My girls…

Life with these two girls is wonderful.  We certainly have our crazy days and plenty of spankings to go around, but the funny, wonderful moments make it all worth it!  Here’s some of what these girls have been up to…

Avery…

Avery has just finished up her first year of homeschooling!  She has done SO well this year!  We did a Pre-K core curriculum, but added on Kindergarten math, K reading, and K language arts.  It was perfect for her.  She is reading awesome for her age.  She can sound out words and decode little story books like a pro.  Her math skills really are amazing.  She learned to tell time on a regular clock, add and subtract double digits without borrowing, figure perimeter (yes!), recognize and name geometrical shapes like sphere, cylinder, etc., and much more.  She worked on handwriting through copywork and learned about periods, question marks, commas, exclamation marks, and even apostrophes.  She wrote some in a journal which I will treasure forever, and lots, lots more.  I am so proud of her hard work and she seemed to enjoy every minute of school!  I can’t wait to get our curriculum for next year! 

Avery is still an awesome big sister.  I know she will be SO helpful once Colt gets here.  She insists on hugging and kissing my belly and saying good night to her baby brother every night.  She prays for Colt’s health and safety every night.  She can be a little bossy to Bailey, but hey, that’s what big sisters do, right?  She is helpful to Bailey when Bailey will let her be.  She is still very obedient and loves to please.  She is so loving toward Craig and I.  She will say things all the time like, “Mommy, I love you all the way to the sky!”  or “Mommy, I love you as far as the moon!”  My favorite is when I look at her during the day for no reason and she’ll give me this sweet little smile and sometimes a wave. 

She took gymnastics all year and once a month, the moms could come in for Watch Day.  She would look over at me a lot and give me a thumbs up and a smile.  She learned so much and even though she was the youngest in her class, I thought she did excellent and knows a lot of gymnast terms that I do not.  She continues to be such a joy and I love watching her learn and grow and hit milestones that I can’t believe she is already reaching.

Bailey…

It’s amazing to see the accomplishments Bailey has made this year since she has turned 2.  She talks like a 3 or 4 year old…probably because she’s always listening to her big sister.  She listens a little, but she talks A LOT!  A while back, she started asking “Why?”  I think that started way earlier than it should have!  And then it turned into “Why because?”  So cute.  She wants to know about everything and is very inquisitive like her sister.  She moved into a big girl bed at the end of April when we got the girls bunk beds since they are now sharing Avery’s room.  She did much better than I thought.  She has only gotten up once that first night, and while she does take longer to fall asleep, she has really done well transitioning from the crib to the bed.  Another huge accomplishment has been her recent decision to pretty much potty train herself!  I would let her sit on the potty anytime she wanted, but she would never go.  I figured I wasn’t going to push it.  With Colt being born soon, I didn’t really want to deal with it honestly, and I just figured we’d tackle it after things calmed down this summer.  But one day a few weeks ago, she sat on the potty and surprised me by actually going!  That was it!  She immediately started doing all of her business in the potty starting that day and has only had one or two small accidents since then!  She has been in big girl panties for a couple of weeks and I couldn’t be more proud of her!  I guess there is one big advantage to my strong-willed girl!

She does continue to be strong-willed and loves to test my limits, but when she’s not doing that, she can be pretty sweet.  When Craig or I spend alone time with her running an errand or playing at home while the others are gone, we always talk later about how good she is when she’s by herself.  She is a joy to talk to and ask questions to.  I love to ask her “Who made you?”  She will say, “God,” and then follow it with, “And God made my fingers, and my eyes, and my legs, and my hiney….”  Oh funny girl!  She still loves to suck on her pointer finger on her right hand when she has her dee-dee, and I am not planning to take that away anytime soon with a new baby right around the corner.  I am hoping this will be another transition that will go easier than expected, but I think she will have a little adjusting to do with not being Mommy’s baby anymore.  I am loving watching her grow up, and can’t wait to see what else God has in store for this family!