What can I learn?

Yesterday was a very cold, snowy day here in Amarillo. The wind was whipping through the city and the snow was falling down. Mali wanted to wear a dress (with short sleeves), no tights and flip flops to church. We had a huge battle over this. I'm not one to fight the clothing battle with her, probably evidenced in my pictures, and generally let her wear what she wants because at least she is getting dressed and doing it herself. But yesterday was an exception. For her protection and for her health, I would NOT let her go to church in that outfit. She fought me and fought me, and cried and cried, and whined and whined, and received punishment from me for her ugly attitude. During this battle, God showed me that this is exactly how I am. I fight Him and fight Him and He only wants to protect me. He sees the future and the big picture and knows what is best for me. All I have to do, is comply, submit, TRUST Him and obey. It is just like with Mali, it seemed so ridiculous that she couldn't see that it was cold and her clothing was inappropriate, she just had to trust me. I just need to trust God!

10 months old

Eleri is 10 months old. In this last month, Eleri has taken a few steps. In fact, last week, she took four steps. It seems that she will only "step" if she doesn't realize she is doing it. Eleri also loves to throw. She will sit with her sister and throw a ball back and forth! It is really cute to watch and Eleri gets so excited when she throws it. This game has been cute, and can occupy her as well as allow the sisters to safely play together. However, this means that Eleri also enjoys throwing other objects that I'm not as thrilled about. Primarily her pacifier, and typically thrown in the germiest place possible! Eric thinks that Eleri seems to have athlete potential. I hate to label at this young of an age, but Eric assures me that this is what he does for a living-notices potential. Eleri is still eating great, both nursing and table food. I feel blessed that I've been able to feed her this long! Eleri loves her table food, especially meat and vegetables. She is such a big girl. She weighed 19.7 lbs last Monday when I took her in. She is still so sweet and seems to be becoming more of a thinker. Eleri will try to plug in the plug in protectors. It really does seem like she will be more of analytical thinker. Eleri seems to be more quiet now or maybe Mali is just so loud!:) Here is a picture of Eleri from the cabin. Eleri also likes to knead my kneck or cheek or chest when she is nursing or cuddling. Eleri's favorite game is the naked baby game. The minute I get her diaper off of her and release her to put a new clean one on, she takes off crawling. She giggles and looks at me and crawls away super fast! This has made for several "accidents", but it is pretty cute nonetheless! Here is another recent picture of our sweet baby!

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we spent our annual Thanksgiving celebration at the cabin. There were 15 of us there...the entire White/Howard/Gomez/Anderson family!!! 2 grandparents, 4 children, 3 spouses, and 6 grandchildren! The White side all arrived Tuesday night. We spent the morning putting up lights and playing outside. Mali got to help Grandpa cook breakfast. She had snowballs fights with her daddy and make a snowbunny with mommy. It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy the cabin. Mali even doned her skis and practiced! She wasn't too thrilled about it at first. Brandon took awesome family pictures of our family in our ugly Christmas/vintage sweaters. Wednesday the Howard side arrived. Mali really enjoyed sledding with her cousins! I cooked soup for 15 people and we all warmed up that night! The kids made a gingerbread village. It was a good idea but not so great in practice! It was messy and caused some drama when the dads ate pieces of the houses! The 'men' enjoyed a guys night out that night. Mali had a slumber party with Shayna that night. Thanksgiving day we enjoyed breakfast again and them were on to prepare the meal. But first we took a family picture...all 15 of us! The guys napped off and on and prepared the turkey to be fried. The girls didn't nap and prepared the rest of the meal. Shayna was my big helper and Austin helped the guys out. The meal was great and we enjoyed good family time! Mali said that her favorite part was riding on the "trailer" with Grandpa. (Trailer=four wheeler). She then said "let's talk about what I didn't like, when Uncle Brandon hit me in the face with the snowball." My favorite part was hearing Mali talk about how much she loved the cabin!:) We measure the girls too! I love having that precious marker! (Each time we go to the cabin my dad would measure us as kids, and now it is passed on to my children!! He even measured the width of my belly when I was pregnant with the girls!) Thursday night, Eleri's cough got worse, so we decided to pack up and head home...the opposite direction of Wolf Creek where we had planned on taking Mali to ski as a Wolf Pup for the first time. Of course when we got to Dalhart, Eleri was fine! But Eric did get to golf. The girls got to spend time with Auntie Kisha and Mimi too.

