Yes, it has been almost a year since I have written. Nothing much has happened. LOL! Just kidding. A LOT has been going on and quite frankly I have just had more important things to do. So, here is what has happened.
Ashlyn is now 2.5 yrs old. At her last checkup on Feb. 4, 2013, when was 34.8" tall (75%) and 27lbs (50%). Her nickname is "Goat." Because she will eat anything and climbs fearlessly on everything. She is suffering a mild sprained ankle thanks to a dive off the slide on the swing set! And she is just now breaking her last set of molars before her 6yr molars come in.
This summer she has gone through a marked growth spurt. Not only her body but her cognitive/behavior skills as well. She was always a very laid back kid but now she adamantly fights for her place in the pecking order of the household. She can and will do everything her big sister does. She is still very clingy and extremely jealous anytime I show affection to Taylor. "That's MY MOMMA!" she'll say. I quickly correct her but she doesn't listen. And she will not hesitate to correct anyone who calls her "baby." She remarks, "I"m NOT a baby anymoora." LOL!
One thing that is very interesting to me is that loud noises scare her. In fact, she just scares easily, period. If she is next to me and I call out for something, it will scare her and she cries. What makes this quirk so annoying is that we live in the flight path of the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point where the famed HARRIER trains. To this day, it is the loudest aircraft EVER. Oh, and the train tracks are right behind the house, too! LOL! Ah, the joys of city life.
And Taylor, sweet 'ole Taylor. She just went for her 4yr checkup 2 months ago and she was 43.1" tall (101%) and 50lbs (101%). Yes, my kid is off the charts! Her peditrician said she was the size of a 7yr old which makes sense because I am buying her size 7's & 8's for the fall school year. She's in PRE-K! LOL! She is getting her 6yr molars in now and complains a little about it but not much.
As most of you know, she has just about killed us. Not only is she smart has a whip, she has behavior issues that make me want to slit my own throat! I have taken her for behavior counciling 3 times and each time her doctor says SOOOoooo non-chalanty, "Oh, ha ha ha, she's just a strong-willed child! She'll be fiiiiine!" HA! Goes to show you what he knows. The whole time I'm sitting there bitting my lips thinking, "She ain't gonna be fine! I'M GONNA KILL HER! Or she's gonna kill me, or something. Either way, there is no way on earth we are both making it out alive!" But as God promises, He does work all things to the good of those who love him. I just found out today that she as been accepted to a "hands-on" Pre-K program where she can go for free because it is funded through a grant from the state AND she'll get to ride the bus just for Pre-K kids only. This facility is amazing. It is geared towards children who need help with social and behavioral issues but the also accept "typical" children to balance out the class. There are 12 kids to 1 teacher and they will teach her how to manage her "hard to deal with" temperamental traits such as: low adaptability, intensity, distractibility, and low sensory thresholds. She is a frustratingly picky eater. She craves sweets and the TV like she's never gonna have them again, ever. She is not potty trained and she turned 4 two months ago. (Ashlyn is already trained.) Right now these aren't "diagnosable" type traits but they make for a difficult child. My favorite book, "The Difficult Child" calls these types of children "Mother Killers" and they certainly are. What makes it all so much worse is that I have no support system (family close by). Well, we do have very good friends at church that will watch the girls on occasion but its not the same as that family support system that I consider so valuable to your sanity as a mother.
Both of the girls are so beautiful and stepping back from the monotony of my day-to-day trials, I am so blessed to be the mother of these two amazing and inspiring children. The play so well together which was one of my major concerns. They are also both in swim lessons for two weeks this summer and Taylor will be swimming by the end of the week and Ashlyn (aka. Bitty) will go under but hates it. Since she is so clingy we are doing a mommy-n-me class but Taylor is almost swimming on her own. It was so crazy. Last Thursday she was crying with so much anxiety because she did not want to go under. But about 5 minutes before we left to for our lessons she just completely changed her mind. She said, "If I wanna be a life guard like Daddy I have to swim underwater so I am going to do it!" Well, alright Sister, you do it! And, just like that, she did. That was the 5th proudest day of my life. My marriage, my girls, my salvation, and Taylor swimming!~ I cried the whole lesson!!!! It was great!
Brodie and are hanging in there. We are so tired all the time, but who isn't these days? This is our last year here in North Carolina, which I am very sad about. I love it here. We have a great church family and you cannot beat the weather. There is a very tiny chance we could stay here for 3 more years after next summer but I highly doubt it. Brodie is in the process of trying to decide if he wants to stay on the Warrant Officer ladder or move over to the Lieutenant ladder which goes up a lot higher than the one he's on now. I know he'll choose Lt. but for now I am just being the good wife and saying "Yes Dear and I understand honey" every time he talks about "all" the reasons he should stay where he is. He's so predictable! (wink).
Well hopefully this gets me back on track to updating my family blog for those very few of you who actually read this stuff. Also, since Taylor is starting school full time in the fall I will have a lot more time to actually sit down and do this since Ashlyn still takes naps.
See you soon! R
