Family Update

Oh how long it's been...not sure where to begin. So here's a few things fresh in my mind.

Often as a mom I feel like I fall short of the kind of mom I want to be. I yell. A lot. My patience wears thin. But I do love my kiddos more than I could have ever imagined. A few days ago we had a long night. Lexi had thrown up in her bed so I gave her a shower, washed her bedding, set her up in a sleeping bag, Jake woke up & Ava was crying. 30 minutes later Lexi threw up again...at least she made the bowl! School mornings always seen to be tough. None of us are morning people. No one wants to get up up, Jake usually complains about the clothes I pick out for him to wear, both boys say they don't want to go to school, we're usually scrambling to get out on time, and at some point I'm yelling. This morning was not much different, but as I was packing lunches, Levi came up to say, "Mom, I want to give you a hug. Because, you're a really good mom." That made my day...actually, my week.

Levi can be so hard to deal with on some days, and just the sweetest, most helpful boy on others. He is often difficult to put to bed. He tried to sneak into our bed daily until he was at least 5. After that he started sleeping in Jake's bed and that went on for many months. Finally for at least the last 6 months he's slept consistently in his own bed. But he's still the kid who has a hard time settling down at bedtime. He'll still come out and say, "I don't know how to fall asleep." Seriously?! At this point the boys just get extra jobs the next day each time they come out of their room or we hear them. That's sort of working. Jake currently does 3 jobs Mon-Thurs and Levi does 1. Consequence jobs are in addition to those.

We  bought a pool table a couple weeks ago for the back patio. Hope to have many fun days ahead playing. The first time I played Jake, Levi made a sign that said, "Go, Jake!" and would cheer for him, "You can do it Jake!" He ended up booing him because Jake turned into a poor sport and started whining. That's a topic we constantly work on with Jake. Sportsmanship. Whether it's pool, board games, nerf wars, etc. The kid does not like to lose. The struggle is real.

Jake is in 3rd grade. He's a smart boy, but this year's math has been tough. With a high B, I think he could've earned the A if he took his time and read the instructions better on his tests and assignments. He's very clever - reminds me of myself when I was his age. He can debate and negotiate with the best of them. But he's also sassy, talks back, is a grouch in the mornings, procrastinates, and sometimes thinks we're all against him. Also traits I remember in myself at his age. :/ He is quick to apologize though, but sometimes I can't tell if he's truly sincere or just wants to avoid a consequence or be back in good graces again...the self serving type of apology...which I too remember being guilty of as a kid. He's seriously handsome, athletic and an avid reader. He informed us last month that he also has his first girlfriend! Aubrey Dominowski. She's a doll and I'm friends with her mom, so although the kids try to hide their relationship at school to avoid teasing, we've let them set up a couple play dates at home and the park.

Fall was crazy busy, but fun busy. Jake played tackle football for the first time and I didn't realize what a time commitment that was when I signed him up. I also was the water mom who got the team water for every practice, which was 3 times a week plus game days after the first 3 weeks which were 5 day a week practices. Levi played baseball, Lexi started dance, Ava's birthday, our 15 yr anniversary, Halloween, Jake's birthday, Thanksgiving (hosted by me), my birthday, and all the Christmas festivities. I feel like we made the most of Christmas this year which was really nice. The kids built a great gingerbread house, we made sugar cookies, went to the holiday hayride at their school, took Lexi to see the Nutcracker, drove to look at lights (which I enjoyed more than my whiny beasts that night), watched many hallmark movies for the first time, and topped it off with my favorite tradition of our Christmas Eve Open House! I hope my kids end up with fond memories of Christmas Eve like I remember when my mom hosted it while I was growing up. :) Christmas day was very relaxed, hung out at home, ate leftovers, watched a new movie and played with new toys. Highlights this year were fishing poles for the boys, a bike for Lexi, an ozobot for Jake and a police uniform for Levi.

I love my Lexi girl. She's a girly girl who loves everything sparkly and pink and purple. She loves unicorns, ponies, puppies and balloons. She's snuggly & cuddly, likes imagination play, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, and isn't crazy about clean up. She's our pickiest eater (just like I was) and is always excited to go shopping! She likes to match outfits with Ava, is photogenic, and is so patient when getting her hair done. Easy to put to bed, she still requires bedtime songs, favorites being "You are my sunshine", "Mama loves you" "Hush little baby" "twinkle twinkle" "Mary had a little lamb" "itsy  bitsy spider". She and Ava share a room just fine. Ava is always first awake and jabbers until she wakes up Lexi then they'll play together for sometimes 30 minutes before we have to go get Ava out of her crib. That's precious extra sleeping time for us! I love that they love each other. Lexi got a bike for Christmas this year. She's the first one to need the training wheels. But she had the least practice on the balance bike before it got run over a few months ago :(

And then there's Ava. Our sweet, sweet Ava Bear. I could kiss her soft porcelain face all day!! She looks just like Levi, just like their daddy. She's a great sleeper, still napping twice a day for 2-3 hrs and 10-11hrs at night. She is an early bird though, usually up before 7am, but always wakes up happy. She's a pretty good eater so far and has eaten almost everything we've given her. She runs all over and likes to climb the stairs, but can't be trusted to go down carefully. She's in that curiously destructive phase that has earned her the nickname of Avazilla and provokes her siblings to put up barricades to protect whatever they're playing from her. She likes to be held, but does NOT like to cuddle. :( She refuses to sit and rock or snuggle by arching, pushing away and grumbling and will never fall asleep on you. I'm hoping this is a phase that will change. She will barely tolerate reading a book with us, but likes to look at them on her own. And she's guilty of hitting, slapping and pinching, It's amazing how fast she can be too. But still, she's one of my favorites. She's mellow and typically has a happy disposition.