Encouraged

I just got home, and am feeling so encouraged. I hope that one day, my children will read this and understand how important it is to surround themselves with the right people.

Tonight, I was finally able to go to a bible study that the girls in my Sunday School class are doing. I made it to the first one several weeks ago, but just hadn't been able to make it since. The devil really tried to keep me from going tonight, too. He knows that I have a soft spot for my kids, and Evan started crying before I left, saying that he didn't want me to go. He even blew kisses to me, crying, and saying to catch the kiss so that I could save it in the van for later. Melt. My. Heart. But, I made it, and I'm so glad that I did.

The bible study was great, and I learned about having people around me that influence me in the direction that God wants me to go, and to also be that kind of influence-er for other people. On those lines, I feel so honored to have been surrounded by the girls at tonight's study. It was so great to hear their prayer requests and praises, and to be encouraged by their struggles and also their wisdom.

I went to the study feeling like I was headed in a million different directions. I left feeling a peace and calmness, and very encouraged. I even heard the song "Hallelujah" tonight on the way home, and saw a rainbow on a tv show right after getting home.

~Thank you, Lord, for showing me that I was on the wrong path, and that I need to focus on You constantly to feel this peace. Thank you for the wonderful women that you have surrounded me with, and who will continue to encourage me as long as I am willing to listen and learn from them. And thank you for showing me "You" tonight, because I now know that I've been truly missing "You" for a very long time.~

My Favorite Things The Kids Do

Here are some things that I think about during the day, but always forget to write down:

I love how Aubrie still kicks her right leg every time I carry her.

I love how Evan still hugs me tightly when he's feeling shy.

Aubrie has the cutest face when something surprises her, and then she'll say, "Oh, no!!!" She gets really into movies, and says "Oh, now!" all the time!

I love that Aubrie and Evan already know how to really relax. There's nothing cuter than seeing them all sprawled out on the couch, with a pillow and blanket, and just chillin'. (That'll probably come back to bite me one day...)

I love that my kids have such good friends in Kaytlynn and Delaney. I love watching them all play together and knowing that they'll have lifelong friends.

I love how Aubrie likes to walk on her tip-toes.

I love how Aubrie and Evan love to dance with me (Aubrie especially).

I love it when the kids put their arms around me, or when their little hands touch me. Evan likes to place his hands on my arms when he sits in my lap, and Aubrie will take my face in her hands and pull me in for hugs and kisses when she's going to sleep. It's my favorite.

I love how Aubrie loves to sing! She'll sing along to almost any song that she hears, especially the "moon" song that is from her favorite movie, "Moonbeam Bear." She'll sing, "ah ah ah meoon, ah ah ah kye (sky), ah ah ah light, ah ah ah bight (bright)." So. Cute.

I love how Aubrie likes to sit like a frog.

I love how Evan wants to blow us kisses and then catch them to save for later.

I love how Aubrie likes to spin around until she's really dizzy, and then the look on her face when she stops!

New House

Ok, y'all. I'm going to put this out there so that you can all encourage me and keep me going. Chris and I have decided to put our house up for sale in April.

I need encouragement to keep the focus on what is important. I get discouraged when I think about our house; thinking that we'll always be stuck her, that we don't make good financial decisions, that our kids won't get the best childhood experiences if we don't have a better house, that life would be easier if we didn't have to drive forever to go to church, etc. I get focused on all of the negative things, and forget that I have no control over any of that, anyway. So many times, I just try to do everything on my own, and forget that God is in control of it all, and has a plan for me and my family that is better than anything I could think of. That's how we got into this home in the first place! If we had waited on his timing, I KNOW that we'd be in a different place in our lives. But I choose to look at all of the positives that He has provided while we've been in this home.

I need encouragement to keep energy when it comes to cleaning out the house. I have this need to throw out everything in our house. But then I get busy with life, my new Thirty-One business, (plus I think I'm literally addicted to the computer!), and I don't work on things that I know are important. I even do that with Chris and the kids. I need energy and focus to get all of my work done, but everything else done, too. Oh, and I'd like to feel no guilt when I can't get it all finished!

