O'Neal P.A.C.K.: video

Cecilia and I have really enjoyed this Christmas season. I hope to elaborate at a later date on some of the rich spiritual experiences. For now while I have a couple minutes (all 3 girls are sleeping! or at least quiet;), I would like to share just a few photo and video highlights of our Christmas so far. We enjoyed a quality worship service last night and opened a few presents. This morning we had a relaxing and meaningful morning together. Throughout the reading of the Christmas story, the breakfast together, and the opening of presents, there were many highlights, including the MILESTONE EVENT seen in this video!...

I CALLED IT a month ago!...I predicted that she would walk by Christmas...and just a few minutes before the video I reminded Audrey that there were only a few hours left for her to come through for me...and she listened!!:)

Of course we had a family play time in the snow... (a short one cuz it's so darn cold and windy!)

We have lots more photos and hopefully we'll post more later. But that's it for now cuz I have some snow shoveling to do!

Kristen's third year of life was quite eventful. She went from being our one and only precious daughter to being a big sister. She no longer had Mom and Dad's constant attention, but she gained a fun little baby (toy to her at times) to hug and kiss. Her fun and energetic mom was replaced by a huge pregnant mom who was tired all the time, and then she was replaced by an even more tired mom who was cranky a lot of the time due to the baby's sleepless nights. Daddy's schedule also changed quite a bit towards the end of Kristen's third year, when he was laid off in June. But Kristen adjusted to all this very well.

In her third year of life, Kristen's independence grew, and with that we had some struggles.... but I don't think I would say the "terrible two's" were all that bad. They were actually pretty fun. Here are just a few of her amazing accomplishments from this past year:

* potty training
* thumbsucking reduced from frequently to only during a movie or when sleeping
* leaving blankie in her bedroom (most of the time)
* recognition of ABC's in everyday writing, reciting them in order, and knowing most of the sounds for each letter
*recognition of numbers in everyday writing (up to 20), reciting them in order (but she says "fiveteen" instead of fifteen...still working on that) and knowing how to count objects, like pics in books or cheerios in a bowl, up to 20
* identification of all primary colors and several intermediate colors
* her vocabulary is crazy for a three-year-old; she seems to pick up new words daily
* draws a line and circle, attempts letters, and loves to color and paint
* plays games like candy land, dominoes and memory and LOVES to play Go Fish

Kristen's love of books grew this year and she has memorized several of her favorites. When she had just turned two, board books were still our favorite medium and Kristen loved any Sandra Barnhart book, especially "Oops" (see older posts to see her quote it). "Oops" was followed by "To Market" and then came "Jungle Book." Kristen loved to read "Jungle Book" for months. I read it so much that I could quote the whole thing without the aid of any pics or prompts. In fact, some nights, when Kristen was experiencing one of her night terrors and nothing would calm her and she did not want mommy or daddy to touch her, I laid on the bed next to her and just started quoting "Jungle Book." A few minutes into the story, she would stop screaming, lay down, and suck her thumb. Usually about the time the monkeys stole Mowgli, Kristen was asleep. "Bambi" and "The Aristocrats" followed "Jungle Book," and then we moved into character books. Kristen loves the Berenstein Bears, Dora and the Muppet Babies books.

A love of videos also developed this year. Thanks to little sister's sleep habits, Mommy needed 30 minutes here and there to sit, or do laundry, or rock Audrey to sleep. Kristen's favorites include: "Jay-Jay the Jet Plane," "Jungle Book," "The Fox and the Hound," "Lady and the Tramp II," and "The Aristocats."

Kristen is becoming more social and LOVES our playdates. She is still slow to warm up to new environments and new people - but she loves interacting with her friends at church and the children of her parents' friends.

Kristen loves to listen to music, make music with her toys and dance to music. Her favorite songs include: "Big Enough" by TobyMac (sometimes known as "Daddy's song"), "Baby Girl" by Nicole C. Mullen, and several Bible songs like "Sweet Chariot," "Seven Fat Cows," "Oh Happy Day," and "The Ten Commandments." She also likes some silly kids songs, too, including "The Ants Go Marching," and "Farmer and the Dell." My amazingly brillant kid can tell you what CD each song is on and what number most of her favorite songs are.... which is great.... because I can't remember. Yesterday I was skipping through all the songs looking for "Who Did?" and she piped up from the backseat and said, "I think it is number 32," and she was right.

Kristen will be a great mom. She loves on Audrey and her dolls with hugs and kisses. She wraps up her baby dolls and holds them so tenderly. She loves rocking them and feeding them and laying them down for naps. Recently she has enjoyed playing doctor with the dolls. She gives the babies eye drops for their infections and medicine for their illnesses. She takes their temperatures and sings to them like I do when I have to take the girls' temps. Occasionally she takes one of them to Daddy and asks him to hold the baby "because she's sick."

I want to have the self esteem of a three year old. Kristen tells me how pretty she is and how smart she is or if I tell her either of those things, she says "I know" or "yeah." Even when she is helping me put away dishes or sweeping the floor, she will tell me how good of a job she is doing. Someday I will teach her modesty. But I think I will try to be very careful in doing it. I like her confidence...as long as long as it doesn't become "braggy" (like Lizzy Bruin).

