Leah's Birthday

The day after Christmas in our house means the beginning of Birthday Week. If our kids don't remember the words to the song Happy Birthday, they'll have it down by the end of that week. Leah seemed to catch on quickly and we got to hear her sweet, 2-year-old version several times a day. We also asked her over and over again who was going to have a birthday and she managed to get quite confused between saying Jesus, Mommy, or Leah. The poor girl will spend the rest of her life having a "Christmas Birthday" and thankfully she has a mom that can relate. Nonetheless, we tried to make her day special and she seemed to grasp that it was all about her on the 30th. We went to McDonald's for lunch where she managed to get herself all the way through the play tubes (leaving us to think for about 3 frightening minutes that she was never coming back). There's no fear in this 2-year-old. She also spent plenty of time that day soaking up attention from Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Kalyn. We ended the day with a pizza party, presents, and cake. All of which were just enough to make her day. She is now, officially, a 2-year-old. More tantrums. More attitude. And of course, (what every 2-year-old girl longs for) a thousand more baby dolls!

Dear Leah,

It's been exactly two years since you joined our family. Two years seems like such a short amount of time, yet it is hard to remember life before you were part of it. Year number one was filled with plenty of ups and downs and your second year has thankfully been full of many more ups than downs. You spent the first half of this year still very much a baby. You reached new milestones on what seemed like a daily basis and you still had plenty of your chubby, cute, babyness left.

With each day and every new milestone, though, you showed us that you were moving on beyond babyhood and turning into a true toddler. By the eighteen month mark, you (finally) began talking (after many months of screaming, tantrums, and frustration on everyone's part). Though we prayed for that day to come, it also meant a whole new world of independence on your part and having to accept that our baby was growing up. Now, your language is filled with so many words and phrases....many of which help you assert that strong will we always knew you had. Leah do it self.....no, don't want to.....don't wike it.

Along with a drastic change in your language, you have also grown so much in your ability to play and socialize. You've always been in awe of your big brother, and now he's truly become your best buddy. You are his shadow and you follow him all over the place. Sometimes this leads to nothing but trouble, but there are also many moments when it leads us to wish that time could stand still and you two would never have to grow up. Certainly, your newest little sibling has so much to look forward to. You will be a friend for life to both of your brothers and they will be so lucky to have you as their sister. You will teach them to love, care, and nurture. You already do that with Caleb when you hear him crying and run to get him his blankie for comfort. You do something to upset him and immediately say "sorry, Cawub". You hug him when he's sad and pat him on the back when he's hurt. You have empathy like no other and a nature that truly cares. You adore babies. Your favorite part of church is going to the nursery to watch the babies that are younger than you. You point out every baby that ever crosses your path and treasure your baby dolls at home.

It's a hard truth to accept, but you are soon passing on the role of being the baby of the house. You'll no doubt be excited to have a real, live baby to occupy your time at home. And your strong, independent side makes us sure that you won't have trouble letting go of your place in line. You've been sleeping in your big girl bed for awhile now, potty trained for almost a month, and insisting upon doing anything and everything by yourself. It takes twice as long to get out of the house because you have to attempt the shoes, coat, hat, and mittens by yourself before letting anyone else help out!

So, as you turn two, we know that this marks the end of a big year full of changes. It also marks the beginning of a new year. One filled with so many more changes. What won't change, though, is the beautiful girl God has created you to be. You're a gift...our precious daughter that we can't imagine life without. We can't imagine life without the snuggles, hugs, and love that you bring. From your contagious smile to your bouncy curls, from your sweet voice to your joy-filled laugh, God has proved his goodness in you. We pray that you, and all those lucky enough to cross your path, will see God's work in you this year, next year, and every year of your life.

Favorite Pics

A couple years ago, my sister bought a wonderful collage frame for us that we now hang in the hallway going up to our bedrooms. Every year, I've made it a point to update the collage with my favorite pictures. It's really hard to sort through twelve months of digital pictures on a computer and only choose 9! Anyhow, I think I finally narrowed it down and these are the ones we're going with for 2011:

2 down, 1 to go

On the list of my favorite things about motherhood, potty training would DEFINITELY not be one of them! I must admit, I've been fortunate to have two pretty quick learners, but I still don't like tasks that require me to let go, have no control, and just hope for the best! With both kids, I've gone for the approach where you spend about 2 or 3 days focusing on nothing but using the potty. We say so long to diapers (aside from naps and bedtime) and put on the big kid underwear. With Caleb, it didn't take too long and he was rather young, so I figured trying with Leah at a young age might be worth it. She seemed pretty ready and was more interested at her age than Caleb was. Plus, we have a little ticking clock reminding us that it's now or a good 7 or 8 months from now before any amount of solid focusing can be done around here!