Agian, I'm having technical difficulties, my card reader is not working so I can't upload my pictures, but this is a slideshow of Terry's pictures!

Croupy croupy

Last Wednesday, Mali woke up from a nap with a croupy cough. And sure enough when I took her to the pediatrician it was croup I've had to force her antibiotic and steroid down her. We've also done breathing treatments. One night Mali used the pacifier attachment with the nebulizer. I didn't wash it after that and Mali decided it would be good to give it to Eleri. So, I knew she would get it aside from a miracle. Well, yesterday Eleri sounded hoarse so we decided not to risk it and I scheduled a 3pm appointment with our pedi since we were going out of town. Our pedi found nothing but gave me advice on how to best handle croup. Sure enough, at 10:30, Eleri woke up with a croupy cough and seemed to be having trouble breathing. I took her to an immediate care clinic and she got mess and a steroid shot. Today she took some great naps and has seemed to recover well. We are headed to the cool mountain air to open up these girls' lungs!

Celebrating Mali

Since yesterday was Mali's actual birthday we spent the day celebrating. Eric took Mali to get a donut and chocolate milk! We spent the morning playing with her new toys. Mali had some behavior problems and was just really whiney. We later found out she had a little issue not to be blogged about!:). For lunch, we met friends at Chick Fil A. Mali actually took a nap on her birthday too! Mali had requested Macaroni and Cheese for her birthday dinner, so I made mac and cheese and we ate dinner as a family. Mali had ballet class last night so we took some of the extra cake to share! We finished the night by signing Happy Birthday to her at 8:01pm-the time she was born.

Flitterific Fifth Birthday Party

Today we had Mali's Tinkerbell themed party. It was really fun and I loved watching her have so much fun. She was excited about her party and her friends. Carson, Hallie, Noah, Owen, Kate, and Zachie and Calyn came. Mali also had all of her grandparents, Uncle Brandon, Aunt Megan and Uncle Chris here to celebrate. She received great gifts. Mali and Carson showed off their hula hoop skills. Mali asked Carson to help her open her presents too. I asked Mali what her favorite part was and she said 'the great presents'. I asked her which ones they were and she said 'all of them.' We had a piñata again this year and play time outside! I made Toadstool cakes and we still have three left!!!

Dear Mali

Disclaimer:
I really debated posting this. It is very personal and is written to Mali, not in the fashion that my posts normally are written. I wrote it first and then thought to post it, so I never considered who my audience might be reading this. But, I'm using this blog to keep up with digital scrapbooking now too, and honestly, it is just an easy way to have these things organized that I will use one day in scrapbooking. Especially since I'm not really sure where last year's letter is. Each year, I've written a birthday letter to Mali. This is my letter for her 5 year old birthday. I really can't believe that when we wake up tomorrow, we will be celebrating 5!!! I'm a little sad and almost want it to not come, but it will, and five will be a wonderful, maybe wonderfully difficult, year!

