Two down, one to go

I am proud to announce that

1) we've gotten Grady to dress up in something other than a princess dress and

2) the knight is potty trained!

It really went a whole lot better than I had envisioned. And maybe that's why... low expectations. He was just ready. We only had to bribe with candy for the first few times. He didn't really care about character underwear. If fact, he would rather not wear any, which I think is pretty funny. I guess the freedom from 2 1/2 years of diapers was so amazing, he just can't bear to put anything else on. He didn't really care about a sticker chart, which we did, or toys after a certain amount of success, which we did. Basically, he just wanted to be free. We are so proud of him!

And this little guy went from crawling to pulling up on everything in about a day! I had forgotten how much freedom I had when he was not mobile or standing on unstable toys or chairs or heading for all things containing cords or the fireplace. I finally set up the pack-n-play in the den so I can achieve "containment" when necessary.

And this precious girl. We gave each other pedicures the other day. I was smart enough to choose a clear glitter polish for my color. Otherwise, I'm certain my entire foot would have been red. We have plans to "make her dreams come true" when she turns 5 in May with a Disney vacation. She is already so excited she can't stand it. We are Disney amateurs, so bring on any advice you have for tackling Disney with a 5 year old, almost 3 year old and almost 1 year old.

Gifts

Those of you that know my husband know he has an amazing talent leading worship. He was able to do this most of our college years and the early years of our marriage. But over the last couple of years {and three babies!}, he really hasn't had much free time to play. I'm so thankful that he uses 99% of his free time to be with us, but at the same time, I'm sad because he has not been able to use his gift. Or bless others with it.

This past weekend we went to Cashiers, North Carolina without children but with four others couples plus Tommy {a great friend for 15+ years}. Steven, along with some of the other very talented folks there, played and sang and led us in worship for hours each night. And it was so wonderful.

We did a lot of other fun stuff. We laughed a lot. We ate a lot. We breathed in smoke a lot {from the fireplace}. But I thought it best to leave the picture taking to the professionals so check out Darby's recap and Abby's recap for great photos and highlights of our weekend. Fortunately, there is no picture of the massive bruise on my backside from my sledding adventures. Even though I'm getting on up in years and I probably shouldn't be sledding like that, it was totally worth it! One of the best weekends I have had in years!

The flip side of my husband's great gift and talent is that every time he has a chance to play and sing, the guitar hunt ensues. He has been to seven guitar stores in the last three days and has come home with print outs of guitars he has found online. He was telling me about one he found today and I said calmly, "Is it in the car with you now?" To which he replied, "Not yet." It's only a matter of time...

On another totally different note, some of you may remember the triplets. Yesterday, after 392 days in the hospital, Samuel came home to his family. I wish you would read some of their story and be so amazed and encouraged at what God can do, for babies who need Him and parents who need Him even more.

Snow Pictures

"There are no pictures of me enjoying the snow because they played while I napped. But, that's okay. I probably wouldn't have really liked it anyway. And besides, I might have missed all that was going on outside, but I won't miss anything inside anymore. I can crawl! I've been going in reverse for a few weeks, but now I have my forward gear down too."

Boys

Boys are different from girls. Very different. I am not a boy. I do not think like a boy. I do not understand how boys think. I am beginning to understand a few differences between men and women. But not boys.

Have you read James Dobson's Bringing Up Boys? If you are a girl and you have sons, you should. These are the few quotes I am living this week:

"His mom has to watch him every minute to keep him from killing himself."

"It's a wonder any of them survive."

"Boys, on the other hand, are slower to learn from calamities. They tend to think that their injuries were caused by "bad luck." Maybe their luck will be better next time."

"What is it about the masculine temperament that drives boys to tempt the laws of gravity and ignore the gentle voice of common sense--the one that says, "Don't do it, Son"?

I never had to secure any piece of furniture to the wall with Elle. She climbed, but seemed to know what not to climb on. Or maybe she just listened to that voice. No one is ever going to buy our house because there will be 14,000 holes in the wall from me securing every piece of furniture to the wall. Sunday, Grady pulled his bookshelf/toyshelf over on him. Today, he pulled the easel over on top of him. Tonight, he has screamed bloody murder at least every five minutes from running in to a wall, falling on some toy and hurting his bottom, falling on his head from running, falling off of something from climbing, etc., etc. But he will be fine 45 seconds later and will do the exact same thing he just did to hurt himself. Amazing. I have at least two nightmares a month of something terrible happening to him. And to think that in just a few short months, I will have another one capable of such amazing "boy" feats.

If he wasn't so funny. If he wasn't so loving. If he wasn't so adorable. If he didn't say first thing every morning, "Pease, Mommy, can I have my milk pease?" And the occasional, "I luv tu, Mommy." I just hope I can do the best I can to raise him. And pray that the Lord protects him (because it's obvious I can't) and gives him a long, full life knowing and serving Him.

We'll leave the light on for ya

My car wouldn't start this morning. I realized this about 8:45 when I went out to crank it so it could be nice and toasty when we piled in for the trip to preschool. I immediately remembered turning the inside light on the other night to try to find a lost sippy cup (that probably had days old milk in it?!). I never found the sippy cup, but I did successfully kill the battery. Steven was on his way to an auction an hour away. Thankfully, I have a wonderful neighbor who let me take her car to school. I managed to transfer all three car seats, purse, backpack, garage door opener and necessary travel coffee mug with coffee to the other car in about 2 minutes flat. And we were off.

In other news, we are the proud owners of not one, but two baby teeth. The first one came in last Friday. Then, Reese took the weekend off before starting round two of teething. It really hasn't been too bad. See how happy he looks even when he's teething.

We've also been getting our exercise indoors these past frigid weeks. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law bought a Wii for us for Christmas. My mom and sister got us the Wii Fit Plus. Every morning Elle wakes up and says, "Mom, can I do my stamp today?" (The body test on the Fit). Seriously. Every morning. Yesterday, she actually got "4" for her Wii Fit age. She was so excited.She really does have fun and can play a lot of the games. Grady... not so much. It is hilarious to watch him try. He does the Segway thing and goes around in circles and then dive bombs in to the ocean. Here you can see him testing the waters.

Maybe big sister can help.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's been pretty cold here lately.

Cold enough to make your eyes do funny things.

But it feels good to be warm.

It's 6:55 and I already have one child asleep in the bed. He's the youngest so he goes to bed first most nights. He is also cutting his first tooth. He is also not sleeping during the day. I miss my happy-go-lucky, good napping baby. I know it's temporary. So today I held him. And held him some more. And carried him around on my hip. And then I held him. After that, I carried him on my hip.

The other two are in the tub right now. Don't worry. I have one eye on them and one eye on the computer. I am that good at multi-tasking. I've trained my eyes to look in different directions. Besides, the noise alone tells me they are just fine. Hope you all are staying warm. I think the low in a few nights is eight. That doesn't scare us Alabamians. We'll close schools the minute we see a snowflake. Or even a couple days before, just in case.

Happy 2010

I'm just going to summarize the holidays and say they were awesome. We had great time with all of our families. We are so blessed to be able to give and receive gifts. It was just perfect. Mostly because that little baby made it perfect long ago. I cannot believe it is 2010, but I am so excited about a new year. Lord willing, there are lots of great things in store for the Salter family. But right now, what's in store for me is my pillow. See you soon!