Slow down, life. Speed up, computer. That pretty much sums up why I haven't posted in 4 months. My poor, ailing computer can't keep up with the speed of two growing children and a busy life. I finally hijacked Rob's computer over this past weekend so that I can attempt to update the blog. There's so much to say and only so much time to type. So here it goes...
We traveled a lot this summer. As it turns out, despite our rigid routine at home, our family travels quite well! We spent almost two weeks visiting family and friends in Charleston. We came back for only a few weeks before leaving again for Family Ministry Camp at St. Christopher on Seabrook Island, SC. We came home from that trip, celebrated Robert's birthday, then left again for a two week trip to Atlanta to visit family. And finally, we ended the summer with a nice visit from Nona and Pops and a 1st birthday celebration for Lillian. The children proved to be great on long car rides, airplane rides, and in hotel rooms! We were all pleasantly surprised and can't wait to travel more with them!
Robert seems to be changing almost daily. He enjoyed a dinosaur themed beach birthday bash with all of his friends. Age 3 is proving to be much more challenging than 2 as far as boundary testing. He's spending lots of time on the naughty mat, which he hates. He's quite full of it lately. He told me the other day that if I put him on the naughty mat he would pee on it. And sure enough, he did just that. He pulled his pants off and peed right on it! And he got just what I promised he would if he did it: a spanking. We save spanking for very rare occasions, and boy was he surprised when he got one! Despite some healthy boundary testing, he's really still a sweet boy who is full of questions and gaining quite a big vocabulary. Just the other day he asked me if when we died and went to Heaven would we see the dinosaurs there since they are all "estinked" now. That was a hard one that Daddy later told me he was relieved I took care of myself and didn't send his way. They didn't cover that in seminary. I told him that God didn't really say in the Bible so we would just have to ask God when we got to Heaven. He's really into dinosaurs, robots, and Spiderman. He tries new words all the time. He told me yesterday that he "prefers" his big blanket. Obviously, he is ready for school. He's starting a Montessori program at our church on Wednesday. I know he'll love it!
Lillian is a wild little girl. She's been walking since she was about 10 1/2 months old. She is power walking, now, but she hasn't quite figured out how to run. She will climb on anything with no fear and especially loves the rare treat of climbing stairs when she is around some. We don't have any at our house. She is finally communicating with sign language and trying to say all kinds of words, though only I can tell what she's trying to say. She signs eat, milk, more, and dog. You know, the important ones. She also makes a woof woof sound when she sees the dogs. She loves her baby dolls and can hug, rock, and pat them. She enjoys taking them on stroller rides around the house. She's still a bit more challenging than Robert was, especially during the day as she wants to be held a lot and throws tantrums when her needs are not met. She screams, throws herself down, and has even banged her head on the floor on purpose. She's a much better sleeper than Robert was, though. She loves to go "nie nie," and even eagerly repeats it when you say it to her. She goes down after a quick nursing and sleeps at least 12 uninterrupted hours per night. She takes an afternoon nap of about 1 to 2 hours. That's pretty amazing in our household where Robert still doesn't sleep great. She is still a big girl. She weighed 25 1/2 at her 1 year old appointment. I was actually relieved that she didn't triple her birth weight as many babies do. That would have put her over 30 pounds. She's heavy enough as it is! She's a sweet thing, though, and gives lots of cuddles and hugs to anyone who is near her and willing. She'll walk right up to a stranger, and if he opens his arms, she'll go right into them for a hug and a kiss. Sweet, but kinda scary. Gotta watch her closely at the park!
There is so much more to say. I will hopefully get my hands on Rob's computer more often. It's even harder to play catch up after 4 months than it is to do a quick post each week!
Check out the FOUR new picture albums I put up over there to the left under Picture Albums. Plus, I added two new videos as well! Enjoy!
Robert's angel just had to be in the picture. No matter how many I took at different angles, this streak of light would not leave! 
He picked out his outfit. He wanted green so his teacher would know it was his favorite color!
Daddy came downstairs from an early morning meeting to come in with Robert on his first day of school!
