In the last year...

Apparently, about this time last year I had a dream to start a blog and keep my close friends and family updates with the daily "happenings" of the Dowden's. I'll give it a go this time... Tyler just turned 4 and started 2 half-days per week at his Christian Preschool in the fall. He had a difficult time transitioning to this time away from "Little" and Mommy time, but we think he is getting the hang of it. We love his teachers very much. They are kind, considerate, compassionate, and tender ladies with a true love for their little ones in their class. We are blessed so much because Tyler talks about his classmates, teachers, projects, and snacks now when I pick him. Last week, Tanganyika Wildlife Park brought several animals to the gymnasium for the kids to view and learn about. Tyler pet the snake (that's my boy!) and said, "The hedgehog was "pokey" and I didn't want to touch it...and I cried...and (again) I didn't want to touch it." I said, "Did any of the other kids cry?" He said, "No....just me." That story never gets old, LOL! The happenings around here always put a smile on my face and fill my heart with gladness. I am so stoked he pet the snake. I don't want him to have that fear so many people have...now if we can just work on the fear of birds, and going to a room by himself! :) Christian "Little" is our newly 2-year-old fireball. Scratch that. Cannonball is more appropriate. He is a climber, a tumbler, a UFC fighter ( I mean he can really defend himself and is scared of nothing. Not bully-like.), a runner, a biker, a serious hockey player, is opinioniated about his attire already, counts to 20 by himself, recites "God our Father" by himself at each meal, is potty-training himself (thank-you, Jesus!), and we believe he will be an atlelete for sure because he loves every sport and is fearless. he totally gets that from his athletic Daddy. When we pass basketball goals while driving, he looks out the window and says, "I want to play basketball with Daddy." Santa brought Little a b-ball goal and Jeff cannot wait to get it outside this spring. Christian is a Daddy's boy bigtime. When he wakes up in the morning, it's the first thing he asks about, and it's the last person he wants to see before he shuts his little eyes at night. He always wants Daddy to put him to bed, read him stories, and hang out with. He just runs his little legs off when Jeff comes home from work and throws himself at him. It melts my heart and we are so thankful and blessed to have such an awesome unit!!! Jeff and I are great. We love being parents, we love being married, we love our lives, and we are counting our blessings. Spring is around the corner and we are thinking (again) about putting our house on the market and finding that 1+acre lot with room to put in cool boy stuff like dirt tracks, sand boxes, treehouses, playsets, and a killer pool (for me). We have found some great homes in 3 different school districts so far but have not found the perfect one yet. There is one house we LOVE but only has 2 bedrooms on the main level so we are considering adding on. It's a lot to take on, but the seller is motivated and making 2 house payments so it might be worth it. I do believe good things come to those who wait so we just have to be patient. I love looking at real-estate and also love moving, so the suffering of cabin-fever hasn't been incredibly bad. :)