A lesson I learned from my 4 year old

We seemed to make it past the "terrible twos" without too many tantrums or attitudes. When we hit the "trying threes" our days were often filled with fits and spankings, time outs, or whatever would work! And now we are in what I like to call the "frustrating fours."

Callie is very opinionated. She knows exactly what she wants and she wants it RIGHT NOW. We recently had to get onto her for telling mommy and daddy, "I want it NOW." We explained to her that we can't always have things immediately. Of course, that's very difficult for a child that was pretty much the CENTER OF ATTENTION for her first 3 years of life, to understand. We have talked to her about being patient, and that sometimes we have to wait for things.

In this process of learning to be patient, Callie has started to show signs of anger. Yesterday evening I heard her tell her dad "I'm so mad at you." I couldn't believe my ears! We quickly told her that was not polite and not something that we said to our parents. She said, "I'm mad because you won't let me do things." We started listing ALL the things she had done that day, treats she had received, and special attention she'd had. Callie then replied, "Yes, but I'm mad because you wouldn't let me pick out my shirt, and you said I couldn't have a snack when I wanted one." WOW! We used this is a time to tell her that we can't always have exactly what we want.

I figured we probably wouldn't have to deal with this scenerio again anytime soon. But, I was wrong! Trey and Callie spent almost an hour playing together while Ashtyn took a nap this morning and I chatted with my mom on the phone. We love when we can give Callie some special one-on-one attention! Well, after they had played for a while and Ash woke up from her nap, we got busy doing other things. Callie asked for something and was told "no." She responded, "Ugh, I'm so mad because you won't let me have what I want or do what I want to do."

While she was in a time-out for this, Trey and I discussed how ungrateful she is. She had an entire morning full of treats, playtime, favorite cartoons and undivided attention. But the second she didn't get something she wanted, she was upset. She couldn't understand why she can't just have everything she wants, whenever she wants it. We told her that mommy and daddy know what is best for her. And, sometimes we just don't get what we want.

As I was thinking about all this, I couldn't help but think that we are so much like a little child when we relate to our Heavenly Father. We accept all the blessings that God gives us, and love when He answers our prayers in the way we wanted. But, when God tells us "wait" or "no," we pout and get angry. No matter how many things the Lord has provided us with, we are ungrateful. We can't see all the good things, because we are so focused on the negative, the unanswered prayers.

I believe God uses our children to teach us valuable truths. I didn't need my 4 year old to act in this way for me to realize that I am ungrateful. But, just as we used this as a teachable moment to talk to Callie about patience and acceptance, God used it as an opportunity to teach me about the same things.

Fun Times

Ashtyn has started to really get into playing. Her favorite thing is to go in Callie's room and play with all the "big girl" toys. For the longest time the first items she would grab would be the toy phone from the play kitchen and the toy timer. Not sure why, but sure enough every time she came out of Callie's room that's what she was carrying.

Now Ash loves playing with Callie's McDonalds's Drive-Thru that she got for Christmas. And just the other day she found a "light saber" that really lights up. Of course, she does enjoy just playing with an empty diaper box or tearing up a magazine. All I can say is this girl has fun, no matter what she does!

A Messy House

I grew up in a VERY clean home. And I mean VERY clean. My parents are both fanatical when it comes to cleaning. Growing up I never really cared much about having a clean room. My mom always cleaned it for me and picked up after me. And I never understood why they cared so much about things being neat and orderly.


Then I moved out on my own...My mom was no longer there, picking up my dirty clothes, washing my dishes and dusting. Apparently my parents did in fact teach me something about cleaning, because I cleaned my dorm room EVERY week. I kept things picked up.


And then I got married. I suddenly realized the frustration my parents must have felt having to clean up after me and my siblings! I HATE clutter. It makes me crazy. My husband's idea of "cleaning up" was to make piles of everything. There were piles of books, papers, clothes, etc. I finally showed him how to go through each pile and decide if it was trash or something to keep, and then find a place where it belonged.


I realized that I didn't care about keeping things clean when someone else (my mom) had the responsibility of keeping it that way! When the responsibility was suddenly on me, I decided things DID need to be orderly.


My hubby adjusted quite well to OCD way of cleaning and organization. And then... we had KIDS. *SIGH* I try my hardest to keep things in order now. I can guarantee at least for the first few minutes after I clean the house it will stay that way. But, like most mothers have found out, it is impossible to have a spotless house when you have children.


I have resigned myself to the fact that I can do my very best to keep up with everything...but there will STILL be cheerios in the couch cushions, sippy cups in the play kitchen, and a living room floor covered with toys. And...I am okay with that.


P.S.- I clean my home from top to bottom when my parents come to visit. If there is any place I neglect to clean my dad WILL find it...the last time they came it was underneath my fridge!







My two little "mess makers"

Bubble Gum

For Valentine's Day we got Callie her first pack of bubble gum. She was super excited that she was big enough to chew gum! As I figured, she chewed it for about 5 seconds and then said, "Alright, I'm done!"

A Reminder to be Thankful...

The other day I came across this blog... about a family who suffered a great loss. I could barely make it through. As I began reading, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and the knot starting in my throat. This couple had lost a child, not just a child...a baby.

