While prayers are said

Getting up on time this morning wasn't actually as hard as I thought it was going to be. We planned to be up by 7:30 and therefore set the alarm for 7:21, allowing the traditional 9-minute snooze.

My head popped off the pillow well before 7 AM, though. Sunlight was streaming through the window and I was sure we had overslept. I was just so shocked to actually see the sun in the morning, I suppose. It's been rainy and overcast for so long that I just wasn't expecting it.

Usually Rachel wakes me up, but instead I had to wake her up this morning. She was upset with me and wanted to nurse right away, so we got back into bed. I tried to convince Andrew to get out of bed and take a shower or eat breakfast or something, but he insisted that since Rachel and I were still in bed there was no reason for him to get out of bed.

I therefore blame our tardiness on him. Rachel and I were being productive for the twenty minutes we stayed in bed--we got Rachel breakfast. Andrew, on the other hand, started breathing unusually heavy for a person who claims to have been awake.

So even with our early start we ended up running late. A lot of people were late for church today. I think that's to be expected. You can't change someone's schedule from 1 PM to 9 AM and expect them to be on time the first Sunday.

Rachel was all packed up in the stroller and we were finally all ready to go when we remembered that we hadn't had family prayer yet.

"Fold your arms, Rachel," we prompted her. We've been practicing getting ready for the prayer. Rachel usually kneels down with us and we help her fold her arms before we start say the prayer. That lasts for all of 2 seconds before she's across the room mucking with something, but we've been hoping that the habit will catch on.

Naturally, though, she ignored our instructions and didn't fold her arms. We said the prayer anyway.

Midway through the prayer, though, we heard her making some strange noises with her stroller. We both peeked our eyes open at her.

She put on a cheesy grin and folded her arms!

It only lasted for a split second, but she did it on her own accord. We were so proud of her, even though she didn't attempt to get ready for any other prayers that were said today. Goodness knows she had plenty of opportunities to try. I'd say at least 11 prayers were said after our morning family prayer. Still, she's only 10 months old and isn't really expected to fold her arms yet. We hold out hope that she really will catch on eventually!