Mother's Day

I love being a mom and I couldn't have asked for better kids. They make being a mom fun and fulfilling. I can't believe how big they are getting. Although I post a lot of photos on this blog, I wish I stopped to record all the small daily things that make me laugh and fill my heart. 

Karis is maturing so much. She has come out of her shell (and still continues to do so). For those that don't see her on a regular basis, they see her as shy, but at home she's posing in front of the mirror or admiring all the silly faces she can make. She loves to dance around and be the center of attention. I love the way she shrugs her shoulders and puts her hand to her mouth as she's telling me something funny that happened at school. I love talking to her and getting a glimpse of her heart. 

Makena has become her own person instead of just copying Karis. She is silly and sweet and acts before she thinks. She has the biggest heart for her little brother and the dog -- she cares for them deeply. She chooses the strangest words, in the craziest order, when talking to me. I have the hardest time trying to understand her. It frustrates me on some days and some days, I just look at her and think she is the cutest thing in the whole-wide world! I love when she gives me a hug and tells me, "You're the best mother I ever had."

I'm having a hard time letting Kyle grow up because to me that means no more babies and toddlers in our home. He's still in his crib and I'm okay with that. We're waiting for a friend to give us her son's car bed. I told her no rush! He has just shown signs of being ready to be potty-trained, but I keep asking myself if I'm ready for it.  I love the way he calls his blanket "blank-blank" and cantaloupe "cantaloop", the way he says "o-tay", and when he says, "That feels better." when I scratch his back. I love that he lets me hug him and cuddle him and tickle him. He has the best giggles. 

Karis spent so much time making me cards for Mother's Day. She made two and couldn't decide which one to give me. She decided to give me one on the day of the Mother's Day Tea and one on Mother's Day. Makena sat down several times to make me a card but always ended up making something for Daddy instead! 

Karis at Age 5

I was talking with some friends today about the terrible 2s and how 3s are the real terrible stage... and  4 isn't much easier! I have to say that I'm finding the "5-year old stage" to be quite sweet. Karis has matured a lot and I'm loving the changes. She has been pulling away from "the pack" (namely, her brother and sister). 

She talks differently and acts differently and seems more even-keeled. Both girls recently realized that they haven't seen the spanking spoon or been in time-out for a long time. We can talk through most stuff with Karis. She does still whine and seems to get most upset when I say one thing but change my mind (e.g., I tell her she can watch a show, but then realize we have to leave the house soon and then say she can't).

I love hearing her talk about school and what her classmates said and did. She can't wait to go to Kindergarten. She loves the idea of going to school five days a week.

Today while Makena and Kyle were sleeping, I was doing some things around the house. Karis asked if there was anything she could do to help me. I was shocked. Usually she asks me to play with her, but I was impressed that she was willing to do some of my stuff. 

She used to ask me "why" a lot and it bothered me because it seemed more like she was talking back than being inquisitive. Now she is really asking questions... and a lot of them! Some of the recent ones that I remember are, "Can you really die from being cold?", "How can Ariel and Sebastian talk underwater?" "What does 'what' mean?" When we read books, she no longer just listens but asks about any word she doesn't know. 

She's been trying to take care of Kyle instead of just playing with him. A couple days ago, I let her take Kyle with her to check the mail. She ate it up! They got to walk about two houses down to the mailbox and then walked back to our house and then continued to walk about two more houses the other direction. She took great care of him while I stayed by the front door and watched. They loved being out on their own!

She is a responsible and obedient girl! We are so blessed. The most challenging part right now is her clothing. She wants to wear dresses all day, every day. It's been really cold here so I try to get her to wear warm clothes. On non-school days, I want her to wear comfortable clothes. But she always wants to wear a dress. The other day the girls wanted to play in the backyard. Makena had a dress-up dress on and striped blue/green leggings and she threw on some pink boots. She was out the door. Karis put on an Easter dress. I made her change. I told her to put on pants. She brought out another dress. I told her no. She put on a short-sleeve knit dress. TWENTY MINUTES of back-and-forth and she finally put on some play clothes. Can't wait for the teenage years...

Good-Bye Fluffy

  

Karis has finally said good-bye to Fluffy. We have been waiting for this day to come, but now that it has, we're a little sad. Karis has been attached to Fluffy since she was 6 months old. She didn't use a pacifier so she sucked on two fingers on her left hand. For some reason, whenever she held Fluffy, those fingers would automatically go into her mouth and at no other time. 

She slept with him and played with him, he comforted her, and she carried him wherever she went. He was part of the family! We definitely don't have a shortage of pictures of him. Here are just a few:

My two babies and their bottles

First day of potty training

Easter Sunday: Fluffy usually stayed at home or in the car -- not sure how he got to go to church 

A rare instance when she fell asleep on the couch, thanks to her gymnastics class 

TV time!

Fluffy was always close by

Fluffy was often a source of frustration to us -- she would stick dirty fingers in her mouth and I think she got sick more often because of it, she would lose him or leave him behind somewhere. We wasted so much time looking for Fluffy before naptime and bedtime. 

About a year or so ago, we told Karis she was to leave Fluffy in her bed during the day. She was fine with it and from that day forward Fluffy was always in her bed. We thought we were one step closer to giving up Fluffy. 

When we moved to Texas, the major change was affecting Karis. She became very whiney about everything. Fed up with it, I told her one day to go get Fluffy out of her room. From that day forward, at age 4, she was more attached to him than ever before. We couldn't get her to leave him in her bed anymore. She is an obedient child, but she just wouldn't and couldn't obey us on this one. We told her she needed to give up Fluffy. She wanted to and tried a couple times -- she asked us to give him away or to hide him from her -- but come bedtime, she would ask for him back. 

A week from last Tuesday, Karis told us she didn't need Fluffy anymore. I didn't think anything of it because we had heard her say that before. But that night, she went to bed without him. It was lying on her bedroom floor and she left him there. And just like that, she was done! The next couple of nights, it took her a little longer to fall asleep, but she did so without Fluffy. She slept with another stuffed animal. It's been almost two weeks and I think it's safe to say she is done with Fluffy and sucking fingers! We are so thankful that this day finally came and I feel a little silly for stressing out about it in the past. This truly is a sign of her growing up! sniff... sniff...

When I Grow Up...

I want to be a tooth fairy!

- Karis

Laundry Day

Karis wanted to help me with the laundry. She usually helps by stacking her and her sister's underwear. 

But this time, she actually folded a lot of the clothes and she did a great job!

Before and After 

  

I love how she's been wanting to help out more around the house with putting clean utensils from the dishwasher away, sweeping and mopping. She'll help until she declares, "This is boring!" or "This is a lot of work!"