Rian's birthday/Christmas

Our computer's messed up again. I pretty much only use it to upload pictures from my camera to Facebook and to update my blog but its still annoying! I don'tlike using the Blogger app.

Rian turned 3 last Saturday, THREE. It is so hard for me to believe, she's my baby. Three seems so old, but she's so different compared to Aiden. She's so independent and can do things he can't (like button her jeans and buckle herself into her carseat.) but at the same time, she's so much more like a baby to me than he was at three. She's still attached to me at the hip, she always wants me to hold her, she rarely sleeps through the night (waking me up for a kiss or trying to come in our bed which usually results in a full-blown fit at 2am- yay.) But they are two totally different little people so I shouldn't compare. She had a fun birthday, of course it was Pinkalicious! Aiden keeps calling her Rianlicious. :)

One morning last week (a few days before her birthday) the kids were outside with Steven, I heard her screaming and he burst through the door, I saw blood. Sooo much blood. She smashed her finger in his jeep door. It looked so gross (still does!) We were unsure what to do and I knew it'd be awhile til we got ahold of somebody at the pediatrician, so we drove there. Steven took her in and the nurse had us go to Urgent Care, which is the next building over. After waiting forever, the doctor said they needed to clean it to see if she needed stitches then do an X-ray to see if it was broken, augh! Thankfully, neither. :) Her nail is totally out and dead, we're waiting for it to fall off. I've always known my first trip there would be with her, our "problem child" in medical terms. She had problems before we were even discharged after her birth, they discovered things that needed to be looked into at her one month well-check, put on sensitive formula, horrible bowel problems, has had some pretty bad owies... And the list goes on. But she is healthy and happy, love that crazy girl!

Aiden is doing so well in school. They're always telling me what a good boy he is, how he always helps clean up and he's so smart! I know he's smart, but the other things?! Why can't he be like that at home? When he's naughty at home, we tell him we're going to tell one of his teachers and he gets so scared! He doesn't want them to know how he is here. My mom always says that means we're doing a good job.

We choose two kids from the Angel Tree this year, it was so awesome. Honestly, I was a little nervous about taking the kids to Toys R Us (we never go there, kid Heaven!) but we talked nonstop about why we were going and who we were shopping for. They did AMAZING. They were so happy to pick things out for kids they'll never meet. It was such a proud moment for me. :)

The day after Rian's birthday we all went to church, Aiden and I have been going a lot lately. Rebecca, Tim, Steven and I dedicated our kids with all of our parents and Steven and Rebecca's grandparents. It was scary to go up on stage but it wasn't so bad, it feels good knowing we have so many people who love and support us. It was pretty special too. :)

Our Christmas morning at home was easy and simple. We're not huge gift givers when it comes to the kids, but they don't mind. I kid you not, all they talk about from 2011's Christmas is that Santa brought them toothbrushes and tooth paste. Rian told me all month long she wanted him to bring her toothpaste. We forgot about stockings and did them last, at the very bottom was their brushes and paste, once again: they got HUGE reactions! Aiden gasped and said, "Oooh my goodness!" Haha. We had a busy day after that, spending it with both of our families. Next year, when my kitchen's done and pretty, I want to have Christmas dinner at our house, so everybody can be together. Speaking of my kitchen, I was tired of not liking any countertops and sooo over the piled up stuff. So Steven put in my new sink, faucet and garbage disposal. I LOVE it!! It's so pretty, I like washing now. :) And going from a disposal that hardly worked and made soo much racket, this new one is so quiet- it's amazing! We just need to make the wood plank top for the island then do the flooring. Excited! (Still.)

One last thing: on Christmas Eve, Steven took Aiden's training wheels off. He did soo awesome! He doesn't have it down perfectly yet but he'll get it quick, just haven't had time to practice. And his first soccer practice is next week! When did my kids get so big?!