Annie is 3!
I've heard a lot of terrible things about the age of 3. That your kiddo goes through this tantrum phase where they are impossible and crazy and that it's one of the hardest years in toddlerhood. Over the past 3 years, I have come to realize that our little Annie is nothing short of God's grace. We moved to a brand new city when I was 6 months pregnant with my tiny love. Our closest family is 3 hours away, we had no church, no friends, we didnt even know our neighbors. It was hard uprooting from a town, a church, and people we loved so dearly - and even harder entering a city 16x larger, where we knew no one. Add into that equation becoming a new mama and I cannot even express to you how dark our first weeks were as new parents. We had a traumatic birth with this one, we were scared, and no one to lean on. We learned a lot about being parents, more than others have the ability to learn, because we only had Jesus and each other. I believe no doubt that God sprinkled grace galore over our lives in a tiny package we call Annie.
In Russia the name Annie means "Favored Grace," which is what we painted on the wall of her nursery. She is funny, she is tender, obedient, loving...she is just a little ray of sunshine. She was named after a woman who exhibited the same characteristics. I could write an entire post on this, but I'll shorten it to say that when I look at my Annie, it makes me miss my grandmother something terrible....
So: my Annie:
I LOVE this phase of toddlerhood so much I can hardly stand it sometimes. She lights up my world
in ways I cannot even convey, though Im sure those of you who are mothers can understand this light that I speak of. She is just a JOY to be around. She is so smart, to no credit of my own and I am blown away by the things she is picking up every single day. Her language development, her sentences, piecing together and using phrases she's heard us say over and over. If I ask her to do something she says, "sure. absolutely, it's no problem mama." The girl is so obedient, I praise Jesus for her daily. There are days where she is resistant to instruction, but 99% of the time she obeys without fault. The area she struggles with most right now is being loving towards her very curious baby sister. We have to remind her frequently that Jesus calls us to love others, especially our sister. She has served some time in timeout because of her lack of love recently.
She is such a happy girl. Light just SHINES through her eyes. She is excited just to get out of bed in the morning (though, what toddler isnt...), she loves eating, she loves her tv time, she loves play time, she loves puzzles, she loves snack time, she loves when her sister has her nap and its mama-and-me time.... the one thing she doesnt care too much for is naptime. We went through a spell where she'd have a bit of a breakdown on the way to bed, but now she obediently gathers her babies, goes to the potty, and hops into bed. Not before she has had her tickle kisses though. She loves when I kiss her all over and tickle her. She likes kissing me and hugging me.... and I like kissing and hugging her. I could hold her for hours.
She loves when she wakes up, she loves going downstairs and waking her daddy up in the evenings and playing with him until its time for him to going to work. When I put her sister down to bed in the evenings, Annie likes to go down and sit on our bed while Steven gets ready for work. I'm sure they play and giggle together.
Annie's favorite thing right now is Christmas. She has been watching Mickey's Christmas since August and exclaims frequently, "ITS ALMOST CHRISTMAS TIME!!!" We tell her that Christmas wont come until it gets cold and the snow comes.... and so she will say, "I can't wait for snow!" Now that Christmas decor is up in the stores I understand what the phrase, "like a kid at christmas" means. That little light in her eyes just burns even brighter. She says a phrase to us every now and again that just sends the warmest ... I dont even have a word... through my soul! When she has an amazing day or wants to express her love to us, instead of saying, "this was the best day ever," or the like, she says, "This was the best Christmas ever mama." Or she will run up to me, give me the biggest bear hug, and in a soft voice whisper to me, "Merry Christmas Mama." I swear I want to cling to this memory for the rest of my life.
She gets to sleep in my bed 1-2x a week while her daddy is at work. We have always had a "you sleep in your own bed" policy, but I have to admit I LOVE when she gets to sleep with me. I limit it to only once or twice while her dad is working, so that she doesnt get spoiled to it (she once slept with me for an entire week while we were at my mom's...and converting her back to her bed was really difficult). But I love having her in bed with me. I get to stare at her as much as I want, smell her sweet little head, kiss her chubby little cheeks, and snuggle up to her for hours on end. I use my evening hours while they are asleep to catch up on work, house stuff, and just relax, so on the nights she sleeps with me I have to cut everything short, but its worth it.
Annie's favorite things:
-She still has to sleep with a million babies, her 2 quackies, and her house shoes. She loves her house shoes. And a drink. Can't go to bed without a drink on her table.
-All things Kristoff
-Paw Patrol
-Doctors
-Jigsaw Puzzles (in the last week or so)
-SNACKS
-she is starting to get into dress up
She can almost dress herself, minus her shirt. She is fully potty trained and has been since June, but she is learning to wipe herself and pull her own pants up. She hates her hair to be brushed but enjoys washing her hands. She weighs 27lbs and is exactly 3ft tall. She wears 3T clothes and a size 7 shoe.
