7 steps

In my effort to be a better blogger, I figured I would shoot for every day until it becomes a habbit. Two screaming kids and a grumpy husband downstairs, means a short post today. The most exciting news of the day is that Sam took 7 steps on 2 different occasions. Hopefully he will be officially walking soon.

I have got to get better at this

I really need to start updating every night before I go to bed, just so I can have a record of the craziness and funniness that goes on around here. Because, I know I have forgotten some really good stuff over the last 2 months.

Part of my problem is that I have started working another job. Well, not that I go to work, but trust me keeping a 4 month old in adittion to my 2 kids is work. During the day I don't have a spare moment to breathe, muchless update a blog.

We have had a wonderful Halloween and Thanksgiving since my last update. Sam has 2 more teeth, 3 more ear infections, and is standing alone, trying really hard to walk.

This weekend we decorated for Christmas, which is one of my favorite things to do. I would love to decorate for all the seasons and holidays, but that would be more than my family could bear. This is the 5 weeks out of the year that I risk setting around things that can break, setting the table with good tablecloths, placemats, and dishes- knowing it is all going to cause me to constantly chase children and yelling, "stop that". But, I just can't help myself. The one unfortunate decision I had to make this year- yes, my Christmas trees look ridiculous with baby fences around them. But, weighing that against a trip to the ER- gate wins.

I am including some random pictures, and hopefully from now on I will be better about updating more frequently and having pictures to go with stories. And, did I mention that Sam is 4 weeks away from his first birthday- CRAZY!

More Lexi Kate crazy conversations

I have got to get better about updating the sight, especially when it comes to the things my kids say and do.

To start with Sam, because his won't take so long. He is now crawling, army crawling of course- I don't think my children have the normal crawling gene. Anyway, he also likes to roll over and crawl away while getting his diaper changed. So, as we are in the floor changing his diaper, off he goes bare bottom. Get the visual: naked hiney in air, man parts dragging the ground, army crawling full speed ahead across the carpet. This doesn't have a pretty ending. About six feet across the room, Sam is introduced to the idea of carpet burn, in a less than pleasant place. The child pops up faster that "jack" comes out of his "box", grabs his goods and just whimpers. Now you would think that lesson alone would deter him from repeating this behavior. Nope! So, maybe I will start potty training him, and just give up diapers all together.

Not as funny, but still a milestone in our house. Sam has pretty much given up his baby food for the food he can feed himself. He may just be as independent as his sister. He doesn't really like to take a bottle, but his hunger usually prevails on that one. His idea of a perfect meal would be his sippy cup and a variety of things he can stuff in his mouth. His favorite so far has been a meal of rice, peas, carrots, and banana puffs.

He is also pulling up on everything, regardless of how secure it is. I think we are going to have to do much more baby proofing around here. I thought I had baby proofed the dog food by sitting it on the landing of the stairs. Nope- found Sam earlier today sitting on the stairs chewing on dog food- Yummy!

So much for Sam's update being short.... now on to Lexi Kate. She amazes me with her thought processes. I thought I was a pretty smart kid, but I don't think I was as smart as she is when I was in High School, much less when I was 3. Just a few of our conversations this week: Lexi Kate wanted to wear her big girl panties to bed. I told her we could only do that if she didn't have any milk or juice to drink after supper. She said okay and went to pick out her pajamas. When she came back to me she said, "Mom, I have an idea. I can drink half a cup of milk and put one of those small diapers you use in my panties and I will be good to go."

Yesterday, Lexi Kate was out done with the 2 weeks of rain we have gotten. She was so happy the sun was out, and was ready to play. I said it sure is beautiful right now, but it looks like it is going to rain again soon. Lexi Kate says, "No, Mommy, I gave that rain a bad spanking and told it not to come back last night." I asked what she was going to do if it did come back. "I am going to put God in timeout if it rains again today." Thankfully it was pretty yesterday afternoon and we didn't have to deal with putting God in timeout.

Today, I had to go put out Open House signs on a listing in Liepers Fork. I told Lexi Kate to get ready because we had to go. She proceeded to tell me she didn't want to go to work. I said, I am sorry but we have to leave right now. She ran back inside the house, plopped down in the floor with her Bible and says, "I am going to read my Bible and talk to Jesus about what he wants me to do today." I responded, "Trust me, Jesus wants you to obey Mommy. And, if you are really good, he said you could have McDonald's on the way home." (Sorry, I am sure that qualifies as using God's name in vain.) LK's response, "Okay, we can go now, but I am still taking my Bible with me to see what Jesus says."

Tomorrow we are having our family pictures made. Sam will be 9 months old, and it will serve as Lexi Kate's 3 year pictures, and our family Christmas card pictures. Check out www.jadiethomasphotography.com tomorrow evening for previews of the pictures.

I couldn't make this stuff up

I wish I had a notebook around my neck so I could write down all the things that come out of Lexi Kate's mouth. One day I am going to want to remind her of all her antics, and I am thinking it will come at 2 times: when she starts dating & thinks she is hot stuff, and when she has a 2 year old herself.

The first real thing Lexi Kate said this morning: "Mommy, do I have T.V. priviledges?"
'Yes, Lexi Kate, you have t.v. priviledges until you disobey, then Mommy will take them away.'
"Well, Mommy, you can't take my t.v. priviledges away anymore."
'I am sorry Lexi, but if you disobey, you will lose your t.v. priviledges.'
"No, Mommy, you can't take my t.v. priviledges away. I have hid them in my heart with Jesus, and nobody can ever take that away."

Well, I guess she has that one all figured out. I am so proud that she has the concept of Jesus being in her heart and noonne can take that away from her. However, we may have some serious issues around here as she choses to hide more things in her heart so they can't be taken away.

