Thoughts on 30: Who Was that Woman in the Pictures?

Eight years ago I was in full-on wedding preparation mode. With just a couple weeks left until our wedding, I got my first professional makeover. I walked out of Sephora with products I absolutely loved, new techniques I’d never heard of, and a lot less money in my bank account. As years went by, I finished grad school, started a new job, then eventually had two babies and became a stay at home mom. With so much going on, makeup (and hair and clothes) became a much lower priority and I stopped putting much thought into what I was buying and instead just grabbed whatever was quickest and cheapest. 

But then a weird thing started to happen. When I saw photos of myself, I would have this moment of surprise and disorientation almost every time because the image didn’t look like how I felt. Anyone ever had this moment? At the time, my kids were 3 and 1 and I hadn't taken much time for myself since starting our family. And the thing was, it wasn't that I was having a pity party over the way I looked. It was just that I would look at the photo of that moment, and I would remember exactly how I felt and what I was saying and doing, and those feelings were never frumpy or lost or forgotten like the way I often felt I looked. Inside I felt young and bright eyed and like my life was full of wonderful surprises and joys, and it was bizarre to feel like I didn't seen that in myself in a still shot.

So I decided to make a change. And hear me say this: I truly believe your physical body is not what defines you. Even at my most out of shape or least trendy, I was always witty and smart and kind and no amount of exterior change could take that away from me. But I also decided there was nothing wrong with enjoying the fun things that come along with being a girl. I was confident in who I was because I was confident in who made me, but now I was ready to look in the mirror and see the girl I felt like I was inside, the girl who had been lost while focusing on everyone else but herself.

So I got more serious about having a healthier diet and regular exercise. I went and got a new haircut and started researching makeup. I had no idea what contouring was or a beauty blender sponge or even what shade I should pick in anything. And it bears repeating, the hair and makeup were not what made me me, but I was having SO much fun learning and playing around with the options and doing something that was just for me.

I went back to the basics, and in this case, that meant a lot of Google research and Youtube videos (which is so fun, but you will get sucked in for DAYS watching those makeup tutorials). I wrote all about the products that were a part of my beauty evolution here, you can read it to see all the ones I love the very most. But most importantly, I realized this journey was only a little about the products and a lot about taking the time to invest in myself and the things I enjoyed. My makeup looks better now, but more importantly, when I see pictures of myself I see the joy and energy that I am experiencing at the time. The photos feel like me, like how I see myself.

So take heart, my friends! It's never too late to start over and it's never selfish to spend a little time on yourself.

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Compliment Worthy Crockpot Meals

Hey friends! I've started a new adventure writing some fun blogs for Aisle9, a website with tons of quick tips and fun articles, with some especially good stuff for women! I was writing down some of my compliment winning crockpot meals to give to a friend as a wedding gift, and decided that enough people asked me for the recipes it just made sense for it to be my first blog. So if you'd like to check it out, the link is below! I'll be posting more articles in the future on all kinds of topics, like hair and beauty, cooking, workouts, gift guides, decorating and crafts, parenting... the list goes on!

Stay tuned and take a peek!

Five Compliment Worthy Crockpot Recipes for Busy Moms

Photo via Damn Delicious

Haddie: 2016 wrap up

Dear Haddie,

At almost 3 years old...