Please pray for our family. We'd like to know that we're making the right decision, and that it would all go smoothly. Thanks so much!

3.5 Years

It's been 3.5 years since I gave birth to my first child. That seems like such a long time ago, and then I look at how fast my son is growing up and realize that it's gone by all so fast. My son is growing up to be such a wonderful young man. He's brings love, happiness, and kindness to our home, and to our hearts.

Evan is such a sweet little boy. He is getting big enough to actually play on Chris' phone without me having to tell him how to get to his favorite games, which blows my mind! I'm so used to doing everything for him, that it's crazy to think that he can do something techno without any help. I mean, I can't even figure out how to use Chris' phone sometimes... :)

He's still our talker, that's for sure. He'll explain every little detail of a story, or when asking a question. He can also remember every line of some of the movies we watch, like "Rio." He even does the facial expressions on the characters, which cracks me up! He's really paying attention to what we can and can't say, and is always asking, "Can we say that?" while watching a show. He said "shut up" to Kaylynn a few weeks ago, and got in BIG trouble. I know it's from "Rio," and it just goes to show that even when we try to protect the kids, (we don't watch cable except for PBS, and have Netflix so that we can screen anything they watch ahead of time), they're going to pick up on things that they shouldn't. He'll ask me, "Mommy, he said pepperoni. Can we say pepperoni?" So, it's a work in progress.

He almost never takes a nap nowadays, but he still has "quiet" time in his room. I've had to create a rule that he can't get out of bed except to go to the potty, because he'll get up and play with toys the whole time. But I'm so bad, because I never go back in the room once I'm out (cause he'll try to talk me into staying or cry when I leave again!). So even if he is out of bed, I don't go back in. At least he's being quieter up there than he would be downstairs!

I'm going to actually go right now, and find a board int he garage so that I can start tracking his growth. I've neglected it up until now, because I knew we'd be moving one day, and didn't want to leave anything important like that behind. But I look at him, and just want to have that board to keep forever on how much he's grown. Just looking at him makes me think he'll be a teenager before I know it!

I love having a little boy, and love him to pieces!

Aubrie's 20th Month

Ok, so I'm just now getting over the fact that my baby is 1.5 years old... and now it's already two months past that... In just four short months she'll already be two. Does that sound crazy to anyone else? Guess I should jump on planning a birthday party. Last year I waited until after Christmas to do it, and I got too busy and felt rushed. I can't believe it's time again already!

My Aubrie is such a wonderful and sweet baby girl! She definitely has her moments of drama, but it makes her so fun to be around! She loves to snuggle, too. She hasn't been taking naps at MDO lately, so on the way to the front door yesterday, she just whips her legs around and makes me carry her like a baby, and she was totally happy! Of course, I loved every minute of it! The other day, she saw me sitting in the rocking chair in her room, and she came up and said, "Eat! Eat!" But she was holding a sock, so I thought she meant "feet." "No, eat!," she said. She crawled up in my lap, and just snuggled down into my arm. It was a sweet moment, because she sat still long enough for me to just hold her again. Then we went and ate some cheerios; yummy!
She loves her brother! Every time she wakes up, and when I pick her up from MDO, the first word out of her mouth is, "Evan." And if I tell her that he is still asleep, she says, "No Evan leep." She loves to yell at Evan to wake up if he falls asleep in the car, "Evan, akeup!" She just wants to play with him all the time. That is, until he puts her in a head-lock (what he calls a hug...).
She is really talking a lot lately! It's so neat to watch her start to string her words together! When we get to her class at MDO she'll say, "Fun. Fens (friends)." I love that she is starting to express herself with words. She still signs a lot of things, though; I guess from habit. She'll still sign "please" and "more" almost all of the time, while she says the words, too.
I am still watching Kaytlynn & Delaney two days a week, and both of my kids are in love with those girls! It is so fun to watch them all play together. And these are good girls, too, so I'm happy that my kids will have life-long friends with good people. One of Aubrie's favorite things to say to Delaney is, "No, Naney." She calls both girls "Naney," even though we're working on her saying Kaytlynn's name, too.

