Family rosary and shadows

Colette was in bed by nine tonight and dad and I snuggled together to pray a rosary in the month of the rosary. We're working hard to develop daily family rosary as a habit in time for the kids to see it as the norm. We made it through two decades before Colette decided she wanted to join. We got out the wooden children's rosary that her God-father had given her as a baptism gift and she held it for the first time. So beautiful, that moment, realizing it marked the beginning of her relationship with Our Lady. Colette, I pray that you embrace her as your true Mother and use her as a means to grow closer to her Son. As we sat on the couch praying, Colette turned and discovered something for the first time-her shadow. There it was, a little gray head, bobbing next to her on the couch. Entranced by it, she spent the next several minutes of the rosary cooing and blowing bubbles at her shadow-head and my hand. Sorry Lord, looks like she is already struggling with distraction in prayer!

1/3 of a year old.

This past Saturday we celebrated Colette Therese's 4 month birthday. Grandma Bishop flew in for the weekend and joined in on the celebration. The past two weeks, Colette has not been sleeping well-we think due to teething. One of the only ways to get her to sleep is to bring her into bed with mom and dad. Since the bed is a "full" size, we have minimal room to move. Especially since Colette takes over the whole thing! We awoke Saturday morning with our precious daughter between us. No matter how little she sleeps during the night, and how frustrated we get with her, I fall in love with her all over again in the morning. Waking up in bed with her is my favorite thing. Such a happy girl. Dad and I were playing with her when we both realized that it was her special day! She received extra hugs and kisses because of it. To "celebrate her day" we took her to Erwin Orchards for the first time to get cider and donuts and then picked up a pizza and took it to Island Lake State Park for a late lunch by the water. It was a perfect fall day and such a pleasant time with her. She is getting so big, amazing us daily with her constant growth. She hailed in her fourth month with her first roll over! She rolled from her back to her stomach-proof once more that we have a gifted child! She had been trying to roll over the whole day but would only rock back and forth before giving up. I was leaving her alone on a blanket while I made dinner. This time alone provided her with the focus she needed! Dad got home and five minutes later she performed in front of both of us her first roll over! She was very surprised when she did! On top of rolling over, she has also learned to intertwine her fingers, which is a wonder to behold. She sits gazing at her entwined hands for minutes at a time. She laughs when daddy "snores" and when we tickle her belly with our faces. She smiles at just about everything. She is very vocal-yelling so the whole world knows she is here. We know you're here baby girl. We're so glad you are.