Oh sweet Mali, you are five! I cannot believe it has been five years since you were born. It has been so wonderful to become your mother. Most days I’m not sure how God could entrust me with such a precious gift, but He did and I’m soo glad. You are a treasure to me! This year I’ve prayed for you less, cuddled with you less, been less patient with you…but I have not loved you any less! I’m thankful for God’s mercy in parenting and confident that He will grow me to be the mother that you absolutely deserve as well as provide other people in your life to make up for where I’ve failed. But this letter is not about me, and neither is this journey, it is about you! For four years, life was about you. This past year has brought a huge change! You are now a big sister and you have to share everything! I’ve loved watching you in this role. Some days and moments you make me beam with pride. I love watching your tender moments with your sister! I love watching you help her walk and how you teach her too. I love how you repeat little phrases that I’ve said in passing, like “look mom she’s learning!” You have such potential and I can’t wait to watch you and Eleri’s relationship strengthen as the years go on! Most days and moments are really hard to share mom and dad’s laps and attention! I pray that these hard days teach you and strengthen your character and that I’m faithful with those teachable moments.
This year has really flown by! You have really grown up and are loosing a lot of the little girl in you! You amaze me with how smart you are! You love to learn and have really excelled in preschool (based on my observations!) You can write anything that we spell for you! One of my favorite things to do with you is to tell you how to spell words and watch you write! One time you wanted me to spell Chocolate Lab Weimeraner Mix! (Which I don’t think I spelled right!) YOU are learning, and I love it! I’m so very proud of you! You’ve also started rhyming and it is so cute! I’m amazed at how you have just picked up on this! I think you now officially learn more outside of the home. Even though this makes me a little sad, I’m still so proud of you and know that it is the best thing for you! I’m also amazed at how you can draw! I love your drawings and your creativity! I love the picture of Daddy golfing that you drew! You have some talent, albeit 4-year-old talent, but I think you certainly outdo me! I treasure these drawings and hate to part with them! It’s so hard to throw anything away that you’ve written or drawn because I’m just so proud of you and what you’ve done!
This year has also ushered in a new issue that really I just don’t like to deal with! You like little boys! How does this happen soooo early? Miss Mali, I am just not ready for this! To be honest, I want more for you than to be a boy crazy little girl. I see so much potential in you that I worry that you will waste it on being interested in boys. The times that I take to pray, I’m praying about this!!!! Your interest has been in a boy named Parker in the other preschool class. He doesn’t seem so interested! I have noticed that you do pick the cute ones though, so I guess at least you have good taste! I still don’t know how to handle your giddiness when any cute boy, at any age, is around you! I pray and hope that you will hold your head up and be confident in the beautiful, strong girl that God has made you! I think my heart rate has increased just now just thinking about this! Oh am I praying for wisdom and guidance in this area. I know we can really mess it up, but you are also only five!!!
I love watching you dance and sing! You really do like to perform and entertain! You have a beautiful voice and you always seem to sing songs in the same key that you’ve heard them! You can repeat almost any song that you’ve heard and liked whether it is the score from Annie or some of Daddy’s songs! You are precious and there is nothing sweeter to me than to see you smiling as you sing or dance on stage! You are a beauty and really like to enjoy yourself!
I love your funny little jokes and just witty things you say! I think you must get that from your Daddy! It is so cute and I love that my five year old can crack me up like you do! These moments are soooo soooo precious!
This year we have had a lot of discussion about Jesus living in your heart. You’ve told mommy and daddy that you want Jesus to live in your heart and that you have asked Him to live there. You’ve talked with us about what baptism means! I want you to know that walking with Jesus is a decision that you make every day, sometimes every hour or minute. Each decision you make is a choice to either walk with Jesus or not walk with Him. I believe that these decisions are so important and pray that you will choose to walk with Jesus! I know, from the other side, that this is the best choice that you can make! You enjoy going to BSF where you are the “leader” and going to the Clubhouse and singing praise songs. You’ve learned scripture and Truth at church, BSF and preschool.
I can’t believe you can swing on your own! You are also doing so great riding your bike! I love our outdoor time!
You talk about the cabin a lot! That warms my heart! Because I love the cabin and I love you so much. You have memories there that we are creating as a family. You also talk about San Diego. I’m thrilled that we have made sweet family memories together!
We’ve had some hard times this year! You are so strong willed, but I absolutely know and trust that God created you this way! So even though it is difficult sometimes as a parent, I also love it! There are days that I see a lot of me in you. I’m not sure how good that is, but it is the way that God made you. You have your bossy moments and we’ve had to work a lot on obedience and respect this year. But I see that you are getting it! You are doing so great saying “yes ma’m”. I can so sympathize with you on these areas, so sometimes I don’t always enforce discipline like I probably should!
You have also seemed to find your role as the big sister, or the older one in our family. When you see mommy cleaning, you like to help me clean! You like to work hard at cleaning your own bathroom. You also are finally motivated to keep your room clean. I think it just clicked; maybe it was age, or really wanting to please your Daddy. You’ve done a great job in the last few months of picking up your room. You also like to race Eleri to get ready in the morning and after bath at night! You win most nights! But I don’t care, as long as you brush your hair with out a battle!!! You really want bangs and keep saying funny things like “Jinni said bangs don’t hurt” and “Grammie has bangs Mommy.” I won’t let you have bangs, end of discussion!!! I can not have the added drama of having to keep those bangs trimmed!!
You really are my five-year-old princess! I love you deeply, even though I may be bad at showing it some days. I love your big smile! I love your funny expressions and how expressive you are when you talk and tell stories. I love how you are so social and can make friends anywhere. I love that you love to talk! I love that you dance like crazy and sing like crazy. I love watching you love your daddy! I love when you give your sister a sweet kiss or speak sweetly to her. I love when you help mommy clean and do your very best to be my helper! I love watching you play with Aspen. I love that you love the cabin. I love that you have such a great memory! I love watching you draw and write. I secretly love your style of dressing, because it is you, and I love you! I LOVE YOU MY SWEET MALI! Have a wonderful wonderful fifth year!
Love,
Mommy

