I just thought I'd update life a little with what's going on with us right now.

Aspen is still high energy, but he is such a joy to be around (most of the time!). I've seen a big change in his attitudes and obedience in the last couple months, and am so thankful for that. One night I was just feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with the daily ups and downs of parenting him, and I stumbled across a website on parenting. I read through it and started putting some new things into practice. It really took no time for things with Aspen to change around. He is incredibly smart and perceptive and is such a quick learner. He is very loving and tells me every day how much he loves me. I am soaking it up now because I know the time is coming way too soon where that won't be happening! The next thing we have to work on is the arguing. I am getting a little weary of the constant negociations.

He is learning to play nicely with Journey. The problem is that he knows how to bug her.... Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh? The things he does to bug her right now are: all the sudden he really wants to play with Journey's dolly's, he will come up and give me a full, possessive hug in front of Journey, or he will swipe whatever she was just about to pick up/play with just because she wants it. Yes, this drives me crazy. Especially when they fight over me.

Aspen has taken part ownership of my lap top. We set up a kids web browser on my computer called Kidzui, and he loves to search for and play new games. There are literally hundreds of games to choose from on there. About once a week, Aspen and I will have a "date". Basically, a date is just a time where just him and I go somewhere together. It could be the grocery store, or more often, the coffee shop. It's fun to spend time with just him, and he seems to really value it. He reminds me everytime we are in the car alone together that we're on a date :)

He has also been learning to love some of the things Mark enjoys like remote control rock crawlers and spending time on the boat. Mark took Aspen out last week to be apart of the Christmas ships. He had a blast, and was so proud to be one of the "guys" (Ryan and Mark's dad went too). They didn't get home until 10pm, so he was pretty proud of being able to stay up so late!

Today, Troy and Tyler came over on 4-wheelers since they can't drive their cars in the snow. Mark took Aspen on a ride around the neighborhood in the blizzard. Apparently, they were doing cookies on the 4-wheeler (so glad I didn't see that!), every time Mark asked Aspen if he was scared he said he wasn't and that he loved it! Too bad Mark got rid of the rhino. They would have a blast in the snow and ice that we are having.

Journey is still my sweet girl. She loves to cuddle in the rocking chair at night, and prompts me to sing "Jesus Loves Me" over and over by saying "Jesaah, Jesaah". She will snuggle up totally still against me as long as I will sit there. It's so sweet, and I try to soak it up each night.
She has become my shopping buddy because she hates it if I ever leave her behind. I have never had a problem with her at the store (like I did with Aspen at this age countless times!), and we just enjoy being together.

She loves Aspen, but has a piercing scream for him whenever he does something that makes her mad. It really drives me crazy! Oh, and one more thing, she is a total Papa's girl. She has my dad's heart, and it's so cute to see her with him. As soon as she sees him, she will say his name in the sweetest way, as if she's in love with him. I need to get it on video one of these days, so that we don't forget it.