While Glo and I were away, several friends stepped in to help with Noa and Martha. Eric also took some time off and spent a special day at Disney (thanks to a kind friend who works there) with our big girls. He had told them they would go on a “special birthday date” for Noa while I was gone and this was certainly that. Enjoy the photos (I sure did!)
"this was our fist time to see Cinderella ever" ~Noa
all tuckered out.
Yep, it was a day for princesses. 
Martha, who knows very well how to write her name, was compaining about writing her name on a worksheet.
“Mommy, I CAN’T write my name. I can’t write a ‘M’ and a ‘A’ and a ‘awe’ and a ‘T’ and a ‘hhhu’ and anoder ‘A’. I can’t … Oh, I can try again.”
Martha: “I wrote this for our baby brothers, so they can come home and we love them very much. Can you give it to our adoption?”
LOVE that girl.
Recently, whenever it is time to clean up, Martha all of a sudden comes down with some sort of ailment that renders her unable to pitch in. Here are a few of her problems from just the last few days:
*and these are always said from her position of laying on floor where she fell the moment I told her it was time to clean.
“Mommy. If I clean up I will get a choke. I can’t clean up right now.”
or
“My belly hurts really baddy. If I clean up I will have diarrhea.”
or
“I cannot help Noa because my knee is broken.”
I am not a big fan of this – in fact, this is driving me crazy! – and we obviously have some truth-telling issues here. But her creativity will make me smile one day so I had to share…
Big sister Martha wants to introduce you to her new baby brothers… can you catch their names?
So the big event that happened in our whirlwind two weeks?
Martha turned THREE!
I just want to cry writing that – I haven’t really processed it. She is growing up way too fast, much faster that she should be allowed.
So, on Tuesday of our week in Atlanta she turned 3. I wasn’t going to do anything (the goal was just to survive the week), but sweet Mary Stuart got special princess gear and made birthday pancakes complete with candles (above). Can you tell Martha loved it?
Then, Melissa and some others at MTW went above and beyond to bring another celebration to the childcare place so there was even more princess fanfare and Martha-celebration there. It was so special for her. I was so thankful for those who stepped up to love on her while we were away from home and I was feeling particularly “weak” and unable to do what I would have loved to do for her. It blessed my Martha, and it certainly blessed me.
In our family, we don’t do a ton of gifts. We have absolutely everything we need and our kids get so much extra treats from so many who love them and are so generous with them (THANK YOU!), so we have never done much with Christmas or birthday gifts for our kids. But I love gift giving and one thing that I love to “give” to my kids is a cake of their choice. In our house we remember a birthday by what kind of cake there was. For months Martha has been asking for a “Castle, Hello Kitty, Belle cake”. I knew I wanted to make her one but was starting to give up on the idea as time marched on and we were quite busy.
Well, with Karyn leaving Friday and knowing that having Aunt Karyn here for her birthday celebration would be so special (and unique, as we have way TOO FEW days of the year with Aunt Karyn), I decided to try to pull it off on Thursday. We had a girls day at the beach in the mornin/early afternoon, grabbed supplies on the way home, threw the cake in the oven as soon as we got in the door, and got the girls down for naps.
All I can say is “Praise the Lord” that he led me to go ahead with it. I can’t tell you how blessed I was to see how happy my girl was when she got up from her nap and saw her cake. She sat there watching me put the finishing touches on it and just kept saying, “I love my cake, Mommy,” “Thank you, Mommy,” and “You are such a nice mommy.” It was so precious. She just beamed all through dinner. I was SO thankful we took the time to celebrate her that night.
Martha and Aunt Karyn - our super special birthday guest!
cousins, too, are super special birthday guests. and such champs for fitting in an impromptu birthday party into their schedule!
"happy birthday dear Martha"
Happy Happy Birthday to Our Martha-moo. We can’t imagine our lives or this world without the brightness of your precious life. We rejoice in the beautiful person you are and anticipate with great joy the woman our Lord is already shaping you into.
While it would be easy for me to say I am glad to leave your “terrible twos” behind – for they were pretty typical in many ways – I am not. Yes, they were hard, harder than I expected. Your fierce passions – joy, sadness, anger, excitement, fear – threw me for a curve ball to be sure. I prayed many a time for wisdom in how to teach you that your intensity was good and God-given, but also that it needs to be channeled and disciplined. That looked like a lot of praying for self- control (for both of us!). But the twos brought such sweet revelation of more of who you are and how God made you. I have absolutely loved getting to know you better.
One of my favorite things you started this year, and I hope you will do for a long long time, is whispering “I love you, Mommy” to me. Sometimes I hear it, sometimes I only see it mouthed on your lips, but rarely a day goes by that you don’t voluntarily offer those precious words to me, and usually several times a day. When that proverbs talks about children rising and calling their mother blessed, this probably isn’t what it’s talking about, but it makes me think of that nonetheless. It certainly helps me love mothering you and your sisters even more than I already do.
In fact, that’s one of my favorite things about you – you never let people go without knowing they are loved. You hate leaving or having others leave – especially your daddy or mommy or sisters – without adequately showing your love for us, which is usually several kisses and at least one good hug.
Another thing I adore about you is your heart for others. I am always amazed at your “sharefulness”. Many conflicts over stuff in our home end with you willingly, voluntarily giving something up so that anther person will be happy. You’ve done this from an early age and it never ceases to amaze me when you give up your “right” to have or play with something. I see Jesus when you do that and it has often humbled and convicted me. I pray the Lord will keep your heart tender to others and able to love people more than things.
I love how you always pray in thank you’s. As in, “Thank you for Daddy’s test.” “Thank you for Gloria to feel better.” “Thank you for my baby brothers to come home soon.” I know you don’t even realize what you are saying, but your Daddy and I often remark that your prayers are prayers of faith in a God who answers. It reminds us and encourages us.
I love your smile – so intense, so completely all over your face, so disarming and uplifting all at the same time. God did such a good job when he gave you that smile.
And your voice! I just want to bottle it up and never forget the way your words and thoughts and questions and prayers and ideas and imagination fill our home in these fleeting days of your toddlerhood. I love hearing your way of saying your Bible verses. I love more when you connect them to real life. It’s amazing to see glimpses of your mind at work.
I love that you are such a little lady, but with a toughness and sense of adventure that leaves me totally guessing what you’ll “be” one day.
Oh girl, I could go on and on. What a precious year, what a precious LIFE! May you never doubt how much we treasure you – all of you – and praise the Lord for the wonderful way he crafted our Martha Evangeline Noll and continues to do that. We are just so amazed and blessed and humbled to be part of your life and to have front row seats to it.
I pray for you this “lulluby” I’ve sung to you so often since before you born:
“Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou light of men, from the best bliss that earth impart, we turn, unfilled to Thee again.
We taste Thee, oh Thou living bread, and long to feast upon Thee still. We drink of Thee the fountain head, and thirst, our souls from Thee to fill.
Our restless spirits yearn for Thee, wherever our changeful lot is cast, Glad when Thy gracious smile we see, blest when our faith can hold Thee fast.
Oh Jesus ever with us stay, make all our moments calm and bright, Chase the dark night of sin away, shed over the world Thy holy light.”
