Baby Books?

Ok, I started writing this a while back and I'm finally posting it...

Logan got his first haircut recently. When my mom and dad came by, they mentioned how I needed to put it in his baby book. Baby book? I got one for Lexxa and I filled out some basic information, but I didn't get very far. I saved random things and notes and just put them inside the book, but I never really moved them over. With Logan, however, I never got a baby book. So, my excuse to my parents was that I have a blog now. I know, it's a stretch, and I don't even update my blog that much, but hey, it's similar to a baby book when you put new stories about your kids every once in a while.

One day, I want to sit down and just type up the story of my kids' lives--how Brad and I met, when we got married, when we got pregnant and all about when they were born until the present time (whenever that ends up being). I figured it's going to be a pretty long story. So, here's my attempt at a blog post to make up for not having baby books.

Lexxa - 4 years, 8 months

Right now, Lexxa loves playing computer games and doing anything artistic and crafty. It's amazing how good she is on the computer already--she knows how to open her online games all by herself. She is trying soccer out pretty unsuccessfully so far (see Soccer Diaries Part I). She absolutely loves her little brother, even though she tortures him sometimes. She's a smart and loving little girl. She's almost too smart for her own good sometimes because she already tries to negotiate with us! She's great at writing her name along with Logan, Mommy and Daddy. She loves writing the alphabet as well. She's also a funny girl and she actually make jokes. She's almost done with her PreK class that she absolutely loves and she's moving on to Kindergarten in the fall. She's growing up so fast! She drives us a little crazy sometimes, but she also makes us smile every day.

Logan - 23 months

Logan is such a mellow and fun-loving little boy. He's learning new words every day and he is completely happy just sitting and playing with blocks, cars or trains. He also loves to eat, just about anything! He loves dropping his sister off at school and he talks to all of the moms and teachers when he's there. And, a few days ago, he had his first haircut! He doesn't have a lot of hair, but he had a lot of little scraggly pieces on the sides and in the back, so it was time to clean it up. Now, he looks like such a grown up little boy. I have to be honest, I'm a little sad about it.

There's something about watching your kids grow up so fast especially when you know you're not going to have any more. In my mind, I just know that the baby stage is just about over and my kids are going to become big kids, teenagers and then adults right before my eyes. Every stage is a new adventure--fun, stressful, happy, sad and every other emotion you can think of.

Soccer Diaries Part I

I always thought one of the exciting things about being a parent is when you get to see your child go to dance class, play soccer or t-ball or some other sort of organized activity. I danced when I was younger, so it's always been a passion for me and when Lexxa told me she wanted to take dance class, I was thrilled! I envisioned watching her in her cute little costumes on stage with the other little ones and only half way doing the dance and looking at the teacher to guide her and the group. So, she went to dance class on and off (between being sick or having other things come up) for a couple of months. I thought she was really enjoying it until one day she told Brad that she didn't want to go to dance class anymore. She said "All I want to do is play soccer, t-ball and golf." My heart was a little broken I have to admit. But, we weren't going to force her to do something that she really wasn't into because maybe someday she'll go back to it and enjoy it.

So, after that, all she could talk about was playing soccer. We made sure to tell her that she can't quit if she signs up...she has to play the whole season before she can say if she likes it and wants to continue or not. She said ok and was really excited to play. So, here's how it's gone down so far:

Week 1 - There is no game on week one, just a chance to meet the team and do a little practice. We go out to the soccer field, we get her orange t-shirt since she's on the orange team. She freaks out and doesn't want to practice or even talk to the other kids. She's just completely attached to us the whole time. It was a little embarrassing because she was fully crying and saying she didn't want to play anymore. But, since she committed to it, we were going to stay the whole time no matter what. After that, we told her that she had to go back and just try again.

Week 2 - So, the set up for week 2 is that the kids practice for about a half hour and then play a game for a half hour. She won't really practice much, but I got her to do some of the drills if I did it with her. My parents and my brother and his girlfriend came out just to watch her play, but they didn't get to watch anything except the other kids running around the field. She was better because she wasn't totally crying this time, but all she did was watch the other kids. Ugh, week 2 was better, but not a success.

Week 3 - Picture day. So, we had to get to the field early on week 3 for individual and team pictures. The day before, Lexxa said she was going to be happy at soccer and that she was going to try. I was happy to hear her at least say that, but I wasn't too hopeful. And, I wasn't sure if she was even going to cooperate for pictures. Well, we got lucky and she took her pictures with no problem...awesome, I thought that it might just be a better day because she was doing so well. I was wrong. When it was time to start practicing and playing, she froze up again and didn't even want to go practice. So we spent another morning watching all of the other kids play soccer while we just sat on the sidelines.

So, my fairytale of cheering Lexxa on now that she's old enough to play in organized sports isn't going so well. Stay tuned to hear how the next few weeks go...it could be a long season!