She's such a girl!

Lila turned 18 months on December 4th, and she is officially a girly girl!  Definitely, NOT her monther's daughter on that front.  Although, I will say, I enjoy the bows and tutus far more than I ever thought I would.  She loves her bows, her dresses, and especially her shoes.  She always wants her shoes on.  And lately, her maternal instinct has kicked in.  She wants her baby doll all the time.  Doesn't really matter which one.  And it can actually be a bunny or a bear too.  But she wants to rock it and sing to it and shhh it.  Then she wants to go lay it in her bed, turn the humidifier on, turn off the light, and close the door.  Then after about a 30 second nap, she's ready to go wake them up.  It is so stinkin cute.  She also like to feed them and give them her sippy.  The first time I realized she was trying to give the baby a drink, i went to look for a baby bottle, and realized we didn't have any!  Needless to say, we've asked for some for Christmas.  We've asked Santa for a lot of baby doll related items!

If there was any doubt before, Lila is definitely left handed.  She uses it for everything, from drawing, to eating, to hitting!  And her vocabulary has massively expanded in the last month or so.  She can repeat almost anything you say.  And she is saying far more words on her own now.  Not worried at all anymore.  She is addicted to "ki ki"  her word for candy canes!  She loves fruit chews and ice.  She still loves music.  We were at Grand Prairie Lights the other night and one of the girls in the show started tap dancing.  Lila stood up in her chair and started copying her.  I see dance lessons in her future!  She also plays with the singing christmas animal just like Ben used to!  It's so neat to see one of their few similarities.  She loves school now.  She's ready to head out the door before I am.  She's still a mama's girl, but she's beginning to show some early signs of independent play while we're at home which will be a life saver for me!  And she and Ben have started playing better together.  They like to build forts in the living room!  Ben gets mad when she tears it down.

Ben's doing great.  His stomach is still bothering him which we all hate.  But besides that he's awesome.  He and I are working on some reading and counting things at home which has been really fun for me.  To see him excited when he learns something new or does something he didn't know he could do is extremely cool.  It gives me a glimpse into the future, and it's pretty neat.  We are working on reading and writing his alphabet and counting and writing to 20.  We are also working on rhyming and starts with, and some art stuff.  We are really working hard at turning off the TV for a large portion of the day.  If Ben had it his way, he would watch TV all day everyday.  But once it goes off, he plays great by himself.  He plays great with Lila.  He'll draw, ready, dance.  You name it.  But once that TV comes on, he's in a trance.

I'm sure I'll post soon about Christmas, but I wanted to give a developmental update before I forgot some of the ways they're changing!

Fall update

As always this time of year, the past two months have been a blur.  Between Savannah, Angela, Mom, Mere, Carrie, and Ben's birthday, the all church retreat, the Life Challenge, Trunk or Treat, and Halloween, I'd say we've been pretty busy.  Thank goodness, things now begin to slow down so we can enjoy the holiday season as a family.  I'm determined to build in rest this year.  I don't want to blink and it be 2013.  So, as of today in the Santiago house, the Christmas season has begun.  Decorations will be coming out soon.  Christmas music is already playing.  But before we start that, I wanted to give a two month update on my kiddos.  More than anything, it's for me.  So that in 10 years, I'm reminded of all of the ways they grew and developed in such short time spans.

Miss Lila is growing more and more into her spunky personality.  She is so fun.  She was a watermelon for Halloween, and had to be the cutest watermelon I've ever seen.  She toddled down the street like she owned it.  She didn't even really need our help going to the doors.  She knew what she was doing and had no fear.  Her latest thing is shoving things up her nose and in her ears.  Pretty much anything small enough to fit, she attempts to lodge.  Drives me nuts.  If we can't redirect those efforts, we may end up in the emergency room!  And if she's got something we don't want her to have, she knows how to make a run for it, giggling the whole way.  Until it gets taken, then that giggle turns into a meltdown.  But she get's over it pretty quickly.  She's easily distracted.  Thank goodness.  She's increased her vocabulary quite a bit in the last 2 months.  She now says:  mama, dada, daddy, bubba (for Ben, bible, book, and bubbles), wawa (for water and watermelon), nana, yaya, sassa, ssshh for sugar, shoes for shoes and ssss for please.  Her favorite foods right now are watermelon and donut holes.  She went crazy for all the halloween candy.  I've actually already hidden the extra, so she can't see it.  It was sticky central yesterday!  Lila is not a big fan of school.  She would much rather be home with mom.  But typically she does well once she get's there.  She just doesn't like me to drop her off.  Lila's favorite song has always been Jesus loves me, but now it's the version where you clap and stomp.  Typically, it doesn't matter how upset she is, if you start singing that, she stops.  She loves to dance too.  I've gotta get it on video.