Random, because I'm behind...

This is going to be a random post about whatever I think of because I've been so bad at blogging our lives lately!

1. I finished nursing Aubrie about two weeks ago. I nursed her a lot longer than I was able to with Evan, and I know that is because I was staying home with her, while I was working while Evan was nursing. It was so much easier this time around. In fact, it was so easy, that I had the opposite problem with Aubrie; she didn't want to stop! Around 18 months old, I started dropping one feeding a week. So we went from 3 to 2, then the next week, 2 to 1, and then I went from 1 to none. Although, I have to admit that I was having a hard time stopping, too, so we spent 2 weeks with her feeding just once before bedtime. Evan was 11.5 months old, but I was pregnant again by the time he was 13 months old, so I didn't worry too much about it. It was harder this time because we're not sure when we're going to have another baby. But, I'm going to enjoy having myself to myself for a while before going through it all over again.

2. Evan has been in big boy underwear for about a month, too! All of a sudden, he just started telling us when he had to go every time. He still sleeps in pull-ups at night, but he'll usually tell us in the morning that he needs to go, even if he's still wearing the pull-up. He's actually only had a few accidents while in the underwear, too. Once on the first day of MDO a few weeks ago, but I'm sure that was because he was so caught up in seeing new people, playing with toys, etc, that he didn't think about going. I'm so proud of him! It's so cute to see him running around like a big boy in his Thomas the Train or Cars underwear!

3. I've become a Thirty-One Gifts consultant! I was really thinking about it last Spring, but they were in a hiring freeze until August. It was great timing, because it gave me time to think about ways to make extra money, and when the time came it was still a great idea, so I did it! I'm really struggling with what the future may bring, financially. Not to the point where I'm worried because I know that God will provide a way for us. But I'd like to stay home with the kiddos as long as possible, and if we don't start making a little more money, then I'm going to have to go back to work next year. I think I'd be able to find a half-time elementary music position in Klein, but it's still more time away from the kids with a less flexible schedule. I'm really hoping that Thirty-One works for our family, because the changes in the school schedules has really changed how much I'm receiving for doing private lessons. I know that God has a purpose for everything, and I will just trust that He has led me Thirty-One so that I can give it my all and use it to help my family! (Plus, it's really cute stuff that I get a discount on, now!).

Naptime Conversations

(Evan talking while going to the potty in his room before naptime, heard through the monitor).

Peter Pan?
Peter Pan? I like Peter Pan.
And I'll blow your house down.
And I'll huff, and puff, and come to your party!
Try to get me! Hehehehe! Wheee!
(whispering...)
Gluegluegluegluegluuuuk.
Oookkk. And I peepeed, and I poopooed like the big bad wolf,
and I chased Peter Pan.
Ho ho ho. Ho, I'm going to bed.
(singing...)
Yes, you're a big bad wolf at our house!
Little piggies! Little Evan, let me come in!
I will blow this down! (puff)
But it's a brick wall! The first little pig, the first little m&m.
Built his house out of sticks. First little piggy, out of straw.
He comeded to a man that had straw, hehehehe.
(pretending to be pigs running with his hands)
Agghh, you got me!

My Cup Runeth Over

I just came down from putting my daughter down for the night, and I'm on cloud 9! I love my children so much, and they delight me in so many ways. Every night, my daughter just smiles at me and lets me hold her so sweetly. She wraps her arms around me, and gives the best hugs and kisses. Today she put her arm around my neck and started patting it, saying, "ok? ok?" She smiles at everything at night, and loves it when I squeeze her tightly giving her kisses. She is so hard to put down sometimes because I know all too well that this time will pass quickly, and in just a short time, I won't be able to do that anymore. Tonight I laid her down in her bed, and she looked at me and said, "appy?" (translation, "happy"). She wanted me to sing I've Got the Joy Down in My Heart, but I know that she was also saying that she was happy. I am happy, too, and I'm so thankful for what God has given me!

