Tuolumne Song is 3!

Everything has come faster the second round! It is all so bittersweet. One minute you are loving the new matureness and independence of your kid and the next minute your heart hurts because they don't need to hold your hand down the stairs anymore.

Our Tuoly girl is so full of personality. A month or two after she turned 2, we had these magical few days. There was hardly any crying. She was silly not moody. It was quite wonderful. For the first time I really enjoyed her in a new way. She was just a hard baby. She wanted to be so independent from the start but it is impossible at that age. I think it just frustrated her. She had lots of good moments before 2 years old but not good days!

Once we turned that corner, all of a sudden things were so much better! She is an opinionated independent thing and she is just like me! Here are some things I want to remember right now.

- changes shoes all the time
- if the skirt or dress can't swirl, she doesn't like it
- her favorite colors right now are purple and pink (my least two favorite!) she used to say 2 purples and 2 pinks to get the point across.(I just asked her though and she said pink, purple, blue, yellow, rainbow)
- she likes animals
- she likes to do school but i wouldn't say she catches on too fast!
- always been good at fine motor things
- ask for me to look up girl legos a lot. probably because cap is always asking to look up legos too
- is a great eater and finally eating most meats we cook
- she really steps up to the challenge of being brave. if you give her a pep talk about being brave about something beforehand, she usually does pretty good.
- has always woken us up randomly in the night for something or another. sometimes it is just to hold our hand. BUT this month has been tons better!
- hates going to the doctor, still cries.
- she really likes princesses right now. we don't know any names or movies, but basically any fluffy dressed character or person fits the mold for her
- always done great at the movie theater. eats popcorn NON STOP.
- she is my helper. it is different than cap. if you are working, she is working. no matter the job, she wants to be right next to me doing it too.
- she climbed on real rock tied in for the first time on July 16th. she did great for her first time.
- super into accessories and sunglasses. also loves to run around in just her shorts no shirt and no shoes.
- will tell me all the time "Momma, I really like you"
- huge mommas girl, though she is crazy about her dad too.
-she is really good at tracing letters and lines
- did so good at the north pole riding rides a few weeks ago. last fall time she bawled every time we put her in a seat for a ride.
- so brave in the pool now! not swimming but putting her head in and "swimming" to me
-loves anything that sings or makes music...toys, shows etc
- moved to a big girl bed when we moved at the end of January. i thought it was going to be disastrous but she has never gotten out of bed unless we tell her it is time.
- has a hard time loving class at church! makes it so hard to leave her some days! finally got brave about it until she turned 3 and had to change classes. then we cried all over again.


Tuolumne lives up to her name. She is wild and free. She is the adventure calling you in the middle of the night and early in the morning. She is the storm that catches you by surprise and the stream that refreshes your day. She is the high country that sings to your heart. She is the hard rugged uphill that leaves you breathless at the top. She is my girl. The adventure continues.

Pictures from the last year.

  

She was all put on the table coloring her picture one day.

So cute!

 She is my fine motor skill girl. Takes her time. 

Still loves to ride in the backpack or the stroller

 She cannot steer worth a darn! On anything!

trampoline hair is the best

 rock climber in the making

 always takes bigs bites. her favorite place is taco bell.

she gets out of bed like this. 

she was so excited about her new carseat with cupholders!

pretending to swim indoors!

warming her brother up

last day being two!

3 years old!!

Cap is 5...well, 4 months ago

There are many sad things that came from the Great Nap, but my lack of blogging our family life is one of the biggest. You think you are going to remember things. You think you will never forget the funny things your kids liked to do or say. You think you will remember their favorite games or what they wanted to do on their "special" day but you just don't. You can't. Weeks go by and turn into months and before long they are doing something else hilarious or annoying and you can't seem to remember the funny thing they use to say anymore. 

It is. So. Bittersweet. If I have learned anything this past year it is parenting is a constant river of bittersweet. Sometimes I think my heart can't take it. Like I can't keep holding it all together with all these varied emotions. It is always for a different reason. Mostly full of love. The kind of love that makes your heart burst. There are many moment I am surprised it doesn't. 

Here we are. 3 years down the road from the Great Nap. I am going to attempt having updates more often. Mostly for us and family far away. 

I did post about Cap turning 5 but I wanted to post more what he is into these days.

-finished our first year of official homeschooling

-we did CC 1 day a week and the rest at home (it was rare to do real school 4 days a week though)

-Cap went through a huge Octonuats phase. he constantly was telling us facts about life in the ocean. i was constantly amazed.

-he got very into Legos last summer while his cousins were visiting for 5 weeks. his love has only grown.

-he is very good at reading 

-loves making things for people. mostly coloring things but always writes a note on them too.

-has become a stronger swimmer. i still watch him but i have never had to grab him.

