Harms Family News

They say hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back, there are so many signs that Miss N had an eye problem. I remember her first puzzle. It was a little one with animals and underneath the piece was an identical image of the animal. She could figure out which hole they went in, but it took her a very long time to figure out she had to turn the animal to fit it in the hole. I remember telling her, "Put the eyes with the eyes" and she just didn't get it, but she was a toddler and I figured it was just her developmental stage. Then there was the difficulty writing neatly. But she was 3 and 4 and I figured it was just developmental, or that she had inherited my poor handwriting. Plus, she's left handed, and my lefties when I taught always struggled a little with handwriting. Then there were the eye spy books. She couldn't find the pictures. Again, I assumed it was just developmental. Then there were the headaches. That was the sign I finally realized meant there was a p...

Well, I totally intended to wait to tell the girls about the baby a little bit, but the cat got out of the bag fast when they saw the ultrasound picture on the table. (oops) Miss N already knew I was getting pictures taken of my insides this morning, and she wanted to know what the "big hole" on the picture was. I was not able to answer her honestly without telling her the whole truth, so I told them. Miss N responded with a big smile and a "I hope it's a brother." and Miss M responded with, "I see the hole in your tummy mommy?" and asking me to lift my shirt. Then Miss N said, "Mommy, I love you. I will love you no matter how big you get." Oh my, crazy girl! I am glad she loves me. Then she was very worried about something, "Mommy, my teacher told us to raise our hands if our mommies had a baby in their tummies, and I said no because I didn't know." I think she thought she had lied. . . I assured her she was fine :)

Miss N had her second eye exam today. A year ago I found out she had a severe deficiency in one eye, to the point of having some permanent vision loss. I was a bit floored and did not ask at that appointment why or what that meant. Today I did. I am sad because had I caught her problem earlier, we might not have a permanent vision issue. The doctor explained it like this: If you take a toddler and pin their arm to their chest, the muscles in the arm will atrophy. The eye is a muscle, and it gets exercise by visual stimulation. When the visual stimulation is not coming in accurately, the muscle atrophies. Therapy and glasses can help, but cannot restore the lost vision completely. I realize this is not a serious issue. She can read, she can color, she can do puzzles, so obviously she can still see. I just wish we had caught it earlier. "Permanent vision loss" sound so, well, permanent and serious. I thought they screened preemies for these types of problems? Some...

Miss N has been in a funk the last few days. I have been praying for insight about what it is and how I can help her out of it. Not sure I have found it yet, but we made some progress this morning and I learned something in the process. Today everything came to a head. We were in Target. I made it clear what we were doing at Target and that we were not buying any toys. Things were going well until we got to the checkout, where a beautiful princess Barbie was on display. Miss N decided she wanted it. I explained that I had not brought money for toys today, and she started whining and complaining. “You never buy me anything, I don’t want earrings (we were headed to the mall to buy them for her newly pierced ears). I just want this Barbie. She’s so pretty and I want her so bad!” You get the idea. To her credit, she was not throwing a fit. In fact, to others her behavior may have been “normal” or just a “phase,” but I am trying to teach her to be content with what she has and to ...

I debated long and hard about blogging about this one, but then I decided, the main purpose of this blog is to record our little life, and to have a memory to look back on. This is definitely a memory that will be looked back on, even if things don’t pan out the way a five-year-old girl intends. This past week was busy beyond belief and my kids were so tired. We did two Bible schools, one in the morning and one at night. Parenting mistake, I think, but they did have fun and Miss N seems to have learned quite a bit from both. Miss N has a little boy that she goes to school with who also happens to go to our church. In addition to all of that, they both wear glasses, which to her is a big deal. Long ago she deemed “B” as her “boyfriend.” I recall one night when their junior church teacher heard, “If you don’t stop being mean I am NOT going to marry you!” and another time when she didn’t sit by him and he went home crushed and quite upset. She regularly will parrot anything I say about Ti...

Lately, I have been noticing signs that my two girls really do love one another and are becoming friends. We have our fair share of sibling rivalry and days when I throw my hands up in surrender thinking I am raising worst enemies . Then, I get little glimmers into what life with a sister can really be like. This week Miss N got her first minor scraped knee of the season. I was doctoring it up because it was pretty dirty, and she was crying pretty hard. Miss M went and got her a toy of some sort and patted her on the back. "Thanks (sob) Miss M, (sob), You're my BEST friend." was the response. in the midst of the tears, this mommy's heart was melting. I told her, "That's right, and your sister is a friend who will always be part of your life." She will soon enough know the temporary heartache that comes from "best friends" who move to a new school after the school year, I fear, with the upcoming end of preschool and start of kindergarten. There ...

