Update on my girls

With the rush of the school and work week, it was nice to have a 2 week Christmas break. I enjoyed having my family around for 2 weeks straight to soak in the growth of my family and how my girls are growing and changing (of course I was very happy today when I kissed Will and Aiana goodbye and dropped Caylin off at school).

Aiana is quickly turning into a teenager and I find myself caught between clinging onto her childhood yet loosening my grip to allow her to blossom into the young lady God is creating her to be. I get worried about the negative influences that she could potentially get caught up in, but then put my trust back in God knowing that ultimately He is in control here. It is such a bitter sweet stage. She is a gorgeous young lady...she's smart and funny, and she has a very compassionate heart. I feel like I'm at a crossroads with her and find myself looking over the past years thinking about all of the should have/could haves, but then I smile as I look ahead at all the she and I have accomplished together and who she is today. Sometimes I worry about whether or not she knows just how much I love her (I know that I didn't realize how deep my mother's love was until I became a mother). I don't want to get caught up in worry, I think that is just a part of being a mom. There is so much to enjoy, the joy definitely overpowers the worry. Anyway, this whole thought started today when Aiana told me she took down all her Disney Channel fan posters. :( She now wants to paint her room brown with orange polka dots, orange is her favorite color!

Caylin is very imaginative, stubborn, affectionate, and funny. She still doesnt sleep through the night. So Will and I decided to end that battle and put a little doggy bed in the corner of our room. Caylin goes to bed in her room but every morning I find her in her little corner. It has taken so much stress off all of us! And Caylin has been a lot happier. She continues to make us laugh with her funny stories, imaginary conversations, and expressions. The other day she and I were on our way to the store after she chose to come with me instead of stay home with daddy. Half way to the store I heard her grumbling in the back "dang it, oh man". I asked her what was the matter and she sighed "I forgot, I wanted to stay with daddy...God help us".

The other thing that makes me laugh is thinking of when she opened the game Uno for Christmas, Aiana said "oh Caylin, you got the game Uno!" Caylin stood up and raised the game in the air and yelled "Unos Dos!" So now every time she refers to Uno, she said "Let's play Unos Dos!"

Caylin also LOVES lip gloss...she wont eat if she just put some on. She also loves gum. She only gets gum on special occasions, but when she does she LOVES it! She also loves the color purple, this morning on the way to school there was a piece of purple trash in the car but she wanted it because it was her favorite color purple.

I also catch her trying to carry her sister Anika around the house, and trying to boss around her older sis Aiana.

Anika still loves her sleep, she sleeps from 6pm - 6:30pm and during the day she takes about a 2 hour nap...sometimes 2 naps. BUT that little stinker is a VERY picky eater!!!! She has one type of bread that she'll eat and she wont eat the organic purely o's but will eat cheerios! What the heck!!! On top of that she's allergic to dairy, eggs, and peanuts. She's doesn't really like the puree's anymore but doesn't like the texture of table food either. I have always been the mom who says "My kid will not be picky, they will eat when they are hungry!" Well, HA! My kid does not eat when she's hungry....she screams! So a lot of the time she ends up eating like a duck...bread! And the bread she likes is the Organic omega 3 bread from Costco. She does like broccoli, and asparagus, pears, and banana. I have to be tricky with all else (that is not a carb). I got her to eat a jar of veggies yesterday by sitting on the kitchen floor and first feeding a bite of food to her little Grover...then she took a bite.

Here is Anika after getting a milky kiss from Caylin, she immediately breaks out in hives!



She's still not quite walking but has been taking 2-3 steps when Will and I have her walk to us. She is a HUGE fan of climbing! She will climb anything and everything she can get her little leg on. We never had to child proof our house with Caylin, she never climbed or put anything in her mouth, but with Anika it is a whole other story.

Anika has a few words, her favorite is da da with a super high pitched scream (she is daddy's biggest fan by far!). She also says mama, mo for more and milk, be for bird, da for dog, and her newest word hot with a drawn out ha sound ending with t. She'll say hot when she sees fire or touches something warm. She is a cutie pie!!

Some things that I will miss and not miss:

Today I had the great idea to have lunch at Sea World after picking Caylin up from preschool. I will miss watching the girls marvel at the dolphins. Anika squealing at the birds flying close by and the anxiety on her face as the dolphins swim up to us. Caylin gazing at the dolphins playing in the water. I can only imagine what is going through her mind.

I will not miss...the wrinkle in the plan...after spending about a half hour with the dolphins, holding both girls up at the same time, Anika poops and needs to be changed. Caylin is not ready to move on. She is given two choices. To cooperate, or we go home. She chooses not to cooperate. Mom straps Anika in the stroller then chases Caylin, picks her up, she begins screaming and fighting to get away. I get her strapped in, she screaming louder and continues to try and escape...this is the scene all the way to the car. Mom manages to get the tantruming Caylin strapped in the car seat and waits about 5 minutes until she finally calms down. Fun times!!!