The Kiddos

I probably should be blogging about other things... you know like Thanksgiving and whatnot, but today I want to do an update on my kids. I rarely do this anymore and I feel like I am forgetting so much. 

The Xavi Boy:

20 months old and 26 lbs. He by no means is a fatty but he is definitely solid. He is build just like his Papa Cowley and his dad likes to say that his legs are only 3 inches long... in reality they are probably closer to 10 ;) He can bend over and put his head directly on the ground without bending his knees or spreading his legs apart. 

The kid is a joy. Seriously... SO MUCH FUN. He loves to tease and giggles at himself quite often. He especially thinks its funny to pass gas (boy??) and always follows it by saying "toot" and then laughing his head off. He tries to be patient with his sister... actually he adores her but she is bossy and controlling and sometimes he has to put his foot down... Which equals screaming at the top of his lungs.

He loves Pooh Bear and his love for Pooh has translated in to a love for stuffed bears in general. Most of the time you can find him carrying some sort of stuffed animal around.

He thinks that Mickey Mouse is a monkey, not a mouse and makes monkey noises every time he sees him. Mickey is now referred to as Mickey Monkey at our house and is greatly loved.

Pep loves his puppies... or just any puppy (or dog) for that matter. Actually I don't think there is an animal he doesn't love. And of course he has all the animal noises mastered and speaks to them in their own language.

Papa is close in the running as to who Peps favorite person is. Every time we make the trip up to visit he yells "PAPA!!" as soon as he sees their house.

He eats green beans and peas by the pound and of course loves marshmallows.  He also LOVES soy beans (just like his sister) 

He is becoming quite the talker. In fact he talks ALL the time. The problem is that a lot of what he says has to be translated by either AnDee or I. It makes perfect sense to us but apparently other people don't understand it. Its ok though. I kind of like that I get to be his translator.

He is a neat freak. Not kidding the kid is always cleaning. He runs around the house picking things up and saying "away" (put away) over and over. 

He loves trains and airplanes and Christmas lights and also enjoys carrying dads tools around. He is still addicted to the bottle but Im not ready to fight that battle so he is going to stay addicted until well after the new baby is born. It sure makes it easy to put him to bed though. Just hand him his bottle and tell him to go to bed and he does. End of story. He naps about 3 hours a day and sleeps about 11 hours a night. 

He is extremely observant. Definitely isn't a kid that just dives in to things without thinking. He loves to watch others do it and learn from them before he tries whatever it is. It is so fun to watch him, you can just see his little mind going crazy figuring things out.

He isn't a real fan of noise or crowds. He tends to hide when there is too much going on for him. But he comes by that honestly since both of his parents do the same thing. So at most family parties you will find our little family hiding outside or in a quiet room.

His favorite time of day is when he gets to watch his one cartoon a day. Not because he gets to watch T.V. but because he gets to watch Avatar with dad. 

Bath time is a close rival for favorite time of day. I cant get him out of the tub half the time. I usually end up pulling the plug and letting all the water drain until he is laying on the bottom of the empty tun, freezing... and then I still have to drag him, kicking and screaming, out of the tub.

I love this kid more than words can express. I love to cuddle with him and hold him. Im soaking up those things cause I know its just a matter of time before he grows out of it. He is already so independent and wants to run everywhere and do everything by himself. I wish he would just slow down a little. I love this stage and will be sad when he grows out of it.

The Buggy Girl:

Oh man, this girl is a hoot. She is so darn funny and just completely entertaining. Her vocabulary makes the things she says even more funny. It just seems so odd to hear a three year old say things like "impressive" on a regular basis.

She is the biggest helper in the whole world. Seriously... she will do ANYTHING for you as long as you make it sound like she is helping you out. 

She is just like the rest of us and hides when things get too crazy. She loves to play with other kids but doesn't really like big groups. (kids tend to fight a lot when they are in groups and this upsets her) She would much rather play one on one or with just 2 or maybe 3 friends (3 is pushing it) It scares her when kids fight and I hear her tell other kids to "just settle down" or "relax" on a regular basis.

She is still quite the little dancer and has completely mastered the cartwheel. Seriously... straight legs, straight arms, the whole deal. Its scary how physically capable she is. 