• You weigh 33 pounds and are busting out of your 2T clothes. You are still petite, but you are getting too tall for most of your pants.
• You sleep from about 8:00pm-7:00am and take a two hour nap about half the days of the week
• Your favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, pickles, bananas, pizza, carrots, chips, and anything that you can dip (you love the "white sauce" *ranch* and salsa). You recently ate a bowlful of plain spinach, which was hysterical since you generally hate vegetables.
• You sing ALLLLL the time. When you wake up in the morning, I hear you singing in you crib and that's how I know you're awake
• You like singing so much you will pretend to know the words to songs you've never heard just so you can sing along
• You want to wear princess dresses all the time and have gotten much more picky about what kind of shoes or bows you wear
• Everywhere we go you take something with us. It's never the same thing, but you always need something by your side (today it was your piggy bank)
• You give REALLY good hugs. Like, squeeze your arms and legs around me and hold on super tight, hugs
• You're favorite Christmas present was the giant dollhouse you got and your favorite birthday presents were dress up dolls
• After months of being mortal enemies, you and Titus are now inseparable. It is not unusual for the two of you to go hang out upstairs for an hour while I'm cooking or cleaning
• You LOVED the Christmas lights. Every morning as soon as you got out of bed, you would march over to the tree and ask me to turn them on. You also loved driving around and looking at lights on houses
• You love going to school and walk into your classroom like a big girl
• At church you like to go sit with me and listen to the worship before going to the nursery
• You cry big tears really fast
• If you get scolded you will immediately burst into tears and you won't calm down until you're being held
• You love doing arts and crafts at school
• You are still in your crib and you love playing in it by yourself after naptime and in the morning
• You say you would like to potty like a big girl but when I actually try to get you on the potty you refuse.
• Your favorite show is My Little Pony but you also love Blaze and the Monster Machines, which is about monster trucks. You basically love whatever Titus loves.
• You still use a paci but only for naps and night time. Pacis stay in your crib.
• You get so excited to see Zi-Zi (Zion) and Connieee (Conner) when we go to school
• You don't have nearly as much interest in letters as Titus did at your age
• Your hair is still tinted red, but it looks much more blonde now. If your eyebrows weren't still reddish I might think you were turning into a permanent blonde!
• Because you are tall and Titus is short, we get asked about 4 times a week if you are twins
• You enjoy being the class clown. You love being silly and making people laugh. Right now, that's by replacing words in your favorites songs with the word poop ("twinkle twinkle little POOP"). We can thank your brother for teaching you that trick. 
• Sometimes I feel like you're talking to me like a grown up. You say phrases in the right context I didn't even realize you knew. It makes me giggle every time. 
• When Titus apologizes for hitting you he has to say, "I'm sorry for hitting you, do you forgive me?" But you never know how to respond, so he says, "say yes" and you do. Now when you want something, you try to pull that trick on me. "I have a popsicle, mommy? Say yes."
• You like to pat my tummy and say hi to the baby. You also pulled up daddy's shirt and patted his belly and said, "you have baby, too?"

Baby Love we are just thrilled with you! I can already tell you are going to be the goofy one in the family. You love making people laugh and you love laughing. Generally speaking, you are very laid back and enjoy doing whatever is the most fun. You are incredibly social (you make friends at the park all the time) and you love playing with anything you can cuddle or nurture (stuffed animals, dolls, plastic animals...). I have loved getting to watch your personality develop because I feel like you will be a lot like me (Grandma thinks so too). We love you so much, sweet girl!

Titus: 2016 Wrap Up

Dear Titus,
at almost 5 years old...

