Stetson the Builder!!!

Sometimes my kid amazes me! Well, actually more often than not. With all the trouble we have had with language, Stetson has always excelled in puzzles! Chad is the same way, which is why he is such a great mechanic. You have to have a certain mind to be able to look at something and know how to put it together. I am not that way. I mess it up, even if I read and follow the directions step by step. Last Christmas, my dad got Stetson some Lincoln Logs. Up until now he has played with them, but hasn't really built much. But Yesterday he built this great two level house!

He included Windows

He even put in two doors!!!

Stetson is 4 and a half, and his language is actually doing excellent! I love being his mom, and seeing the new things that he learns to do!

and I am thankful for these lincoln logs that are going to help our winter and having to stay inside seem not so boring!

What do I want to be when I grow up?

...an extreme couponer!!! If you haven't had a chance to see TLC's extreme couponing you don't know what you are missing! They can buy over $600.00 in groceries and spend less than $25.00. Now I told Chad, there is a fine line between extreme couponing and OCD mixed with Hoarding. lol. I really don't want to have too much stuff that I don't have room for, but I am going to apply some of their skills and try to save my family a couple hundred a month off our grocery bill. Wish me luck!

Do you like me?

Last night after I tucked Stetson into bed and gave him his goodnight kisses, I walked out of his room. As I was turning down the light he asked,
"Do you like me, mom?"

This is a question he asks me all the time. But it is also something I tell him all day long. I tell him how much I love him and like him. I tell him he is my favorite, that I love his face and his freckels and I love how funny he is. And as much as I enjoy telling him, I think he likes to hear it more. Stetson equally enjoys making sure that we know how much we mean to him.

After I assure him one last time for the night, I get thinking...
How many of us out there love ourselves with an unconditional love?

If you are like me your always able to come up with a long list of things you wish you could change about yourself, but when it comes to things you like or love about yourself the list isn't quite as long.

It is a hard balance. But of all the things I have learned especially in the past year it is one of the simplest, yet most important.

So from now on, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing everything I am not, I will look in my eyes and manifest why I love me.

I love my laugh. I love that when something makes me laugh, I don't hold it in but rather throw my head back and revell in the moment. I love that I can appreciate the comedy that is life.

There is so much for us to love about ourselves, for everything we are and can become when we just believe in ourselves.

My Four year old

How fast time flies. It is bitter sweet to have my baby growing what seems to be so fast. But every stage is a new adventure. He makes me laugh on a daily basis. Here are some things Stets has been up to:

 

Stetson had a pretty busy year. First, he potty trained, and let me tell you, that was fabulous and easy! (thanks mom) Convincing him that it was okay to pee on the trees in the mountains was a completely other story. Finally he had to go bad enough that he did it. We spent the rest of the summer reminding him we only did that in the mountains when there isn't a toilet. Not in our front yard.

 

Stetson also started preschool. Which means he started really talking! I remember thinking when he turned 3 that he only had about 200 words. And to everyone but me they were unintelligable. Now, we can actually have conversations. He is so fun to talk to. He has a funny sense of humor and such strong opinions about things. Now we find ourselves sometimes thinking "Is he ever quiet?!"

 

Stetson loves to have sleepovers with his grandparents and his aunts and uncles! Three is pretty young to know all about sleepovers...but we don't care. We are lucky to have so many family members who are great, and as crazy about Stets as we are and who want to spend the one on one time with him.

 

Stetson went through many phases this past year. The ones where he did nothing but ask us questions all day, had different favorite games he liked to play, music he liked, foods he liked to eat. But his strangest phase was he thought it was hillarious to "moon" us. Luckily that stage passed fairly quickly!

I love my boy! Even sitting here I cannot put it into words. Stetson is kind, sweet, and funny but he also has a mischeivious side. He is the light of my life and I cannot wait to see the things he will accomplish this year!