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Visiting Santa? Check.
When Santa asked Sennah what she wanted for Christmas she quietly requested a "mommy monkey" for the pink baby monkey I bought her for her birthday. Last year she just picked her nose while sitting on his lap, so I felt like shouting out with GLEE at this years Santa experience.
Dutch was fascinated with his beard and his white-gloved hand.
I was ecstatic that they didn't scream out in terror to get away from him.
We went on a Turkey day walk to help work up our appetites ( :
(Furry hoods are full of fun-times)
Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday! If you live in Utah (or DC)...then, rest assured, we missed the dickens out of ya.
We celebrated Sen's 3rd birthday on November 12th in McCall Idaho. It was really nice. Thank you Stef & Chad!
Kris experienced a LOT of lower back strain that day, but Sennah was the happiest clam that the McCall ice-skating rink had ever laid eyes upon.
And finally, his back could not take it anymore....
She loved it. I was SO happy. I thought she would loathe everything about the skates and how tight we had to tie them and how that meant possible discomfort for her. But, no, she took off and didn't want to stop.
Look how pleased as punch I am about the state of affairs. This was after she had been doing it for a while and requested to go back out.
For her birthday I would like to document the current top three things about Sennah that I find extremely endearing.
#1-This is Spaceman. He replaced Elmo as best friend and favorite toy. During playtime Sennah ALWAYS makes him the good guy. I bought her the cutest pink monkey for her birthday that I was certain would replace Spaceman. But no, I couldn't have been more mistaken. Spaceman still reigns supreme as favorite toy. I am still trying to figure out why?
But I like this about her. She likes robot, snake, and dinosaur toys. In fact, for an entire day she carried around a long piece of spearmint floss that she called her snake-boy. And it entertained her for the ENTIRE day. I would rather find this fun and quirky than not girly enough.
#2- She loves Dutch SO much. (Not enough to share her toys with him-but we are working on it). To her, he is Dutch-a-roozer (I suspect she doesn't realize that his name is just Dutch). A while ago I told her it was our responsibility to teach Dutch about everything cause he is so little and needs us. Since then I will often hear her say to him, "I have to teach you about things Dutch-cause you're a baby."
She makes him laugh a lot...and when she leaves a room sometimes he will cry until he sees her come in again. I am certain this will change as he realizes she is the one person that takes away all the toys Mom gave him to play with, but, until then, I think its the sweetest thing.
I want them to be friends.
Their mutual distaste for making snow angels is a sure-fire way to start a long-lasting sibling friendship, don't you think?
3- I really love her imagination. From feeding her imaginary robot friends to spontaneously holding her hand to her ear and using it as a cell phone--there is always something new she does to chuckle at. She uses a high-pitched squeaky voice when she is pretending to be someone else, which is both cute and a little thorny to the ear drums. It makes me laugh.
A couple weeks ago in gymnastics the teacher used a beanbag in one of the bar exercises. As soon as she was done using it, she tossed it on the ground next to Sennah. I noticed that Sen immediately started talking to it and playing with it like it was a little friend. She was totally distracted by it for the rest of class and threw a fit when she realized it was something we would need to leave behind. She is very resourceful when it come to toys. I love that.
I love her. Even when we lock horns--she still reigns supreme as my baby girl.
(She loved that tattoo and would FLIP OUT whenever it would get wet in the tub cause she overheard me saying it would eventually come off in the tub--another reminder to watch what I say in front of her!!)
Whenever we get into a disagreement or when she is coming down from a tantrum and wants to make things right, she will look at me with a sad face, offer me her hand, and say, "Friends, mom?" this instantly melts me down.
"Always friends sis"--I respond. And that will be my response til' the end of my days.
I like to make friends that will last and since she is a lot like me--I have a feeling we will all be friends forever.
And Dutch too...
Sometimes I feel like I really suck as a Mom. (Very positive way to start my post, right?)
In my defense, though, there are SOOOOOO many expectations one may feel they have to meet during this whole motherhood journey and it gets overwhelming at times.
For example:
-Don't let your child watch more than 2 hrs of television per day.
-Teach them to pray, be kind to others, and recognize Jesus.
-Teach them to share, say "please" and "thank you", and respect all adults.
-Teach them the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors....and don't forget the fun songs and rhymes.
-Spend time reading to them, talking to them, playing play-doh and painting with them. Cultivate their imaginations and their individuality.
-Don't yell at them because they are REALLY quick to imitate all your behavior--so if you yell, they will too. (I know this first-hand...and I wish to high-heaven that I wasn't a yeller).
-Ignore them when they are throwing a tantrum.....no, take them out of the place where they are throwing the tantrum.....no, try to talk to them and settle them down.....the possibilities are endless really. You always hear the phrase "it just depends on the child"
-Biting is bad, Hitting is bad, Not sharing is bad....teach them all of these things, and make sure you teach them well because they need to socialize afterall.
-Mean what you say when you say it at ALL times, cause if you don't they will take advantage of that.
-Make sure they brush and floss and know how important it is to wash hands after potty too.
OH.MY.WORD!!!!!!!!! I had no idea. NO IDEA!!! Because the list above is only a tiny portion of all the responsibilities involved.
Kids get older. They get fizzier. And you look at them sometimes and think "where did my sweet baby go?"
I guess you could say that I have hit a rough patch with parenting. It's a big old patch that I am trying to navigate with patience and resilience.
And most of all LOVE.
In church last Sunday a sweet grandma remarked how she wished she would not have taken herself so serious as a younger mother. She wished she would have enjoyed it more. That resonated with me in such a piercing way.
How can I make sure I am enjoying all of these moments....even though there are times when I feel like poking forks into my eyes?
Words can do no justice in describing how much I love being a Mom. I feel so incredibly lucky to have two, healthy, happy kids. They bring me so much joy.
I just don't want to ruin them.
I want to teach them all the good things....and have them forget all the moments where I really suck.
It's hard being an imperfect person hoping to raise perfect children. (I didn't come up with that line-I read it on a different blog but found it to be true to how I am feeling at present).
The truth of the matter is: I have in my daughter a little version of me. And I have to look that in the face, and take it on every single day. And I am not easy. I never was. Add some Kris Powell to that mix and we've got a force to be reckoned with.
And that is why my Mom had to give me pastel mini marshmallows whenever I made good choices.
I rarely got them. But I always felt loved and that's what I always remember. My Mom loved me.
I am just incredibly grateful that we can start every single day fresh, with no mistakes. That line is from Anne of Green Gables.....man, I wish I could come up with something original.
As long as she's democrat and I keep trying to do better I think we'll be okay.......( :