• You have hit a growth spurt and you have outgrown all your 3T jammies (finally!) You weight 38 pounds and are very proud of that fact.
• This growth spurt also means you have been eating A LOT. A typical day for you involves two waffles for breakfast, a full lunch, an early afternoon snack, an early dinner (tonight was two hot dogs and two PB&J sandwiches) and then usually another second dinner before you head off to bed.
• Your favorite shows are Transformers, Blaze and the Monster Machines and Sid the Science Kid
• You love all things legos right now (lego toys, lego movies, lego games)
• You and Haddie have been SO MUCH BETTER. We went through a month or two where you did nothing but fight and nitpick and scream at each other, it drove me absolutely crazy. But now, for the most part, you play so well together and are inseparable.
• Every night at bedtime you tell me, "but I'm just not sleepy! I can't sleep!" and then you fall asleep 3-5 minutes later
• You are all about the poop jokes right now. And by jokes, I mean saying things like "Is your hair made of POOP??" and then laughing at yourself. I told you that poop jokes are for boys and you can only make them with Daddy and your guy friends.
• You are finally starting to understand when we are teasing you instead of always taking everything so literal (although you are still 100% literal with everyone else besides Daddy and me).
• You are currently obsessed with "wrapping presents" which consists of taking hot wheels or marbles and wrapping them in toilet paper and taping them shut.
• Your emotional control has gotten much better although you still have multiple outbursts a day where you are redlining over small things (usually things that have a simple solution but you get upset before you think to ask for help)
• You say that Brooks is your best friend and Brooks said, "I'm basically a part of your family, we're like brothers" which is pretty darn cute
• You are asking for bunk beds so that friends can stay over. We'll have to wait and see if I'm ready for that...
• You still love school although you don't like any of the craft projects (you get very frustrated because you are such a concrete thinker. Drawing things frustrate you, I think part of this is because you are a perfectionist. So when you have to draw a person you get really upset because you think it doesn't look right)
• We say the phrase "if you don't have something kind to say, don't say anything at all" quite a bit. Your four year old attitude has kicked in ;)
• You love having Haddie follow you around. You make up all kinds of games and activities and she does almost anything you want
• Anytime you trip you yell, "I don't LIKE our new house!" even though you just fell because you lost your balance
• You are really into legos 
• Anytime a kid is doing something you don't like you yell, "NO MA'AM!" even if it's a boy
• You love watching daddy play football on the Xbox even though you don't really ever want to actually PLAY football.
• You still make a "d" sound instead of "th" (weather = wedder, another = anudder)
• You are obsessed with the weather and ask Siri for an update about a dozen times a day. 
• Every morning you wake up at 7 and are allowed to play with the iPad. Around 7:30, Haddie will start calling our, "Titus! Titus!" And you go down and crawl in her crib and play with her until I come in. 
• You ask permission all the time, even about things like taking your shoes off or jumping in a puddle. I love this about you! It's so respectful and sweet. However this does not apply when you are angry or frustrated and you could care less what I think ;)
• You say, "you know what I was thinking?" All the time, and then you pitch me an idea like getting donuts or playing gator golf. 
• We call you Captain Safety because you are ALL about everyone being safe and you keep us all in line

We love how different you and Haddie are, which also makes it really fun that you love to play together. She is girly and artistic and hates to be alone. You love building and drawing mazes and you need to have alone time during the day. But you still have the sweetest laugh and you are finding your own sense of humor and making a lot of silly jokes. I am really soaking up these days with both of you home because in eight more months you will start Kindergarten! I am so thankful for this time with you before you get so big. You were the first I ever rocked to sleep and you are still the last one I check on before going to bed every night (old habits die hard).

Haddie: Summer 2016

• You have hit a growth spurt and are catching up in height to Titus. People mistake you for twins pretty often
• Your favorite foods are... no food. You don't want to eat much of anything. Most of your meals consist of the same rotation of a few things: pickles, turkey, yogurt, goldfish, strawberries. You sometimes scarf down pizza, spaghetti, or french fries, and then other times you don't care for them at all. You will eat a little ice cream or other desserts, but not a lot.
• You really like to dance and you especially like it if we're dancing with you because you imitate our moves (it's hilarious)
• Most of this summer you spent in just a diaper or even naked. By noon you are usually wet, muddy or a combination of both
• You don't seem to miss school at all, but you do ask about "Si Si?" which is what you call Zion, your best friend in your class
• One of our friends said you have the highest, sweetest voice of any toddler she's met. It's so true, everything about your voice is ultra feminine!
• You have started going to bed later, like 8/8:30 and wake up around 7/7:30. You still take a great afternoon nap, usually 2 hours and sometimes as long as 3.5 hours.
• You are obsessed with other babies, although sometimes your affection is still too rough
• Your favorite toy right now is an old hand-me-down Finding Nemo or the stuffed cat you got from Grandmother
• You have started throwing a lot more fits. There are a lot of tears accompanied by melodramatic sobbing. These can go on for a looooonnnnng time and I am starting to get a picture of how 13 may look for you ;)
• You love playing in the stream at Gulley Park, your favorite part is throwing rocks in the water
• I have been trying to not give you the paci in the car (only in the crib) and you will wail from the backseat, "PAAAAA-CCCEEEEEEYYY" LIKE YOU ARE DYING. This is also hilarious to me
• Your play really well independently, but you also like to play with Titus a lot (when he's being nice to you)
• You love making animal noises and when we ask you what sound a Haddie makes you say, "Ah Hah-eeeee!" and pat your chest
• Your favorite shows are Little Einsteins, Rescue Bots (thank to Brother you're obsessed too) and Horton Hears a Who
• I hear you say frequently to your dolls/animals/pacis, "no ma'am!" which is clearly something you have been hearing a lot lately
• You have recently discovered Princess outfits/jewelry/shoes and walk around with a wand saying, "Princess time!"
• You say, "no ma'am!" all the time to Titus (you don't know "no sir!" is a thing). This is mostly because a) you hear that from me, and b) Titus says it to you A LOT
• When you wake up in the morning Titus usually brings you books and toys in your crib. This is one of your favorite things!
• You have recently started to not like bedtime very much (kicking and screaming when you are getting your jammies put on). Once we put you in the crib and leave the room you start to cry, but you always calm down almost immediately when we sing to you through the baby monitor.
• Titus recently developed a fear of thunder and after one particularly scary freak out, you became scared too. Now when I ask you if you want to go outside, you frequently say, "no tanks. It waining." (even though it never is)

