Two.

My sweet little Peanut.  She, is two.  She is SO two, that her birthday was May 1st ("Mayday, mayday, can you hear me?") and I am JUST NOW blogging her birthday.  She's a keepin' me busy!

So much.  Here goes...

Saturday, her actual birth day was pretty uneventful.  She really doesn't even understand "birthday" except that "birthday cake" is involved.  THAT, she gets.  I guess all the birthdays in her class at school this year prepared her for the magic of flour and sugar and eggs and BUTTERCREAM ICING.  Her other favorite, "Cock-oh-whoa."  Or, chocolate milk.  So, Saturday, she's thinking, isn't anything special because...no cake.  

birthday = cake + cock-oh-whoa  

Since we have not had her dedicated at church yet, we thought it would be good to go ahead and do it on the birthday party day so our friends and family could kill two birds with one stone.  May 2, the dedication...at our wonderful new church that we LOVE.  And, they love us.  Which made the day...beautiful.

It started out okay.  The novelty of Nana and Pa, and Memaw (her GREAT-grandmother), and Matt and Amy, and Wendy and AnnaGrace and her family - at Peanut's church was fun for her.  (I just adore this picture.  It's not technically very good, but look at the way my daddy is looking at her.  LOVE)

Then, she started getting antsy during the announcements.  I'm thinking, Oh boy.  We better get this show on the road before it all comes to a head.  They call us up, announce our new membership, and begin on the important task of dedicating our sweet little Anna Katelyn to the Lord.  

Well, it is truly as if she woke up that day, said to herself, "Wait.  I'm two now.  Yeah!  Let's turn this mother out!"  And, in typical Roaten-Jay overachieving fashion...she was TWO.  Terrible.  Terrible.  Two.  She's gonna do "TWO" like no other kids has EVER done two!  Words can't do justice, and I'll spare all the mundane antics of just trying to get her OUT OF THE HOUSE that morning.

So, then, the service.  Notice the look on our dear friend and elder's face (the red-head) at one point.  She had run around the podium several dozen times, peeked through Charlie's legs continuously.  Jumped off the step, got back on the step, jumped off the step, got back on the step...  All, while our dear new pastor was asking us though oh, so important questions.  "Will you promise to raise Anna up to be a godly woman, and to love Jesus, and to..."  Then, the prayer with the anointing of oil.  She looked at those elders and her face said, "Oh no your NOT gonna put your hands on me!  And, whatever you have in that bottle, you can KEEP TO YOURSELF!"  

So, it all turned out okay when he brought out the little Bible with her name on it.  "Okay, presents?  Well, NOW we're talking!  I can hold still for that!"

So, she has been dedicated to Christ.  Just as my older two girls, and generations and generations before.  The whole time, I was praying to myself, "Lord, let it TAKE."  Ha, ha!  Because, above all else I want for my children, it is for them to know the Lord.  It is THE most important thing ever.  They will grow up, make mistakes, make bad boy choices, try things they shouldn't, maybe NEVER learn to keep their rooms clean, and will fall away from Christ many times.  My only prayer in life...is that they always go back to Him.  

The biggest blessing of the day.  Glenn, another new member (so, I don't know him very well at all), came to me and told me, that he really felt he needed to tell me this.  That God was impressing on his heart, that Anna would grow to be a fine, godly woman one day.  That she would really come to love the Lord one day so much.  That it was a very strong feeling he felt was from the Lord. 

Wow.

My heart.  I told him that he couldn't know how much that meant to me, and that I was going to write that in her little pink Bible they had given her.  So, maybe.  Just maybe.  God will make the promise complete.

And, so the tantrums have revved up.  Majorly.  I am having to physically force her to sit in her time-out chair for the entire two minutes.  Even, as she is clawing and hitting and screaming.  And, as I hold her there, calmly waiting for her to settle down for the time-out-post-mortem-talk ("Now, one day you will be able to control yourself and be a big girl.  But, until then, mama has to HELP you control yourself") I pray.  I pray for God to give me glimpses of that godly woman to be.  

I love you, Anna Jay.  You are the light of your daddy's and my eyes.  And, you are the light of Jesus' eyes, too.  Let em' shine, girl!