We also seem to have a song for each of our girls. This year, this is the song for Mali! Here are the words and video...
KING OF THE WORLD by Point of Grace

Spinning around on the tops of his feet
smiles of the angels can not be so sweet
wide blue eyes and piggy tail swirls
shes her daddy's girl
cuz he knows the jokes that always make her laugh
takes her for ice cream instead of her nap
at the end of the day by the light of the moon
they turn up the music in their living room
and she yells

dance me, dance me around till my feet don't ever touch down there's nothing better than being your girl and if i am your princess then daddy you are the king of the world

its funny how life moves in circles of time to think not so long ago that face was mine
houses get smaller we take different names but some things in life stay the same

dance me, dance me around till my feet don't ever touch down there's nothing better than being your girl and if i am your princess than daddy you are the king of the world

some day she'll go off and find a life of her own
and marry a good man and make a happy home
until she comes back and sees with those same eyes what time can not disguse she walks through the door with that look on her face cuz daddy's brown hair has all turned to gray they talk for hours they cry and they laugh watchin old movies and time goes by just as she turns to go she says hey day how bout one for the road

dance me, dance me around till my feet don't ever touch down

dance me, dance me around till my feet dont ever touch down cuz theres nothing better than being your girl oh theres nothing better than being your girl and if i am your princess than daddy you are the king of the world
king of the world
smile of the angels could not be so sweet

Thanksgiving Feast Video

This is just one of the four songs, and Mali's hair had come out of her pilgrim hat and in her face!:( But I thought it was the best song!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanksgiving Feast

Today Mali had her Thanskgiving Feast at preschool. She was dressed as a pilgrim and they all sang four songs for all the parents and grandparents. Mali did great and I was so proud of her. Daddy, Grandpa and Nana got to come to watch Mali too. She didn't want to sing at first because she thinks her voice isn't pretty (she is hoarse from drainage right now). But she did end up singing and did a great job performing. The cutest part was when Mali had her hands together to pray! Mali had some bossy moments too in telling other kids what to do. But she was as adorable as ever. After the songs, we got to eat stew together. I'm thankful for Mali, her preschool, her sweet friends from preschool and their moms, and that Grandpa and Nana pay for Mali to go to such a great place.

Sleep

Since it's been about two and a half weeks since I started 'sleep training' with Eleri, I thought it was time for an update. We have seen a difference in Eleri. She is even more happy and talkative. Eric said 'she's the old Eleri." Obviously not sleeping wasn't good for either of us. She is still getting up and crying but eventually goes to sleep without any problem or intervention. The crying rarely takes over 6 minutes too. (Yes, I set the timer on my phone, it helps me feel better and stay focused on the CIO method!:)) I did buy a sleep sack (they are 50% off at Kohls right now) to keep her warm thinking that might solve the problem. It also gives me peace of mind. I've been waiting another 10 minutes or so after she stops crying to go in and cover her up with her blanket. So to sum it up, our sleep is better, but she is still up three times a night, maybe twice, but for maybe 6-10 minutes at the most each time. I've revised my plan a little in that I'm not going to go in at all until after 5am to feed her and see how that goes. I'm a little nervous about how we are going to manage Thanksgiving and our whole little family being in the same room, but I imagine we will manage and adjust. Is she just not adorable? The crazy hair picture is what she woke up like after nap one day!