You have started talking so much and I'm loving hearing you put 2-3 word sentences together. When you are throwing a fit I will ask you to use your words and you usually say, "that." Which isn't super helpful but eventually you usually explain what I need to know. When we went to the beach this summer you were a little nervous about the water, but it didn't take much to convince you it would be a good time. You liked to go out past the waves with me and just lay back with your floaties, cross your ankles, and close your eyes while you floated in the sun. This pretty much sums you up: laid back, fun loving, adventurous, a big time momma's girl, and a casual lounger. We love you, sweet girl!

Haddie: 2 year update

Dear Haddie,

At 2 years old...

• You weigh 26 pounds, are 33 inches tall and wear 2T clothes (sometime still 18-24m because you're very petite)
• Your favorite foods are cheese, crackers, pizza, pepperoni, baby food pouches, bananas, waffles, cheerios, yogurt, fruit gummies, and carbs.
• If you see me with a Coke you whiiiiiiiine and whine and whine until I share with you
• You don't run, you prance. Sometimes I call you Fancy Prancy.
• You are finally doing better about dropoffs, you only cry occasionally at church or school
• You sleep like a teenager. You have been sleeping from 7:30-8ish and take a 2+ hour nap ever day. 
• you get VERY jealous when I'm holding anyone else, including your brother. If you're on my lap and he tries to join us you push him off 
• You are finally leaving your ponytail/pigtails in, yay! For a few hours at least, and then you pull them out
• You don't like for me to mess with your accessories. Coats and shoes must be left on at all times (including at school)
• You walked around the house drinking out of your sippy cup and spitting it on the floor. It is so gross but you think its hilarious. You also like to dump your yogurt shake on the table which earned you your first (and only) real spanking 
• You are pretty athletic. Not only are you not scared of many things at the playground, but you seem to run/climb/slide pretty easily!
• You love babies and point them out wherever we go, but you pronounce it like the French word, Bebe, which is so adorable
• You love finding my lip gloss or Chapstick so you can pucker up while and have me put it on you
• You only get your pacifier for sleep or the car and as long as you don't realize I took it away, it doesn't usually seem to bother you
• Your favorite toy is the water table outside
• If you find dog poop in the yard you will squish it in your hands (GROSS)
• You carry a purse around with all your treasure in it (usually a pacifier, lego baby, and a cell phone)
• Brother picks on you sometimes, but you've learned how to milk it. Even if he barely or accidentally runs into you, you start whining like he hurt you really bad
• You are in a real "mommy's girl" stage. You only want me to hold you and you cry if I even put you in the carseat and don't climb into the driver's seat immediately

Sometimes I just look at your Daddy and say, "look how adorable Haddie is! I just can't get over it!" But it's true, your sweet little dimple and big blue eyes frequently catch me off guard when I see you smiling at me in the rearview mirror. Grandma Susie says you like to "keep us busy" which is a sweet way of saying you are into everything! Which is true :) But that is one of my favorite things about you, how adventurous you are. It's pretty rare to find you a) bored or b) afraid to try something out. You will follow Titus around and do everything he does and more! And if you fall down, you usually just get back up and keep going. Plus you are very easygoing and rarely get demanding (unless you want your pacifier, then you are ruthless), so for the most part, not much seems to bother you. We love you to the moon and back, baby love!

Haddie Mae: 1.5 years old

Dear Haddie,
At 1.5 years old...