This leads us to last week, while Tyler was gone at training for his new job and I was suffering from extreme exhaustion from single mom-hood. Somehow, in my delirious state of mind, I decided we would give it a go. Wednesday was a looooong day, in which we stayed gated in the kitchen for what seemed like an eternity. Much to my surprise, Leah had only one accident all day and took a pretty good interest in using the potty. Over the next couple of days, I gave her a bit more freedom to run around and not have me constantly asking about using the potty. We had a couple more accidents and that was mostly due to her strange fear of going #2 on the potty....in classic Leah lingo she'd say "I don't wike it". This became even more motivation on my part to stick to the task at hand, because I could just picture waiting another half a year when she's even more stubborn and strong-willed than she is right now! Fortunately, it seems as though I won the battle because she is now happily going pee and poop on the potty....and she's even letting me know when she has to go (something her brother took a very.long.time to figure out).

So with all that said, I think we can officially consider Miss Leah potty trained. Is it sad that I'm already dreading doing this one more time with baby #3?!?

Deck the Halls

It's hard to believe it's already time for Christmas trees, lights, cookies, carols, and all the fun memories that go along with Christmas. One of my favorite parts of this season is decorating the house for the holiday. As a kid, I always wanted to have a Christmas tree, and now I think I make up for it by filling every square inch of our house with lights, snowmen, Santas, garland, etc., etc.! This year, it was an especially fun task because both kids got involved. They loved helping to decorate the tree and the sparkle in their eyes when they first saw everything lit up was priceless. I look forward to all the memories we'll make this year as we celebrate the Christmas season!

Carmi Trip

Our annual trip to Carmi for hunting has become something our whole family looks forward to. Daddy gets to spend time doing something he really enjoys, the kids get tons of love and attention, and I get a chance to sit down and put my feet up! This year we did a lot of relaxing, cooking, washing dishes, movie watching, and just plain old having fun. Everytime we leave, we talk about how much we wish Grandpa and Grandma could live closer. It used to just be Tyler and I that would say that, but now Caleb even seems to grasp that his loved ones live just a little too far away!

Thankful

Of the many things I am incredibly thankful for, one is Caleb's preschool. He absolutely loves going and I'm glad that they work so hard to make it such a wonderful place for him to learn and grow. They put together an amazing Thanksgiving feast for the kids and their families and I truly enjoyed being able to be a part of their celebration.

One Last Zoo Trip

It's been so nice to have zoo passes this year. It's given us the chance to plan some last minute trips there, including our most recent one. At this time of the year, we don't consistently have nice days, so when we do get one, we try to make the most of it. This time, we were lucky enough to have Grandpa Rob come with. It started out pretty chilly, but by the time we left, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect for walking around the zoo. It would be great if this wasn't our last trip to the zoo this year, but I'm not sure the weather will cooperate. If we can find the time and there's a nice evening, I'd love to go see the zoo lights....it's supposed to be awesome!

Halloween Fun

We had a very enjoyable Halloween this year. The kids on the block got together in the afternoon for a party with lots of yummy treats and fun activities. It's so wonderful to have such awesome neighbors that our kids can grow up with. After a quick nap, our little pumpkins we're up and ready to do some trick-or-treating. They both loved getting dressed up and had fun being pulled around the neighborhood in the wagon. Caleb had kind of a tough time with all the scary decorations that were out (some really weren't that bad, but I do agree that some houses go overboard on the creepy stuff). He even refused to go to certain houses if their decorations were too scary. I cherish his innocence, though, and am thankful that all the spooky sights didn't give him nightmares!

Little Monets

Lately we have been spending quite a bit more time inside. We sure miss the freedom of running in and out all day. Now, even when we have a random nice day, I find it hard to gather up enough energy to round everyone up for shoes, coats, and anything else that needs to be brought outside. Anyhow, we've been using our indoor time to expand our creativity with all kinds of art. The kids love to spend time coloring, creating, and using their imaginations.

A lot of our mornings have been spent with a nice, long coloring session after breakfast. Once we got over the hurdle of who gets to use the big crayons (nothing a little run to Walmart can't fix), it became quite an enjoyable (peaceful) way to start the day.

I've spent time searching for fun and easy projects that both kids can do. This one turned out to be more fun for Daddy than anyone else. Leah lost interest in about 5 minutes. I know, shocking, isn't it?!? But Daddy and Caleb worked for quite awhile on their candy corn mosaic.

And of course, there's the annual pumpkin carving night. The kids had a blast getting their hands dirty, picking out their pumpkin faces, and watching Daddy and Grandpa do the carving.

We've also come across (thanks to a little boy that likes to search through the bathroom closet) a few fun bathtime art supplies. The bath paints and crayons were presents the kids got awhile ago....possibly even as far back as last Christmas! Anyhow, they were discovered and then talked about in great detail enough times that we finally made it a point to take them out and use them! Both the paint and crayons were really fun to use and even washed off really easily from the walls. We still get asked just about everyday if they can be used again, but we're going to try to make it more of a weekly event than an every-single-night-ritual.

I couldn't leave out this shot....yes, they'll resent me one day for it, but it's just too cute not to share!