Life Lately

Time for an update! It's been almost 2 months since my last update, so I figured it's time for a new post. I have been really bad posting new blog entries because I was fighting with an addiction to the internet and technology. I was wasting all my time one my phone, incessantly checking my Facebook, Pinterest, the news, etc, and it had gotten way out of hand. I was not giving my kids my full attention, I was neglecting my responsibilities around the house...it's very embarrassing to admit all of this, but admit I must, because it's true. I knew I had a problem, but I kept thinking to myself, "It could be way worse." Then, one day I realized, why should I have to wait until it's "way worse"? It's bad enough now. So, I tried to lessen the time I spent online, but I just couldn't stay off my phone, so I deleted my Facebook account completely an limited how much I used my phone...and it felt AMAZING! I felt like a new, more positive person. I still check my phone from time to time and have allowed myself to check emails and messages throughout the day, but the obsessiveness has ended. There are still times when I feel tempted to waste time on my phone, and there are some days I give into that temptation for a few minutes, so it's still a work in progress, but freeing myself from the majority of my addiction was the best thing I could have ever done! Especially the part about deleting Facebook...that was a mindless, aggravating time-suck that did nothing but add negativity to my life. Again, I still have weak moments with my technology, but life has been so much better!

Anyway, moving on.. The kids. Oh, how they're growing!

Diana has been doing online preschool (abcmouse.com) and it's awesome! She loves it and plays on it every day. It has taught her so very much and it's worth every penny! She's really growing into herself..developing her speech, personality, and independence every day. She's a wonderful big sister, though she and Daniel do fight from time to time, but it's all out of love! ;) We started giving her chores to do and have started giving her a daily allowance (up to 10 cents a day), depending on what/how many chores she completes. She does things like make her bed, get herself dressed, brush her teeth, clean her room, clean up after herself during the day, etc, and help me out by doing the occasional big chore, like yesterday she cleaned the baseboards downstairs (with my help). I love being able to teach her the value of hard work and earning things. Her preschool has a ticket reward system, and she's already experienced working to earn and then saving up tickets so she can "buy" certain things, so it's nice that we can transition that now into a real-life application. I'm hoping it all goes well and that she can learn some valuable, life-long lessons from this experience. Only time will tell!

 (My pretty princess!)

Diana's also still very much a girly-girl. She likes jewelry, and pink things, and having her nails painted, and having pretty clips in her hair, and everything Princess and My Little Pony. Her Grandma Steadman got her a Princess Belle outfit before we went to Disneyland, and since we've been back she wears it every single time it's clean...no joke. And, when it's not clean, she spends her time lamenting that it's dirty and it needs to be cleaned. Again, no joke. She's extremely obsessed with it and I'm considering buying her many similar outfits (of other princesses) to help appease her...but now that I write it out, all it sounds like I'm doing is fueling her obsession. Hmmm. I think a lot of why she's obsessed with the outfit is because she's using the Beauty and the Beast blanket and pillow cases my mom made for me when I was very little. I've always loved Beauty and the Beast (it's my all-time favorite movie), and it makes me so happy to see her using stuff I grew up using..a little bit of nostalgia. She also got a Princess Aurora Barbie from her cousin Jayce and she LOVES that thing! Her first Barbie, and she LOVES it! (why didn't I ever think to get her a Barbie??) So, anyway, she's got a thing for princesses. It's cute.

(Diana in her infamous Princess Belle outfit)

She's got this bad habit of picking at her fingers and fingernails. Sadly, she gets that from me. I didn't realize how hereditary the tick was until I saw her doing it. It makes her fingers look terrible, and I try to help her break the habit, but I still peel my fingernails when I'm nervous or distracted, and I'm almost 27 years old, so I'm not sure how I can break her habit.

She's still got beautiful blue eyes, but they're more grey now. I love them, they're still so pretty, and they go wonderfully with her dirty-blonde hair, which is getting so long! It's so fun to be able to style it!
She loves to pretend to make cupcakes and loves to help me when I bake and cook, or at the very least, pull up a stool and watch me as I do what I do. She soaks it all in, as I remember doing with my mom when I was small, and I know she'll grow up with a huge love of baking and cooking, just like me.
She is still obsessed with music. She loves to sing and dance, and is very good at quickly memorizing songs. She has great beat and great pitch..she's very good at staying on key and on beat. I have to admit, she gets that from me. ;)  She's got a beautiful voice and I'm excited to hear those talents grow as she grows. She'll be a great singer one day as well.

She's currently in a dance class (ballet, tap, jazz combo) on Tuesday afternoons at the community center and she LOVES IT!! She's been in this class for the past 2-3 months. She did just ballet last winter and she really enjoyed it, but then a few months went by before we signed her up again..but when we went to sign her up for the ballet class, it was all full, so we signed her up for the combo. SUCH a good choice! We love her new teacher and the way the class flows. Plus, this class is an hour long, whereas the one before was only a half hour. Way more time to learn and enjoy class! She has learned SO MUCH in this class and her passion for dancing has really grown. Every week she can't wait to go to dance class and always is so very sad when it's over and time to go home. I'm so glad we have her in this class, and glad Mike talked me into signing her up for something extracurricular last fall..it has been so good for her and helped her personality and expression out a lot. It's been amazing and I'll keep her in these classes until she begs me to end them. :)
I see a lot of me in her..she is ornery and sassy, a giant drama queen, bossy, but around others she's unfamiliar with, a bit shy and passive (once she gets familiar, though, all her other listed traits come out in full force). She's sweet, though, and so beautiful! I love my little Princess, and I find it extremely hard not to spoil her rotten. I'm so glad I have her!!