• You weigh 23 pounds and are in the 25th percentile for height (up from 15!) and in the 50th for weight. Bigger than brother was at this age! But still a little thing :)
• You wear size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes (still 12m in pants)
• You sleep from about 7:30pm-6:45am and take one nap at 1pm (usually 2 hours). For the most part you are easy to put down and fall right to sleep
• You love condiments and dipping, you get really mad if we eat chips and salsa but don't offer you any salsa
• You are very adventurous! Not much phases you when it comes to climbing, sliding, or any other playground activity. You will climb up tall slides that Titus won't even go down and just go for it without even blinking!
• You HATE having your teeth brushed
• You love waving at strangers, but you don't really want anyone to talk to you. Such a flirt!
• You call your pacifier your "ba" and you like to carry around 2-3 at any given time. You also go to sleep with one in your mouth and one in your hand (plus a couple more in the crib!). Generally, we are trying to keep the pacis to bedtime, sick days, or car rides.
• One of your favorite activities right now is opening drawers and pulling things out. You like stacking cups, emptying toy bins, playing in my makeup drawer. Anything you can explore, you will!
• You love playing in the backyard and especially love the slide we have. You also recently learned how to jump on the trampoline
• You have started saying so many words! Cat, dog, Bosco, momma, dada, bubba, Nanay, Mimmy, Mamaw, mine, more, down, please, thank you, moo, ROAR!, wheee!, uh-oh, bye bye, hello...
• You started going to Mother's Day Out two mornings a week so I can work on Etsy orders and they say you have a great time! Sometimes you get upset when I drop you off, but you are always playing and happy when I pick you up
• You walk around "talking" on my cell phone saying the cutest little gibberish
• Your love to paint, draw, color, stamp... anything crafty (and messy, of course!)
• You are not phased when it comes to fit throwing. You threw a 20 minute fit on our walk yesterday because the neighborhood cat didn't want to play with you.
• You love giving me kisses, but not nearly as much as I love receiving them!
• You like to pretend to eat my toes and then I gasp and you giggle hysterically 
• We change your clothes probably 3 times a day because you are ALWAYS dirty, either with food or literal dirt
• You pretend to write things on Titus' writing board just like he does and then you "tell me" all about what you wrote (a lot of very concentrated gibberish)
• You still hate vegetables but you will eat pickles and baby food pouches. Some of your favorite foods are cheese sticks, pizza, crackers (basically any bread or carbs), bananas, waffles, apples, yogurt, and meat
• You love your Dada and get excited every time he walks in the door, I think you will be a Daddy's girl
• You never want to hold my hand except if you really need help going downhill or something. Other than that you are Miss Independent! 

Haddie Mae, you are the best. You are hilarious, sweet, adventurous, flexible, laid back, independent, sassy, and just plain adorable. You love your brother and ask for him as soon as your light is on in the morning, but you also know how to stand up for yourself and push him or runaway when he is picking on you (that's your red hair coming out!). You are a cuddler by nature and love to sit with mommy or daddy and just curl up for a bit. I love rocking you to bed at night because you lay down on my chest and stroke your blanket while I sing you hymns, I think I could live in that moment forever. We are so incredibly grateful for your sweet smile and loving spirit, I don't know what we would do without you. We love you so much, Baby Love!

Titus: 3.5 years

Dear Titus,
At 3.5 years old...

