So this was written in Sept and never published. Whoops... so much has already changed which is even more of a reason to post this and not forget/delete it!
I love that saying, "mommin aint easy"... I want a T-shirt. It is so true. I love when a mom posts Instagram pictures of their epic mom failure or crazy, unruly children doing something unbelievable and the house that is all out of sorts. So much of the time on social media we only post the posed, beautiful moments but it's not real life. Most of our days as moms are very messy, ugly, hard, disgusting and challenging.. not beautiful, but equally as important moments and learning opportunities (for all of us).
This post is more of a reminder for us about life right now. We are so happy, and stressed, and tired that life sometimes seems monotonous and mundane, but our days are filled with so much that I want to remember all the good things. I love these kids so much it hurts. I never want us to forget these moments.
My kids are about to turn 2 and 4. Hard to believe. There is a lot of yelling, fighting, throwing, chasing, teasing, tantrums and frustration in our house today. Of course, there is also a lot of playing, laughter, cleaning, dancing, singing and imagination going on too. Their relationship is so special to watch evolve. The age gap is closing as they get older and they really are the best of friends. Trenton is the greatest protector of his little sister, and her worst enemy. He knows he so well that he can manipulate, tease and push her buttons to no end. It drives us nuts but is totally normal sibling rivalry. They have funny conversations. He tries to teach her things and she responds with the only words she knows how "WHAT? ya! What? ok.". They are so creative and imaginative.. especially together. Having two kids is double the disaster and double the fun. It still amazes me how long it takes to get us all ready, pack the car and get out the door in the morning, even after having it down to an art.
Trenton is in his second year of pre-school, in the dolphin class. He has a whole possy of boys that he has graduated from summer school each year and through the school years with. They are a handful but sure love one another. His teachers, the saints that they are, just adore him. He does devotional, chapel, spanish.. you name it. It is such a great experience and so neat to watch a child develop academically and socially. We aren't sure what to do with him next year because most of his friends in his class are a whole year older then him so they will be moving onto kindergarten next year. He is in the pre-k class with them this year so we can't advance any further at this school before kindergarten. Our options are to keep him in the dolphin class at church again next year or do a pre/T-K at a public school in our town. However, the school he would attend for kindergarten doesn't have a T-K so we would have to go to a third school which doesn't make me happy. We will also apply to get him into a charter school, which he could attend through middle school. It will be interesting to see what next year will bring. We would love to establish roots but again, not sure if we will live in Mission Viejo for much longer since we don't feel this is our 20 year home/location.
Trenton blows our mind with his observations, social confidence, creativity, love for Jesus and his family. He is one special boy, but aren't they all :) Many strangers that meet and converse with him think he will be on CNN or be some sort of social figure/tv personality. He also has the negotiation skills and smarts to be an attorney. He is so funny and over the top. He still gets counted (thats 1!), and time-outs multiple times of day. Mostly for being rough with his sister or not listening. Then he melts our hearts each night as he bows his head to pray in his sweet voice at night for dinner or in bed. His prayers usually go something like this "Dear Jesus, thank you for our blessings, for daddy working hard, for our life and our family. I love everyone. thank you for our food. Amen". It used to include "and for shoot-guns and swords" too but we grew out of that one thank goodness. He loves to sing "i llike to be with my family" and says "mom, dad, i love you" constantly throughout the day. Speaking of 'our food'.. the kid is still impossible to feed. We are convinced he doesn't need food to survive. He has ovaltine for breakfast each morning, then fruit or smoothies throughout the day. He currently loves all fruit, carrots, frozen bananas ( i know, wierd), or smoothie/juice popcicles, pizza, chicken nuggets occasionally, noodles, broccoli and corn on the cobb. Will still not eat eggs, most meat, or beans. I've learned that he gets plenty of protein in his veggies and milk but it is still so weird to us the way he lives an extremely active lifestyle without eating much. he drinks so much milk, chocolate milk. Both kids.. we go through 2 gallons of milk in 3-4 days. That said, he will ALWAYS eat any kind of treat. My mom says she feels like an italian grandma with him becuase she is constantly trying to shove food in his mouth. He still takes a nap with tayt each day around noon or 1. He still really needs it as much as he doesn't want to admit it most days. If he sleeps with us, he ALWAYS has his feet on us. Since the moment he learned how to control his legs as a baby he has kicked and put his feet on us in bed. It drives Shaun nuts when he drives his feet in his back but i remind him its his way of being close, and loving us. We don't get as much cuddling out of him these days but he loves to be touching in someway, hurting us or not, i'll take it for now :) He is currently in the super hero phase. Everything is a weapon used to save the day or the world. He fights 'bad guys' so much that it became one of Tayt's first phrases. He loves remote control cars, super hero costumes, hunting for bugs, cutting playdough, helping in the kitchen, going to the beach, the pool, hotels, walks, scootering, digging in the dirt, climbing our hill, taking the couch apart and jumping on it, Dave and Busters games, sports of all kinds (mainly fishing, golfing and soccer) and running... everywhere. The kid is so fast and athletic. I can't keep up.
On the other hand, we have our little girl. She is a nurturing, sweet, little lady. She loves purses, baby dolls, strollers, books, cooking, her playhouse, the beach, water, anything her brother is doing and her baba. Yes she still drinks her cold milk out of a bottle. I figure its the least of my worries. She will drink it out of anything but prefers her bottle so what the heck. She is a much better eater in the sense that she will try most anything. However, she does not love eggs or meat much either. Her current fav is "noonles" or noodles with butter. She loves to paint, swing, baths, talking, getting ready with mommy (makeup, hair), painting her nails and all girly stuff but also doesn't shy away from diggin in the dirt or grabbing bugs with her brother. She has a big personality as well and can throw a mean tantrum. They are mostly silent though, throwing herself on the floor of wherever we are and laying silently refusing to go, unless her brother is taking something from her and she screams bloody murder and swings on him. She is much more obedient then Trenton was at this age but i can see a little spite brewing as she gets older. Most of the time she will answer "ok, mama" and do what i say which is so refreshing. She is very social like trenton as well. Talks to every passer-by. She fills her sentenes with a funny sound, best described as the sound the letter C makes. Something like this "mom! C, C, C spidurs erewhere, C ,C C"... that was 'spiders everywhere'. haha. I remember Trenton having some funny speech fillers too which drove me nuts but went away as he learned new words. Tayt finally loves Sunday School which is a huugee win for me. Shaun works on Sundays so i take the kids to church and it made it very difficult for me to be alone and have her refuse or scream her head off in sunday school. Most sundays i would be called in to get her or would sit outside and watch the sermon on a screen while she roamed the halls. Now, the two of them play together in Sunday school and enjoy it which is a beautiful thing. Then, after church we nap then go to GiGi and Pop-pops for Sunday Funday with Shaun. Wednesdays is their GiGi day so i can get some work/housework/errands done. It is so helpful and good for my mental health :) Tayt still doenst have much hair, although its growing, but we still feel like she is so much younger then she is. I think every baby of the family is viewed that way too, but she is not so little anymore. She is a walking, talking little woman. She has grown so fast and it is so much fun so see my best friend for life grow to be her own little person, yet so much like me. Naturally, she mimics everything I do, and is my little mini me. That is a neat experience, so different from watching my other little mini-shaun grow. Shaun feels the same way about Trenton so it is fun for us to each watch little versions of ourselves grow and develop in this world and life we have created.
This is a good life. A crazy, messy, LOUD life but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's already nuts so why not throw in one more while we are at it, right? Stay tuned for the next post about adding to our family!
xo, momma T
