Friday, November 28, 2008

Puppies and Coins

I'm sure glad my Gran and my Mom saved a bunch of my baby dresses. It saves me time (and money) when I need to dress Olivia for the holidays. This dress was actually mine when I was two (and when I go into the garage later to get our Christmas tree, I'll search some old albums and see if I can find a photo of myself at this age and we'll compare!)

Thanksgiving with Joels family was great. His sister Emily knocked it out of the park with her candied yams (extra marshmallows) and her apple crisp (extra crisp.) The kids had fun running up and down Granddad's hallway, back and forth, sliding on hardwood floors. And surprisingly, no tears! Although, Olivia got tired of that dress REAL fast, so she ended up looking like this most of the night:

And to get her to look at the camera and smile, her Granddad held up a cupcake to catch her attention. This is the smile she gave...as in "GIVE ME MY CUPCAKE."

On the drive home (after the sugar rush from the cupcake wore off) Olivia was content in her car seat and Joel and I were listening to Christmas music. We hear this little voice in the backseat, counting. "One, two, free, four ...coins."

Coins? I follow her eyes and she's counting street lights. She calls street lights "coins" evidently. This is new to me. Whatever.

She counts her coins, smiling and laughing, and then begins to talk about a puppy. There are no dogs in sight. It's dark out. Just meaningless chatter coming from my curly-top-almost-two-year-old in the backseat.

Joel and I exchange curious glances, and he looks at me and says "Duh, Sarah. Puppies and coins. Could you imagine anything more wonderful? This is what she's thankful for. Coins with Puppies on them. Puppies with a coin for a tag. Coins. Puppies. Happy Thanksgiving."

Well, far be it from me to judge. Count away, darling. Count away.

5 comments:

Emily. said...

You know you're going to have to get that child a puppy. It's inevitable.
And one of Jack's favorite things are "penny coins".

Liz Jordan said...

I hope I get to meet Olivia one day. My heart is so warmed with stories and photos of her with you and Joel... what a fun and wonderful time you guys are amidst!!!

I loved the part "Duh Sarah..."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

Hey Ms. Sarah, Olivia is so cute, she reminds me of Jenny without the curls..I sent in a story but it was so hard to condense it.
that experience was a lifechging for me.This Thanksgiving, as usual, the story being told, we all stuffed our faces with a utensil in each hand consuming my sis's delicious meal. I just can not get out of my head how something we take so for granted is such a blessing, our hands. I saw a man with a prosthesis and on the rubber lower arm and hand he was wearing a watch and wedding ring! I loved it! I didn't stay too late at my sis' Thanksgiving because I'm so worried about my house being in pre-forclosure, nobody knows but God and I are talking constantly and I am asking for his purpose and grace. That helps take my tummy aches away. I know "Thy Will Be Done" please pray for me Sarah..Luv ya, Jan

Anonymous said...

Thanks for Olivia pictures. I hated dresses too. Still do, but no way could I walk around like Olivia now. My parents were nearly 40 when I was born and my Dad was very old-fashioned. He insisted that both my sister and I wear dresses on any outing-even to the movies. Consequently we both saw VERY few movies.

Anonymous said...

Too cute and sooooo sweet!