• You weigh 30 pounds and wear 3T clothes, although they are still pretty big on you
• You like to ask me questions you know the answer to just so that I will say, "I don't know Titus, why does _________?" and then you will tell me.
• Sleep is a battle. Now that you are potty trained you use that as an excuse to get out of bed. We have been fighting you for sleep for the last few months, you are so stubborn! 
• You have started skipping the occasional nap which is so sad for me. Both because it means you're growing and because it means I'm losing my mommy time :) But most days you take a nap around 1:30 for an hour or so.
• You are so proud of being potty trained and you wouldn't wear pull-ups at night time even at the beginning.
• You love going to Mother's Day Out ("School"), and you said your favorite part is playing with play-doh
• You are very concerned about stoplights. You alert me what color it is when we pull up and panic when I turn right on red (how do you describe that legal maneuver to a 3 year old?!)
• You are actually very concerned about rules in general. I hear a lot of, "no Haddie, we don't eat rocks." or  "No Haddie, we don't touch the lamp, you could break it." You are definitely my firstborn rule follower. It is not uncommon for you to correct other kids too!
• We have worked a lot on "having a happy heart" instead of a bad attitude and Daddy showed you what your face looks like when you throw a fit (mean eyebrows) vs. what your face looks like when you are happy (happy eyebrows). You LOVED this little trick (daddy's best parenting move to date!) and frequently tell other kids to have "happy eyebwows" when they are throwing fits
• You really have gotten so much better in the areas of respect and discipline. Generally speaking, you have transitioned into an easier phase of obedience. It definitely took some hard work and growing pains to get us there, but I am so thankful of how much you are trying to do the right thing.
• You really like "writing songs" on your writing board (sort of like music notes) and then singing them to me. When you are finished singing it to me you will say, "do you remember it? Sing it back to me." And I never do it right!
• You are currently obsessed with a marble erector set that we bought you. Every day you want to build new marble runs but you get really frustrated when it doesn't work the very first time you try it
• You are an easy laugher just like your daddy. I have prayed so many times that you would have a joyful heart just like him and I love how you both find the fun in little things.
• We are really working on not freaking out and throwing a fit when something doesn't go right. I will hear you screaming from the other room and assume you have broken a bone and when I get there I'll realize that you couldn't get your Q to look right on your board.
• Your favorite activity is playing "Gater Gowf," you ask to go play like 5 days a week
• You are somewhat of a picky eater, but you will never turn down a burger, pizza, PB&J, pickles, or string cheese. Right now you are obsessed with eating tomatoes!
• Your favorite book right now is called The Prince Won't Go to Bed
• When Haddie wakes up in the morning you are the first one in her room and tell me "I can't get her out of the crib because I'm too stwong" (because when you've tried to "get her out" before you just ended up squeezing and squishing her in the crib)
• You have learned to say a lot of the words you used to say incorrectly which makes me so sad because I loved your baby lisp! But you still say "bwu-yew" for W, which makes me smile every single time
• You are really interested in the solar system right now
• You love to hold my hand when we are walking or go places or even when we are just watching TV. You also ask me to give you a hundred kisses before you go to bed at night
• We recently started reading I'll Love You Forever and you will whisper in my ear when I tuck you in, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my Mommy you'll be." Definitely makes me cry!

I couldn't dream of a better big brother for Haddie than you, Titus. You are so protective and sweet and considerate of her. You hate to hear her cry and when she gets hurt you will hug her or give her your favorite toy or put her paci in her mouth. You're adorable together and you say she is your best friend. Every time you hug her I think my heart might burst! But even outside of being a big brother, you are just such a wonderful little boy. I love how much you are concerned for everyone's safety and every single thought that comes out of your brain makes me laugh or feel impressed that you could even imagine it up. You are also stubborn and fiesty and passionate (I describe you as "emotionally vibrant" because everything you feel you FEEL), and all of it makes me feel so incredibly blessed that God chose me to be your mommy. Seriously, I don't say that lightly. I look around some days and can't even fathom how I got so lucky to be yours forever. I love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond, forever and ever.

Kids updates- Summer 2015

Now that Haddie is over a year I will just be doing a few updates on the kids every year. Although I feel like they still change every month!

Dear Haddie,
At 1 year and 3 months you...

