The Photoshoot

Thumbkin

Tantrums

So, my sweet Gwendolyn has been sick this past weekend with the lovely stomach bug that's been going around. (And did I mention that Beau was out of town?) It was a LONG weekend... Because she was sick, I stayed home with her and babied her, etc. She finally started keeping food down around Monday, and Tuesday she seemed pretty much back to normal.

Now for the fun part. I took her back to daycare yesterday so I could go to work and Beau could go to class. This was definitely not what Gwen had planned for her day. She let us know in no uncertain terms that she was going to do what she wanted when she wanted. With LOTS of cajoling and after lots of tears, she finally made it to daycare. She was fine once she got there, but of course I felt guilty and stressed out about it all day. I ended up picking her up a little early to ease my guilt. When I got there, she was in the middle of singing time and did not want to leave ...of course.

This morning felt like deja vu. I tried to give Gwen extra time, this time expecting her mood. Finally I was able to get her dressed and she even let me fix her hair. As I'm trying to walk out the door with her, she throws herself down in the hallway and starts kicking her feet and screaming- a royal tantrum. So much for her cute hair. One of her shoes flies off and she is not about to go anywhere. I put everything in the car and told her that her dad would need to take her (I was already running late). As I started the car she came running to the door. We finally made it to daycare again with her sniffing the whole way. When we got in the classroom, the teachers could tell we had had a fun morning (hopefully they didn't think I had just beaten her, which is probably what it looked like with her puffy eyes and crazy hair)...I was all stressed out when I finally made it to work.

Here's my question for you- any suggestions? All of you with toddlers have probably had one of these fun experiences at one time or another. I try to give Gwen choices so she can feel in charge, but she is the queen of dawdling... And then of course, if it's not perfect, we are graced with her temper. Don't get me wrong- a lot of the time she is truly sweet. She is gentle with her baby dolls and the cat. She will snuggle with Beau and I (when she's in the mood). She's smart- she loves to learn and read books and dance. So how do I direct this independence? I've looked up a few things online and included them in case anyone else is in the same boat. I've also been told about a book called "The Strong Willed Child" from a Christian author. I may look into it. I know her energy can be directed for good (at least most of the time), so I'm working on it. Share any thoughts you'd like. :)

Toddlers Today
http://www.toddlerstoday.com/articles/socializing/toddlers-who-run-the-show-6048/4/

Parent Hacks

http://www.parenthacks.com/2006/11/tell_strongwill.html

Baby Henry

Here's an ultrasound (obviously) of baby Henry. He's attempting to push the umbilical cord out of his face. :) He kicked and moved and made the sonographer work for her money when this was taken... I'm pretty sure we're going to have our hands full once he's here.

We had a scare a few weeks ago during another ultrasound. They saw a small cyst and were concerned about his bowels. Because of this, I had bloodwork done and decided to do an amniocentisis. It was definitely NOT a comfortable experience. Having an audience in the room to observe didn't help my nervousness, either. I've already made it very clear that there will NOT be students in the delivery room when we get to that point. Anyway, at least the procedure was quick, and the results were definite. Henry is definitely a boy (which of course we knew) and his chromosomes are completely normal. They took this ultrasound yesterday just as a follow-up and everything looks great. :)

Things I Love

So, in honor of Valentine's Day, I've decided to make a list of things that I love about Beau and Gwen... So here it goes...

Beau

• Enjoys cooking and does it better than I can!


• Brings me chocolate without me asking


• Loves Gwen to pieces


• Can be trusted to do Gwen's hair in the morning and do a good job!


• Likes to watch nerdy medical shows with me so we can discuss them!


• Does his best to make me happy


• Will help me around the house (which is a big deal when we're both so busy!)


• Doesn't mind sports but isn't addicted to watching (I think I'm a bigger football fan than he is!)
• Is a righteous Priesthood holder


• Likes to build things


• Likes to help people


• Likes to watch the History Channel (it usually bores me to death, but at least it's educational!)


• Likes being married (It's a shame how many people complain about being married!)


• I love that he's going to school and has joined the Army Reserves to provide for our family


• He's my best friend

Gwen

• I love the way her skin smells (like family)


• How she loves to dance to any music


• How she tries to sing along and asks me to sing the "Ariel Song", "Beauty Song" or "Cinderbella Song"


• How she tries to do everything by herself- even if we're running late! ("I do it!" "Gwen's turn!")


