Top 10 Lessons in 2009

1. Never trust a 3 year old with paint supplies. Stella has painted our couch and her rug with finger nail polish, our stairs with white paint, her hair with water colors. She is a budding artist and the world is her canvas. This had better pay off someday. We hope to be laughing about this one day while she refurnishes our home with the sale of her first masterpiece.

2. Run, don't walk when you hear the sound of Sophia crying and Stella saying "Shhhh! You are o.k."

3. Children sense weakness.

4. Children also know when you are outnumbered. On our drive back to Texas, we stopped in at a Chik -fil-A for lunch. We were enjoying ourselves and being out of the car, so Josh offered to go get gas while we finished our meal. Not even thirty seconds after he left the building, Stella said "I have to poop." Are you kidding me? Well, you can't tell a recently potty trained kid "no." I had to pack up our food, snacks, Sophia's high chair cover, Sophia, and Stella and drag it all back to the bathroom. Since I couldn't hold everything and Sophia and help Stella, I had to strap Sophia to the diaper changing station and hold Stella's door open with my foot while holding Stella over the potty yelling at her to stop touching everything.

5. Watch your mouth. Stella repeats everything. (ie: "Grandma's crazy.")

6. Diego is our best friend. He has come in handy especially since Stella has recently given up her nap. When you ask a 3 year old what her favorite animal is and she says "a tapir", you know Diego has been involved. What the heck is a tapir?

7. Cheap stickers aren't easy to remove from floors, tables, shoes, cabinets, and windows. Always invest in hight quality stickers.

8. Always have poison control on speed dial. Children's medicine tastes like candy and they love it-and child resistant caps are no match for a three year old.

9. Don't put a step stool in the pantry-especially when snacks can be reached with the use of step stool.

10. After going through potty training, we now know that your entire home has to be sterilized upon completion. And to all of our friends with potty trained children, you never told us how gross and difficult it really would be. Thank you for that, because if you had, Stella would be wearing diapers until she graduated from high school. Sophia might have to go live with another family when her time comes.