Life Since Utah

It sure is great to be back home! Two days after we got back from Utah, the kids and I left to visit my Mom's house, and ended up staying until Wednesday, August 3rd. My sister's boyfriend, Dave, was in town, and it's always nice to visit with him when he's around. We basically did a bunch of nothing; but it was nice to just enjoy each other's company. My Mom bought a water table for the kids, and even though it was 100 degrees outside most days, the kids loved it.

Since we've been back in our own home, we're starting to get back into our routine. Aubrie really seemed to miss her bed, because the first morning back, she just laid in her bed and kept looking around and falling back to sleep. I think she slept until 9:30 that morning, on and off, just enjoying her room. It took Evan some more time to readjust to his room, though. He kept yelling for us if an airplane got too close to the house. I think he was scared that it was going to hit the house, or something. But he's been fine for the last few days, and I think he's adjusted back to the sounds.

There are some things that we definitely miss about Utah; one being the weather. It's just SO hot around here, and it makes it hard to do anything outside. Chris and I have plans to put in some shade in our backyard soon, so hopefully that will help a lot and we can be outside more often. This is going to sound strange, but we also miss the recycling. It feels so wrong to throw out some of our trash when we know that it could easily be recycled. It's just so much harder to do that around here. And, of course we miss the company of some great people! Evan hasn't mentioned Ansley as much as I thought he would, but I hear him whispering her name, or saying something about Bud & Joy's house, when he's playing to himself.

Now we have to get ready for another school year to start. Chris is already hard at work again, getting ready for his first year as a Head Band Director (alone). The girls (Kaytlynn & Delaney) will be coming in another week or so, and my kids will start Mother's Day Out again at the end of August. I will hopefully be able to start up my lessons again very close to the beginning of school, but we'll see how that goes (there have been some crazy scheduling going on with all of this education stuff happening this year). But we are happy to be home, and ready to start another fantastic year!

Evan's 39th Month (3 years, 3 months)

I just realized that I hadn't written any monthly updates for Evan in 4 months! Wow, how time flies!

The biggest change in Evan over the summer, is that he is now fully into the "why" stage of life. For example, this was a conversation he and I had yesterday in the car:

Evan: Why is that Daddy's truck?
Me: Because Daddy is driving it.
Evan: Why is he driving it?
Me: Because it's his truck, and we're following him in case his truck messes up (battery issues).
Evan: Why is he in front of us?
Me: Because he drove off first.
Evan: Why did he drive off first?
etc, etc, etc.

Chris and I feel so lucky to have the kids that we do, because even on their worst day, it's not really that bad at all. They are still cute and sweet. I have to admit that I feel like I'm pretty good at dealing with them when they are having "one of those days," but sometimes I need a break, too. Chris is amazing when he comes home from work and can tell that I'm on a short leash with all of the "why" questions. He just picks it up from there and lets me have a little space, which I definitely need! I don't want to fly off the handle with Evan just because I'm feeling tired of answering his legitimate questions. I know that he needs to ask them in order for his development to be on track, but sometimes it's hard to answer the same thing 15 times. (Love you, Chris, and Evan!).


We haven't been making him take a nap for the last few weeks, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. In my heart, I know that he probably still needs a nap. But he actually does alright until we put him to sleep at around 7:30. I can tell by 5:00 or so that he missed his nap, and he consequently gets into more trouble because he's tired. He's also been waking us up early to take him to the potty (which is awesome!), but it makes for one tired kid. I think I'm going to try and put him down around 1:00 today and see how he does.

Speaking of potty training, he's doing really well! I think that I am the lazy one when it comes to his training, because I feel like he should already be in underwear (except at night). But he is doing really well most of the time in telling us that he needs to go. He's doing great when it comes to pooping, so that's nice not to have to change any of those kind of diapers anymore! We'll see how it goes, though.