. Praise the Lord for parenting :)