7-1-14

Oh I could write a book on the cute things my three girls are doing!

Anna Claire can swim like a fish! She swims over the water, under the water and doesn't mind getting her face wet all! I am amazed at how comfortable she is in water at such a young age. I couldn't be more pleased with her progress this year.

We play with Matthew Kent a good bit and they do very well together. She has many other friends at church and interacts well with them I think, but Matthew is my favorite of her playmates because they tend to be natured alike.

She absolutely loved Vacation Bible School, and will still break out singing VBS songs or saying the motto, "discover, decide, defend!" It's so neat to see her learning and growing and changing.

It is hard for me to see her getting so much older though. I love my baby girl and have enjoyed herself thoroughly during her short life so far. Time just flies, and although I wouldn't wish her to be a baby again, I don't want her to grow up too fast nonetheless. I do look forward to our relationship deepening as she gets older, although I know there will be bumps along the way. :-)

She is going through a difficult stage with discipline however. Doesn't always share very well with Juliana especially. Has a tendency to want to backtalk even at three years old. I think most everything is normal for her age, but sometimes it feels like all I'm doing is scolding her and isn't doing any good. That's discouraging, but Andy reminds me that is the long game we are worried about not the short-term. He keeps balance to and I'm so thankful for him. :-)

Juliana is really coming into her own! Little personality is really developing and I love seeing her spunky side. She has an infectious giggle and loves to play chase. She loves her sisters. I couldn't ask for her to be any sweeter to Eliza than she is. She will kiss her on the head ever so gently, and say baby ("BeBe") it is so cute! She loves Anna Claire and wants to do everything she does. She will go to the house saying "Sissy!" And look for her if Anna Claire has been away. I do hope they can all three very close in the future. I do not know many people who are close with their siblings these days, but it is my prayer that they will be.

Juliana does have a nasty temper still, but I think it has a lot to do with her frustration over her inability to communicate effectively. She has totally wrapped my dad around her little finger. She wants to FaceTime with them almost every night and will say PawPaw ("bawbaw") and bring me my phone which makes him feel so good. :-) She's a beautiful child, with her porcelain skin and ginger colored hair. They are all three little beauties in their own way. God is truly blessed us.

Eliza is really growing fast! I am amazed at how quickly she's developing! Yesterday she even attempted to crawl twice. She skips everywhere and gets up on her knees to rock constantly. She can't crawl properly because she gotten her legs in sync yet. She's teething terribly right now and seeems to be in a little bit of pain which makes me sad. But this too shall pass and hopefully those little teeth will be in when we get up in the morning. :-) To me, she looks like Anna Claire but is colored like Juliana. Time will tell if I am correct. :-)

Andy is doing great. He still exercising faithfully although he has not been able to lose his belly as quickly as he would like. I am proud of him for sticking with it. Anna Claire enjoys going to exercise with him, but I have a feeling that she distracts him a bit! Ha ha! He is working towards another masters degree, but this is the first time that I have really seen him enjoy his school program. He seems to be learning a lot and really enjoying the experience.

I am well overall. I still don't feel like myself since Eliza was born, but that probably has a lot to do with the fact that she still is not sleeping through the night. I quit nursing, although I really didn't want to, because my hormones seem to be going crazy again. I was beginning to feel depressed very similar to how I felt in the early postpartum. I just couldn't take being depressed again, so I decided that it was probably time to go ahead and stop nursing and maybe even take my medicine some more. I'm not proud of taking medicine and I feel very conflicted about it, but I need to be as well off as possible for my family. I definitely need to improve in the taking every thought captive department. I love being a stay-at-home mommy though, and would not trade it for any amount of money. I do not miss working outside the home at all. I would love to have a fourth child one day, but this recovery has really been difficult for me. Haven't lost all my weight, which is not a big deal, but it does affect self-esteem. Add that to three kids running around I don't get to do the personal grooming that I would prefer to do, and got to fix my self-esteem is well.

All in all, this is an exceedingly blessed time in our lives. God has been so good to us and continues to bless us more than we deserve. He deserves so much more than I am able to offer him. He deserves all glory!