We spent a few years wondering if there would be a #3, and when labor and delivery nurses are pregnant I think it is impossible to imagine the fears that run through our heads.  Every delivery that goes/has gone bad every mom who has a problem, you just KNOW that will be your fate as well.

But she came, and she was perfect, well as perfect as a now sassy 3 year old could be.

And God has a timetable for us.  I think a lot of our fears can be attributed back to wanting to live our own timetables…  She came when it was perfect for her to come. 

Love her.  Mostly.

So, let’s get on with my top 10 of this little she-ra.

1.  She is learning how to read.  She is actually getting through books now, and not just on her own memorization skills.  I love it.  I love teaching my kids, I derive a huge amount of joy from it.  I will also be happy to pass her off to Kindergarten in a couple of years.

2.  She really loves me.  I kind of always wondered what it would be like to have a kid who missed you an ounce when you leave them.  Turns out it’s not so great, but part of me is happy to have a little one who ADORES me.  She can’t get enough of my hair or my face or my voice.  She wants me all the time.  Yay. 

3.  She is girly.  I know I used to be afraid of what a little girl would bring to dinosaur town, but turns out fairies and princesses don’t bite at all.  Dinosaurs do, fyi.

4.  She loves her clothes.  As do I.  I get a lot of joy from going to Goodwill and finding great outfits for her for like 3 bucks.  Double yay!

5.  She is normally pretty amazing at meetings.  I have a lot of meetings with my many pto positions and she is a champ at them.  I recently had a 3.5 hour one and thanks to the leapster and a few minutes on my phone she did great.  Thanks Princess P!

6.  She loves her friends.  When one of her two best friends come over she hugs them and say she is SO happy to see them.  I see a visiting teacher in the making in this one.  She loves the ladies.  Not so much for boys, besides her brothers….

7.  I love all the time I get with her.  There are days where I feel like I’ve been the mother of a tiny forEVER and it will never end, but normally I really love the groove that we get in.  I will truly be a mess when she leaves me.  A happy mess, but a mess.

8.  I love to cuddle on the couch with her.  She would like to live inside my rib cage, but somtimes my lap is enough.

9.  I love it when I come home from whatever thing I’m at and she throws her arms around me and tells me how much she’s missed me and that she loves me SO much.

10.  I love how at Costco when she wanted their GINORMOUS (and insane) dollhouse she just kept saying, “I want that dollhouse mom.”  And I told her she’d need to ask Santa, so then she screamed  “SANTA, I REALLY WANT THAT DOLLHOUSE, OK?”{waiting for his reply}.  Not to be outdone by her trick or treating by saying, “I NEED CANDY!”  Tactful, not so much.  We’ll work on that after she’s reading.

Anywho, this little girl brings so much joy, peace and hope into our lives.  I worry a lot about raising a girl in an age where people make SO many awful mistakes, but I know I just need to work hard at being her mamma.  And hopefully she’ll still hold my hand for a few more years.  In the meantime I’ll savor every minute of her little-ness.

The post Replacing Fear with Gratitude #20: Princess P appeared first on Pulling Curls.

“Marsha, Marsha, Marsha” was also a contender, but I went with Mr Middle.

Here are my top 10 reasons I am so thankful for Mr S:

1.  He loves to read.  Did you hear he read ALL of Harry Potter in a week.  That’s right, 7 days, not like the way God views a week.  Sadly, he still wants to keep reading about the mis-adventures of Harry.  I am working hard on helping him find other types of literature.

2.  He is uber self-confident.  SO much so I have had to beat him down a few notches before.  Sad, but true.

3.  He still has a little tiny voice.  It’s not near like it used to be and I and am also thankful for the peer pressure that has brought his voice into a normal timbre, but I am going to miss that tiny voice someday, won’t I?

4.  He is the Barry Manilow of Senior Primary.  When in the right mood, the kid can belt out the hits.  I remember when he was learning to read I was trying to get him to sing the words of hymns as practice and he would sing out loud and proud to “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” until many eyes were wet by either laughing or the fact this little four year old was singing it like Ethyl Mermon, and hopefully something of it had actually taken root.

5.  If Spencer could surgically attach the Ninetendo DS to his hands, he would.  Am I thankful for this?  Maybe, when I really need him distracted.  And boy oh boy will that sucker distract him.

