I will update my blog, I will update my blog . . .

Life seems to be moving fast these days. The kids are growing and changing daily it seems. It has been fun over the last few months to watch new friendships, interests, and abilities develop. Work and school have kept up busy have kept us busier than we'd like at times, but we've had a lot of fun, too.

Over the last couple of months we have also enjoyed extra time with Grandma and Grandpa Owens. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it yet or not, but we are thrilled that my parents are moving a little closer to us. While they have house hunted and waited for their new house to close, they have spent some time at our house. It has been fun to have them at our house. This week they get their new house, and we while we'll miss seeing them on a daily basis, we can't wait to help them get settled in their new house.

Grant gave us our first accident initiated trip to the Emergency Room. Last weekend while I was gone and Travis was helping Sophia, Grant decided to cut an apple on his own. Unfortunately, he cut the end of his index finger along with the apple. After stopping by to have a doctor friend look at it to make sure it needed stitches (we'd hate to waste that co-pay), we took Grant to Children's Mercy Urgent Care. Here is my impressions of the evening: my kid has a crazy high pain threshold--the cut didn't bother him for a second despite the amount of blood coming out of it, sitting in the waiting room for 2.5 hours was more painful for me than the cut was for him, sitting in a waiting room for 2.5 hours was facinating to Grant, as we left the administrator who had watched him for 2.5 hours said, "Well, he's Mr. Personality isn't he", as the nurse used scissors to cut the tape for Grant's bandage Grant told her, "Please, be very careful so you don't cut my finger again". Yes, Mr. Personality he is. He says that next time he will leave the apple cutting to mom and dad, though he did throw a fit when I wouldn't let him use the kitchen shears yesterday.

One of Grant's special interests these days is typing Bible verses. I'll be perfectly honest and say that he has more memorized than I do. He loves to find a font that matches the tone of the verse. At school he wrote a book about being afraid and decided to include a Bible verse about what to do when you are afraid (yes, for those of you without kids or with older kids, they write books in kindergarten now. They are much smarter than we were.) Grant's Special Education teacher was with him at the time and is an amazing Christian woman, so she took him to the computer lab to look up Bible verses about being afraid. She said she was quite impressed by his Bible knowldege.

One of Sophia's big accommplishments these days is that she has freed us from the bondage of night time pull-ups. She has been day time potty trained for a long time, but those night time accidents were hard to give up. Apparently all it took was the right incentive . . . Chuck E. Cheese. We made a deal. Sophia stayed dry at night for 20 nights and we got to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese is Travis's version of hell, but he was willing to take one for the team if it meant being done with pull-ups. We are thrilled to add that $15 a month back into our budget. Pictures of Chuck E. Cheese to come.

On January 8 I had an experience with Sophia that I know I will think back to on the days of her graduation(s), wedding, birth of her child(ren) . . . though I'm almost afraid to write about it because I don't know that I could ever make it sound half as meaningful to anyone else as it was to me.

One of Sophia's Christmas gifts this year was enrollment in a tap and ballet class. Anyone who knows Sophia, knows that to say she is girly is an understatement. And what is more girly than tutus and toe shoes? Sophia was thrilled at the idea of dance lessons. On January 8 I took Sophia to her first dance lesson. I was excited that this particular instructor allowed parents to stay and watch the class. When class started Sophia marched out on the dance floor like it was what she was born to do. She did mermaid stretches, learned to shuffle step, tapped her toes and twirled with the best of them. Throughout the class a huge smile covered her face. She looked back at me numerous times with a look that said, "Mom!! Can you believe how cool this is???" I'm going to be honest: I had tears in my eyes the entire time. Anyone who knows me will tell you that tutus and toe shoes are not my bag . . . I'm much more for shin guards and soccer cleats. But as I watched my little girl twirl with that joyful smile on her face, there was no place I'd rather be than in that dance studio. I couldn't help but think about how alike, yet so different Sophia and I are. So often when I interact with Sophia I see myself as a little girl (my family affirms this) . . . her wacky sense of style (even if it is girly), her passion for what she feels, her need to talk a lot, her desire to be with people, her fondness for books and crayons, I remember all of that as a little girl. Her joy for dancing . . . I don't remember that at all. That didn't come from me and is all Sophia. The joy on her face that day, is the reason I will think back to that first dance class on every monumental day to come. It was definitely all Sophia.