• You weigh 21 pounds, since you started walking you seem a little taller and leaner. I am already missing that chubby baby!
• You wear size 4 diapers and 12-18 month clothes (they are still a little big sometimes). You also have very tiny feet!
• You sleep from about 7:30pm-6:45am and are transitioning from 2 naps (usually at 10 and 2:30) to one nap (at 1pm). If you take one nap it's usually 2-2.5 hours long.
• You love the bath, but you HATE the bath if it's too close to your bedtime. Mostly because you freak out when we take you out of the bath.
• Are just coming out of a SUPER clingy phase. You are still pretty shy around new people, but for a little bit there you would cry if the greeter at Walmart even said hi to you.
• When you go to sleep at night or for naps you insist on taking random objects with you, like a rubber duck, shoes, a toothbrush, a shirt you found on the ground...
• You love both baby dolls and dirt equally. You play with your tulle skirts and put bows in your own hair, but you also won't hesitate to go and roll around in the yard with big brother.
• You are obsessed with books, way more than Titus ever was. You follow me around the house carrying books and screaming at me until I sit down and read it to you.
• You definitely have the music in you! Anytime you hear a song (or even Daddy playing the piano from the other room) you start bobbing and dancing.
• Every morning when I pull you out of your crib, you insist on going over and picking out a pair of shoes. I can't even change your diaper or jammies until we have selected your shoes for the day.
• Your favorite toys are really just whatever you see Titus playing with, his etch-a-sketch, the ipad, a helicopter with flashing lights. But you also love baby dolls and stuffed animals.
• Speaking of pacifiers, you still love them and we always have a couple with us at all times.
• You are generally very easy and happy UNLESS you don't get your way, like when I have to close the fridge so you don't pull all the food out. You will lay on the floor and SOB like someone ran over you.
• You love waving bye-bye but still don't talk much. You say cat, dog, ball, mama and a few other random words, but those aren't always consistent. You can sign for "more" and "all done" and are very proud of yourself when you do.
• You want to be outside all the time
• You love clapping for yourself when you do something well
• Your favorite activity is making a mess :) But really, you love pulling all the food out of the shelves or fridge, books and toys out of their storage, and throwing out all the kleenex or toilet paper when given the chance (you also like to put your hands in the toilet, yuck)
• You still hate vegetables and only get good nutrients through baby veggie pouches
• You will sit and cuddle and watch tv with me which I love, Titus would never do that as a baby!

Dear Titus,
At 3 year and 3 months you...

• You weigh 29 pounds and wear 2T clothes (although the pants can still be a little long and big around the waist)
• You sleep from about 9pm-6:45am with one nap in the afternoon (usually around 1:30-2) and nap for about 1.5 hours.
• Speaking of sleep... You hate it! No matter what time we put you down for the night, it typically we put you down around 8:30 and it takes you about an hour to stop coming out of your room and actually stay in bed and go to sleep.
• We potty trained right after your 3rd birthday and it was scary easy! I think because we didn't rush it you were way more ready, and so you basically potty trained yourself. It took about a month for you to get the hang of going #2 in the potty, but now you never have an accident!
• You are FUNNY. You tell the funniest stories and Daddy and I laugh at all the little thoughts you share with us.
• You are still very cautious, even more cautious than Haddie.
• You don't like loud noises and you sometimes get overwhelmed by large groups if it's chaotic. But a little alone time fixes you right up!
• You love your sister and you are very protective over her. If she is crying you start crying and you yell at me to help Haddie.
• But sometimes she also drives you crazy, especially when she is trying to play with what you're playing with. This usually ends in her getting pushed to the floor and you going to time out.
• Speaking of time out... Discipline has been a bit of a challenge lately. You are incredibly strong willed and stubborn, and not much affects you. Time out doesn't seem to phase you and spankings don't always work either. Lately the best thing has been to make you go to your room for 10-15 minutes, really making you miss out on all the family fun seems to be the only thing that gets your attention.
• Your favorite game to play with Haddie is to throw her paci across the room and have her go get it, basically fetch but with your baby sister instead of a dog :)
• You like to say, "You're the guy" anytime you are giving out orders. For example, I'll say, "I think Haddie needs a new diaper" and you will say, "you're the guy," meaning it's MY job to do it.
• You love watching almost any sport on tv with daddy
• Your favorite shows are Team Umizoomi and Curious George
• You are currently in a phase where you don't want to take a bath almost ever
• We have started working on reading and spelling because that is your favorite activity (you like to spell all kinds of words on your magnetic writing board)
• Your favorite book is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and we've read it enough that you have memorized it and you now "read it" to yourself

Just this week I was telling Daddy how much fun it can be to play with both of you during the day. Not every day is easy, in fact most are probably more effort than they are reward by 5pm. BUT it's all worth it for the days when you are both behaving and making me laugh and loving on each other. Being your mommy is so fun! You will just look at each other in the backseat of the car and start laughing, it's like you have a secret sibling inside joke that only the two of you know. You really are best friends and play together much more often than you get upset with each other. I hope you are always this close and bring each other more joy than you can keep inside. I love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond, forever and ever.