What will the new year bring?

So, sad the Holidays are over but excited to see what the new year will bring us!

Those of you that know me Know that I wait till the last minute to do anything and x-mas shopping is no different. Normally I am starting my x-mas shopping on Christmas eve. However, this year was different. I was one of those crazy black Friday shoppers waiting in line at Kohl's at 11pm the night before. This is the first year I took on black Friday shopping and it ended up being so much fun. Two of my sister-in-laws and my mother in-law joined me in the fun!

I had decided I was going to enjoy the season this year. Taylor is getting old enough to understand the fun of Christmas and I want to make memories for her. She helped decorate the tree, we did some Christmas art work, we went driving and on walks to see Christmas lights(her favorite thing to look for was the baby Jesus in Nativity scenes) and watched the x-mas Barney many times. It was a fun season for us. I'm so happy that I made the decision to embrace the season.

On Xmas night Santa Clause came and visited the kids at Mita's house. While they were up reading a story they heard Santa come and they watched him eat cookies and leave gifts for them. It was hilarious to see each of their reactions! They were all amazed that they saw Santa. Taylor on the other hand was traumatized and is now scared of the dark and is scared if you mention the name Santa heeheee.

Katie turned 5 months on Christmas day. I can not believe how quick time is going by. She has been battling a little bug for awhile now. She has this horrible cough that scares me because she coughs so hard and can't breath. She is so spoiled because of her not being able to breath I put her next to me in bed that way I can prop her up when she is having a coughing attack at night. Now, she demands to sleep next to me ughhhh. I don't know what happened this time around. With Taylor we were very by the "book" and this time everything has been thrown out the window:-)! To be honest though I remember crying because Taylor was not a cuddler and I thought it was my fault due tot he fact we would not let her sleep in our arms. So, with Katie I prayed for a cuddler and God answered my prayer so I really am thankful for the cuddle time I have with Katie. And I'm so happy to say that Taylor has turned into a cuddle bug as well.

Katie, is growing like a weed. She is in the 90% for height and 50% for weight. When she is not crying she is very happy and gives the BIGGEST smiles! I love her little smile it just melts my heart. She is pretty vocal and is working on crawling. She can push herself up pretty good and tries to scoot herself. She has figured out that she can roll herself to where ever she want to go. It's so funny to watch her roll herself to a object in the room. She is getting so cute and I can't wait to see her grow in the next year. By next Christmas she will be 1 1/2 already and walking. Crazy to think how much they change so quickly.

Taylor is a blast to be around. I adore her personality and admire how happy she is and how much she TRULY loves and adores everyone. She lights up a room when she is around. She loves to love everyone. She has a smile on her face and has the cutest little giggle. She will fake a laugh just to get someone else to laugh with her. I know she is my child and I adore her but I really feel she has the gift of putting a smile and everyone's faces. She just has so much personality and I LOVE IT! She has been talking for awhile now but in the past month it has really come together. She speaks full sentences and can hold a real conversation. Her favorite thing to say these days is "darn it" and "oh my goodness mommy" it is so cute coming out of her mouth.

Taylor also got a big girl bed and has been sleeping on it everyday now. At first she still wanted to be in crib but she now climbs right up in her bed for nap and at night. It is another happy/mixed emotion for Mommy and Daddy though. We love that she is growing up but sad to see such a big phase of her life go away.

So even though Taylor brings so much joy I have to report that I was not happy yesterday when I got called out of the gym to be told Taylor was being suspended for the 2nd time. Yes, my 2 year old has been suspended twice in her life already. The first time she bit and yes at the time she had the tendency to bite but thankfully I think we are past that stage. This time however I was watching the entire thing and so mad that they would suspend her. From what I saw and they claim as well is that another boy 3 or 4 years old pushed her down the ground. She pulled him down with her and scratched him which drew blood. They came and told me that she would have to be suspended for drawing blood. I was so upset because there were only like 10 kids in the room and about 6 teachers standing around chatting. They should have prevented the situation. So anyways I no longer have a membership and sad because that was my "mommy time" each day. Taylor did tell me as we were leaving the gym " mommy don't cry everything will be OK"! heehee how can you not smile when she says that?

So, with the new year ahead of us we are super excited to see where God will lead our family. Dennys and I have made a few New Years Resolutions for our family. I pray that God grows us into better people along the way. If you want you can pray that our family draws closer to God and becomes more obedient to his will for our lives. We also want to give our time and really make an effort to volunteer this year. In the past few years I have been really bad at giving to others. It is so important to me that I am a living example to my girls. I want them to have joy in their hearts to have the desire to give to others and help wherever they can. I feel the best way to do this is by being a living example to my girls. Sometimes I feel such a burden that I have to be the better example as a parent because I am a female and I have 2 girls that I have to lead. Somewhere in my heart I think it would be easier if I had boys then Dennys would be the one to have to set the bar. So, yes I feel the burden but It is a good "burden" to have. I'm so thankful that God has given me the desire to set the bar high for my girls and he is going to lead me every step in teaching them how to be Obedient to him and how to be good to others. With all of this said I'm once again thankful and in awww of God and what he has done for my life. Someday's it is easy to think of all the negative however the truth is that I'm so BLESSED! I do not deserve the life I have but Because of God's grace I have a GREAT LIFE:-)