What we've been up to

Grace is walking all over. She is very steady and can walk around and turn and walk, walk, walk. She is so happy about it, since she started walking she has become more content. The only problem is now she does not want to be held, so church is more challenging. Luckily Bryce gets to take her with him for the last two hours. ha ha. Yesterday I barely made it through the passing of the sacrament and we had to leave. Then she was the happiest girl you'd have ever seen. She just marched around the hall and foyer.

I actually was very disappointed because Bryce Wade had the branch Presidency from the Spanish ward speaking and it was so powerful. One of the counselors shared his conversion story and it was amazing. What a powerful spirit he brought with him. To feel the Holy Ghost bear witness of his remarks was very touching. He spoke in Spanish and his remarks were translated, but I think not understanding his words only made the spirit more strong because you could feel the spirit from his remarks.

Grace also is leaning a few words. Right now she can saw mama, dada, and uh-oh. She is really loving uh-oh. She will drop everything in her hand and then be so sad and look down and say uh-oh with the saddest tone in her voice. Then if you give it back we get to play that game over and over. My favorite is feeding. Her cup is on the floor more often then on her tray. Ben and Abby love to pick up her cup and give it back, so the game goes on and on.

We have taken a break on potty training I don't know it that is the "right thing", but it was important for us to get our happy Abby back. She was having such a hard time and it was really affecting her moods and creating a very unhappy atmosphere. So we stopped and my old Abby is back. She still has very dramatic mood swings, but thats just one of the things I've learned to accept (still working on loving that characteristic) about Abby. You don't ever have to guess what mood she is in, she makes it very clear. But since we quit pushing her to go to the bathroom we have had a more pleasant and happy Abby.

Abby loves to play games and is really good about playing and using her imagination. She is always up for anything. She loves to go with her day and is a daddy's girl through and through. I rarely can do things for her when Bryce is around, because she want's dad. She loves to have someone play with her, but she can play by herself and every once in a while I need to remind myself to give her some one on one time, because she can easily get lost in the commotion. A few days ago we had an indoor picnic inside and she was talking non stop, anyone who will give her a few minutes will fall in love. She can talk for hours and not be winded. She just wants someone to listen and play with her.

Abby loves to sing and dance. I told her when she's three she can take dance like her cousin Chloe and she told me Chloe already taught her how to dance. Then she put her arms in a circle and did a little turn with the biggest smile on her face. She has a great memory and loves to learn songs and sing. But she can't sing without dancing.

Abby now has a boyfriend. I'm not even sure where she learned what that was, but the other day she walked in while I was getting ready carrying around a play phone talking. When I asked who she was talking to she said her boyfriend Logan. She said that he was at school with his friends. Then she left to go talk to him some more, I guess she didn't want me to hear their conversation. Then a few days later Bryce was driving her somewhere and when they pulled out of our drive way she looked across the street and said (to Bryce) "My boyfriend is busy building something. Goodbye Logan, I'll be home soon" So if you ask her about it she will tell you her boyfriend is Logan and he comes over to play with Ben and her. Just to clarify Logan is our neighbor across the street who just happens to be Ben's best friend and comes over all the time. He is 7 so about five years older than Abby, but really is so nice about always including her when Ben and Logan play together. So when Logan came over a few days after all this boyfriend talk Abby just told him that he was her boyfriend. Logan told him that he couldn't be her boyfriend because she was too little. But I think she took it very well. Because a week later she was playing with her cousin and when she came home she told me that now Gage was her boyfriend.

Ben is still loving to use him creative side. He loves to create and build things. A week ago Saturday I asked my kids if they wanted to go to Smith and Edwards and Ben said, "we could do that or we could do crafts all day." Everywhere I turn there is toilet paper rolls and cut up paper and tape left over from one of Ben's creations. He is always thinking up an idea to make something new. He loves to spend time reading, writing, coloring, cutting, taping, building, and creating.

Ben loves to learn and loves to go to school. He is reading so well now, I can't believe how many words he can read and how quick he is to learn. At church he knows all the words to the songs. He has an incredible memory. At night he loves to have us read to him, but I love that now he wants to read to us too. He wants to have reading time and is reading so well.

We are having some interest in our house. It is so stressful to sell your house. I tried to be relaxed, but really it's always in the back of mind trying to decide what I could to make it sell quicker or look better or whatever. I just hope it sells soon so we can start thinking about building. I'm really excited to start seeing some progress and to be able to start to planning and picking out some stuff.

On Saturday I went to a Relief Society workshop called "Preventing Emotional Burnout". It was so great. I really enjoyed the message. Some of my favorite points that were brought out were that it's important to realize that we have no control over others. We need to spend less time worrying about what they think about us because it doesn't matter. Too often I let myself get caught up in what others might think. Shouldn't I be past that by now? I thought that only happened in high school. Anyway that will be something for me to work on.

The other point I really thought was important for me was learning to express my emotions. I think it comes back to the point of I don't want to let anyone down or make them think I'm not perfect. (not that anyone ever thought I was perfect, oh but I'm so close - ha ha) There are times when I won't express how I feel because I don't want the other person to think that I can't handle something. But I realized that no one can handle everything and it is ok to admit that. (even if that means I'm less than perfect - oh how sad) I mean trust me I know many of my flaws and I have never thought that I was perfect or really even close to it. But I realized thats ok. Wow it's hard for me to admit that I can't do everything and I might need help. - ouch. So now I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for making Step one . . . admittance (isn't that always that first step to admit you have a problem) So now that I've realized that I need to express my feelings and can ask for help maybe it will help me feel a little less stress at home sometimes. It's worth a try.