Resolutions Shmezolutions

Yes it has been almost 2 months since my last post. And yes, I did say in my post in January that I would be better at posting. Resolutions, shmezolutions. :) By now most people have forgotten what their resolutions were anyway (or they have just given up), at least I am still here, and still posting. Ok... maybe not as often as I had hoped, but... I'm here.
Just to be up front, this post will contain no pictures. Sorry, none at all. I just wanted to state that up front, so that any of you who stop by and just look at the pictures without really reading the posts (you have no idea what you are missing), can just go now! (you know who you are... LOL)
We just managed to buy a new computer and I have not had a chance to get my camera software up yet. But I promise, the next post will have pics, as I have some VERY cute ones of the kids in their sun glasses and some from the park, and... well you get the idea. With Easter right around the corner, there are bound to be some of the kids worth posting (as well as some very embarrassing ones of family members in bunny ears.)
Well... a lot has happened since I last posted.
We are still mourning the loss of our child. I was only 12 weeks along in my pregnancy, when I miscarried. Even that early on, it was hard. However, I can rejoice. God has blessed us with so much, and for whatever reason, he decided that we were not meant to have another child... at this time. It is all in God's hands, and for that I am grateful.
We have also experienced death on the other end of the scale. My Great Aunt Evelyn died just 2 weeks ago. She was 89 years old. A wonderful Godly woman, she will be greatly missed.
After all that, it was wonderful to get to spend a week with my folks. The kids miss them so much.
Even after a full week of Gramps driving her nuts by antagonizing her to tears and pushing her buttons, the first words out of Lex's mouth the Sunday after we got back were " Where's Gramps?"
Oh don't get me wrong... the two of them have a VERY antagonistic relationship. She loves to annoy him. Constantly hanging on his legs, wanting him to flip her over and spin her around, and the constant sound of "Gramps (slightly louder) Gramps (slightly louder still) Gramps (Yelling) Gramps!" all day long (it's especially annoying at 6 in the morning).
Anyway, the fact is that these kids love their grandparents.
And for Grandparents I am very grateful. They are full of wisdom, and good advice; they love to spoil the kids with things parents wish they could buy but would feel guilty if they actually did; and they love to babysit. For that last one I am extremely grateful. (Can you tell we are planning a night out and we will be hitting up the grandparents for babysitting... heh)
So, there is a little peek at just some of the craziness that is our lives.
I have been bugging Mike to get a post up, as I seem to be the one doing all the work, even though this blog was his idea. So maybe if all you bug him enough he will get something posted before to long.
Just in case I don't get around to posting before, Everyone have a Happy Easter!
Thanks for stopping by!

Serenity

As I sit here and type this, my daughter decided to climb in my lap and snuggle. I do love these moments. I admit, I take them for granted. With the addition of a third child on the way, I know there will be many more moments like this, so I tend to not look at it for what it truly is.... In all honesty, I am not really sure *exactly* all of the emotions these moments hold. There is joy, and happiness, contentment, love, and yes, even a little annoyance (that she keeps getting in the way of my typing, and wanting to me to look at her and to rub noses. It's cute, but it's hard to get much done) but I think by far, the largest feeling is serenity.
Dictionary.com defines serenity as:
se·ren·i·ty /səˈrɛnɪti/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-ren-i-tee] –noun, plural

1.	the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.

—Synonyms 1. composure, calm, peacefulness, peace.

Most of these moments spent snuggling with my kids are just that, peaceful, calm and tranquil. I love those moments, where there are no other distractions, and I can focus on my children. It's usually in those times I realize how much they have grown, and matured. I think that is because we are on the go so much, that I do not see those things until I am in a much less distracted state. I love those moments.
I am hoping with this new baby, I will have learned to appreciate those moments, and not just assume there will be lots of others. I know for a fact, that these moments are all to fleeting. For the first time in a long time, my son fell asleep in my lap at bed time last night. I had all but forgotten what that was like, as my kids are pretty good sleepers and do not require much to go sleep. It was serene. Peaceful. I cherish that, as my son, just shy of age 3, does not come and cuddle all that often any more (way to much energy for that). I realize that I miss that.
So even though there is that slight annoyance at having to retype the same sentence 3 times, because my daughter keeps wanting me to rub noses... I will cherish this moment. We will never be able to get it back, no matter how many others there will be.
I want my kids to look back at their childhood, on moments like this, and think "It's all good." I know I will.

Happy new year!