One small step....

Eleri is starting to take a step! She has started standing on her own and recently, as in the last few days, will take a little step! Eleri also likes to walk around holding onto my fingers Here is a video of it all.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I aspire

There are a lot of things that I aspire to do...only when inspired!:) Making clips, tutus, digital scrapbooking, photography...the list could go on. One of them is digital scrapbooking. So tonight after I put both girls to bed and was listening to the Amarillo High playoff game, I did some digital scrapbooking!

I LOVE fall!

I absolutely LOVE Fall. I love hearing the leaves as the wind blows them down the sidewalk. I love watching the leaves change and the beautiful oranges, yellows and reds of the leaves. I love wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt and being comfortable. I love the warm sun. I love indian summers. I love spending time outside. And, I love taking my girls pictures with all of this beauty. I read one time in "The Sin Eater" about how the seasons are yet another picture of Jesus. Winter being Jesus' death and spring being his resurrection. I'm not sure what that makes fall, but I wonder if it is symbolic of the Jesus' earthly ministry and preparation to give us the most beautiful gift Anyone has ever given...the guilt offering to pay for our sins.

Hiatus

Hiatus: def: 1. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc. 2. a missing part; gap or lacuna:

I've been forced to take a blogging hiatus. We have not had internet for about 2 1/2 weeks and finally got it back on! Yes, it was driving me crazy, but mainly because I had such special events to blog about. A friend suggested maybe Someone was trying to give me a hiatus from internet...maybe so. But having an iPhone doesn't help that one. I just couldn't share sweet videos and pictures of our precious girls. SOOO, check out the several new posts. There are about 9 of them that have been in the works since our internet service stopped. I have a few waiting for videos and then there will be no more back log! Enjoy because I sure enjoy sharing!:)

Marker Mayhem

The other morning, I was rocking Eleri to sleep, and Mali was playing quietly in her room. After I put Eleri down, I went into Mali's room and she had colored all over her body; literally from head to toe. I scrubbed her off to no avail. Which prompted me to ask which marker she had used. She replied "the one I hid under my bed." Sure enough, it was a Sharpie. She decided to make hersefl a scary, scary skeleton so she drew "bones" all over her body. I only got her face in this picture, but trust me it is even on her fingernails and toenails. The day before, Eleri got a hold of a marker without a lid underneath the table, so we have had some marker mayhem in our household!

Playoff bracket

Here is the playoff bracket for Amarillo High. We
play in El Paso on Friday.
http://uil.utexas.edu/athletics/brackets/football/pdf/5A_Division2.pdf

Finger Food

Eleri loves finger food. Primarily the inedible kind! In her life time, Eleri has 'eaten':
3 princess stickers
5 pieces of trash
4 stickers
Polly pockets shoes, purse, hat, pants
leaves
pieces of wood
sequins
dog food
glass...yes she attempted to put a broken piece of glass in her mouth after Mali's snowglobe broke.

The worst part is that if something is in her mouth, she clamps her jaw down and screams and cries when I take it out of her mouth. I thought this picture captured this post. Leaves are frequently what I find in her mouth.

King of the World

Daddies and daughters certainly have a special relationship. I've loved watching Eric as a daddy. He's pretty great at it and Mali just thinks he hung the moon. Meemee introduced Eric to the song King of the World by Point of Grace and Mali loves to sing it. Here is a video of her singing it. Her favorite line is "he takes her for ice cream instead of her nap"-could that be any more
descriptive of their relationship???

A few more wonderful daddy things: Eric figured out how to motivate Mali to get ready. He made it into a competition between Mali and Eleri. Every night, and morning now, Mali is racing Eleri to get ready...even brushing her hair!!! Eleri, and I, loose every night because I just can't get this squirmy baby diapered and dressed fast enough.
Also, last night we were all in the car together and Mali and Eric started playing 'I Spy'. It was so cute and I've never even thought about doing that with her in the car! The only bad part was she kept cheating so that her daddy would get the right answer instead of me!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cruising like crazy

This little lady is cruising like crazy all over the house. In fact, she's even taken a step between the couch and ottoman! I think it's adorable!! We also got naked pics and video (not to be shared) because there is just something about that cuteness! I've noticed that she seems to walk different though. It almost seems to be a little bit flat footed or at least different than how I remember Mali walking. Who knows, I haven't slept a lot sense then!;)

