Overdue Update

Being a mother to a three- and one-year-old doesn't leave much time and energy for blogging.  Well, maybe that's not quite true my efforts have just been devoted elsewhere.  But since it has been a month, I guess it's time for a little update.  What do you say?

Adoption:
We haven't moved forward much, but we are still chugging along.  God is faithful and his providential timing is perfect!

Kids:
They are growing up.  Sterling is such a boy these days which is wonderful to watch.  He is still loving and affectionate, but I can certainly see the testosterone revving up.  He's very into playing superheros and sword fights these days.  I hear he also shot his first gun at the lake last week end!  He was really excited. 

It was so funny because Alex was a bit hesitant to tell me that he let him.  But I trust my husband, he has proved over and over that he is very careful not to put our children in real danger and that he takes their safety very seriously, he is usually the one to put his foot down when it comes to something dangerous before I do.  I trust that if he thinks something is an appropriate experience for a little boy, then my little boy needs to do it.  He has full reign when it comes to teaching Sterling what it means to be a male.  He does a wonderful job of balancing Sterling's sensitive spirit with teaching him how to grow up.  I just wish I had been there to capture the moment with the camera. 

This is his pondering face.  Usually he has the finger beside the mouth just like someone out of a movie.  I have no idea where he learned it, but it is hilarious!

My big focus with Sterling's character right now needs to be self-control.  We have certainly moved into the clash of the wills stage, more than ever before.  And things fall apart for a certain someone when things don't go his way.  So if anyone has any good stories to read/ways to teach and discuss self-control, I would be all ears.  It's a tough thing for a three-year-old to learn, and it is also a hard thing to try to communicate.  I've learned it is easier to prevent these things then trying to teach him character in the middle of an tantrum.

However, if I'm going to say the bad I have to say the good as well.  He is so good with Ann Elizabeth.  He is learning to share with her so well.  We had a time when he would get really irritated when she would want to play with his things, now he will look at me and say, "It's ok, she can play with my ____."  He is polite and sincerely thankful.  He will come up to me throughout the day and say things like, "Thank you for getting me that drink earlier, or thanks for taking me to the bouncy place." He is also becoming quick to apologize for his disobedience or melt-downs.



Ann Elizabeth is very much a toddler.  She is into EVERYTHING!  She has a mind of her own and her little will is blossoming as well.  Lucky me! ;)  There are times we have two screaming children over entirely different matters none of which has anything to do with being hurt or in danger.

She is SO girly.  My daughter loves any jewelry, but that has been the case since birth.  She also loves bags and goes through them incessantly.  Don't leave your purse on the floor around her or she have everything out and scattered in about a minute.  She also loves carrying bags, or anything that looks like one.  She loves dolls and will "Love her baby" by rocking it back and forth and feeding it a bottle.  She loves her play kitchen and will pretend to eat all of the food.

She is saying lots of things right now.  I couldn't even begin to try to spell it out for you though, because I can't even think of how to try to communicate it with letters.  There are lots of things we recognize because she says it the same way all of the time.  Some words are closer to the real words than others.  "Mama" "Dada" "hey" and "bye bye" are the most frequent and the easiest to understand.  "Thank you" is pretty clear right now and sometimes she will throw in a "welcome."  "I love you" has the right amount of syllables and ends in /oo/ but those are its only distinguishing characteristics.  She can say all of her grandparent's names and we've even heard "Jameson" (my brother) and "Crawford" (her cousin that is three months younger).  She is a babbling fool and I wish I knew what all she is trying to tell us, because she will chatter up a storm with us.  Yesterday, we went to the bouncy place with friends.  She was uncharacteristically sitting in my lap calmly.  I was talking to someone next to me and she decided she wanted to join in our conversation.  She would grab my head and turn it to hers so she could talk to me and give me kisses.

She is always on the go and certainly livens up our home!

Ann Elizabeth also loves bubbles. She goes to the bubbles immediately when we go outside.  She actually knows how to blow, and sometimes can get a bubble or two out.

She also loves to swing.

Yesterday we had several adorable moments with the kids.  Sterling woke up from his nap on the WRONG side of the bed.  I told him if he was going to cry to do it in his room (that has been our rule although I think we are growing quickly into the we-need-to-have-some-self-control stage as I said before).  Anyway, he had inched his way out the door into the hall where I couldn't see, still wailing mind you.  Ann Elizabeth spotted him though and went over and bent down with her hands on her knees so that she was in his face and started happily chatting with him.  It was so cute to try to watch her try to cheer him up.  I couldn't even get on to him for coming out of his room after that.

The other thing was Sterling was playing doctor with his stuffed animals (maybe he was playing superheros, I can't remember).  His conversation went something like this though.  "What are you doing," said Lamby. (maybe it was Spiderman).  "I'm sick," said Sam.  (Or it could have been "Saving the world," said Ironman.)  The point is the funny asides.  I have started reading a chapter from a chapter book to him  each day before nap. Conversations always go this way in books.  I just love that he incorporated them into his play.  It was too funny.

I was going to write more but as this is turning out to be a pretty long so I'll save the rest for later.