So I am sitting here listening to Alex play his new Wii game, looking out at our beautiful back yard filled with snow and feeling guilty because I really should be doing the many things that need to get done today, number one being laundry. I realized this morning that it has been a while since I posted anything other than my weekly menu plan. So I thought it was time for an update. For the one person besides my lovely husband who reads this, keep any eye out, I have many things running around in my head that I am planning to post about in the next few days.

So here we are at the end of January already. I can’t believe how fast the month has gone by. It seems like just yesterday that the kids were racing out of their rooms on Christmas morning to see what was waiting for them. Both the kids are getting so big. I am now officially the mother of a preschooler and a toddler. No more babies in this house. Jason is probably doing a cheer as he reads that statement. It is hard to believe but in less than a week Alex will be 4 years old. How did I get a 4 year old? He is turning into such a big boy. He is now in school two days a week and loving every minute of it. He attends a sports class once a week and thinks he is such hot stuff when he shows us what he learned during class. As I type this he is playing a new game that he got for his birthday and it amazes me how well he can play the Wii. Not all games, he still has some trouble with some of the harder games like Mario and Star Wars, but over all he has picked it up pretty fast. I am still deciding on whether or not to home school, I change my mind every day. Fortunately I have a whole year before I have to really make a decision. For now he is enjoying school and we plan on sending him again next year. The last “Toddler” milestone we have to get past with Alex is the potty training. He is 95% there. On the days that he is home with me he is in underwear all day except during rest time and bedtime. Now I just need to get him to the point where he is dry and clean at school as well. We are a long way from where we were 6 months ago. If you had asked me 6 months ago if we would be at this point, I would probably have laughed. So who knows where we will be 6 months from now, maybe I won’t be changing any diapers. Hey one can dream right.

Lizzie, how do I describe Lizzie. Lizzie is unique. It is fun and frustrating to watch her grow and change every day. In a little over a month she will be 2. Again how did that happen, my baby is 2!!! While the past two years have gone by amazingly fast, they were also the longest days that I can remember. Lizzie was not an easy baby, and I doubt that toddler-hood is going to be any easier. When James Dobson wrote about Strong Willed children I often wonder what he would do with Lizzie. Jason calls her Iron willed. She knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She is rough and tumble and loves to dig in the dirt, but at the same time is a beautiful princess. She loves shoes. Any shoe, any size, any shape. She can’t stand it when she doesn’t have something on her feet. She has princess slippers that she wears when she is in PJ’s and will only wait just long enough to have pants or stockings on before she will be reaching for the shoes she wants to wear that day. Once they are on they only come off for nap time and bath time. When we have lunch at Chick-Fil-A once a week, I often find her in the playroom trying to put everybody’s shoes on. Lizzie has two goals in life right now, go to school like her big brother and annoy her brother as much as humanly possible. She will be going to the schools Mom’s morning out program next year, and she can’t wait. I have to drag her out of there every day when we drop Alex off. For now she and I spend quality time running errands on Tuesdays and walking the mall on Thursdays.She is such a joy to watch as she grows and learns every day. She has started really talking and you can almost have a whole conversation with her. Yesterday we were at Target and she felt the need to let the whole store know that “MY DADDY WORK” over and over again. A few months ago she barley said anything, let alone a whole sentence.

As for me, this is a busy time of year for me. I am involved in two bible studies this year, not sure what I was thinking, but I am really looking forward to it. It is giving me a chance to not only grow and learn in God’s word, but I am also getting an opportunity to get to know the women in our new church better. The other study I am taking is through our old church FAC. A good friend of mine is teaching. I am really looking forward to both studies. I am about to start my last semester of Mom’s Time out. In fact it was supposed to start today, but we were snowed out. That is a little bitter sweet. I have really felt like my season for MTO is over. There were many times in the last few years where I depended on that ministry to keep me sane. But it seems that it is no longer necessary and I have felt more and more that I needed to give up my spot to someone who needed it more than I do. I truly believe that I would not have made it through Lizzie’s first year without the support of many people, MTO being a big one. But seasons change and I am moving on to a new and exciting one in my life.

That is where we are at. Busy but loving every minute of it.

God Bless

Heather