We have kept her out of any classes (gymnastics, dance, even preschool) because we haven't been sure about the whole moving-to-texas thing (which we aren't, by the way. No Texas for us... at least not for the time being. Now the question in the air is about a possible move to Vancouver. This is all fun and whatnot but Im starting to feel like my life is always up in the air. Im just ready for some answers) and I think its driving her mad. She needs a way to channel some of her energy. Unfortunately she doesn't have a lot of options in the friend category where we live and it is causing her to miss her cousins like crazy.

Mom has been slacking on the preschool thing (of course I am, I slack on most everything) but lucky for me this little girl is a smarty pants. She loves to point out her ABC's everywhere she goes... billboards, street signs, menus ect. She has become quite the artist. She loves loves loves to draw and paint and she is really quite good. Much better than I ever was but that really isn't saying much.

She is SO excited for the new baby and is COMPLETELY convinced its a girl (of course) I actually brought her to tears a few days ago when I suggested it might be a boy. Im afraid of what might happen if it does come out a boy. We may have to send him back ;) Apparently we already have a boy (Pep) and we don't need another one, we need a girl. If you argue that we already have a girl cause she is a girl, she simply replies that she is not a girl, is is a big sister! (duh) She has also named the baby. Its name is Pokey. No discussions on this one. 

Unlike her brother she is built like a Naugle. Tall and skinny (and lucky) She is too tall for 4t pants but only weighs about 35 pounds and is only 3 and 1/2. Im not sure how to dress her without her looking a little shabby in some way. Either her pants are way too short or way too big in the waist... those are my options right now. 

She is a drama queen through and through. Sometimes it drives me totally crazy. I cannot stand the dramatics when it comes to trying to get her way. Makes me want to beat her! ;) luckily she is dramatic most of the time (not just when trying to manipulate) so sometimes the drama is genuinely funny.

She really is a very good big sister, even if she is bossy, and really does help take care of her brother and watches out for him when they are playing. She is super protective of him still, which makes me happy. I hope they always look out for each other.

The Christmas thing is super exciting for her this year. She helped me put up our tree (even though we had the flu at the time and I seriously thought the exertion of that much energy was going to kill me.) and put all the ornaments on. She did a pretty good job hanging the ornaments but she can only reach so high so our tree was a little heavy on the bottom for a while. 

We are really trying to keep our focus on Christ throughout the season this year. It really shouldn't be too hard. The girl LOVES Jesus. If you want to upset her just tell her that her choices would make Heavenly Father or Jesus sad. Breaks. Her. Heart. I try not to say it very often cause it really upsets her. She is the kid that always reminds everyone when we have forgotten to say a prayer (even when we are in other peoples homes) and then promptly volunteers to say it. This makes me feel like Im doing something right... or maybe Im just super lucky to have such a good kid?

She really is a good kid too. She does her chores every morning and helps with anything I ask her to do. Of course we run in to a few things she doesn't want to do but it doesn't take a whole lot of convincing to get her on board. She is positive and happy and just fun to be around. The only time we ever struggle with her behavior is when she spends a lot of time with Grandparents or Aunt Gayle or anyone she knows she can push around. Then she comes home and tries to do it to mom and dad and it doesn't go over well. We cant blame the grandparents though, thats their job right? To spoil them and then send them home. Hopefully one day she will just realize that bossy and whiney isn't the way to go but until then we will continue to fight that small battle.

She is still a great napper. Most days she naps for about 2-3 hours. A lot of people seem to think its odd that I still make my 3 and 1/2 year old nap. Well guess what? She is happy and healthy and in all honestly she likes her naps. More often than not she asks for a nap. We will do naps until she is 10 if it makes her a happier kid. (Im not sure why Im being angry about this.... just lay off me alright?) Plus she sleeps better at night if she takes a good nap and so... in my opinion... naps are the best thing ever.

The girl is my best bud. I don't know what I would do without her and I cant remember what I did before her. I love being a mom. I was telling Andrew the other day that I didn't understand why women make motherhood seems so miserable. All the women that complain about how their husbands get to go to work and they "have to just stay home with the kids all day"... I don't get it. Im not saying its necessarily wrong or that they should feel bad for thinking that way, Im just saying that I don't understand it. Don't get me wrong, being a mom is hard. Really hard on some occasions and some days I cry a lot. But I am not living to get through raising my kids. I am living TO raise me kids. I cant be away from them for more than 20 min (literally) without missing them. Im so grateful for a Heavenly Father that has a plan for eternal families. I don't know if I could stand living an eternity without my children. They are everything to me, along with their dad of course. Im SO lucky to have them and SO lucky to have my faith.