Happy Birthday Damien! {12}

12 years ago today my life changed forever! Little did I know what type of impact that little screaming bundle of joy would have on my life.  Damien has grown, not only in size,  over the past year but individually as well. I no longer have to wrestle him into the bathroom to take a shower, he does this on his own which can only mean one thing….girls! Oh no, I knew this day would come. But I think its cute that Damien cares about how he looks, and his clothes and such. It's fun helping him pick out nice outfits to wear to dances and other events. Damien has also grown emotionally as well. Hormones are a tricky thing to deal with and I see that when he is in a full swing emotional episode. In which he quickly snaps out of it and comes back to us in his normal form. He has also become quite the athlete over the course of the last year. He is just an amazing force to watch on the court or field. He has so much potential. I cannot be more lucky to have such a great person in my life. I look forward to this new phase of his life…..tweenhood. Now, this is gonna be fun!

Love you Damien!!!

Library Time

We are back to our routine of going to the library bi-weekly. Here are our selections from our most recent trip:

Reading update:

Amar'e no longer wants to sit down and listen to the stories when I'm reading to her. She insist on either reading to me, which is fine, but she rarely allows me to read her a story from start to finish. Sometimes I can't even read her one word. I know she is only two, but much closer to three, and her attention span is limited but this new disinterest seems to be a regression in attention span. We use to be able to sit and read an entire story together. I'm sure that this is just a phase and that this periodic disinterest will not last long. I find it very important that she is able to sit,  at least for a short time, and read to one another at least once a day (or every other).  The benefits can last a lifetime and I thoroughly enjoy it! 

What are you reading with your family? 

Anderson Ryan Alexander {2 months}

As of January 2nd, Anderson is 2 months old. He has changed so much since the day he was born. He as doubled his weight and interacts much more now. His head control is impressive and he can lift his head off the floor when lying on his tummy. He regularly finds his hands and sucks on them. He is starting to sleep through the night. He will sleep for a five hour stretch, wakes up to nurse, and then he goes back down for another 3-4 hours. His eyes are still blue and seem to getting bluer. His hair is getting lighter. Here is our blond haired, blue eyed boy:

Snow Play

One dark and chilly night this family decided to enjoy this magical thing called snow. Now, don't get me wrong I am severely allergic to the snow. Once exposed, I break out in whines and cries all over. It's a terrible sight. But, for some reason, this one particularly snowy night was different. It was a little warmer for this time of year, which means it was like 32, and it was snowing really hard. I couldn't resist bringing Amar'e and Damien out to play in these huge flakes falling from the sky. Anderson must have inherited my allergy to the snow because he was less then thrilled at being bundled up and taken outside. Every time a flake would touch his face he would tense up and scream. He hated it….and I don't blame him. Damien and Amar'e loved it. Amar'e hadn't had much snow exposure because of my allergy but watching her, you would have never been able to tell. She took  to it without hesitation or resistance. It was so much fun watching Andrew, Amar'e and Damien play around in the snow. I wish I would have been able to take some pictures of us outside….but Anderson wouldn't allow it.

This is what it looked like the next morning after our night of snow play

Happy New Year!