• How girly she is- she'd wear her princess dress anywhere


• How quickly she's learning


• How she remembers most of the kids' names in her daycare class


• How she gets excited to see her Nana and Papa


• How she says "Thank you" after receiving something


• I love her crazy hair in the morning (and if you ask her about it she'll tell you "It's crazy!")


• How she likes to read the "Jesus book"


• How she grabs my hand and puts it on her back at bedtime so I will rub it while she falls asleep


• How she calls "Mama or Daddy" from her bed in the morning even though she could get up by herself!


• How she calls her favorite woobie (blanket) "Pink; " the others are "Yellow" (even though they are all duplicates of the same blanket and are all pink!)


• How she likes to cuddle with her daddy on the couch


• I love the noise she makes as she sucks her fingers to fall asleep

I could go on, but I'm sure you're bored now... Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite things about some of my favorite people. :)

Christmas pics- Finally!

Ok- so it's only taken me a month, but I'm finally posting some more of my Christmas pics. Enjoy!

Gwen had a blast opening her stocking.

She loved all of her gifts and loved this ballerina from Aunt Jessica. :)

Downtime after a busy morning of opening presents with her cousins- nice Cheetos smile. :)



Pics over at Nana and Papas with the cousins


Andi and Molly showing some sisterly love.

Gwen loved her play kitchen that her daddy worked hard putting together. Thank you, Nana. :)

December

This December has been a very busy one for us! I still have more pictures of Christmas to post after this one, but I thought I'd share photos of our visits from Beau's family. Elliot, Andrea and the boys, Andi and Molly all came to visit us during Christmas. It was a great time and Gwen loved having her cousins to play with.

Gwen, Brock and Scott chillin' on the the couch.

Andrea, Elliot, Brock and Scott

A trip to the Riverwalk

We had fun at Lights of the South

Picture with Aunt Molly


We attempted to get pictures of Gwen sitting with Santa, and this is what we got... Luckily, this Santa was very adept at adjusting to nervous kids like Gwen. He told Beau to sit in the chair and we all just waited to see what would happen next. He walked away and at the last minute ran up behind the chair for this photo. :)

The whole crew at Lights of the South- we're so glad you all came!

Gwen's Birthday

We celebrated Princess Gwendolyn's 2nd birthday on December 13th. We had a small family party and encouraged Gwen's girly side to come out even more (not that she needs any coaxing to be girly). :) We had Cinderella decorations and Gwen enjoyed playing with her cousins. She loved opening all of her gifts and the big hit was her princess dress trunk from Nana. Thank you to all who were there and to those who thought of her!

Gwen tried her best to play with everything at once- notice the back pack as well! :)

Birthday Girls

Here are the birthday girls- Myla, Reagan, and Gwen. :) Gwen attended a "Baby Doll Party" at the Arnolds house a few weeks ago and had a great time. She brought her own baby doll and played with many of the little girls from our ward. They had cute baby doll cookies and took home handmade baby dolls thanks to Jenny and Leigh's hardwork. Thanks for the fun time!

It wasn't nearly as loud as you would think! :)

Do we have a futre doctor? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Some pics

I found tons of pictures on our camera from about the last two months, so here's quick update. :)

We were able to stop in and see our good friends Megan and Mitch in Columbia, SC as we headed to Beau's Reserve Unit for Family day. We loved staying with you guys and hope we can visit with you for a longer period of time soon!

Gwen absolutely loved the Moon Bounce that the Reserve Unit had at the park. We went to the park on post for activities and food. Gwen loved the playground and all the room to run, but this was definitely her favorite spot!

She saw a nearby pond and it was all I could do to keep her from walking right into it!


Daycare project for Thanksgiving

Fun with the cousins. :) The best part is that this was completely spontaneous (the hats anyway). I keep a stash of hats in Gwen's playroom for her to dress up with. The kids had been quietly playing after Sunday dinner and then one by one came out with their hats on! We just had to take a picture!

Daddy's Girl

Flutter kicks!

Maestro

A few pictures of our future musician... :)

Gwen loves to sing with us at church- even though she doesn't know the words- we love it. :)