Kids say the cutest things ...

My kids are just like any other children, but cuter (hee hee), and the things they say are downright adorable!

This week, Anabelle's has had quite alot of additions to her language! Some of the things she's saying are: "Hi-bow" (for hairbow), "Up" (in the morning, when she wants out of bed), "Bottle" (instead of "ba ba" for her bottle), "Love you" (AWWWW!), "Bye Bye," "Mommy," "Pa Pa" (for her pop, Kenneth Rowsey), "Big Guh Pa" (for "Big Girl Power"), "Na" for "No"! There are more words...and I will blog about it, as I think of them. She squeals just seeing Caroline walk in the room. Even anticipating Caroline walking in the room gets her excited (when I say, "Here comes Sissy!") ...she starts to squeal. She is just the happiest little girl ever! We are trying to cut out all bottles, so that she only takes a sippy cup only ...but, b/c she is a preemie, its taking a little longer than it did with Caroline! She is still wearing her glasses, and perpetually trying to take them off :)!!! Her hair is getting lighter, but her eyes just change color daily (from brown w/blue flecks to hazel to gray)! She is getting Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy b/c her little muscles are weak, which is quite normal for a preemie also! We are also trying to add some "chunky" food, but she has oral defensiveness, so she doesn't love those chunks (Stage 3 babyfood & table food)! Anabelle has had all 4 front teeth come in these past 2 months, and she loves to chew and bite on any and all things! Anabelles loves smiling at people ....that's what she does. Anabelle Katherine Hodges smiles like its her job, and you just don't know how that makes me feel. When Anabelle was so tiny, I worried about her colic. I worried that her personality or disposition would be permanently affected by the pain and discomfort she seemed to feel for 6 months solid. Even though there is no evidence that colic effects those things, as a mother, I was still fearful. Having said that, Anabelle's smiley face just warms my heart. My parents have a ton to do with her love of life ...they keep her daily, and she is their pride and joy (as is Caroline)! Anabelle still loves playing with baby dolls, biting on everything and holding two fists straight up in the air, when we say, "Show us Big Girl Power!" What a blessing she is and an answer to our prayers!

Caroline is just a character. In the past month, she has made some brilliant observations: "If you drown in the water, you are dead ...that's it!" I have been teaching her about water safety all summer, and as we passed over Grenada Lake (on the dam), she looked out onto the water and said that! When I giggled, she told me that it wasn't funny. Speaking of passing over the dam, just yesterday as we drove across the dam, the sky was very cloudy, but there was one ray of light shining through the clouds onto the lake. Caroline said, "Look, Mom ...God shined a little, little light right there in that tiny spot." I told her that God has the tendency to do that, and that those rays of light let us know everything is going to be okay. She smiled and put the paci back in her mouth. About that paci ....that paci will be taken away (collected by the Paci Fairy in the middle of the night)as soon as we are completely potty trained. She wears her "big girl panties" all day long (with very few accidents), and then wears her pull-ups at night. She has been potty trained now for about 4 weeks! She was so easy to potty train, as long as she decided when she was ready. I tried about 3 months ago to begin potty training, and she told me point blank, "I'm still little, I'm not ready yet." OK KIDDO!
Caroline loves going to The Grove in Oxford, MS, on game day. She loves the excitement, the running, listening to the band play, the Rebel cheerleaders and her cheerleader outfit, gazing at little boys and grown men :)...well, lets just say she loves everything about it! She loves little boys and currently, has 4 boyfriends ...and still adding to the head count daily. One day, a couple weeks ago, she told me, "Mom, little boys and pigs go to the doctor alot." I started laughing & she said, "Don't laugh, its not funny. Someone could get hurt." Hee hee ....so cute! What a blessing she is and an answer to our prayers!

Me? I'm still working on this blogspot. There are several things I want to change, and I'm diligently trying to get it like I want it. I'm excited about Fall. Its my favorite time of year, so I'm super excited to begin pulling out my pumpkins, fall wreaths, and Autumn decorations! As a matter of fact, I'm almost giddy about it. My dad's birthday, September 22nd, is the first day of Fall, so we have double the reason to celebrate!!!

"We are a family ...just us three ...Caroline, Anabelle and Mommy!"