3 under 4....

I still can't believe sometimes that we have 3 little girls under 4 years old. 3 little hearts to mold and love. It scares me lots of times on how I want to teach, love, share, mold, and serve these girls with all of my heart. I think like Paul in Romans 7 that I know what I want to do, but I don't often do it. It is a struggle and I fail many times during the day. However, I think of the verse that His mercies are new every morning! Amen! I can say that parenting is the most difficult thing I've ever done. I feel like I am learning everyday and no matter what we will never figure it out. I am glad that I can't figure it out cause it constantly reminds me to rely on Christ.

We have 3 very different little girls that each need different love and attention. Here's a little glimpse into their current personalities and how we are trying to mold them!

Ellie (4 1/2 yr. old) is the happy, friendly little girl. She loves life, people, family, school, church and playing outside. She has never struggled with being in new places or around new people. She's always loved going to church and I can never remember her getting upset when left anywhere. She is a problem solver and always has a new idea! She wants to know what we are doing each day and tries to arrange our schedule for me. She will come up to me with something like this "Hey, mom I really think it might be a good idea if we call someone's mom and see if they can meet us at the park". She will follow it up with "don't you think that is a good idea mom"! She will be our child who will go to kanakuk for 2 weeks and never miss us once. She really does not like to sleep especially during the day, but I can still get 2-3 good naps each week from her. She tells me often that "naps are weird and hard". She is so like her daddy in that she has lots of energy. She is a great eater and will try almost anything for which I am so thankful. She loves the color blue and prefers superheroes over princesses. She loves for babysitters to come over and asks for them frequently. Ellie loves her daddy and spending time with him. She loves his stories and the way he makes her laugh.

We are currently working on focusing on the tasks that I give her in a timely manner and doing them the first time. She is learning more about not worrying about her little sister or friends and taking care of her behavior. She is a leader and rule follower so it is difficult for her not to tell on others.

Anna: ( 3 yr. old) Anna is such a fun little girl. She loves to play and laugh. She is always on the move and scares me often with her climbing/running skills. She is determined and awesome at completing a task when she puts her mind to it. She is into doing everything on her own. I often here "I do it by myself" and she normally can do it by herself. She can get herself dressed and put her shoes on the right feet. She loves all things pink and princess. She loves makeup and nail polish. The nail polish is currently hidden cause of her sneaky skills of finding it and polishing her nails. We often think she will be a cosmetologist. She is very observant and will tell my friends or me that she loves my sparkles on my eyes (eye shadow). My dad was here recently and he was wearing a pink striped polo. Anna said right away to him "Papa, I really like your pink shirt". She loves it when I wear a dress or skirt and notices when Mike looks nice as well. She loves animals and our dog, shadow. Anna is obedient at school and church. She gets along well with other children and loves to play with her friends.

We are currently working on lots of things. We are struggling with not throwing tantrums when things don't go our way. These are normally related to clothing battles ( sparkle shoes or flip flops), dresses when playing at the park, etc.. I am trying to be more creative with laying out things the night before with her help. We are working on how we respond with our words and actions. I am so excited to see what God has in store with Anna. She has so much determination and will. She will be amazing at whatever she puts her mind into which is awesome!

Mary (11 months): Mary is so sweet and I don't know what her personality will be like as he gets older. I know that Mike and I often say that all she has brought is joy. She is a great baby and sleeps like great. I think it is so true that third kid has to be flexible. She can sleep with the girls running around like crazy kids and wherever we put her down. I think she is just happy to get a nap cause I am always having to wake her up or she has to skip her nap. I think the big thing so far is that she is on a sippy cup with whole milk! It was a long 11 months with no bottles. I loved nursing her and it makes me a little sad that it is over. She was so particular about it all that I knew it had to come to an end somehow. I was running out of milk and I didn't know what to wean her to since she would not do formula. I found this one sippy cup that she loves and warm up the whole milk. She loves it and I love it as well!

I think she is going to be a daddy's girls. She lights up when she sees Mike and her first word was da-da which she says on command. It is so cute and makes us all smile. We love our Mary!

I really think I will never have all the answers on how to parent each child with what they need, but I am thankful that God created each of them in His unique way. Thank you, for our sweet girls!