Benjamin turned four two weeks ago.  I can't believe it!  He's growing up so fast.  He's doing great in school.  He likes it better than last year, although he would rather be home too.  I'm afraid he takes after his mama in the school department.  Let's hope not!  He helped Hector decorate for halloween and is already singing Christmas music with mom.  He's no longer needs my help with the remote control, which is a little scary.  He's playing video games, which he still needs a little help with.  His new love is Ben 10.  He was the spider monkey alien for Halloween.  Since Ben isn't driven by food or candy, he wasn't very motivated at Halloween.  And he'll probably not ask for candy today.  But he had fun trick or treating with Noah.  He had more fun handing out the candy to the other kids at our house.  I can't wait for Christmas with Ben this year.  He's to the age where he can do so much and understand so much.  Hector and I really want to start some Santiago family traditions that he and Lila can look forward to each year.  One thing we've noticed lately with Ben is his interest in older women, whether it's Caleb's girlfriend Maryn, or the girls at McDonald's, he's drawn to them.  Cracks me up.  It starts early!  He's a great big brother, but we can already see Lila starting to drive him a little nuts.

All in all, life is great as always.  God is good and we are blessed.

Is it wild "1" and fierce "4"?

I love both my children with all of my heart.  I am so thankful for each of them, how uniquely created they are.  They are so different from each other.  Ben is mellow and very even keeled.  Lila is a roller coaster.  She smiles a lot more than Ben, but she also screams a lot more than Ben did.  Just within the last month, Ben and Lila have really started to play together.  Lila loves to get behind Ben and tackle him.  She also loves to cover him in kisses.  He's not a big fan of that.  He does however, love to wrestle with her.  And she is one tough cookie.  He'll lay on her with his full body weight, and she just lays there and smiles most of the time.  But when she's had enough, she'll do something like grab his face really hard!

Even though they are very different, they currently have one thing in common.  They are both going through some sort of acting out phase.  I'm afraid Lila's phase is going to be around for a couple of years if she's anything like me.  Mom says that she's as strong willed at 1 as I was at 2.  Help us all!  She has actually taken a few steps back in her nonverbal communication.  I used to be able to understand exactly what she wanted.  Now, she's alway pointing to the kitchen asking for food, but I can never figure out exactly what she wants.  I think she has something very specific in mind that I'm not getting.  She still really likes to be held.  The only difference is, now if I put her down, she has a complete melt down and chases me through the house screaming like I beat her.  It makes it a little tough to get much done.  Today, was actually one of our best days yet.  She played with her brother for  a few minutes on several different occasions, so I was actually able to get the house picked up!  She still is the best cuddler in the world.  It cracks me up.  She'll hit me in the face and then when I spank her for it, she cuddles with me.  Such a complex girl!  I take for granted what a good sleeper and eater she is.  She may be high maintenance, but she let's her mama sleep to get ready for it!  Oh, and Lila has mastered the art of walking.  No more crawling at all!

Benjamin, our sweet Benny, has always had a stubborn streak to him.  He and I will have a good 30 second stare down occasionally.  He's got this scowl he's had since he was born!  But recently, he has started blatantly disobeying and being disrespectful.  Calling us names, telling us he's going to punch us in the face.  His favorite name for us is "chicken boy".  Where he got that, I have no clue.   He also likes to become a super hero when he's getting in trouble.  So when I'm reprimanding him, he'll shoot his web at me.  It sounds so silly for me to say "don't you shoot your web at me".  But as Kim Avis put it, he's basically found a new way to flip us off!  So, he's been getting in a lot more trouble than normal.  He's also learning what it means to do something on purpose vs. accident and about making good choices.  So, it's presenting good opportunities to teach him.  It's just new territory for us with our laid back mellow child.

After my last post, Miralax became a life saver for Ben.  It cut his stomach aches down from about 4 or 5 a day to 1 every one to two days.  But since he was still having them after a month, Harris wanted us to see a GI specialist.  So we went last week.  She has put Ben on a pooping schedule.  Right after breakfast and after dinner.  After we started that, Ben didn't have one stomach ache for a week and a half.  We were so excited!  Then Saturday, he had 3 or 4.  We think it might be donuts that caused it.  Either that or pizza.  Because that's what he ate, and he hadn't had either of those in the past week and a half.  So, we're going to try to figure that out.  But in the mean time, we're praying for no more episodes.  Because the next step is a scope!  And we really don't want that for Ben if at all possible.

