Bangs...

***January has been fairly "un-busy" in the sense that we have not been running around doing a lot of different activities. However, in the last 14 days we have had one main thing on our agenda. My dear Nana is dying of Alzheimer's in her home and I have had what I consider the privilege of spending most of my time over the last couple of weeks with her and my family. While we're all heartbroken at the thought of losing her, we are delighted in the knowledge that she will soon be with the Lord, whom she loves so much. I will be posting more in a couple of days when I get some pictures and have the time to truly devote to a post worthy of her. In the meantime, please keep our family and Nana in your prayers as we wait with her and work to keep her as comfortable as possible.***

I do have to take a moment to show you all what my darling daughter did on Friday night while I was putting Luke to bed.

The best picture I got was with my cell phone.

That's right, folks! She CUT HER OWN BANGS! After I freaked out a bit and vowed to throw every pair of scissors we own away, I tried to fix the problem. Unfortunately, much like her mother, Kate has very thin hair so trying to cover this tragic mistake wasn't happening. Seriously, the hair along her hairline is less then 1/2 an inch short! We had no choice but to cut the rest of them off and pretend we were going for a vintage look...

My mom at about 3 years old & Kate after our attempt at being inspired by that 50's look.

I still can't believe it every time I look at her and we've tried many different styles to help. I'll be taking a trip to Target today to find some headbands and she will not miss one day of her dose of Vitamin D until those things are a decent length. I've heard many stories from other moms and the phrase, "Every kid does it." so I guess we'll just add a notch to our parenting belt and laugh about it. Hmmm...maybe we'll laugh about it later. ;)

Happy New Year!!

Every year around this time I spend time looking back on the year by going through my blog posts and wall calendar. It's been a busy one! I think the best part of this year has been the growth we've all experienced and, NO, I am not talking about the hair growth on John's upper lip during November & December.
This year Kate grew into a preschooler. Most of the time, she's obedient, helpful, happy, caring, and compassionate. At the same time, she struggles with being argumentative, ornery, and annoyed by her little sidekick. She's growing into quite the little leader (read: bossy) and, while she so wants and needs to do the right thing, she often has a hard time with her main authority figure (yours truly). I can see the internal struggle she sometimes has when she doesn't want to obey, but her personality just won't let her be that defiant. I can clearly remember that feeling....she is so her mother's daughter. =)

Luke has grown from a baby to a toddler this year. He has become quite a talker and such a boy! He loves all things cars and is as rough & tumble as they come. He keeps us on our toes and we came to the realization this year that that may never change. My doctor gave me the perfect statement to describe our Luke..."tender & terrible". That's it! In the good moments, he is the sweetest, most loving, charming little guy...and, might I add, is deeply in love with his mommy. =) But when he gets mad? Take cover! We're learning and he's maturing so it's getting better.

The kids have grown into such good friends and playmates. As with any sibling relationship, they can be each others worst enemy but they will defend each other to the end. I love it!

Our family has grown, as with every other year, into a stronger unit. We enjoyed a lot of family time together this year. John and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and entered our 30's (well, technically that was last year for John but that's ok). As we reflected on how far we've come from those 16-year-olds who got this whole thing started, we recognize how truly blessed we are. God has been so good to us! He has provided far above and beyond what we could have expected. We are blessed with a supportive extended family and great friends. 2009 was a good year and we're looking forward to 2010 being even better!

Happy New Year!!