Happy Easter!

I love Easter. I love the colors, and the bunnies, and the baskets, and the eggs.  Apparently Addison does too.

this was right before leaving for our first egg "hunt" yesterday - we just gave Addie the eggs

"look what the Easter bunny left me!"

what is she trying to convey here?  what a funny face!

You always hear that "there's nothing like being a Mom."  I used to think "duh stupid."  Like, I knew that it would be like nothing else, and that I couldn't imagine what it would be like before I had a kid myself, but it just seemed like such an obvious statement.  Now I actually think that obvious statement!  I don't say it to my friends, but I think it to myself, and am overcome with what a blessing it is just to experience the role of motherhood.  I love every new face (like the sneaky one above) and noise she makes.  I can't wait until she can tell me what she's saying.
Today is Easter.  I was explaining what we celebrate to Addison this morning - that we celebrate a risen Lord - and she seemed very interested. 

this is the cross that's put up in front of our church every year on Palm Sunday.  Throughout Holy Week it bears a black cloth, and on Easter morning there's a purple robe draped around it, and people bring flowers to put all around it. 

Addison may not be able to hunt eggs yet, but she likes to hold the little empty plastic kind and bang them together.  Today she was trying to crawl and walk all around in her long, fancy Easter dress and kept getting tangled up - the above picture was right after a frustrating moment.

What a daddy's girl, huh?  Well, looks can be deceiving.  Lately she wants to go from one of us to the other and back.  I don't know if she's finally really getting to that clingy stage that most babies get, or if she is cutting another tooth, or what.  I kept the nursery today during one of our services and she was only happy if I was holding her!  Addison sees me hold and play with other babies all the time, but today she wasn't having any of that.  Brad, and later his dad, stopped in our class today, and she cried when both tried to pick her up.  What's up with that???
I hope that you had a chance to hear the Gospel today.  I hope that it convicted you and reminded you of the purpose behind the death and resurrection of our sweet Lord.  I've always believed that hearing the Gospel will draw people to Jesus.  I heard David Platt, author of Radical and pastor at The Church of Brook Hills in Birmingham, during a Secret Church simulcast on Friday.  He specifically argued against that idea - he said that the Gospel should make us run scared because of the life that being a Believer and Follower calls us to.  (I'm paraphrasing.)  While I understand that intellectually, emotionally I still like that metaphor that we're all created with a God-shaped hole that can only be filled with Christ.
By the way, if you want a challenging, difficult, possibly life-changing read, check out Platt's book.  I'm reading and it's putting a whole new spin - based entirely on Scripture - on things.

Happy Easter.

Clicker Hogs

That's right: I live with two clicker hogs.  Brad has been one for years.  He denies it, of course, but he is.  He can't let up!  If I put the TV on a channel he wants to watch, Brad still comes looking for the remote control, or "clicker."  Addison is quickly turning into her daddy's girl...

Can you see the clicker on the chair?  I turned around for a minute and she had it.  I am still kind of shocked that she's tall enough to reach over the arm of the chair like that; I feel like she's grown several inches in the last few days!  A few minutes after I snapped this picture (after I snuck the clicker away from her), she was using her walker-toy and pinched her sweet finger in it.  It was the saddest cry I've ever heard!  I got her little fingers un-snuck, and loved on her for a few minutes, kissing her sweet, purple fingers and trying to get her smiling again.  What finally worked was handing her the clicker.  Am I a sucker or what?

Sleeping on the job...
Addie hates to nap at school.  It's not like she just loves to nap at home... she just hates to miss even a second of the "action."  Even if every other kiddo in her class is asleep, the lights are off, and nothing's happening, chances are good that she's going to fight sleep.  Monday, however, was a new one: she fell asleep, but not during "naptime."  Instead she fussed and fritzed around until lunch time, then passed out in the high chair, mid-juju, and slept for almost 30 minutes.  How ridiculous!  How cute!  Her teacher came running to get me, and we snapped this quick pic:

By the way: "jujus" are the word we use for puffs/cheerios.  (Not Addison, but us grown-ups.)  Brad brought the nickname with us from Dothan, where our sweet friend Mary Selwyn - now three years old - used to call every kind of snack a "juju."  Brad actually thought the real name for puffs was "juju."  The name stuck, and probably will for a while.  We're hoping for a visit from Mary Selwyn and her sweet sister and mama next month.  I'm sure those "big girls" will teach Addie a few more things that'll stick with the Gowings.  :) 

A Pot and a Spoon...

It's amazing how much energy it takes to entertain a 9 month old.... It's also amazing how little it takes to entertain a 9 month old. 

This is Addison this morning.  Today has been a great day - no fussing, good napping, good eating.  Last week was slightly rough.  We had some separation anxiety (on her part, which of course causes it on Mommy's part), and two days of no napping, and I was working on cutting out one of our nursing times.  And that second tooth was still giving us fits. 
One afternoon she was inconsolable - not crying but really whiny.  After every toy had been played with and I had made every silly noise and face I could think of, I got out this little pot and a big spoon.  Addie was as happy as can be and totally emersed in making music long enough for me to go to the bathroom and cook dinner.  Phew!  After days of listening to the 5 o'clock whine, how did I not think of this sooner???  Since then, I've kept it hidden and pulled it out only when I needed a quick distraction for her.
Some other things she loves: the pantry.  The dishwasher.

The front yard.  Check out the drool.

A good stroller ride.  (She does not, by the way, like the sunglasses.  She's only still wearing them in this picture because I distracted her with her "purse."  That thing is a lifesaver.  And a nuisance.)

Rosco.  ("Mom, why can't he come inside???)

Toast.  That's right: our gal is eating toast.  This one 1/3 slice took her 30 minutes to eat this morning, but she loved it.  By the way: how much does she look like her Daddy in this picture?

The park.  Our friends Henry and Clayton.

On a slightly different note, I am constantly thankful to have good friends around with kids Addison's age.  The boys above are one month and one day older than her.  We have another set of twin-friends two weeks younger than her.  Several friends have kids about 6 months older.  It's been so fun to see them all grow and do new things together!  Also, my friends who are quick to listen to a whine from me, or give advice when I need it - and withhold advice with I can't handle any more info.  The families in our youth group who love Brad like he's one of their kids, and let him/us love on their kids in the same way.  We've been blessed beyond measure here in Pensacola. 

Oh, and I have plenty of pots to go around.  :)