Well 2007 is finally here. It's hard to believe another year has come and gone.
It's been a most interesting year for us here... with two toddlers running around interesting is putting it lightly. LOL
The kids have grown by leaps and bounds this year. Last January Lex was not even walking... now, there is no stopping her. Tim has come so far in his conversation, sometimes I forget that he is still so little.
This passed Christmas was great though. The kids really started to understand the idea of opening gifts. Tim was a pro. It did not take him long to start ripping into things and oohing and awing over the new toys. I made a mistake with Lex Christmas morning, I let her open a present I knew she would love (a stroller and a new baby doll) and it was game over for her after that. She did not want to open anything else. Tim was more than happy to finish opening her presents. It was pretty cute and funny.
Well, you all will be happy to know I did in fact get a new camera for Christmas, so there will be lots of new pics for me to post. Especially if Lex keeps looking as cute as she does in this pic.
Wow, she really is growing up so fast. She is so girly. She loves all the fufu, purple, girly stuff. Her favorite things now are her doll (and stroller), Barbie and her tea set. (Oh and she does love to antagonize her brother... but that is for another blog.)
Anyway, here is a what she looked like a year ago, and next to that is a recent pic.

Amazing.
Tim is a whole different ball ball game. He too, has changed much in the last year. His verbal skills are something to marvel at, and he is showing tremendous athletic ability already. He is all boy... his favorite things at the moment are a big box of dinos he got for Christmas, his basketball hoop, and anything that will allow him to dig up dirt. (Oh, and he also loves to antagonize his sister, but as I mentioned above that's for another time.)
Anyway, here is the comparison of him, the first pic being last year.
Well, 2007 promises to be another year full of love and adventure at our house. I will do my best to keep everyone posted (it's one of my resolutions), so I hope you will all check back regularly.
Hope your year is full of promise and love and many wonderful adventures.
P.S. Anyone is welcome to stop by for an adventure at our house... I can guarantee there will be many (Tim has a VERY active imagination). Please just call first, so I can at least move the dust around and stuff all the toys in the closets. Hehehe)

Merry Christmas!

Update

Ok well I now realize it has been a long while since I posted. (My usual email from Rusty reminding me that I need to post must have gotten lost in the net... LOL)
I realize that I have not posted since we moved. So I figured I better get an update up.
We are now all settled into a nice house, in a nice neighborhood. It has 4 bed rooms, which is great for us, because now the kids have separate rooms and we still manage to have an office. :)
So almost everything is unpacked. We are still looking to get Mike another book case. Mike claims that most of the boxes were my craft stuff, but, I think the people who helped us move can verify that there were a lot more boxes labeled books (Not to mention that books are a LOT heavier than crafting supplies). Other than that, everything else has been unpacked for awhile now. For those of you that know me, you know I had most of done with in a week. Guess it's that A type personality... LOL
We even managed to find something fun to do with some of the moving boxes. Mike had fun making this "maze" for the kids to play in.
Things have actually been pretty slow here... The kids and I spend a lot of time at the park. Now that we have one only three blocks away, it seems such a shame to waste the wonderful Arizona weather indoors. Mike is working. We go to Church, and spend a lot of time with family. Pretty boring life really. LOL
I remember posting earlier this year, that this was the Chinese year of the dog, but in our house it was the year of the germ. This seems to be holding true. We managed to stay well through most of the summer, and then BAM... the germ strikes again. We even had to change plans at Thanksgiving. We were supposed to go see my folks, but ended up staying here and spending the holiday at my in-laws. Not that, that is necessarily a bad thing, as my MIL is a wonderful cook, and Mike's family is great. But it still stinks to have to change plans at the last minute... especially when you are sick.
Anyway, I cannot believe Thanksgiving is over. It's almost Christmas. WHERE DOES TIME GO?
Can someone please answer this question? I look at my kids and I think..."Wow, they are getting so big... How did that happen?" <Sigh> They grow up so fast. I was reading some of the back issues of this blog... Alexa's first steps, Timmy's mispronunciations... Where does it all go? Alexa is running around like a pro athlete now and Tim can actually hold a conversation with you. They do grow up so fast.
Mike's niece just had a baby. He is so cute. I was thinking as I was holding him... "How come I can barely remember when my kids were this small?" and then I thought "Well that's because Tim was NEVER this little!" Her baby was born at 7 pounds 9 ounces... Tim was 9 pounds 1 ounce. There is a big bit of difference there... LOL. Now Lex was just over 7 pounds, so at one point she was that small. It all seems so long ago. But I would not trade the last 3 years for anything. It is amazing to see how far my kids have come from the time they were born, and so dependent on us for everything, to these independent little people, who everyday learn something new, and try to apply it. (Like learning how to unlock the door and closing it promptly when the alarm sounded).
Anyway, I do have a few new pictures that I am posting. But I would not get used to the idea of to many more. My camera is dead... and I mean really dead. I am borrowing my MIL's for the moment. So you all may have to get used to actually reading the blog, not just looking at the pictures. :)
Anyway, I will try and get better about posting and I am sure there will be lots of pics floating around, as the cameras seem to come out for the holidays.
So I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, and just remember... my birthday and Christmas are right around the corner... feel free to contribute to my camera fund.


