Mollie Moo is TWO!

It's official...we're parents of a two year old!

On 7:01pm February 10, 2009, Mollie came into this world as sweet as she could be and has been blessing our lives ever since. I couldn't help but get a little emotional when I started thinking about the day she was born. I was putting Mollie to bed ( at about 7:01pm hehe) the night of her birthday, rocking and reading together, not being able to get enough snuggles, and was thinking about how I just couldn't put her down that first night. She was so little, so sweet, and so snuggly in that swaddle blanket; I just couldn't get enough! While a lot has changed in two years, she's still the same sweet little Mollie Moo that we fell in love with.

Here are some things she's doing at two years old:

- Knows her ABC's, numbers 1-10, most colors, and several shapes

- Talks all the time! Although a lot of it can't be deciphered, she has an extensive vocabulary and speaks with lots of inflection in her voice.

- Gets complimented by her teachers at school for how smart she is and how she encourages other kids to participate in "learning time" by being a good participant!

- Likes to sing songs...we sang happy birthday to her at least 15 times the other day. She loves it and loves to sing along! One of her favorites is when we sing "Rock-a-bye Baby". She sings "rock a by baby, in da tee tock, when da win blows, the cradle will ROCK!!! THE CRADLE WILL ROCK!!!" (picture 80's rocker here...the sweet little lullaby turns into head-banging rock song) I have GOT to get this one on video. It's hilarious.

Laughing at Daddy's silly rendition of the "Happy Birthday Song"

- Likes to draw on her chalkboard, her MagnaDoodle, or all over any piece of paper we happen to leave laying within reach :o) She knows to ONLY color on paper, and coloring on anything else is a NO NO! In fact, we walked by a bit of grafitti painted on a wall and she said "Color on paper. NOT on wall. No No!" That's my girl!

- She likes to play with balls and run around outside. Her and Daddy play football together, and he even taught her how to "hustle" (not do THE hustle, but just run really fast). She still runs like a fast walk, but just pumps her arms a bit harder to go "fast".

Stretching after a long run..haha!

- She'll do ANYTHING for you if you say 1-2-3-GO!

- She's very good at saying please and thank you, bless you, and is getting better at saying excuse me

Bathtime Fun!

- While she uses polite words quite well, she's also entered the "MINE" phase...it's a rough lesson to learn how to share and to not feel threatened by other kids playing with her toys. I know all kids go through this, but it's SO frustrating to see our sweet little lady turn into a brat when "her" toys are being shared. This too shall pass...this too shall pass... :o)

- Also, while she's been successfully potty-trained for 6 months, she's started using that as a way to test her boundaries. That's right, it seems as though she's purposely wetting her pants to get attention, experiment, push her limits, etc. It appears as though she only does it with Jason and I, and doesn't do it at school. We're currently brainstorming ways to discourage this behavior, but it's frustrating because that's one thing we have no control over...we can't force her to potty/not to potty. We can only encourage her to do it appropriately. So, I'm thinking this is also a phase, but if any of you have experience with this/ suggestions, I'd love to hear them :o)

- She still goes to bed at about 7:00 each night, wakes a little before 7am, and takes a 1-2 hour nap at school. She still definitely thrives on plenty of sleep. We've even noticed that by Friday evening, she's so tired from the week that she sometimes doesn't even make it till 7 and is saying "I'm tired! I want to lay down!"

Pajama time!

- Her favorite things to eat include anything breakfast related (we had waffles and sausage as her special birthday dinner!), CHEESE, fruit, peanut butter, and spaghetti (or feggies as she calls it).

- She also LOVES to play with her baby dolls and doll house, and play dress up. She'll take the baby, lay it down on a blanket, put another blanket on top, kiss it, tell it goodnight, then say wake up, then do it all over again! This will keep her busy for a long time.

That's about it. I have a feeling this year will be quite an adventure in our household! Here's to the WONDERFUL Two's and our sweet Mollie Moo!!

TIme flies...

...when you're crazy busy! Yep, I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a month. Well, actually I can because life has been a little hectic around here. At least it's a good kind of busy! Here's a little synopsis to catch you up...

- I finished a 6-week long sub job in a middle school special ed classroom working with behaviorally/learning challenged boys...WHAT an EXPERIENCE! It was GREAT, I learned so much, and made new friends/mentors/references/etc...

- I started student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom and have been EXHAUSTED ever since :o) It was hard on my mind and body to switch from middle school to 2nd grade, but I'm having so much fun. It's a TON of work, but full of rewards and life lessons...

- Mollie's quickly approaching the "Two's" (notice I left a word out there) and is keeping us on our toes! There's a whole new world of challenges that are approaching...and I promise to post a more detailed account of what our sweet girl is up to. Nine days and counting till her special day...

-Jason's hard at work preparing for the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth later this month. He's been so dedicated to keeping up with his training plan, taking care of his body, pushing his self to do better, etc. It's inspiring! I only wish I had that kind of dedication. And on top of that, he's still working full time, taking graduate courses, heading up a youth pastor search committee at church, singing at the Cactus Theater, and being a fabulous husband and daddy. What a guy.

And while that all doesn't seem like much when I write it down, boy have we felt busy. You can tell by the clutter in my house that I'm feeling spread a little thin these days...something's got to give I suppose! I can't tell you how thankful I am today for the ice/snow storm that blew in last night. It gave me an unexpected day off to be at home with my sweet girl and to rest my brain for a bit! While it means more work for me when I get back to school, I won't complain about an opportunity to play with the kiddo (which includes baby dolls, dress up, and ring-around-the-rosies these days).

While I miss these times at home with Mollie, I know God has a plan for this family. He's already opened up so many doors for me with my new career, and while I don't have a permanent position yet, I feel like He's leading the way to something great...

There's our January in a nutshell :o) More pics and stuff next time!