It's happening!

I tend to be a worrier.  It's in my DNA.  No, really.  It is.  In fact, the whole Richard family held special classes when we were kids to turn us into the best worriers we could be.  And, I excelled.

Mara's speech development has been one of those things that has stressed me out since she was about a year old.  I will say that my memory isn't what it used to be.  And somewhere between baby #1 and baby #3 there is a whole lot of fuzziness in my brain.  But I feel sure that Joshua and Lauren were talking up a storm by the time they turned 18 months old.  Up until a very few short weeks ago, Mara's vocabulary has been extremely limited.  And by limited I mean virtually nonexistent.  I have stressed and worried and prayed about it, hoping that I could be granted the patience not to worry so much, and just to let her develop and find her words in her own time.  And you know that lesson about not ever praying for patience, because then God will have to give you situations that require it?  Well, that's exactly what happened.  Nothing.  We have been hearing mama and dada and a whole lot of "Nana!" and "Pap-Pap".  But everything else was communicated with gestures or, more likely, temper tantrums.  Our poor girl has been so frustrated, and it has led to more all-out fits than I can even recall.  We read like crazy.  We encourage her to try to say words and praise even the slightest attempt.  And we wait.

In the past few weeks, we have started to hear some little phrases that are starting to provide a bit of encouragement to this anxious Mama heart.  The day that I first heard Mara say, "Love you", I think I broke down in tears.  She is also starting to say "Thank You" (manners are important!).  She loves to watch Dora and can repeat things that Dora asks her to say-- like "map" and "backpack".  She's talking in Russian which I distinctly recall with the other kids too, just much earlier.  She seems to be finding her voice, and likely won't ever stop using it once she does.

Please remind me of the joy I have in updating this progress when I long for the quieter days in the years to come.

So, maybe her doctors are right and she will be right on track by the time she has her 2nd birthday.  Perhaps there is something to that whole medical school thing after all.  Huh.

*****
I am absolutely in love with the picture at the top because it is, without a doubt, 100% Mara right now.  I couldn't have captured her any better.  And let me say that I consider it a huge feat to have captured ANY picture of her without her ridiculous (albeit cute) cheese face that she always makes that renders her more like a pirate than a sweet little girl.  But I'll cherish that one forever!

 And I'll share this one just because it's rare for me to make the blog.  And I love the fact that I remember the fact that we were sitting on the laundry room floor cleaning up a mess that Mara had made when she grabbed the camera, plopped on my lap, gave the camera to me and said, "eeeeeeeese!"

This seems an odd picture to share here, but I wanted to capture a picture of the back of our house last evening because today begins our deck project at the house that will take place over the next few weeks.  We're so excited to be adding some more deck space, as well as adding a hot tub.  Jason and I can't wait to be able to spend some time out there together after the kids go to bed at night time.  That is, assuming I can stay awake.  Which may prove challenging.  In any case, the house won't look like this for much longer.

How about this.....two blog posts in as many days.  Can you believe it?