May days

Whew what a whirlwind of  month! I can not believe it is already gone! May was filled with busy weeks and busier weekends. We started the month off full of parties. My Nanny's 70th birthday celebration on the first Friday night, Saturday brought a graduation party for my cousin Katie for getting her masters. So very proud of her. Later that night a surprise 30th birthday party for a friend. Just thinking about that weekend makes me tired. The next weekend Katie, Dianna and I were off to Dallas for Marcia's baby shower. We had a great time that weekend and enjoyed meeting Marcia's friends and family. Sundays have been packed with baby showers at church.

So much has happened in just our family in the last month. The school year has ended for Dan and we hope to have him around more this next year. He will no longer be coaching and plans to start his masters in the fall. He has been working towards getting accepted and enrolled. I think he should be good to go! I am so excited to have my husband home more often this next school year.

I feel like my children have aged a ton in the last month.We all went to Branson last weekend with the Cowan family. The kids had a blast as did Dan and I! We were excited to get away and spend some time together. Both of my children, I am quickly learning are such dare devils. They loved all the rides that they were tall enough to ride at Silver Dollar City. Tatum got to experience "fire in the hole" for the first time. She thought it was great.

We also got to see the Dixie Stampede while there. The kids loved all the animals and it kept their full attention the entire time. All four kids were so cute watching them as they watched the show. I am enjoying every minute of this time in my kids lives. I feel like it is going by far to quickly.

I feel like they have aged a ton in this one month. A long with this fun stage in their lives is also the difficult times as well. Tatum has become pretty snippy at times. She will respond to us on any given occasion with a really hateful tone of voice. It automatically puts us on the defense. We have really had to take a step back and slow our response. We now respond very calmly that it's not polite to speak that way and it can sometimes hurt others feelings or make them mad. She is already learning. I have been sitting down with her and explaining that we make a choice to be friendly. Our family are the people that love us the most and their the ones that we need to treat with the most respect and love as well. She gets in trouble for this behavior and I think, I hope we are getting somewhere.

On the good side she is learning so much. She is learning to write her name, learning more Bible verses, counting objects, counting to 20, singing entire songs, and so much more I can't even think of right now. She loves to eat vegetables and fruits. She loves watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, bananas, and grapes. She's on a big pop sickle kick. Her favorite shows are "Good Luck Charlie", and "Tangled". She loves to swim and has mastered the arm floaties. She's all over the pool and is like a little fish that could stay in forever. She is also such a little encourager. She loves to tell people they are the best, pretty, fabulous... Whatever big adjective she can think of or knows. She loves to play with her baby dolls and pretend they are going somewhere. I love listening to her stories. Their long and full of detail. I have a feeling we will always have lots to talk about through the years. I hope I always remember to stop and listen to what she is telling me. I catch myself being in a hurry far to often.

Titus is growing and changing like crazy! He is trying to speak in full sentences now. He has long stories but as Dianna said the other day. Only a momma could understand that story. Unless you were there and saw what he experienced it's hard to follow what he is saying. He talks with his eyes so much. He cuts them and looks out of the top and raises his eyebrows. He cracks me up. He is a very animated little guy. He loves to swim as well. He isn't afraid of the water at all and I have to watch him every second. He likes to jump in whether you are ready to catch him or not and he wants to swim all by himself. He is getting pretty good at the floaties. He still has more to learn in that area, but he thinks he's got it. I have to really keep an eye on him because he would be out of my sight in a second. He plays very well by himself and is fine with being a lone. He is also a wanderer/explorer. This week he has decided he doesn't want to wear diapers again. Now that Daddy is home more he wants to potty outside in the grass. These last couple days Dan has been at basketball camp so I have been taking Titus outside to the grass every time he needs to potty. He has only had 2 accidents all week. Who knows maybe this time he is more serious about potty training.

On the harder side with Titus, he is excellent at playing a lone but when Tatum messes with him or they play together at some point hitting is involved or a flaring temper. He gets so mad and his feelings hurt so easily. When he gets in trouble he is devastated. I always tell both my children how much I love them after they get in trouble and I hug them. Tatum is ready to move on and not talk about it but Titus wants me to hold him and console him until he gets past it.

Parenting is my biggest blessing in life and I love it more then I ever knew possible but it also makes me question everything I do. I hope and wonder often if I am doing it right. Dan and I both spend a lot of time praying and asking God what we need to be doing and if we are doing it right. I pray for my kids to both have Godly wisdom and discernment through life and that they will accept Christ at a young age. I have many other prayers for them but these are every day since before they were born prayer.