I think that covers the major stuff.  My kids are awesome.  They've got so much personality, and they like to keep mom and dad on their toes!  They start Mother's Day out in a couple of weeks.  I think that will be really good for both me and mom, since she keeps them those days when I work.  I thrive on routine, and I'm about to get a good one going!  God is good!

Oh - here's a couple of pictures from our last photo shoot.  Let's just say I'm glad it's still shots and not video.  What a day!

Jill Junior

It's amazing the development that can happen in 6 weeks.  Since I last posted, several things have happened:

First for Lila:
- The big news is Lila turned one!  I can't believe a year has already passed.  We had a big family birthday for her.  She did great, and did quite a number on her smash cake.  She wasn't quite as eager as I thought she would be, but once she got into it, she definitely made a mess.  Her favorite gifts were her stroller and her riding toy.
- She is taking 6 or 7 steps at a time.  That just started happening in the last couple of days.  All she lacks is confidence.  Dr. Harris said at her one month check up that as soon as she gains confidence, she won't walk, she'll run!  If I hold her hand, she can walk right along with me.
- Lila has turned into the toddler that I was rumored to be.  Her nickname is now officially Jill Jr.  She will kiss you when she loves you and head butt you when she's mad.  She's already mastered the tantrum, an art Ben has never even attempted.  She arches that back, double kicks her feet, and screams like she's possessed.  She has got quite the temper.  But it's really hard to discipline because it's so stinkin cute.  Her fuse is nonexistent.  She goes from 0-60 in .5 seconds.  But that same crazy child, will cuddle up with me and give me lots of kisses, something this Jill was not willing to do with my mama. She's got a smile that lights up a room and she smiles most of the time.  She laughs a lot of the time.  But when she chooses to get mad, watch out! One thing's for sure, she's got her mama's strong will, which I have a feeling will be her greatest strength/weakness in the long run!  It's so neat to see her personality emerge, even if it's a little scary.  It shows me what a determined and intelligent girl she is. She's been good at this for quite some time, but I don't think I've mentioned it.  She can communicate nonverbally so well.  She will let you know exactly what she wants.  She points.  She pulls.  Whatever it takes.  Very rarely can I not figure out what she wants.  It's so nice not to have to guess.

Now for Ben:
- The past month has been tough with Ben.  He has been having severe stomach pains, several times a day.  We've had urine tests, blood tests, xray, ultrasound, and nothing.  No answers.  Yesterday, we had the church pray over him, something we should have done a long time ago.  He seemed to have a better day today.  Right now, he's on reflux medicine, miralax, a probiotic, and milicon as needed.  Since other things have been ruled out, she thinks it's a motility issue.  I didn't even know what that word meant until Friday.  It basically means the rate that his intestines move food through them.  So, instead of being constipated, sometimes he has pain from working it through his intestines, slower or more difficult that it should be.  The Miralax is supposed to help with that.  We have him on Nexium just in case his reflux is back, contributing to the problem, but I don' think that's it.  We already took him off milk for a week to see if he was Lactor intolerant.  Found out he wasn't, but it was a tough week for Ben.  He loves milk, but hates all other forms of it.  It's so pitiful.  He hurts so bad that my son who typically refuses to take medicine is asking for it.  It's very hard as a mom to see your little boy in pain and not be able to fix it.  I'm praying this regimen  of medicine is the answer for now.  If it doesn't significantly reduce the problem in the next week, we're going in for a CT scan to rule out appendicitis and other more severe things.  Praying we don't have to go there.  He's handled it like a trooper though.  He's a tough kid.  You see him hurting far more than you hear him complain.  He told Angela that there are ghosts in his tummy trying to come out.  Poor baby is just trying to find an answer like we are!
- His eating has gotten even worse.  Now he won't eat fried chicken (unless its from mcdonalds).  Not a fan of grapes anymore.  He likes waffles, pizza (without sauce), donuts, ice cream and corn dogs, oh and barbeque chips.  Yep, that's about it.  Everything else is a battle.  No vegetable.  No fruit.  Very little meat.  And with his intestinal issues, it's a battle we've been having to fight even more than usual.  I'm so praying that this changes over time.  We're giving him V8 fusion again so he can get his serving of fruit and vegetables, along with a multivitamin.
-   He's a fish again.  It's summer time, and it took a couple of weeks, but Ben's back in the water, swimming like a fish.  This summer, we really want to teach him to take a breath while swimming, but we might have to get some instructor help to make that happen.  Lila's still not to sure about the whole swimming thing, but she will be soon enough!
- Sonny Lawing, the tic tac man, died today.  He was so good to Ben.  He will be missed.  I'll tell Ben for years to come about his sweet relationship with the tic tac man!