CIO

I just have to preface this post; I’ve never really been on the cry it out band wagon. At about a year, we sang to Mali, said good night and put her in her crib and left her. It felt like the right time for us, and it worked. I’ve rocked both my babies for naps and nursed them to sleep at night. There are a few repercussions but its been worth it to me. I wouldn’t take it back. Almost all of my good friends do this with their babies, at young ages, nearly from the beginning, and have knowingly adviced me to do the same. I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t understand how when all that my baby wanted was momma, how I could not give that to her. (This is an area where I have my own issues too.) Babywise states that you should put your baby to bed awake from the get go, which we have done to some degree, but it gets easier to just rock them or nurse them to sleep the older they get, but then we hit the point where Eleri needed that constantly. The past month, Eleri has been getting up any where from every 30 minutes to 1 hour during the night. I had no stamina! And, honestly, it wasn’t just about me. When I did respond to Eleri’s cries and hold her or nurse her, she would toss and turn in my arms desperately trying to get comfortable to no avail. I knew that it was time to do this and that it would be in the best interest of everyone. It was just hard to get up the nerve. I kept hoping that things would just click with her, but days and nights kept passing. I hoped that our pediatrician would find a double ear infection at Eleri’s 9 month check up. Instead, Eleri was in perfect health and our pediatrician advised me to not respond to her cries in the middle of the night…to not even go in to her room and pat her, etc. (our Pediatrician has been telling me not to feed Eleri in the night since she was 8 weeks old…and here we are 7 months later and I was still nursing her some of the time just in hopes of everyone going back to sleep.) So, on Monday after her 9 month check up, it was time. Eric and Mali bedded down in our bedroom so that Mali wouldn’t be awakened by Eleri’s screams. Sure enough, Eleri woke up and screamed for ONE HOUR! I had really hoped it would only be 20 minutes, but it was an hour. Night #2, Eleri got up twice. The first time she cried for 11 minutes and the next time she cried off and on for 25 minutes. I had borrowed a video monitor and was able to watch her. She would stand up and cry, and then sit down or lie down for a few minutes, and then stand up and cry again. Night #3, she got up ONCE and cried for 6 minutes!!!!! Last night she got up once and cried for one minute and went back to sleep. I am so relieved and am so thankful that we really did make the best decision for all of us. Our nights are still somewhat sleepless, but better. For the most part, Eleri has gotten up about once a night when she needs to cry. I ‘dream feed’ her about 2-3 hours after I’ve put her to bed if she wakes up, and then I nurse her if she wakes up at 5.

Sugar High

Halloween is not my favorite 'holiday', mainly because I just don't know what to do about it. I'm a very black and white person and this is a grey area. So, Eric is in charge of it and since it is in the middle of football season, it always sneaks up on us. Eric kept asking Mali what she wanted to be and she kept saying a pumpkin. I had planned on throwing together a homemade pumpkin princess costume but Eric ended up finding a Pumpkin princess costume on Wal Mart, a size 6/8 kids large, and asked if that would fit our skinny little lady. After some stitching it up, it worked great and she looked adorable. Eleri wore some cute Halloween tights from MeeMee and Papa. Mali decided that Eleri was dressed as a piece of candy.
We went to Paramount Baptist's Treat Street. It was pretty packed and crazy and in the middle of it, it hit me that we may have entered a swine flu contamination area. So we left, apparantely missing the little kid area. But Eric drove Mali to a few of the
coaches' houses and we even stopped at 'the big house with the dogs' in the Greenways (Mali is still talking about this house). She got a full sized package of Skittles there. We ended the evening by visiting Aunt Megan and Uncle Chris. We didn't get to spend enough time over there since we had to get the girls to bed, but neither girl wanted to go to bed once we got home, must have been the sugar high! Mali has been enjoying the candy and sugar high the rest of this week.

Playoffs

After a huge, fighting win on Friday night, Amarillo High is headed to the playoffs!! I'm so proud of the coaches and players that fought hard and didn't give up Friday night. We have one last district game against Lubbock High on Thursday and then it will be playoff time.