Happy Birthday, Kaylie!

This post is a tribute to my oldest daughter, who turned 2 on April 26.Kaylie Joy Horst is a very doting big sister to her baby sister "Ashy Kate".
Her most frequent sentence........."Ashy wake up a-time, Mommy!", after hearing her sister move in her bed, or seeing one of us carrying her out of our room. She is starting to say "Ashleigh" more....but we still hear "Ashy". She loves to "hold Ashy Kate", too. Yes, we have to watch to make sure she doesn't pick her up, meaning Ashleigh rarely gets left anywhere but in something with straps.
Since Baby sister was born, Kaylie has really gotten into playing Little Mama herself, with burp cloth, bottle, pacifier, etc. , for her baby.She loves to help Mommy with dishes, laundry, sometimes will help sweep the floor, loves to play outside, take baths, brush her teeth and put in her contacts. =] She can count to 9 by herself. She can do her alphabet puzzles without help, and if I tell her which letter it is, she'll put it in the right spot, but only knows a few by sight to tell me if I point to them. "K" and "T" are the most recognizable ones so far.....every now and then another one pops up. She also knows her colors and shapes. Remember the Noah's Big Boat book?
She has done some pottying, but goes in spurts in whether she likes it or not. Mom hasn't been very consistent yet. She is pacifier free now, and so far hasn't tried to take her sister's in place of hers.She is solely in her booster seat now, instead of half and half with her highchair. (We comb hair in the booster seat, and some snacks and maybe breakfast were eaten in her booster seat, and if we had company.)
She ADORES books, and will go through an entire book cabinet flipping through them all! Sometimes when she's quiet for a WHILE, I'll go check on her and she's just reading.............
I'm so glad I have a bookworm! She loves to sing, and does this a lot every day, and some days when I'm longing for a break from the constant 'noise', (esp. in the car!) I have to remind myself, at least she's happy, and she wants to sing, and is able to! It's better than whining! She also loves to 'read' and sing along with her Wee Sing books.
She is quite the Daddy's girl, and will ask probably every day, sometimes more than once in a day's time, "Where's Daddy?" If I tell her Daddy's coming, she'll tell him, no, he's at _____.
She loves to talk on the phone, more so if you let her have it by herself to put on her shoulder. Ahem....this is a bad view for when she's a teenager, I know. My dad comments on this already.

She loves to write, and up until more recently, she'd been famous for very small squiggles, which amazed us at her dexterity then, but now it's becoming more flamboyant, if you want to call it that.She's our bright sunshine with all the chatter and life she brings into our home, and we are so thankful to God for our big little girl, Kaylie! We love you, Kaylie Joy!

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Future Doctor

God Did IT! Vernon received his letter from MCG on Wednesday and he's accepted into med school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited!!!! Thanks to all of you for praying and sharing your encouragement and advice during the last 4 years of his pre-med schooling. We're so thankful for the way the LORD has worked in our lives to bring us to this point.
Vernon graduates next Saturday! It's hard to believe! This acceptance letter came exactly 3 weeks after he received the letter saying he was on the waiting list. God moved fast!

What was so neat was that we both had separately come to peace about his probably not getting in this year, and what that would mean--he could keep on working, putting money aside to start with next year, hoping to get in then--Fall of '09, we could have a family life again.......etc. Once we talked about it, we realized we were both feeling the same way, which was helpful to me. As he put it, he'd be disappointed if he didn't get in, but not heartbroken. But that was not to be.
The Lord opened up a slot for him in the class and we are so grateful he can keep on going, and not have to re-do his interviews, etc., next year to try again.

So keep praying for us--there's a lot of paperwork to get done this summer in preparation for this new step in our lives. And Vernon will be quitting work the end of July, so we'll be living on student loans.............

More later!

And now for proof!

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