End of an Era

So Friday was a big day in the Santiago house.  Lila's last day of nursing.  Mom's last day of nursing.  I am so thankful for the gift I've had in being able to nurse both of my kids.  I'm just as thankful that it's time to move on to cow's milk!  Lila has refused to take a bottle since December, so needless to say, I feel a little freedom right now that I haven't felt in months.  Lila and I have not been away from each other for more than 4 or 5 hours in quite some time.  I think she's a little tired of me!  She's still a mama's girl, but stopping nursing will probably change that a little bit.  I don't know if mentioned in a past post, but Lila also gave up her paci a few months ago.  It didn't really seem to soothe her much, so we just stopped giving it to her and she never missed it.  So, until potty training, I don't think we have any major transitions.  She now has 7 teeth!  Another good reason nursing is over.  She is still a little high maintenance but she is such a happy baby.  She smiles so big and so often.  She loves her Daddy, her brother, and her Yayee.  Already a little flirt!  Not walking yet, but I bet she will be in the next month.  She's also started dancing.  She get's her rhythm from her mom.  Dancing mainly consists of head bobbing, but it's pretty darn cute. 

Benjamin is doing great.  He started playing tball.  He loves it, and we love watching him.  It is priceless.  No matter what, every time he runs to home plate he slides.  It's a must!  That's what they do on TV.  It's been a really fun experience for all of us.  He's signed up to play indoor soccer this summer.  I kind of hope he doesn't like it!  I like baseball way better!  His vocabulary has majorly increased in the last month or so.  He has full conversations with me just like a little adult.  His imagination is still crazy.  He's Mrs. Hill's favorite at school.  She says he's so much fun to interact with.  She says he's very smart.  Just last week, he actually asked to go to school.  That's a major accomplishment!  I really hope he loves school.

Hector and I have waged war on bedtime again!  We have officially decided to end Ben's nap unless there's something special happening at night.  When he doesn't get a nap, he falls asleep in his bed at about 8 and typically stays in his bed through the night.  So, no break for mom during the day, but a much more peaceful and restful evening for all of us.  Hopefully, Lila will continue to be the awesome sleeper she is so that mom can keep getting to sleep through the whole night!  She wakes up about 6:30AM but I refuse to go get her before 7AM, so she dozes until I do.  Ben typically get's up around 7:30AM.  Now I just have to start getting my happy but out of bed about 6:30AM so I can have my coffee and devotional time.  Makes such a difference when I choose to start my day that way.

Life at the Santiago house is full of love and craziness as always.  Everyday I wake up so overwhelmed with the blessings God's given me in my treasure of a family.  Hector and Ben get out of school in a few weeks and we're going to have an awesome family summer!  Can't wait for all the adventures my husband leads us on.  And I can't wait for a few adventures we get to take just the two of us now that Lila and I are detached!  Thank you Lord.  How could I ask for more!

Also, forgot to mention, we went to the Botanical Gardens and got some precious pictures of the kids.  Thanks mom for your help!

Alot can happen in a week

Well, in the last week, Lila has crawled, pulled up to a standing position, and learned to wave.  After she crawls, she also likes to clap for herself.  It is so cute.  She would still rather be held than anything, but she's growing a little more independent each day.  Her crawl is so cute.  She crawls with one leg and then kind of walks with the other.  It's amazing how much can change in a week.

Yesterday, Ben started wrestling with Lila.  He says "it's clobbering time".  she loved it!  She didn't cry except when he stopped.  He pinned her and she thought it was hilarious.  I think they are going to have a really great relationship.  Brooklyn is a 2 year old at church that Ben loves to play with.  He is so sweet with her, and I think he's going to be just as great with Lila.

