An Inside Look.

Hello all my blog watchers. As you know I have been thinking a lot about Caralin's second birthday coming up soon and trying to plan a fun event. In anticipation of this upcoming birthday I have frequently found myself reflecting on our life the past two years. How much has changed, how far we've come, and how happy we are. So I thought I would use this post to reflect a little with you. We have been confronted with many tough situations the last few years but I firmly believe that no matter how difficult, stressful, impossible, or unfair a situation is God will never give you something you can't handle. So pretty much in our house, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I can't begin to explain it but my faith has brought me through some very tough times and I truely feel fulfilled in my life. Now, of course I don't mean everything is always perfect, I just mean that my heart and spirit are full.

Although I miss my friends in Arizona, moving back to San Diego was a great decision for us. Sometimes it really seems true that "less is more". Even though we took a few steps back and may not have all the luxuries we've had in the past, I am so thankful to be able to stay home with Caralin and enjoy getting some work as a substitute teacher so I can contributed financially to our family. We are so happy to be close to our family again (not to mention the great weather). No more 116 degree summers! I am glad Caralin has been able to spend time with her grandparents, cousins, great-grandma, and great-great-great-aunt (yeah 3 greats!). I didn't get that experience because most of my extended family was in Minnesota. So she is very blessed to have them so close.

I noticed in my posts that I mention cute things Caralin does but don't always give details so I thought I would tell you some things that she has been doing lately. Enjoy!

1. When she wakes up in the morning she yells for me or Kevin "mama (daddy) ake up!" (wake up).
2. She is sweet and cuddly. She loves giving hugs and kisses to EVERYONE. She gives very cute lip pucker kisses too, the best!
3. She is a picky eater but she will always taste everything I give her.
4. Anytime we go through a drive-thru she says "French-fries?" which is funny because we don't eat out very often. (I guess it doesn't take much to be hooked on those things!)
5. She would choose a cup of ice to eat over m&m's (probably why she's so skinny, maybe I should try that).
6. She is a GREAT climber. I think she can scale walls. And lately she has been leaping off the ottoman, belly flopping on her bean bag. Very adventurous.
7. She loves baths. She would sit in there all day if I let her.
8. She loves her baby dolls. She takes very good care of them, even gives them time-out if they are naughty.
9. Her hair is long! Already past her shoulder blades. She likes to play with it (and mine) but doesn't like it when I style it, she takes the clips and rubber bands out.
10. Her new favorite movie is 101 Dalmations. She also likes Tinkerbell, Finding Nemo, Madagascar, and The Jungle Book.
11. She is still potty training so spends most of our time at home sans pants.
12. She likes to come snuggle in our bed in the morning and watch cartoons (I like this because I get a few extra z's).
13. If she hears me calling for "Kev" she will repeat me. (This is really funny)
14. She is definately left-handed.
15. She is starting to recognize and name colors. She knows red and purple real well but is starting to get green, yellow, and blue.
16. She loves cranberry juice.
17. She really loves dogs. Everything dogs - books, stuffed, movies, and of course the real thing.
18. She is a good helper. You can tell she truely likes to help. I love that.
19. She is compassionate. She shows genuine concern for others and will ask "you ok?" if she sees someone hurt or sad. She also appologizes for things and says thank you and she says bless you if you sneeze.
20. She likes to play pretend. She "cooks" in her kitchen. Gets her purse to go "bu-bye". And pretends she's animals or she "sees" an animal, unually a bear or elephant.

I have a million more factoids but I'll save those for another post.
Hope you all are well and you enjoyed this inside info!