Christmas is less than 2 weeks away.  I can't wait, but that is only because we are going to Dallas to visit my family.  The kids are really excited and I can't wait to see everyone.  I hate that we only see them 2-3 times a year, but that is what happens when you live 500 miles away.

Kirsten has made me so proud this year.  She was nominated and selected as student of the year for her school.  Last week she went to the school board office to be interviewed and do a written assignment.  This interview was to pick the Student of the year for the whole district.  If she is selected as Student of the year for our district then she will compete at the state level for the state student of the year.  I couldn't be prouder.

Anthony has made so many improvements as well.  We are working with him more at home.  I have also been workign with the school to help him get control of his behavior.  He is a honor roll student and does great in school but he likes to do what he wants to when he wants to.  We have seen a drastic improvement over the past month.  He is now starting to talk more about why he is mad or upset.  Before he would just close up and not talk to anyone.  We would have to wait until he was ready to talk or wait until he calmed down.

Vivian is doing more everyday.  She is starting to be vocal.  She tripped over a toy the other day and said "oww".  It was so adorable.  She also says oh when she trips or falls down.  She will also make you do what she wants.  If I am at the computer and she wants my attention she will pull my hand away from the mouse and pull it torward her or try to climb on my lap.  Her favorite word is mom.  She will say it over and over and over even after I acknowledge her saying it.  Sometimes it is followed by a bunch of jibberish and I just respond telling her I understand or that is interesting.  She has also started calling the dogs, but not by their names instead she says dog dog or that is what it sounds like. She understand so much and if you ask her questions like do you want milk or do you want to go night night she will either go to the refrigerator or go to her room.  She is just doing so much that is hard to write about it all.

I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom.  I have been able to do so much more and be a lot more involved in everything the kids are doing.  I would never be able to do all of the things I do know if I was still working 9 hours a day in an office.

Wow I can't believe my oldest is 11.  Yesterday was her birthday.  While she was at school I thought about everything that we have went through in the past 11 years.  Mostly I was remembering the day she was born and how I felt.  I remember asking my mom as I held this fragile hour old baby "can I do this?"  I was so scared while holding her.  Sure I had held babies before but they were always nieces and my nephew.  I never held a baby that I would be responsible for and every thing I did fromthat moment on would be for that child.  All my mom told me is "you will be fine you are goingto be a great mother".  I knew she was right and she taught me well.  I couldn't have a better person to look to for advice.  She raised 3 children on her own.  To this day I admire everythign she did and every sacrifice she made for her children.  I hope she knew how important and how much she meant to me.

I want to share the wonderful news about Kirsten.  She is the Student of the Year for her school.  Next week she will got the school board and compete against all of the other Students of the year for the elementary schools to be Student of the Year for the whole district.  I am so proud her accomplishments and how much she has grown since this time last year.

In just a few short weeks my baby boy, Anthony, will be 9.  So I will be going through all of these emotions again.  He has been my challenging child.  The girls have been so easy.  Kirsten and Vivian were both great as infants.  They never cried and they wer very happy babies.  Anthony on the other hand gave me problems from pregnancy until now.  He is a handful.  He had colic as a baby and we are still dealing with the terrible twos just in a different way.  Who ever said boys are different than girls was absolutely correct.  He has challenged me at every thing from sleeping habits, potty training and school.  I will say in the past 6 months he has been a better child and things are getting better everyday.  We went from fighting every night at bedtime to him getting in bed and staying in bed as well as going to sleep.  He is my night owl and loves to sleep in so school mornings are SOOOO much fun.