(look at the gigantic eyes!)

Daniel...that boy is a handsome little charmer with the BIGGEST brown eyes you've ever seen..and a GIANT drama queen himself! Ohhhhhh, boy, is he ever dramatic! A friend of mine came to console me one day after I found out Daniel has acid reflux when he was still very small (she came to console me about the constant crying and screaming, not about the diagnosis), and she told me that her son had acid reflux very bad (just like Daniel) for the first year of his life, and she thought it would never end. She said as he grew, she noticed he was very lovey, and had VERY sensitive feelings..he was a very emotional boy. She wondered if it had to do something with why he cried and screamed so much as a baby with his acid reflux, and I wondered if Daniel would grow up the same way, since he screamed and cried SO MUCH with his acid reflux. Sure enough, Daniel is exactly the same! Raise your voice (even if it's not at him, or at anyone at all), he bursts into frantic tears. Tell him no, and he breaks out the giant, sad boo-boo lip. We can't even get into tickle fights (between me and Mike, or me, Mike, and Diana) without him completely freaking out because he thinks someone is getting hurt. He screams so loud and cries and runs over very nervous...I always have to stop and console him, letting him know no one got hurt. He's VERY sensitive, VERY emotional, and VERY dramatic! But, on the plus side, he is SO, SO sweet and SO affectionate. He freely shares hugs and kisses, most of the time without even being asked. He loves just about everyone, as long as he knows they won't take him away from his mommy...he's going through that fun "ultra-clingy phase".  But, even though he's all sensitive and dramatic, he's VERY boyish. HE loves dirt, mud, cars, farting and fat-noises, any kind of ball, airplanes. wrestling, hitting, biting...anything a boy would love, this kids embraces it fully! It's so funny watching him act like a mini-boy all the time..even with his bouts of drama. I can tell already that he'll be our little sports-maniac, which makes me happy since I'm the sports-enthusiast in this house. I can't wait for him to get old enough so I can put him in some sort of sport!

(Mama's handsome helper - he loves to help!)

It's funny, watching these two kids grow, I've come to really realize that their personalities and preferences really do come with them when they're born. A lot of what they like and do are part of who they are, not what they learn from others. Like the whole girly thing with Diana..I was never really girly, nor have I ever been a giant fan of the color pink, but Diana loves it all, and over time, she has made ME more girly. And Daniel, he's been pushing around cars and making car noises, kicking balls, and playing in the dirt, and climbing on everything since the moment he was physically able to. And none of it he learned from anyone..honestly. It's all natural and a part of him. It's so crazy!

(So strong!)

But, Daniel...he's growing like a weed. It's hard for me not to see him as my baby, but then he'll do things that remind me he really isn't a baby at all anymore. He uses sign language to let us know when he's done eating or when he wants something, he likes to do hand motions to some nursery songs he knows, he tries to say things..he makes noises that sound enough like the words that we know what he's saying  (ie, I did it, what's that?, etc), he plays well with Diana, and even better independently, He listens pretty well and understands what we tell him, which is evident, of course, by his responses. He's one smart little cookie and it's fun watching him learn and grow every day. He loves Diana and mimics her a lot. I take those opportunities to remind to her to a good role model to Daniel and to behave herself. She, in turn, has really grown into her big sister role and has matured quite a bit, though she still has her moments, which is good because it shows me she's still a 3 year old. :)

Daniel is very possessive and clingy, as I said earlier, and I wonder from time to time how he will act when I have another kid. That won't be for at least a year from now, so there's no knowing yet how he'll react, but I still wonder because he gets very angry when I hold another child, even when I hold Diana instead of him or even let Diana sit on my lap. I remember Diana going through that, though, so he may grow out of it over time.We'll see, I guess.

Daniel is also getting his molars! He has one in and is working on the other 3. Boy, I forgot how much teething sucks! He hasn't gotten any new teeth since he got in the last 5 all at once over Thanksgiving. It's been a nice break, and I'm anxious for him to get these teeth in and over with..then he can eat more foods, too, which I'm very excited about! Less he can choke on.
Daniel can say "uh-oh", "Mama", "Dada", "yeah", and "Di", along with sounding out many other words and phrases. He's anxious to communicate and express himself, and I'm anxious for him to learn so he can better communicate with us all.

Daniel is also very obsessed with music, like Diana, and has great beat, too. I can tell he wants so much to sing along to songs, and in a way, he tries. I don't think it will be long before he and Diana will be singing together to everything. I'm excited for that day!

Love! 

These kids are seriously growing before my eyes, and at times I really wish I could stop time so that I could freeze them at these sweet moments and stages in life. But, I do love watching them learn and grow, so it's a fair trade. I'll try to keep this more up-to-date, now, so I can better document them as they grow. Fingers crossed!