One...ALREADY!?!?!?!

 It happens EVERY TIME.  Somehow these children of mine grow up!

This morning, I looked at my clock and the date said December 1st.

WHHHAAATT!?!?!?!

That means that my teeny, tiny baby...my just came home from the hospital baby...my newborn...SHE'S ABOUT TO TURN ONE!!!

Mini C's birthday is on December 14th.  A mere 14 days from today!  I am it complete and utter disbelief that it has already been a year!

Is it just me or does everybody experience this same level of disbelief?  It really does feel like its only been a few months but then again, the 6.5 months of deployment feel like they never happened so maybe that's it.

Mini-C is quite the little girl.  Despite her start at 8lbs 6oz (6 days early), she is my smallest child.  She actually had to GROW into her three month clothing instead of coming home in them.  At 12 months, she's just now getting into 18 month clothing.  I love it.  With the other two, we were doubling (if not more) their age in clothing sizes so this has been fun to have a smaller baby.

One thing is for sure...she's got attitude!  For the few days after P arrived home, she was throwing tantrums.  Now, when I saw tantrums, imagine a baby completely intentionally getting down onto the floor, rolling onto her back, kicking her feet, and beginning to cry after the rest was set up.  If she is ready to get up and you try to lay her back down with her pacifier, she will throw it at you...AT YOU!  When the playroom is a disaster, it is not because of my 2 and 3 year old (they know how to clean up), it's because this little one has gone in there and pulled all of the baskets off the shelves.  Awesome, right? 

I definitely foresee some interesting times ahead between the 'spunk' she and her sister have.  Oh, their poor big brother will be terrorized.

It has been so much fun watching Mini-C and P get to know each other again.  She is finally crawling to him to be picked up and she flirts with him all day long.  It is so cute. 

It amazes me that with every child, we experience a new love that we have never had before.  Each of them brings something unique and special to our family.  Watching my three kids play now makes me so excited to see what's to come.  I can only imagine the adventures they will go on and the memories they will make.

In the mean time, I am going to try and soak up every day.  As we can see, somehow a year has already flown by and I feel like it has slipped through my fingers.  Not to mention, for the next two weeks I can still say that I have two toddlers and a baby...three toddlers just sounds intimidating.  Wow, THREE toddlers.

Happy Birthday Month My Sweet Girl!

Teaching Enthusiasm

I think most people, especially my husband, are generally shocked by the emphasis that I put on making sure incoming guests recieve an enthusiastic welcoming, birthday's always have balloons and signs, and general tone of voice in conversation. For some reason, these are things that I have always been very adamant about.

While I know my children will gain some of these qualities by my example, I also know the responsibility I have to teach them about enthusiasm. I am currently reading TLC's The Duggars 2nd book. In both of their books, they have had some incredible insights. One of my favorites was this one:  

"We teach them [our children] to overcome shyness by constantly reminding them of another foundation of our faith: Jesus' instruction to treat others the way you would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). To us, it's not cute when our little ones turn away when someone speaks to them, or hide their faces in Mama's skirt, or stare back, wide-eyed and worldess; we believe that behavior is disrespectful of the other person. In contrast, eye contact shows repect; it tells the other person, You're important; You're special. 

Turning away means the child fails to acknowledge the other person, and it also nurtures in the child a self-centered focus, something we want each one to learn to overcome as he or she matures."

This exerpt explains my thoughts pefectly! It's about respect. It's about showing other people that they are worth your time and energy to put forth a little bit of effort on their behalf.

So, just know, that if you spend a birthday with us, you will probably have balloons, a sign, and cake. If you come to visit we will either be waiting in the airport, in the driveway, and possibly even holding signs. If you call, we will answer with "umph" so you know that we are excited to hear from you. And if you speak to us, we will be sure to look you in the eye and answer you. We want you to know that you are important to us and that we appreciate the relationship that we have.