Daddy's Turn

So today Daddy got to spend the day with Hope while Mommy rested. Katrina needs lots of rest now as her due date for Martins Baby #2 is just around the corner. She is an amazing trooper. I just don't know how she cares for a lightning fast toddler and carries a baby in her womb at the same time. God sure knew what he was doing when he made Katrina the woman and me the man. I would have run out of gas during week two of pregnancy if I were carrying this child.

Hope slept in a little this morning so I was grateful for that. Never in my life did I fathom that I would ever consider 8:00 a.m. to be "sleeping in." So life changes when you have a child . . .

I fed her waffles, raisins, bananas and peaches. Then I made some oatmeal pancakes for Mommy and of course, Hope couldn't resist. "Hancake, hancake," she says over and over. Hope will eat anything that is on someone else's plate. I am starting to think we should just put recycled cardboard on her plate and extra portions of food on our plates so that when she starts flapping her arms and saying "peas, peas" we can just give her the extra food from our plate. Oh the deceptive things us parents will do to feed our children!

So Hope and I read books, played blocks and held baby dolls for most of the morning. (Did I just admit that thing about the dolls out loud?) Katrina came down for some breakfast at around 10:30 a.m., and of course, Hope wanted some of Mommy's pancakes. Hope used to let us know when she was finished with her food by saying, "ah dun, ah dun," repeatedly until you take the food from her hand. However, she has recently started to play a game where she will tell us she is done, and then when we reach for the food she pulls it back and laughs. I guess this is her equivalent of "down low, too slow!"

So after her afternoon nap, Hope and I went to play in our bonus room. For those of you who don't know what a bonus room is, it is basically a room that is a bonus. Ha ha. Seriously, apparently they don't do basements here in Tennessee so it is usually an extra room that is over the garage. Gary and Karen Phillips, the wonderful parents of my best man Mark E. Mark Phillips, call them "FROGs": Front Room Over Garage. I like that.

So Hope and I picked up the bonus room (not literally) and went to the park. Hope LOVES the park. Every time we go there she says "pit nic, pit nic" because we all had a picnic there once. She loves the swings more than anything and gets so excited it looks like she is going to pop. Now that really makes my day. It really feels great to provide for my family so that my daughter can have fun memories. When I feel like this, I almost immediately feel very grateful to my Heavenly Father for providing for me so that I can provide for my family. If He did not give to us daily from His hands, we would have nothing.

After playing at the park for a little while, Hope and I went to another park that is right near a Civil War battlefield. I strapped Hope into the jogging stroller and ran three times around the park. Ok, now I'm not in the best of shape, but I don't care who you are, running with a stroller is tough. It was so much fun to hear Hope say "weee, weee" every time I popped a wheelie on the stroller.

When we were done we came back home where Hope burst into her "mommy, mommy, mommy" chant as soon as she saw the house. We ate a delicious meal prepared by the Hightowers (thank you Hightowers!) and then I brought Hope up to bed. Before I even picked her up she began saying "bye-bye" and "night-night" to everyone. I gave her a bath, dried her off with her favorite duck blanket, and read her a book. Mommy came up to finish putting her to sleep.

What a full day. I pray that Hope can have many more such fun days throughout her childhood and that I can be there to share them with her. Well, it's getting late, (never in all my life did I fathom that I would ever call 10:00 p.m. "late") and so I've got to go. "Night-night."