6.  He is giving his other brother a run for his money.  I remember reading a book that said you don’t need to intervene in family dynamics when the older child is getting their way all the time because that will soon change.  ANd it has.  Someone nick named El Presidante isn’t so happy about this one.

7.  He loves spaghetti pie.  He ALWAYS says it’s his favorite food, without fail. It’s a simple dish and he adores it.  I should blog the recipe for that one at some point.

8.  He loves the computer.  For homework they are supposed to do a math computer game online 3 times a week for 20 minutes.  Let’s just say he’s almost done with the 5th grade version of this thing. 

9.  He loves cub scouts.  He just finished his Wolf badge (by doing an outdooor flag ceremony — see my instagram feed on the right) and he’s enjoyed doing the requirements.  I think there are a lot of great things about the cub scout program. I am grateful for it (I also secretly am not its biggest fan sometimes, but I digress)…

10.  He loves it when I walk him to the bus stop or pick him up.  He still really likes me people, it’s nice to be liked!

Anyway, I have a lot of fears when it comes to this one.  The word is a mean thing and this one will be facing it head on at some point.  I need to be grateful for the good things in him so I can help him grow into a man strong enough to do the right thing.

The post Gratitude Replacing Fear #15: Mr Middle appeared first on Pulling Curls.

Anyway, El Presidante holds a special place of fear in my heart.  He is the one I am messing up on, he is the one that will go through all these stages first and what if I don’t know how to DEAL WITH IT?  Can you see me shaking in my boots right now, because I am.  Well, I would if my boots weren’t in a box in my closet because we don’t need boots here.  But, I digress.

C had a doozy of a year last year.  It was the move, and the change to middle school and me learning to be more hands off with his homework.  It lead to some crazy grades and some crazy behaviors but I am seeing a new sense of responsibility glimmering in this kid.

And boy oh boy am I glad.

I also see someone who would much rather listen to his MP3 player then his family in the car.  But frankly… I would too sometimes.

I think it’s so easy to be weighed down by all that parenting hands you.  The responsibility, the long hours, the extreme involvement of it all.  It’s just hard to take sometimes.  But, when you really look at this amazing little being that you’re helping to mold you can’t help but be grateful for what God has given you and how you’re learning in the process.

And so, without further adieu, 10 things I am grateful for in El Presidante:

1.  He didn’t have a single missing assignment last week and I rewarded him.  If he does his work he does a good job, sometimes he leaves it in his folder or just forgets it all together.  We’re working on that.

2.  He is loving audio books lately, and that’s a great thing to do.  Less great when we take you to a baseball game, but great nevertheless.

3.  He sure loves his little sister.  He is an AMAZING big brother and I am so grateful for him.  When we were in CA I really needed him to step up to the plate a few times and he came through with flying colors.

4.  He and his brother sometimes play really well together.  Look at me focusing on the good…

5.  He picks great friends.  Out of a class of strangers, he somehow picked out the LDS kid and has found a really great friendship with him.  He didn’t know he was Mormon until later, and I’m not saying that my kids can only be friends with LDS kids, because that’s not true in the least but it was a happy thing for me.

6.  He is such a geek.  I think this will serve him well someday, even though sometimes I want to ignore his questions and hide in a pillowcase.

7.  He really likes music.  I mean, how could he not — it’s kind of in his genes, but I see big things for him with his trumpet, he really likes doing it. 

8.  He really hates Instagram.  I find it amusing, I will get a picture of him smiling at some point.  It’s a challenge now, thanks C!

9.  He is a strong worker.  Sure, he has his times where he can barely make his bed, but when this kid sets his mind to working there is no stopping him.  I am really proud when I see him a service project or whatnot, just enjoying the camaraderie of the work and getting stuff done.  Love that.

10.  He is slowly understanding consequences and repentance.  He is building a great relationship with the bishop of our ward, and I’m really glad.  Instead of finding him as an annoying old guy (and it would be difficult to find that in our bishop, he’s a really great guy) he has found a friend who helps him along the way.  His budding testimony is helping him realize the consequences to all that he does and I’m really grateful for that.

I am really grateful for what this kid is turning into.  I think it’s really easy to see gratitude replacing fear when I think of my kids.  If I can really be thankful for ALL That they are, I can find the gratitude in all that they’re putting me through.  And sometimes, that seems like a lot.

The post Fear Replaced by Gratitude #12: El Presidante appeared first on Pulling Curls.