Kristen might follow in the steps of her Aunt Samantha (who majored in horticulture) or her Uncle Ben (biology) or her Daddy (project manager for a landscaping company) when it comes to choosing a career. Her love of the outdoors, plants and animals awes me. And has changed me. Before Kristen entered my life, I could do without the outdoors. Give me central air (or heat) and a good book!... Now I love looking out at my backyard that is full of trees, bushes, plants, flowers, birds, squirrels, a few chipmunks and occassionally bunnies. (yesterday we spotted a few butterflies and a hummingbird. I still prefer to view all of this from inside my kitchen with my air conditioner on, but I am amazed at how a young child has taught me a new way to love and appreciate, and even worship, our Creator God.

Kristen has taught me about trusting God as well. A few months ago, I got the scare of my life when Kristen and one of her little friends walked out the front door, while I was changing Audrey's diaper in the basement. When I saw the front door open and no girls, I panicked... but thought, maybe they were hiding somewhere, and that maybe the wind pushed the door open (sometimes that does happen). So I tried to calm myself down and I went looking through the house. I checked all the rooms and all the closets and of course, the front yard and back yard. After a few minutes, real fear set in. I took Audrey to a neighbor's house and began to really search for the girls. As I walked up and down the streets, checking Rocky's house, the park, my yard again, the house, again, I prayed. I was terrified, I didn't want to lose my daughter and at this point, I was sure she had been kidnapped. I couldn't find her anywhere and my daughter does not go anywhere without me. But I had a sense of comfort (sort of) because I knew that as much as I loved Kristen and wanted her to be safe, Her Father in Heaven loved her and wanted good for her too. I cannot say I had a sense of peace - I was frantic, but in the back of my mind - I knew God knew where Kristen was, who was with her, and what was happening. And nothing, no worst-case scenario, would stop God from being with her and being FOR her. Fortunately, we found the girls about 30 minutes later. A neighbor called the police after seeing two little girls walking past her house with no adults accompanying them. I was sooo relieved and grateful to find my precious Butterfly.

Kristen has renewed my love for the Bible as well. She has her own little "special" Bible (from her dedication service) that she sleeps with and she has a toddler Bible that she loves having read to her. Some of her favorite stories include: "10 men are sick," "Zacheus," "Christ's birth," "Blind Beggar," and "The Battle of Jericho."

Recently she has been asking about God and Heaven and I am trying to give the best answers I know how to. But how do you explain the mysteries of God to a three year old? So I am praying for wisdom to teach my inquisitive daughter. We have definitely hit the stage of questions. Not just "why?", but what and how and where. She wants to know.... everything. And everything is about categories these days. She wants to organize her knowledge. She rehearses what she knows when she learns something new. For example, I mentioned that some friends of ours live in Gardner. And Kristen then responded with, "Mimi lives in Illinois, Charis lives in Texas, Aunt Erin lives in Indiana, Uncle Bryan lives in California. Uncle Ben lives in Champaign (yes, I know he lives in IL too, but I tried explaining that to her and it is a little confusing that Ben could live in the same place as Mimi but still be two hours away, we are working on cities and states.. but she is only three ;) Sometimes she mentions that Aunt Bethany lives in Illinois, but sometimes she skips over her, because she already covered IL with Mimi.

Kristen does the same kind of rehearsal when she meets new moms at playdates. For example, I have recently become closer with Chrissy Green. If I tell Kristen I am going to Chrissy's house, she will tell me that Chrissy is Whitney and Ethan's mom. And then she will rehearse all the other moms she knows and she will name their kids as well. She loves to do this on Tuesday nights as I am getting ready to go meet my friends at Borders. I will tell her I love her and to have a good night and she will ask me if I am going to see Sara, Ian and Ethan's mom. I will tell her yes and then she will smile and ask if I am going to see Michelle, Hailey and Tyler's mom. I will say yes and she will smile again and laugh and then ask me if I am going to see Beth, Jake's mommy. This goes on and on until she has asked about each of my friends. It is quite cute.

Cute - the perfect word for Kristen. Just thinking about her and her personality just makes me smile. She has spunk, Phil would call it gusto. Check out this photo where we captured a "gusto moment"...

A few months back Daddy told her one night that she was being "a little rambunctious." She apparently liked the sound of that and had a lot of fun repeating that statement with..well...gusto, of course:) She is loving and affectionate. And tender and sweet at bedtime. She smiles easily and laughs with no inhibitions. She is a babbly brook who talks about anything and everything. She sings and talks to herself, making up songs and repeating things Phil or I have said. She is polite and thoughtful, most of the time. She wants to be helpful, and enjoys sweeping, taking out the trash, watering plants, and picking up Audrey's toys (Note from Daddy: I love how she sometimes INSISTS on helping when she sees me start sweeping, sacking the trash, picking up sticks, installing curtains, etc. Oh how I wish this YEARNING to help would stick for about 15 more years!!)