Cutie Owen

I am always so amazed by how smart and observant my children are. For instance, today in the bathtub, Owen mentioned how his foot looked bigger underwater than it did above water. How cool is that? All day long he has been singing this cute version of The 12 Days of Christmas and We Wish You a Merry Christmas combined. It is one line and sung to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas and goes like this, "On the first day of Christmas and a Happy New Year" LOL
I remember loving Christmas carols as a kid. The hottest days in July were filled with Silver Bells and Disney and Chipmunk Christmas tapes. LOL

It is official.

Emma Kate can use her pincher grasp to grab food, roll across the room to get where she wants to be, splash to her delight in the bathtub, (we are also having to teach her about privacy in the tub with older brothers) and she can play ball. Seriously. I even have a video of proof that I need to upload.

Falling Short

I really feel like I have fallen short with relationships. Why is it that I make friends easily but can't keep them? I feel like I am so negative towards my children but then wonder why they are negative and fight. I wonder why my husband is so cynical and negative as well, but maybe I need to look at myself first. Last night, my television viewing was cut short. I was enjoying The Biggest Loser and it did not last the usual time to make time for the Presidential address to Congress. Now, even when I approved of our President, I never watched the addresses, so as I flipped through the channels looking for something to watch, I found, 18 Kids and Counting which is a reality show about a Christian family that has 18 children and are not preventing any pregnancies. I have been intrigued with this family for sometime even though they are the exact opposite of what my family looks like and operates, I still feel that I can learn something from them. I have decided to print out their guidelines and put them up on my fridge and begin to study them with my children. I want negativity and anger out of my home and it should start with Eddie and I. I urge you to pray for us as we embark on this. We are going to need it.
As far as the friends thing goes. I am praying for a best friend. I want to have a good girlfriend with interests very similar to mine, with children my kid's ages, who shares my faith that I can hang out with weekly. I have several friends that I consider very close and precious, but I want a go-to girl. I have a go-to guy(Eddie) but he doesn't appreciate some of the girly things like I want him, too. KWIM? Living in a military town is so rough. I keep meeting these great girls and then they move away. Then it seems all the other new people I meet already have a tight social network so it is really tough.

Comparison

5 Weeks


7 Months

Bathtime

Emma Kate has always LOVED the bath. Even when she was a couple of months old, if she was crying, I could turn on the bath water and she would immediately quiet down. Now she is a wild woman in the water which is actually very scary. She is a slippery wiggle worm. Occasionally, I will let her sit in the bath with her brothers, but she will often dive to grab something and end up completely on her belly from a sitting position. I never let her sit there with them longer than a minute or two because she makes me nervous. I like to wash her quick and get her out. I can't wait to see her in the pool this summer.

January 2009

January was a wonderful way to begin 2009. My first "baby" turned 6, and also played in his *first* snow. It did snow when he was several days old, but we have not had any accumulation since then. For Gavin's birthday, we got him some GI Joes, a GI Joe Cobra Jet, and a Leapster with a Star Wars game. We took him to Logan's for lunch and then headed to Bounce Land for several hours of bouncing fun. We then headed to my parent's house for cake and more presents. He actually had his birthday off from school due to MLK's birthday on the following Monday. (They work in so many vacation days which irritates Eddie and I since we pay so much for him to go there. ) I did take a birthday snack for his class the day before so he would have a small party with his friends as well.
The snow day was awesome. We bundled up Emma Kate so much that she could barely move. In the south, you just don't buy snow clothes. The average winter temperature is around 50-60 degrees. This explains my wet children in crazy, non-matching layers. Gloves were an issue. The ones we had were too small for Gavin, but too big on Owen. Mom bought them two years ago in hopes of a snow, but they have sat in a drawer for that long. The night before our snowfall, the schools began delay notifications and the boys and I prayed and pleaded to God to send us snow. I also secretly prayed for God to please follow through on the snow so I didn't have to face the boys with the God doesn't always answer "yes" when we pray. Imagine my disappointment the next morning when we had no snow. I felt like a little girl that night, I couldn't sleep and kept looking out the window all night long. My mom called us at 7:30am and mentioned that it had covered her yard. At this point we had none. We could see humongous snowflakes, but the ground was too wet for it to stick. After asking her if she thought it was safe to drive over to her house, I rushed around getting the kids bundled up so we could play at Grandma's in it before it melted. We arrived a little after 8:00 and then got to work: making snow angels, snowballs, and a snowman. Owen and Emma Kate grew tired of it quickly; it was just too cold for us southerners. Gavin, however, didn't want to miss one second of the glorious white stuff. I am really thankful that I was able to see it through his eyes and really appreciate this opportunity to marvel in the beauty and awesomeness of it all.