-loves to climb and loves adventure

-loves to watch Fixer Upper with me. he even pretend plays it and will give me three options of what to do with my house

-is SO much better at saying yes ma'am or sir. penny jar made that happen thanks to his grammi and papa.

-loves to camp and play in water. doesn't care if it is cold

-he is a protector. we see it in a lot of ways. he does it a lot with Tuolumne. 

-he is our sugar eater. i say no numerous times a day for his sugar request.

he is always "saving" his money for Legos and I think we need to start doing an allowance to teach him about money. 

-he cruised through math and started 1st grade math halfway in the year. he is a numbers guy for sure

-he likes science experiments and art. I don't think he could say one thing is his favorite over another. 

-he worked so hard on his confidence this year. i know it is getting better, but being outgoing around people he doesn't know as well is not his thing. he will talk your ear off once he knows you. presentations helped that at school but it wasn't until the last month or so he started doing them by himself without me up there saying most of everything. 

-started gymnastics last fall and LOVES it

-one of his best friends is Sophia

-he is great with little kids and can play with the bigs just fine

-he is strong and courageous and bold

-he likes maps of any kind or globes

-he learned to ride a bike on his birthday but stopping and starting on his own took time. does great at the park riding but looses confidence on the sidewalks.

-i should note that Bryce had to be gone for 2 weeks on his birthday

-always helpful

-seriously the best big brother

-has gotten really into holidays this year

-has had way too many strep test done this past winter, positive at least 3 times

-sleeps on top bunk

-gets out of bed on his own, doesn't have to ask anymore

-stop taking naps when school started. it was drastic but he just stopped needing them

I could probably go on and on. I will write on one conversation we had this past May. He was talking to us both about the Holy Spirit and healing people. I wanted to know how he could heal people. Bryce talked to him about having the power of the Holy Spirit in us and you can have the Holy Spirit by asking for it. So lots of conversations going on in a matter of a couple of days or so. I was on the porch one afternoon while T was napping. Cap was out back playing and he blast throught the front door excitedly and asked guess what? I said what. He said I can heal people now. I prayed and asked Jesus for the Holy Spirit and now I can heal people. I was excited with him and surprised at the timing of it as well. Most of the time I feel in adequate to help lead my kids toward Jesus. He ran downstairs to tell his dad which led to more talks. 

So there is my boy Cap Elias Ball. It drives me nuts how time has passed. It hurts a little to see Tuolumne at her age now and to think what we were all going through when Cap was that age. I hardly remember that stage for him. But we keep moving. Keep sharing our story old and new. We are all learning and getting stronger. I am so proud of Cap and who he is becoming. 

Last day being 4 years old! All these pictures

were taken in March, his birthday month. 

Hiking Siamese Twins trail at Garden of the gods 

Last snuggle with my 4 year old.

Surprised him with an Octonaut "type" cake.

this is as good as it gets for me! He loved it!

I love how Tuolumne helped him with all his gifts.

He was so kind and let her!

Lego creation after Lego creation

 some serious hair those days

he is our snow lover!

this is the day he started to look older. 

Rope in our backyard gets hours of play a day!

he wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday.  

El Cap the Boy

We started celebrating this guy early this birthday year. Bryce will be out of town for work in Oregon for a couple of weeks and will miss it! Gave us a great excuse to start early. Our family tradition is if it is your birthday you get to have a special day where you plan it ALL. Cap started planning a month ago. This is the first year he has been overly excited about his day. It is like he has figured out all these holiday in the last year and is getting amped up for all them. He talked about Easter on Christmas day...like that kind of excited!

Cap's special day changed a LOT over the month but one thing he wanted to do was go rock climbing outside with Dad. We headed down the street to Red Rock Canyon and made a morning of it before Bryce had to leave town. He was so great about it and even Tuolumne enjoyed the hike and dirt and watching the boys climb.

We could have picked a better route for his first outdoor climb but he had fun. Bryce ended up going up with him as he climbed. I think that gave Cap some confidence. It was not a real easy climb. He did great and had so much fun. 

It was on this day I feel like we have arrived to that "place". The place where we take our kids rock climbing and it can be fun again may be. I did hike parts with Tuolumne on my back but we are getting there. 

Every since Tuolumne things seem extra bitter with a little sweet mixed in. I am such an independent strong willed woman and I feel like my choice for more babies was ripped from me the moment I woke up from the Great Nap from doctors and family. Even though the choice is there, it isn't really there. It is this inward struggle of accepting we are done. BUT....on hikes and days like this one, my heart heals some. I don't expect the desire of wanting a bigger family to go away. I never dreamed I would have only 2 kids, but we move on slowly. 

Cap and Tuolumne are so great. It is fun and exciting to watch them grow into who they will be. There personalities are very different but they have great love for each other and family. 

Here are a few pictures of our rock day.