Speaking of Ben, he continues to develop both physically and verbally.  His later quote is "Snap out of it". He still loves all of his super heros, but he's beginning to get back into baseball.  With the weather getting nicer, he's been asking to go outside to play.  He watched a little league game the other night and wanted to play with them so bad... so the next morning I signed him up for tball.  He's going to be a PIRATE!  I can't wait.  I hope he loves it.  His teacher talks about how much fun he is at school.  How awesome his imagination and verbal skills are.  Even the people that watch him on Wednesday nights say he is so entertaining.  He and Noah are still working on the sharing thing.  Neither one of the are very good at it yet.  Hopefully that will get better over time.  I'm determined to have a child that shares!  Pretty soon, he won't have a choice.  Lila will just take stuff from him!

So as far as sleeping arrangements go, Hector and I have thrown in the towel... at least for now.  Ben was coming to our room several times a night crying cause he was scared.  We tried to put him back but his crying would wake lila up and the thought of him being scared broke my heart.  So, now he goes to bed with mom.  Then dad moves him to his bed when he comes to bed.  Then if he wakes up in the night, we let him crawl in bed with us.  If it get's too crowded, mom goes to sleep in Ben's bed.  Granted, it's not a long term solution, but it's working for now.  At a parenting conference, we heard a sweet song and it talked about embracing a child's younger years, and letting them "sleep in the middle".  We'd rather that not happen every night, but we're embracing it for now.  He's such an awesome kid.  If night time is his challenge, we want to help give him the security and love he needs.  Plus, i just can't resist when he asks to cuddle!  And at least for now, Lila is ok in her crib.  She wakes up several times, but puts herself back to sleep.  If/when she starts wanting to be in our bed, we may have to change things... or get a king size bed! :)  She we're not giving into the "family bed" idea.  Ben still get's put in his bed every night, but at least half the time, by morning, we hear those little feet pitter patter into our room and crawl up in our bed.  We used to stop him.  Now we just smile and go back to sleep as he crawls up in between us.  I know I'll be begging for that cuddle time in a few years!

Growing like a weed

Since my last post, a couple of big developmental things have happened for Lila.  Mid January, finally, Lila stopped being swaddled.  I noticed that when she would bust out of her swaddle, she would roll over on her tummy.  So, I tried laying her on her tummy, and it worked like a charm.  That way, she can't scratch herself like when she was on her back.  I figured 71/2 months was plenty old to sleep on her stomach.  I think Ben did it sooner than that.

She's also pulling up and pushing up to a sitting position from her stomach.  She started that just last week.  It's actually keeping her from crawling, because every time she gets up on all fours, she sits back.  She will be crawling any day now!  So close.

I don't remember whether or not I posted this last time, but Lila now refuses to take a bottle or formula of any kind.  Since I'm not working away from home, I haven't consistently exposed her to bottles, and now I'm paying for it!  But, I'm treasuring every day I get to nurse her, praying that it helps build up her immune system and makes her strong and healthy!  Especially today, as I'm struggling with allergies MAJORLY.

Crazy, Wonderful Christmas

So the craziness continues!  The past 2 months have blown by.

First, a health update.  We've had some pretty sick kids for about half of that time.  It started out with Ben throwing up at Wednesday night church.  A stomach bug had been going around that we thought we had avoided, but poor Ben got it.  He threw up 2 or 3 times at the church building, then another several at home.  Fortunately, the throwing up only lasted about 8 hours.  And none of the rest of us got it... then at least.  So, as he was bouncing back from that, Lila came down with a horrible cough.  We were concerned for a little bit that it might turn into pneumonia, but fortunately it didn't.   Then, a couple of weeks later, Ben woke up covered in hives, with his hands and feet swollen.  It got worse throughout the day, and we ended up in urgent care with him that night.  Still don't know what caused it, but it was just like my break out a few years ago that put me in the hospital, so needless to say we erred on the side of caution.  Less than a week and a half after that, about an hour after we had bought our new used Honda Pilot, I was over at mom's (Hector and Ben were at a birthday party) and Lila proceeded to puke all over Dad.  Then all over Ang and Savannah.  Then all over me.  She smiled through the first 3 times, but then stopped smiling.  She threw up about a dozen times in an hour and a half.  So we ended up at Cooks downtown with her.  Fortunately, we got there before she got dehydrated.  They gave her some anti-nausea medicine and she stopped.  That's our first real scare with her.  In the waiting room, she was just lying listless in Hector's arms.  We had never seen her like that.  Fortunately, we got all of that out of our system before Christmas, and stayed healthy over the holidays.  Except Yaya who ended up with an ear and sinus infection, and Nana who ended up with pneumonia!  Craziness.  I compared it to Chinese water torture.  We counted our blessings the whole time and realized it was all very minor in the grand scheme of things, but sick kiddos can really take an emotional toll on a mama!