I know this is long, but there's seriously so much - and as I shared in my previous post about Emery, I dont want to lose these memories of my girls! When I look at Emery I realize how fleeting time is. I seriously do not even remember Annie being a baby. I can look back at what I wrote about her babyhood, but its all just a blur. I remember how I felt about her, but I cant remember all the details. Some things (the sleeplessness, for example) I'm glad to forget, but it also makes me realize how quickly they grow. And God has been teaching me lately to just live in the season I'm in. I have a
baby and a toddler, and so my days are not always glitter and sunshine, but its a season that is fleeting and one that I need to cherish, no matter how exhausted I am. (Im really. really. tired.)
In Russia the name Annie means "Favored Grace," which is what we painted on the wall of her nursery. She is funny, she is tender, obedient, loving...she is just a little ray of sunshine. She was named after a woman who exhibited the same characteristics. I could write an entire post on this, but I'll shorten it to say that when I look at my Annie, it makes me miss my grandmother something terrible....So: my Annie:
I LOVE this phase of toddlerhood so much I can hardly stand it sometimes. She lights up my world
in ways I cannot even convey, though Im sure those of you who are mothers can understand this light that I speak of. She is just a JOY to be around. She is so smart, to no credit of my own and I am blown away by the things she is picking up every single day. Her language development, her sentences, piecing together and using phrases she's heard us say over and over. If I ask her to do something she says, "sure. absolutely, it's no problem mama." The girl is so obedient, I praise Jesus for her daily. There are days where she is resistant to instruction, but 99% of the time she obeys without fault. The area she struggles with most right now is being loving towards her very curious baby sister. We have to remind her frequently that Jesus calls us to love others, especially our sister. She has served some time in timeout because of her lack of love recently.
She is such a happy girl. Light just SHINES through her eyes. She is excited just to get out of bed in the morning (though, what toddler isnt...), she loves eating, she loves her tv time, she loves play time, she loves puzzles, she loves snack time, she loves when her sister has her nap and its mama-and-me time.... the one thing she doesnt care too much for is naptime. We went through a spell where she'd have a bit of a breakdown on the way to bed, but now she obediently gathers her babies, goes to the potty, and hops into bed. Not before she has had her tickle kisses though. She loves when I kiss her all over and tickle her. She likes kissing me and hugging me.... and I like kissing and hugging her. I could hold her for hours.She loves when she wakes up, she loves going downstairs and waking her daddy up in the evenings and playing with him until its time for him to going to work. When I put her sister down to bed in the evenings, Annie likes to go down and sit on our bed while Steven gets ready for work. I'm sure they play and giggle together.
Annie's favorite thing right now is Christmas. She has been watching Mickey's Christmas since August and exclaims frequently, "ITS ALMOST CHRISTMAS TIME!!!" We tell her that Christmas wont come until it gets cold and the snow comes.... and so she will say, "I can't wait for snow!" Now that Christmas decor is up in the stores I understand what the phrase, "like a kid at christmas" means. That little light in her eyes just burns even brighter. She says a phrase to us every now and again that just sends the warmest ... I dont even have a word... through my soul! When she has an amazing day or wants to express her love to us, instead of saying, "this was the best day ever," or the like, she says, "This was the best Christmas ever mama." Or she will run up to me, give me the biggest bear hug, and in a soft voice whisper to me, "Merry Christmas Mama." I swear I want to cling to this memory for the rest of my life.
She gets to sleep in my bed 1-2x a week while her daddy is at work. We have always had a "you sleep in your own bed" policy, but I have to admit I LOVE when she gets to sleep with me. I limit it to only once or twice while her dad is working, so that she doesnt get spoiled to it (she once slept with me for an entire week while we were at my mom's...and converting her back to her bed was really difficult). But I love having her in bed with me. I get to stare at her as much as I want, smell her sweet little head, kiss her chubby little cheeks, and snuggle up to her for hours on end. I use my evening hours while they are asleep to catch up on work, house stuff, and just relax, so on the nights she sleeps with me I have to cut everything short, but its worth it.
Annie's favorite things:
-She still has to sleep with a million babies, her 2 quackies, and her house shoes. She loves her house shoes. And a drink. Can't go to bed without a drink on her table.
-All things Kristoff
-Paw Patrol
-Doctors
-Jigsaw Puzzles (in the last week or so)
-SNACKS
-she is starting to get into dress up
She can almost dress herself, minus her shirt. She is fully potty trained and has been since June, but she is learning to wipe herself and pull her own pants up. She hates her hair to be brushed but enjoys washing her hands. She weighs 27lbs and is exactly 3ft tall. She wears 3T clothes and a size 7 shoe.
I know this is long, but there's seriously so much - and as I shared in my previous post about Emery, I dont want to lose these memories of my girls! When I look at Emery I realize how fleeting time is. I seriously do not even remember Annie being a baby. I can look back at what I wrote about her babyhood, but its all just a blur. I remember how I felt about her, but I cant remember all the details. Some things (the sleeplessness, for example) I'm glad to forget, but it also makes me realize how quickly they grow. And God has been teaching me lately to just live in the season I'm in. I have a baby and a toddler, and so my days are not always glitter and sunshine, but its a season that is fleeting and one that I need to cherish, no matter how exhausted I am. (Im really. really. tired.)
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