First Day of School

I have gotten bad at blogging again. It seems time is in short supply these days, but hopefully we will get back in a groove now that school has started. The pictures above are LK on her 3rd birthday in the white dress, Sam on his 8 month day, LK on the couch after falling out of the chair and hitting her head while Emma takes care of her, LK on her first day of preschool in her rain jacket.

Today was a whole new ballgame as far as starting school is concerned. The first year of school LK cried the whole time for 3 weeks, cried for about 30 minutes for 5 more weeks; last year LK cried for about 10 minutes for the first 5 weeks of school; today LK walked right into her classroom and said, "You can go now Mom, I am here with my friends." I think that made me more sad than her crying. No hug, no kiss, just get the heck out of here so I can do my thing. I am so glad she has improved so much socially- afterall that is the whole reason we started taking her to preschool. But, she is still my baby and I want her to always need and want me. I guess I am the one that needs help now.

How did it happen so fast?

This has been one of those weeks where I have found myself wondering how the days can go by so slowly yet the years go by so fast? Earlier in the week I realized that not only was Sam already eight months old, in only 15 weeks he would be turning one. For some reason 15 weeks just doesn't seem like very long, and turning one is a big deal. I can remember when I had 15 weeks left in my pregnancy with Lexi Kate, not to mention how short a period of time it seems like it has been since I had 15 weeks left in my pregnancy with Sam. I just hate that life has gone by so fast.

It has been a crazy month around here. So many times it seems like I have meant to set down and blog, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Now, I don't remember half of the funny things I was going to share.

The highlight of my week was Lexi Kate deciding on her own free will to throw away her diapers. We have finally made the plunge into big girl world. One of the pictures in this post is of her and her friend Emma tossing all of her diapers in the trash. Hopefully she doesn't realize I went and dug them out. Sam will be using those before long.

Today was Lexi Kate's 3rd birthday party. For some reason I think these birthday parties are as important to me as they are to here. I just absolutely love planning out a great party with several friends and all our family to celebrate my children. Yes, there are days I would give her away in a heart beat, and even contemplate killing her. But, she is mine, and I am so proud that God blessed our lives with her. Birthdays are just a great day to focus on how much we love her. And, the fact that Lexi Kate gets so excited about her parties and thanks me over and over for making a beautiful cake, cooking wonderful food, decorating perfectly.... makes me want to do it all the more. At this moment 3 years ago I was sitting in this same chair reading about labor on the internet, watching Law and Order on tv. Had I known I would be going into labor in 2 hours, I would have been in bed. I haven't gotten to catch up on my sleep since....

Happy Birthday Precious Princess! You are a gift from God!

I have become my mother

Our internet connection at the beach is entirely too slow to attempt pictures, but I will upload some when we get home. The kiddos are so cute! My big realization is that I have become my mother. I guess that is okay, because she was a great mother, and I love her, but....

When I was a kid it made me "hate" my parents when they would go on a vacation by themselves and leave me with my grandparents. At the time I thought it was because they didn't love me as much as they loved each other. And frankly, I thought they were being cruel and causing me to miss out on the fun. Now, that I am on vacation with 2 small children, I realize this is no vacation at all for parents. In fact, it is harder work than being at home. Sure, the beach is nice and I am glad to be here, but I am already exhausted from taking kids to the pool and beach, making sure we have everything we need, then as soon as we get settled, it is time to come back up to change diapers, eat lunch, and take a nap. This "vacation" is simply a time to let the kids do whatever they want and have fun, so we can spend the next 2 weeks at home getting them back into routine. So, Mom, I am so sorry for all the grief that I gave you over taking a weekend away. Now, I realize how much you needed the break. Hope you are up for keeping my kids, so I can take a vacation. Jeff and I could certainly benefit for some time away together to recharge as a couple and as parents, so in fact we can be better parents.

The other thing that makes me my mother.... I actually am wearing a skirted bathing suit. I swore I would never be one of those "old", "uncool" moms that resorted to wearing unfashionable bathingsuits and clothes just because they were moms. When my mom was 30 wearing a skirted bathing suit, I thought she looked old and ridiculous. Now that I am 30, have had 2 kids in 28 months time; it isn't old and ridiculous, it is common courtesy to the hundreds of other people trying to enjoy thier time at the beach. I will admit the other moms here running around in bikinis, SOME of them actually looking decent, make me jealous. However, when I put on the 1 bikini I still own, see my disproportioned body hanging out in places it shouldn't, my stretch marks shining, and veins standing out; I take it off and grab the skirted tankini and head to the beach. Oh well, I have become my mother.

Another thing that makes me realize that I have become my mother.... I no longer desire to do the things I used to on vacation. We are here with my Dad and Step-Mom, who are itching to do fun adult things. You can tell neither of them have really taken kids on vacation. Emily never had children, and my parents were divorced when I was so young, my dad never went on vacation with me. Sure, I would love to sleep in, sleep by the pool, eat at fancy restaurants, and going shopping. But, when a 2 year old is saying, "Mommy, Mommy...." it all goes away. This morning at 5:30 Sam was awake and ready to eat. So much for sleeping in on vacation. Once he was fed and settled, LK was up wanting to watch the dolphins. So, at 6:30 we were standing on the porch watching dolphins jumping in the ocean. The old me that wouldn't have been up before 9:00 would have missed those sweet little boy smiles before the sun was up, and the precious joy on the face of a 2 year old watching fishes jump into the sunrise. I love my children more than life itself, more than any other life I could imagine, and that makes me JUST LIKE MY MOTHER.

Mom, if you are reading this, thank you for being a fabulous mother. Thank you for being the type of mom I want to be. I can only hope my children grow up feeling the love, joy, and fulfillment I felt as a child. And, if that is the case. I will be so proud to have become my mother.