Five years ago today, I became a mother. This tiny bundle has led me on the most amazing journey. I won’t say my “greatest” adventure, as marriage to my husband has been quite a ride, but she has changed me, grown me, and molded me into the woman God wants me to be. Natalie: One Year Old Five seems so old! She is officially no longer a baby in any way shape or form. I'm not super sentimental, and I loved four-year-old life. I'm not sure if I am ready for the next stage quite yet though. Natalie: Two Years Old Natalie: Three Years Old Natalie: Four Years Old! Natalie: Five years old! Here are some accomplishments over the last year: First sleepover at a friend's house. Learning to read! (just short vowel three-letter words, but read them she does!) Going to camp for the first time. Asking Christ to be her Savior. Starting preschool. Getting over a fear of the water. Getting glasses. I'm sure there are more, but I am beyond tired, so this list will have to suffice for to...

Happy Birthday to Miss N! In honor of my newly-turned five-year-old, I am starting an annual interview. So here are her questions and answers! Later if I have time I will post the annual "see how I've grown" post. What is your favorite color? Pink and purple What do you want to be when you grow up? A mommy and a horse rider Who is/are your best friends? Abriana, Hannah, Aliyah, Ben, Abby, Lilli, Joie, Maddie, Alyssa What is your favorite thing to do? Go to the museum What is your favorite cereal? Life and Cheerios What is your favorite vegetable? Carrots What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk and juice What is your favorite toy? Horseys, cows, and donkeys What is your favorite TV show? Magic School Bus What is your favorite game? Long Memory, Candy Land What is your favorite book? My princess book What is your favorite restaurant? The ones that give out toys What is your favorite holiday? Halloween What is your favorite animal? Donkey, Cow, Horsey If you could change...

"Mommy, I want to get something for Mrs. C for her birfday. A radio." This came out of the blue in the car one day. I have learned with this child not to brush off things like this because she's usually been thinking about it for a while. (Mrs. C is the much-adored K4 teacher.) "A radio? Why? Is this something she wants?" "Yes, because hers is broken. The top is broken off and we have to get Miss Melissa's radio to listen to music and sometimes we can't listen to the fishie song. So she needs one." "Do you know when her birthday is?" "No. Maybe you should ask her." Finding out was easy enough, since the birthday list was posted on the wall. There are a lot of birthdays this month! The next step was finding out if there was a CD player that was within the teacher gift buying budget. There was. Miss N was soooo excited when we found it. She was also worried too, "Mommy, I hope no one else gets Mrs. C a radio, or that sh...

My girls have the best daddy, and here are some answers that prove it! These are from Miss N who is going to be 5 in a month. 1. What is something daddy always says to you? Natters Schmatters 2. What makes daddy happy? You and me and Megan 3. What makes daddy sad? When we don’t obey 4. How does Daddy make you laugh? Doing funny things like flipping us 5. What was your daddyy like as a child? I don’t know. A little boy 6. How old is your daddy? 10 1/2 7. How tall is your daddy? 10 feet 8. What is his favorite thing to do? Make us laugh. He likes to hear it when we laugh, Mommy, that means that we are happy. 9. What does your daddy do when you're not around? Work and watch trains. I know it! 10. If your daddy becomes famous, what will it be for? For his work 11. What is your daddy really good at? Working and taking pictures of trains 12. What is your daddy not very good at? He can’t go on the treadmill 13. What does your daddy do for job? Fix my van 14. What is your d...

She stood on the edge, willing herself to go, but not quite able to take the leap. Her hands shook with the adrenaline pumping through her body. She started to leap, then stopped and took a step back. She looked to me for reassurance. I nodded my head. She started again, then stopped again. She willed herself to go, but reached for my hand. Just one hand this time, not two, but she still needed mom. She climbed the tower again, this time willing herself to go. I could see the heart pumping in her chest, the nervous smile playing in the corner of her lips. “Count for me mommy,” she said. So I did. One. Two. Three. She jumped. She landed on her feet on the squishy carpeted surface and ran as fast as she could to me, a huge smile spread across her face. “I did it Mommy, I did it! I really did it!” She was still shaking from the excitement of it all, but a sense of accomplishment and healthy pride were there too. After many months of wish, she finally took the plunge and jumped from the to...

(Sharing some sister snuggles before Mommy and Daddy got up) My kids constantly crack me up. This is the first holiday ever that we did not have family to go to. It was strange, but also nice. Growing up once we moved away from California, holidays were almost always just us. While I would have preferred not to have the circumstances that forced us to stay home and would have loved spending time with Tim's sister and family, today was nice. (Miss M said, "More?" at this point - she wasn't so sure about the way the tree looked :) ) Our plan: Buffet restaurant for lunch, Thanksgiving craft, putting up the tree, watching Toy Story 3. I am happy to announce all were accomplished. At the restaurant, my kids pigged out. They haven't b een to many buffets, since mommy finds it silly to spend that much money on food when you can't take home your leftovers, but they loved being able to pick and choose what they ate. (Can I just say she looks way too grown up all of a...

