Time really does go too fast

People have told me all along that the time will fly by with my kids but I never really felt that way until the last few months. I look back at pictures from just 5 months ago and I cannot believe how much Maggie has changed, not just on the outside but on the inside too. She tells me now that she is not a baby. She is so eloquent in her speech. She expresses her feelings and her likes and dislikes. She is definitely becoming her own individual and is separating from Mike and I more each day. I love the little girl that she is becoming. She is kind and gentle and loving. She is so intelligent and funny. She is quite imaginative too. She has the best memory of any little kid I know and that is sometimes scary. She remembers things that happened before we moved to IL even. She loves to read and will sit with a book and read to herself outloud. (Of course she isn't really reading but she remembers the story and can recite most of it) So I am amazed everyday by her and I am so thankful to God and to Mike that I do get to stay home with my kids to watch them grow and be here for them to help them filter the world around them. It is worth any and every sacrifice that we have had to make or will have to make! When Maggie was first born, I just wanted her to grow up and stop being so needy- how awful a thought that is now! Instead, now I find myself wanting her to need me more! What a truly humbling and educational experience parenting is. Oh yeah and what a freaking crazy emotional roller coaster too! Can you tell??

I am so blessed!

I can't even explain the feelings I had on Tuesday when I walked into Maggie and Caleb's room to find them playing together. Maggie had her Ariel tent up and I had set Caleb inside to play like she requested. I left the room momentarily to do dishes or something and when I came back, Maggie had all of her tea party toys in the tent and told me they were having a tea party. She was pouring him tea and calling him "Prince Charming". Everything in her world now seems to revolve around princes and princesses. I am either Ariel or Cinderella and daddy is Prince Charming or Eric. Caleb is always Prince Charming though. She has even taken to calling our dog, McKinley, "Max" Prince Eric's dog in The Little Mermaid. Her imagination stuns me at times. But it is so fun to see her engage with Caleb so well and to see that she really, obviously, love him. He can't speak, of course, but his body language shows how much he loves her too. Here are some pictures of their tea party.

This is a little late, but maybe you are still interested. . .

I've been asked by several people to post some pictures of Christmas and tell a little more about what the kids actually did for Christmas eve/day instead of just our crazy travel tales. So here's a brief synopsis with a slideshow from the two days we spent in Midland with our families. Maggie was spoiled starting the moment we arrived and was still asking for presents on New Year's Eve. Her nana couldn't wait until Christmas day or even Christmas Eve to start with the gifts so she got to open her first gift on the 23rd. I think this may have confused her a bit, but I always wanted to open gifts early as a kid too and my parents would never let me- so good for her! My mom waited until we got there for the tree to be decorated and so we spent Christmas eve morning decorating it as a family (there's a picture of Mike putting the angel on the tree with Maggie). As I mentioned before, we spent the 24th with Mike's family and Maggie stole the night with her singing like Ariel and dancing in the mirrors. Caleb stole everyone's hearts with his happy disposition and his handsome smile. Christmas morning was spent at my parent's house and as I mentioned before Maggie couldn't get enough of the presents so while we were all eating breakfast she snuck away to open some gifts- that weren't hers! Luckily, my sister caught her and redirected her into making piles of gifts for everyone. She had a blast being Santa's helper. We spent Christmas evening with Mike's mom and grandmother and had some good food (as always over there)- because the gifts we done the night before. I hope the pictures tell a good enough story- I don't want to bore anyone with lists of all we got and did- but I hope this fills in some of the gaps I had before!

We made it home! The trip went surprisingly smooth. We had great driving weather and really enjoyed ourselves overall. I think Maggie's favorite part about the trip was swimming in the hotel pool with her daddy. We started our journey with a visit back to Lansing to see some old friends. I know it made me feel a little sad and I think Mike did too. We had the best friends and neighbors ever that we had to leave behind but we are so thankful that we can still be friends. Maggie loves her Max and Grace (and Kaya)! We didn't make it to my parents house until pretty late (11pm) but Maggie stayed up the whole trip. She was so excited about Christmas time and getting presents that she couldn't sleep. It seems like our time in Michigan was an eternity ago because it was so short and we've done so much since then. We got to spend Christmas eve this year with Mike's family- it was a good time for everyone, but went a little late so we had a tired little girl on our hands again. Our trip down to Georgia was totally uneventful. We got to stop by my great aunt's house for a brief visit and the headed to grandma Debbie and Grandpa Mike's house. I decided Maggie must have one of the most confusing extended families. We counted and she has 10 grandmas! Somehow she keeps them separate. Even though this was her first time meeting this set of grandparents she warmed up right away. She immediately noticed that Grandpa Mike looks like her daddy and instinctively ran to him to get out of having to do anything that mommy said! Maggie and Caleb also got to meet their cousins Logan, Aspen, and Xavier for the first time as well. Caleb didn't have too much of a reaction of course- except to smile and spit up, but Maggie really liked Aspen who is about a year and a half older than her. They played dress up together and had a little tift. It was the first time I had ever seen Maggie be mean to another child! I think they were fighting over a barbie doll that was dressed like a Princess- anyways it was Aspen's new toy so she wanted it- and of course that is totally fine but not really something a 2 year old understands when the world is supposed to revolve around her. I returned the doll to Aspen on several occasions and Maggie apologized only to take it back when I turned away. One time she grabbed Aspen's shoulders to pull her back! I don't think she hit -thank goodness, but still I had never seen her act so pushy. Maggie has good feelings towards Aspen despite the incident and still speaks of her lovingly since we have gotten home. The journey back to IL was a little rocky on the 2nd day and it didn't help that we were in a time crunch for Mike to see his bowl game. About an 2 hours in it started snowing and didn't let up until about 45 minutes from our house. I drove about 40-50 mph for several hours. God protected us all though and we arrived safely. After the next morning when the temperature was 1 degree outside, Mike swore to me that this may be our last winter in IL! We shall see. . I don't believe him.

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