Now onto the good stuff.  Christmas was great!  Ben was so much fun this year.  He loved every minute of it.  Last year, we had enough gifts to open one each day after Christmas for a whole week.  We planned on doing the same this year (with very inexpensive gifts).  But Ben couldn't stop opening presents!  He cleaned us out on Christmas day.  His daddy then went on to by more on Ebay.  Ben now has every super hero action figure and costume in existence!  When he sat in Santa's lap the first and second time (at the mall and at church), he asked for, and I quote, "Captain America toy and Captain America Shield".  The third time (at Grand Prairie lights which was a ball!) he added on Iron Mon.  It's great when your kid asks for $10 toys from Santa!  He now has all the Avengers, Power Rangers, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and the corresponding costumes for each.  He also got a camera and an ice cream maker.  He loved all of his toys and was very appreciative.  He hugged everyone and said thank you.  Such a polite kid.  Lila did great.  She was pretty oblivious to what was going on, but she behaved great.  And she looked so cute in all of her Christmas outfits.  I always thought it would be so fun to have a little girl at Christmas time, and it was.  She was in a different Christmas tutu and bow each week!  Who knew I would be a bow mom!  This Christmas baby Janessa was with us.  And next Christmas, we'll have a new baby cousin.  Can't wait to see the cousins begin to interact as they get older.  Janessa and Lila are a month and a half a part.  And Baby B and Lila are less than a year apart.  So, I think it's going to be fun!  And Ben's close enough, to where I think he'll enjoy them too.  

Lila is growing up so fast.  Just in the last month, her personality has really emerged.  She smiles all the time.  And it's a smile that lights up the whole room.  You can't help but smile.  That could be trouble for us later!  She also just started cuddling, which completely melts my heart.  She'll just lay her head on my shoulder wide a wake.  It's the sweetest thing.  Ben never really did that.  She giggles the sweetest giggle.  She also reaches out to you.  She lunges for me.  It's really stinkin' cute.  She is definitely a mama's girl. I love it.  But no one else does.  She also loves being with her Yaya.  Ben did too.  Something about yaya!  She started off as our little Latina, and now she looks just like me.  It's so much fun.  The way her hair falls.  Her hot temper.  Her fair complexion.  Her big smile.  The way she scrunches her nose.  It's just like pictures of me at that age.  It's so special for me.  I never really had that with Ben because he looked so much like Hector.  And she's definitely got my strong will, but so does Ben!  She's now refusing to take a bottle.  Since I'm not working, she's gotten spoiled to nursing, so next week, Mom get's to come with me and Dad to Houston next week, so that I can nurse Lila.  She's a trooper!  She started on solid food at 5 1/2 months.  We skipped right over cereal and went to green beans.  She eats a jar a night, but is still getting all of her nourishment from milk.  I think that starts to change at 9 months, but I'm not sure.  I'm appreciating the extra calorie burning right now.  15 lbs down, 30 to go! I better hurry before I stop nursing.  

Ben continues to develop before our eyes.  He's got the coolest imagination.  He definitely gets that from his dad.  He's about 4 different super heros every day.  He and Hector have a ball playing together.  Lila and i even dress up from time to time.  Sometimes I'll catch him pretending to put on a Super Hero costume.  He'll start at the shoes and work his way up to the mask, totally through his imagination.  I love it!  From his birthday to Christmas, he went from loving Woody from Toy Story to the Hulk!  And it seems like just yesterday he was obsessed with baseball and Sandlot!  How fast things change.  He's definitely three.  He's pressing his limits just to see our reaction.  Obeying the first time we ask is something we're really having to work on.  He seems to think we mean it after about the third time.  But he's still such an awesome kid, and so low maintenance compared to his friends.  We sometimes take it for granted.  

Just recently, God's really convicted me to slow down and breathe in every moment I have with my family.  My mind is constantly moving if I let it, and it makes me miss little things that I should appreciate.  Giving my kids my undivided attention, not in a spoiling way, but in a "you are more important than facebook or email" way is my goal for this year.  I want to slow my mind down and allow God to grow me and make me more aware of how he's moving and working every day.  I'm anxious to see all I'll notice in 2012 with less chaos in my life!  Praise God for His unfailing love and never-ending patience with this hardheaded child!