Catchup!

A few bullet points to catch you all up:

• Grace has been adorable lately. We call the second picture her "model on a beach" pose.
  
   
   
• Grace is really trying hard to crawl. She gets on all fours and then flattens.

• We went to the Brazos Valley County Fair the weekend of baptism, but I forgot to put up any pictures. Atticus still talks about the "fet" and I'm really glad Ana got to feed some goats for the first time!
  
  
  
  

• I decorated our house for fall!
  

• Grace is taking most of her baths with Atticus now. Atticus likes having her in there most of the time, but doesn't' want to share his toys...even though there are about 45 in the tub!

•  GG, Molly, Grace, Atticus and I went to San Marcos for a weekend for the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention. We had plans to scrapbook all night long while the kids slept and take some classes and shop all day. This would have worked beautifully except that my kids didn't sleep hardly at all either night. Looking back, I'm not sure if Grace's teeth were bothering her or she just couldn't get into a deep sleep, but she was up every 45 minutes or so both nights and of course, woke Atticus. They were both pretty tired the last day though falling asleep while we finished our shopping. Atticus' favorite things were the "elebator" and the muffins at breakfast each morning at the Embassy Suites. I think he really just liked getting up over and over to walk to the food. It was a great trip, but I think next year, I'm leaving the kids at home. We did get a lot of shopping and some classes in though!

•  We just moved Grace's mattress down a level. I picked up her in this picture and stood her against the bed. While she can't get herself completely up to standing position by herself, she is almost there. How is she already to this point?

• We've been busy with more house repairs and vehicle repairs. I backed Vic's truck out of the driveway a couple weeks ago and hit the mirror on the side of the garage. I hate doing things like that!! I especially hated that moment because I was actually watching closely because I knew he was parked close to the side and I STILL hit it! That's $344 we will never get back. So. Mad. At. Myself. In addition to previous air conditioner repair, a/c condensation leak, drywall repair, and water pressure reducer replacement, Vic has also replaced some part to one of the toilets and also still has to clean or replace the sprayer on our kitchen sink. Goodness!
• I had a Stella and Dot jewelry party recently. It was a lot of fun, but nicest of all, the stylist, Sharon brought her 2 1/2 year old, Arleigh, to play with Atticus. Sharon and Vic played together when they were little kids and their parents are still good friends.

• I'm teaching 2-3 year old Sunday School now. There are only two regular kids in the class, including Atticus. But, we decided that they were too young for the 4-5 year old class, so I offered to teach. Today was the first day and our lesson was the parable of the Wedding Banquet. Well, last night I told Atticus that at Sunday School the next morning we were going to go to God's party and eat muffins, etc. This morning, he was awake at 7am and quietly, after realizing we were waking up, climbed into our bed and told us was ready for "dod's pawty to eat muvits". Clearly, waiting for this morning to get here was very exciting because he also didn't fall asleep until 10 pm last night!
• Atticus is loving time with Daddy right now. The past couple of weeks he just squeals when Vic gets home and is so happy to see him. He always loves to see Vic, but I think he is starting to really realize that he is with me all day long and that Vic is not there. So, this past Friday, he and Vic had a little boys night after dinner. I thought it was going to be a family night, but according to Atticus, it was for only him and Vic. I had promised him that after dinner that night, we would all go to the park together. So, after dinner and telling us he was "veddy go!", he gave Grace and I kisses and hugs and then told us "mama dace tay vight heah". He and Vic were headed to the park without us! Of course, when they came back, I heard about his night. He and Vic had gone to the park to play in the rocks with their shovels and toys, gone to get Daddy a haircut, and then gotten frozen yogurt at Spoons. Upon their return, he ran in to the house so excited to bring me a bowl of yogurt with strawberries. Then, he showed me his bowl filled with marshmallows, m&ms, gummy worms and a little bit of yogurt. He also has only wanted Vic to read to him or tell stories when Vic is home but he loves his daddy so much and his daddy is so creative and fun!
• Atticus is talking a lot more each and every day. A few of his current phrases that I love:
• "how does dis wuks?" when checking out something new.
• "happy hayoween!!"
• "mama yay down take yiyull nap" - he is always trying to get me to nap with him
• "move mama! dough!" when we are driving; he never wants me to stop the car although I explain to him that we have to stop at red lights and go on green lights. So, then he tells me to "dough mama deen yight!"
• "attis be nice" after I get onto him when he has done something he shouldn't.
• "wheh all duh people?" when we had to run up to the church a couple weekdays this week.
• "dace vake; attis make dace yaugh" each morning when he hears her in her room and he loves to go in and see her when she gets up.
• "siyyey guy" about random people or toys that he thinks are being silly.
• And, lastly, I am trying to learn how to be a good mom to Atticus as he goes through toddlerhood. As much as we change his schedule and tote him around and expect him to be good with every family gathering or event, he is flexible and goes with the flow and really is a good boy. And unless he is not getting his way and just can't take it, he doesn't do a lot of fit throwing. But, he is also testing lots of boundaries regarding hitting, kicking, and throwing things. He is funny about it; he rarely just walks up to hit or kick, but will run by you really fast with his hands out or he will sit on the floor and kick his legs back and forth until he gets close enough to touch you. He will usually look at me while he is doing it just to see what I will do. Sometimes I ignore it, but sometimes he does it to Grace and she is just still too little to put up with too much of that. When I do get onto him, he just growls at me which is so strange but I think it's his way of expressing himself? And, of course, we are always working on sharing during church or play dates. He also wants me to play with him all of the time. Now, I know that he will not want this forever and I want to play with him as much as possible. But, I also want him to learn to play on his own. Plus, when I am not playing with him, he tends to start the hitting, kicking, throwing as if he is very bored. So, then I'm getting onto him and he is in trouble and I'm thinking that if he would just go play for a little while until I can play again, he wouldn't be in trouble. He also is getting to that stage where I am wondering if he needs a nap. I LOVE naps because when they nap for a couple of hours, I can do things around the house. But, recently, he takes a long time to get tired enough for a nap or he will finally play in his room for awhile instead of napping after I've closed his door for his naptime. He also has so much energy! My goal each day is always to help him exert as much energy as possible in the mornings with park, playing, children's museum, activities, etc. so he will nap well. But, lately, I can't seem to wear him out. So, then if he does finally nap at 3:00, he wakes up groggy at 5 or later but then gets a burst of energy and wants to be up until 10:00. So, I may try the "no nap" schedule this week and see if we can get back to an 8:00 bedtime. Other than that, I am just trying to balance teaching him to be kind and letting him be a normal little boy who is wild and wants to play rough...while also deciding what works best for what moment for discipline - timeouts, spankings, nose in the corner, taking things away, etc. And don't get me wrong - we have wonderful days together. He is funny and methodical and loves to read and play and run and giggle. I really don't have complaints but I just want to get it right as the mama!

That is us in a nutshell for the last few weeks!