The work-from-home routine drains me sometimes. Like right now, I should be rewriting an article about HCG hormones, not blogging. Oh, and let’s not get started on the house (which is almost clean since we’re having company tomorrow, thanks to my husband’s help, but typically it’s a scary place). Sometimes, I focus too strongly on the work aspect of working from home instead of the home aspect. When Miss N brought home a paper from preschool about her first-ever field trip and the fact that they needed helpers and drivers, my first thought was “but I have to work. I wonder if I can afford to take the morning off?” The only thing that makes my workweek possible is my full days on Mondays and Fridays while the girls are at school (N to preschool, M to Mom’s Day Out). Then it hit me. This is why I work from home. So I can drive to the fire station with a bunch of three and four year olds. So I can be home with my child when she’s sick. So I can help with the Christmas party. So I si...

If you are a mom, you have likely experienced something like what I have recently experienced. It’s that gut feeling that something isn’t quite right with your kid. You can’t put your finger on it, but you know something isn’t right. But, because you can’t put your finger on it, you wonder if it’s all in your head. I tend to be a hypochondriac about my kids. I see a spot that could possibly be a rash, I am googling pictures of rashes to make sure we don’t have something highly contagious. Miss N starts coughing during the night, I get the inhaler out so I know where it is if it gets bad like last time. My kid has “the runs” for a few days, and I start researching dietary sensitivities. Because I know that I tend to be a hypochondriac about my kids, I also tend to take two or three steps back before calling the doctor. Thankfully, I am raising kids in the age of Google, so most of the time I can reassure myself that, while a 102.5 fever seems scary, it does not warrant a call to the doc...

As Miss M gets more and more vocal, Miss N is starting to enjoy being a sister more and more. They are waking in the morning and crawling into bed with one another to wait for mom and dad to get up. They are starting to play WITH one another, and Miss N has been rejoicing with us over Miss M's potty training successes. It's wonderful to watch what i pray will be a lifelong friendship blossom. But, they are still siblings. And the little one gets on the big one's nerves a lot, usually intentionally. Like the other day. I can't remember what Miss M was doing, but Miss N had had enough. After I reminded her to be loving, she looked at me and said, "WHEN will we have a baby BOY!!?!?!?" Very funny!

Miss N has had a lot of questions about God and the Bible since she got saved. It’s been fun to try to answer them. Here are a few I wanted to remember: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miss N (while listening to the Barney theme song): Mommy, this is bad music. It says “if we just believe in him.” We shouldn’t believe in anything but God. (I did tell her the song said, “If we just MAKE-believe him,” and that make believe is a bit different.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mommy: Miss N, you need to trust your daddy when he tells you something. Miss N: No, Mom, we should only trust in our LORD. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miss N: Mommy, I have a mysterious question. Does God wear shoes? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Momm...

Miss N: Mommy, today at recess me and Benjamin were playing Star Wars! Mommy: That sounds fun. What's Star Wars? (She's never seen it) Miss N: I don't know because Benjamin hasn't told me yet. We just chase bad guys with our pretend, um, gun hands.

My eldest shocks me with her whit and wisdom sometime. We've gotten past the endless "why" world of three year olds , the nonsensical world of toddlerhood , and are suddenly shooting into the world of young lady-hood. My girls are both now in "school." Miss N attends a traditional K4 program three days a week, while two of those days Miss M goes to Mom's Day Out at a nearby church so I can work. Mom's Day Out gives the kids a small candy at the end of the day if they are good. Preschool lets the kids earn "Dinky Dollars," which they turn in on Fridays for a prize from the "Dinky Store." Both reward good behavior, but in different days. This Friday when I picked up Miss N from school, she had a toy rooster she had purchased from the store. We drove to get Miss M, who got her candy. While we drove, Miss N was questioning me about whether or not I brought her a lollipop. I assured her I did not, and she was working herself into a state...

My little girl is growing up. Here she is on her first day of K4, all ready for school. But this post isn't about school. I just thought you might want to see her pretty face. At night before bed I try to ask her, "What was your favorite thing about today." This question, hopefully, will get her mind thinking on positive things, and in future years when she is older, give an open door for good conversation. We recently went shopping for a birthday present for a friend. Miss N is obsessed with horses. The only toys she would look at were horses. When we found some in our present-buying price range, she finally made her choice. She played with the toy, in the box of course, the entire way home, and proudly showed it to daddy. I was very afraid she was becoming overly attached to it. We talked much about how it was for her friend, not her. She seemed to understand, and she was seemingly very excited to give it to her friend. Today was the party. I assumed that her response ...

For some time now, we have seen signs that Miss N is becoming more and more aware of God’s grace and salvation. Tim and I both felt burdened not to push her into any type of confession. Growing up, we saw our fair share of kids making a profession of faith in Christ at a young age, only to never really grow in grace. Tim himself was not saved until he was in his 20s, simply because he was relying on what his mom told him he did as a small child. I wrote about our conversation a few weeks ago about becoming a Christian. Since that night she hadn’t brought it up again. I was praying for wisdom and guidance as to how to broach it again or if I should, but did not have peace about bringing it up again. About three weeks ago we went to one of the local county fairs. She loves to go to the Child Evangelism Fellowship booth and get her face painted. A young lady went through the wordless book with her, a simple tool used to teach children about the plan of salvation using a book with colored ...