Just kidding.
Happy Holidays!

Where does the time go?

Ok, so I realize that I missed the monthly deadline for posting (Thanks Rusty for being my alarm clock) But I have a good excuse... No really I do... You ready... Ok, here goes...
Life.
Yes that's right you heard me... Life. Life happens, and right now my life is pretty busy, and all in boxes.
I am sitting right in the middle of a big pile of boxes, as we continue to pack and get ready to move this coming weekend. That is a job in and of its self. But try doing it with two very curious and active toddlers. I feel like I have repacked the same box all week. In goes the book and as soon as I turn to get another one, out it goes, in the grubby hands of one of the kids. (sigh) Oh, the kids are having a blast... They are being chased all over to get said book back, and then there seems to be a lot of tickling and laughing involved in order to actually get the book back in the box. I guess anything that involves tickling and laughing cannot be all bad. It just does not make for an environment where a lot of packing gets done.
Also, several of us have been sick this week, so that has not helped any either. We all seem to have recovered fine. It was nothing major, but just enough to make you want to do nothing but lie around for about 24 hours while you recover.
Then of course there is still the day to day stuff... You know... Life. The house still needs to be picked up so we are not tripping on toys, dishes still need to be washed, bills still need to be paid... Well you get the idea. LIFE. It happens. It happens a lot in a house with two toddlers.
(But I would not not have it any other way!!)
Well these are my excuses for not getting a blog posted within the monthly time frame.
What's your excuse?

Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkette do...

Tim and Alexa have reached the imitation stage of their growth. Last night, for example, at dinner, I finished before the kids did (Mom sneaked some broccoli in to their food, which slowed them down big time). I relaxed a bit as a dad is wont to do after work, so I reached my hands back and folded them behind my head and sighed deeply.

Seconds later, my son decided to do the same thing, sigh and everything.

I chuckled as he did this because he then said, "I'm being like Daddy!" I lost it completely, however, when seconds after that, my daughter, Alexa, tried to be like Timmy, but, instead of putting her hands behind her head, she simply put them on top of her head and breathed in and out kinda fast (that was her sigh).

After that, any sound I made or any movement was quickly imitated by my son. And, seconds later, Alexa would attempt to imitate Timothy.

It was hard not to see the life lesson there. See, as a parent, I am responsible for how Tim acts and what he learns from me will inluence not only his own life, but his sister who idolizes him. Long gone are the days of excuses where I could say that my actions affect my own life (not that it was true then, either, only now it is empirically false). The joy of being a parent is something that does not go away. But the responsibility of a parent is that ever present companion to joy.

Every night we try to read to the kids. We first get my Bible, sing "Deep and Wide", "Jesus loves me" and even throw in "Itsy Bitsy Spider" because they love it so (yeah, I know...its not all that spiritual). I then read from the Bible, we sing some more, and then I read from a story (Chronicles of Narnia, currently).

Tim has gotten to the point that he can sing and do the motions really well. He also likes to "pray like daddy." So, when he prays at dinner, he even though his mom leads him in the words, he is always looking at me for approval. Wow! What a delicate responsibility there!

It will only be a matter of time before Alexa does the same. May God be pleased to grant me wisdom, patience, and consistency while Shannon and I do this parenting thing.

On the move

Well we finally get things back to normal here, (Depending on your view of normal that is... LOL), and then things go awry AGAIN!
We are moving.
Yes we who have been in out humble abode for almost 8 1/2 years, are moving. Actually this is not necessarily a bad thing. We have been talking about this for sometime, and trying to figure somethings out, but in the end... The best decision all around was for us to move.
It's a little scary though. The thought of having to go thorough all your stuff, and pack it all up, and get rid of things...
Plus with the kids it will be interesting. This is the house they have been in all their lives. (Granted their lives have been relatively short, but still.)

Anyway, so just keep us in prayer about that. (And if you really want to help, please send all donations to Shannon Porter. )
Just kidding.
Anyway, I will hopefully be posting more now that things are normal for the moment. I know there will be lots of packing and things to do, but we still have sometime to before we have to be out. So that should leave me more time to blog right? ROFL