Loving the differences

Oh my goodness I am loving having a daughter and a son.

I have to be honest, when I first got pregnant with Julia (only John knew the sex of the baby, because he decorated her nursery as a surprise Christmas gift to me) I felt through the entire time I was having a boy...but deep in my heart of hearts I wanted a girl first.  (I always knew we'd have a house full of kids some day so having one or the other first really didn't matter.)  And everyone kept saying, "Oh you are carrying just like a boy...you are all belly...you have a basketball...you are definitely having a boy! LOL Ha!  Julia Star was born on Dec 31st at 7:16 am and she is who made me a mama.

Then 9 months later we had our bonus baby pregnancy (SURPRISE)...and the whole time I knew I was having another girl, but I just couldn't decide...should we name her Olivia or Sophia...Olivia or Sophie...on my we went back and forth and we were leaning more towards Olivia (I've always liked the name since the Cosby Show and little darling precocious Olivia.) ...and on May 27th at 10:03 p.m. Mark Ciro entered our lives...I cried earlier that day on the way to bible study at Debi's because I prayed, "Lord, how can I love another baby as much as Julia...?  She's my baby...she's still a baby...how will I have enough room in my heart...? And the tears rolled down, and God must've chuckled because the minute I had my water baby boy float up to me...I knew it from the start that he had my heart and I would love him just the same as my Joogie.

I'm loving the differences that each child has possessed.  Julia is care free and independent, and the kid never stops moving, or talking or doing.  She has an idea and she has to write it down, or draw a picture, or paint, or read a book to her dolls, or comb her dolls hair, or jump all around...she has SO much energy all the time...the only time I get to snuggle her is at bedtime (while praying or reading a book) or when's she's sick (which is hardly ever) or after nap time when she is mellow.  The rest of the time she is like Maria from the Sound of Music, "How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?"  "How do hold a moon beam in your hand?"  I am amazed at the depth of her questions about God, the kindness and nurturingness (yes I made that word up) she showers her brother with, just today she looked at Mark and said, "Mark you have beautiful blue eyes."  She has friends of all ages, and when she enters a room everyone swarms her.  She is so magnetic and energetic and she wants everyone to love God and be happy!

Many people are surprised that she still takes a nap at 4 years old...but you know what?  The minute the girl wakes up she hits the ground running (her first job of the day is to wake up Mark FIRST since he won't leave his room unless someone gets him for some odd reason, and Julia feels it's her job to be there first for him) and this is usually at 7 am...so by the time 1:30...2:00 rolls around and I say it's nap time it's the first time she actually stops and rests all day, no wonder she still naps!

She's my over achiever who has been reading and using sign language since she was less than a year old (thanks to Your Baby Can Read and lots of practice...not phonetic reading, but any type of memorized reading is still reading!)  She was potty trained at 2 1/2 in one weekend and never had an accident after that.  She constantly impresses us with her independence, boldness, strength, and confidence.  Just recently she read 4 sentences all by herself about her Thomas Jefferson project in front of an auditorium full of at least 100+ people.

Marky Boy: Oh buddy, you are such a lovie dovie.  Mark is the most mellow, sweet, handsomest guy you will ever meet.  Julia and I tell him all day long how he is going to be such a good daddy some day.  He "walks" his pet animals with a string and says, "Come on honey."  He just loves on everyone.  He gives the best kisses, I mean look at those lips!  He hugs so tight.  He has the strongest muscles.  Oh, yes, he will show you his muscles and how strong he is.  And Mark is very very verbal.  He has been talking in sentences since 15 months and he will tell you exactly how he feels, "I'm shy because..."I'm scared because...or "I'm so happy!"  I love how I never have to guess how he's feeling.  He is like a puppy too.  He likes to be near you...on you...beside you...on top of you...holding your leg...your hand...playing with my hair, my cheeks...he just can't get enough of physical touch.  He is very sensitive too.  He will apologize immediately if he's done something wrong, and say, "I'm so sorry."

Mark does things in his own time.  When we do school and I say Mark write your M buddy for Mark, he says, "I'm drawing a TIGER!"  We started writing with him last year, and it wasn't til this past week that he actually wrote an M...and my thought is, he could always do it, but he just wasn't ready.

Same with potty training...he's been potty training since 18 months old...and still he's not ready yet, and that's okay, because my goal is before his 3rd birthday we will at least have more successes than failures on the potty...he's a boy, and he's Mark, and it's on Marky time.  He's not in a rush to do anything or to impress anyone.  I can remember his 12 month visit being very concerned because he only knew a handful of words...Dr. Shih said, "Oh, Kristi, give him time..." At the 15 month visit we were chatting it up in the office waiting our turn, and the Dr came in and said..."Are WE worried about verbal skills anymore?" with a laugh...Mom is awfully good at worrying...but Mark just goes at his pace, in his time...and I love that about him.

Thank you Lord for giving me a girl and a boy...so different...so wonderful.  I feel so incredibly blessed and honored to be their Mom.