Sunday, December 7, 2008

Time with my girls

The girls - it's amazing how much JOY and FRUSTRATION/Stress they can cause in a day! Since my workload has been lightened, I have more time to spend with them. But I still find myself anxious for the 'next stage'. I'm guessing I will look back and release they fell by quickly, but on the other hand.. I believe I will personally enjoy them more when they get just a bit older. You know.. to actually go places w/o a diaper bag, worry about nap time, or an uncontrollable tantrum! I'm sure that will be replaced by something else, but God willing it will be easier than now! So with my added family time I am trying harder to make the best of it. Yesterday I finally did some research to find activities to do with the girls, and I was very encouraged and excited to find so many websites with ideas! One of my favorites is http://www.toddler-activities-at-home.com Caroline had some fun with a couple of projects. Printing out a sheet of snowflakes and throwing them up in the air - so simple and she had so much fun "making it snow". Amazingly she didnt complain about 'clean up' either becuz it meant we could do it again!
And did you know packing peanuts stick together when they get wet? Wow.. you can make some incredible projects with them! I will never throw them away again! Hours and hours of fun!
I hope to start taking more time to do a project like this with the girls everyday. I often time get so lost in my design work and keeping the house that often they get shuffled around - so this is yet another New Year's resolution/goal for 2009! I know soon enough they won't want to do anything with me!

Sophie is somewhat of an exception to this. At nearly 20 months old, her attention span isn't but 10.6 seconds! So, I try to take advantage of her nap times to have one on one with Caroline. Sophie is becoming quite an intriguing little girl! I do believe my girls will be opposites! Caroline.. bless her heart, seems to be a little me all the way. She is fun-loving, but has a very serious side. And... yes, quite bossy! Its incredible to watch her intelligence grow. Often times repeating us (no, not always good!). She loves to play with dolls, and Leap Frog DVDS (educational ..letters/words, etc). She loves to be my lil helper too... cleaning, cooking. Of course she isn't very 'helpful' .. but we are off to a great start!
Sophie is unique (to me!)... such a sweetie pie. Gives love (comes running for hugz and kisses) and is smiling almost ALL the time! On the other hand... don't be fooled by the beautiful hair you see! While her knickname is often times Peanut because of her petite size, other times we just simply say RED! When her temper flairs.. brace yourself, I think her hair gets redder! haha Her changes are equally as fun to watch... her strawberry hair is getting so long and is keeping it's beautiful curls. She loves her "bayto" (Blanket) and her right thumb! She too is mezmerized by Leap Frog learning DVD's and Blues Clues. She is sure to advance quickly. Otherwise, she is in the constant shadow of Caroline. She loves her big sister, and they do manage to get along about 1/2 of the time!

Thought I would share one other cute photo. Mid November we were blessed to have a visit from my DH's sister, Julie and her DH, Rick ... from Ohio. Thanks for stopping in... we all enjoyed it! A week doesn't go by that we dont wish that we were closer to our family. Ohio 9 hours.. Michigan 20.. know that we think of you all often! We will continue the effort to make it home 1x per year... and of course we always have a spare bed(s) for visitors!

2 comments:

Mel said...

What incredibly sweet pictures..sometimes toddlerhood is very challenging for us...and teenagers are like big toddlers LOL...I would love to adopt one more little girl under the age of 2, little girls are more drama but also provide a different type of interaction than boys...Each age is fun and there is a time in each age period when you are ready for it to be over..

Anonymous said...

Your children are beautiful. Funny, I was just thinking how much mine drive me incredibly crazy right now! Trust me, the "next stage" can be frightening. My two oldest girls do competition cheerleading and then spend 3 hours a night (usually) on homework (must get into a good college). My youngest is in middle school and I can't even walk in her bedroom -- you can't see the floor. I swear if she doesn't clean it tonight I'm throwing everything away. And the fights! All girls, so you can imagine the hormones at 12, 15 and 16. Oh, and texting nonstop, of course. At least my days of driving everywhere will soon be over.