I remember when I found out I was miscarrying my first baby. I felt so many emotions. I wanted that baby. The thought of never getting to hold him/her, never seeing that tiny face, was more than I could bear. It was difficult to know the child that was still in my belly was no longer alive. It was hard to wake up after the D&C and know that it was over. All the plans, and dreams about bringing home a baby were gone.

God knows what we can handle. I couldn't understand at the time why I was going through this. But I know now. It was to experience God's peace. The kind of peace that Paul talks about in Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which SURPASSES ALL COMPREHENSION, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It was amazing at a time like this that I could say I had peace. But I did. That kind of peace, that goes beyond all human understanding.

When you miscarry, it means that something is wrong. There was something wrong with my baby. God knew this. And God knew that I could not handle giving birth to this child and then losing him/her. So I am thankful that He chose to take my baby to heaven early.

I am venturing off what I set out to say...but thinking about this couple that lost their child puts things into perspective. This has been a rough week. Both of my girls have had terrible head colds. They have had fevers, runny noses, coughs. They have been irritable and whiny. My patience starts to wear very thin.

And then I remember. How badly I wanted these children. How much I prayed for these tiny blessings. I do get worn out being a stay at home mom, I get frustrated. I get annoyed and would love to have just 5 minutes where someone doesn't need me for something.

But, it seems I daily get a reminder that these little lives that God has entrusted to me are fragile. They are precious. They shouldn't be taken for granted. It is a reminder to be thankful.



Caledonia Marie born December 13, 2006



Ashtyn Elizabeth born January 20, 2010

What I LOVE about Valentine's Day

So these are just my thoughts on Valentine's Day...Reasons that I love V-Day:

1. A reason to eat lots of CANDY. I mean honestly, what girl doesn't love a good excuse to eat an ENTIRE box of chocolates?

2. It's the ONE day out of the year that my husband willingly agrees to watch a "chick flick."

3. Flowers. Roses are my favorite and they are pretty much the symbolic flower of the holiday.

4. Getting homemade Valentines from my daughter.

"Let Me Introduce You..."

This guy here is affectionately refered to as "Frosty Reid." My dad purchased this door hanging for me a couple years ago. And he is truly MAGIC. The first winter I had him, I put him on the front door. It proceeded to SNOW until I took him down at the end of February.

Well, I proudly put him on our door at the beginning of December this year. It snowed that weekend. And then it snowed again, and again, and again.

This further proved the fact that he in fact, COULD make it snow. There were some threats made by "friends" at church, that if we did not take him down then there would be consequences... One said friend, even went so far as to commit a crime! She stole him, in broad daylight, while we were at home with the blinds open! (We are obviously clueless because we never noticed until she said something)

We had some jokes going back and forth... And that week the predicted snow actually turned out to be RAIN. Now you're starting to believe, right? Well our friend certainly believed in the power of Frosty. So she shamefully brought him back and placed him in his rightful place on our door. It snowed 2 days later...

Now I love snow as much as the next person...but it is February and I am DONE! So, without hesitation, I have taken Frosty off of the door. I am no longer responsible for any snow that falls in Batesville, Indiana. Until next winter...

We Finally Won the Battle...

Let me start off by saying that Ashtyn was a GREAT newborn. I feel I can say this with confidence because I have something to compare it to. Callie was NOT a great newborn. She didn't sleep through the night until she was 6 months old, and even then it was in OUR bed with us shoving the paci back in her mouth almost every hour...

Ashtyn however slept well from the beginning and even started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. We would lay her down awake and she would coo herself to sleep, and wake up about 9-10 hours later, happy. And then...we moved.

When Ash was 8 months old we moved, and suddenly she decided she didn't like sleeping in her crib. She would wake up and cry, Trey would rock her back to sleep. She wouldn't lay back down in her crib. After fighting this for about a month, we finally gave up and put her in our bed. (SIGH)

A couple weeks ago when we went for her check-up, the doctor told us we really should let her "cry it out." We decided we would wait until she was over her ear infection...

It happened a few nights ago...we put Ash to bed like normal. She would usually wake up about 2 hours later and cry and we would put her in our bed for the rest of the night. But this particular night she didn't cry 2 hours later. Trey and I went to sleep and at about 2:00AM, still no Ash... At 4:00AM I asked Trey to peek in and check on her. He came back and said "she's still asleep."

Well we got really suspicious when we didn't hear her at her usual wake time of 8:00AM. Trey went in and found her happy and awake, standing in her crib! He then came back in our room and we realized that the monitor in our room was on the wrong channel. So...we had survived a night of "crying it out" mainly because we couldn't hear her! Although, I don't think she cried that much because she obviously went back to sleep.

So, there it is...that's how we won. Every night since, we just turn down the monitor in our room so we can hear if something is REALLY wrong. She may fuss for a minute or two, but she has been going back to sleep on her own! SUCCESS!!

My BABY turned ONE!!

It doesn't seem possible that my BABY can be a WHOLE YEAR OLD! It seems that once you have children the years literally go by in a BLINK...Of course we've had quite a few changes since little Miss Ashtyn Elizabeth was born on January 20, 2010.

For her birthday this year we were at my parents' house in Robinson, Illinois. It snowed like crazy that day and was really cold. We had a little party for her that night with just us and my parents, but Ash did get to have her very first taste of CUPCAKE. She loved it!

The next day we had her "one year" pictures done and I am anxious to share those with everyone! They turned out really well, and I'm a little embarrased to say that these were really her first professional pics since she was born...We weren't quite on the ball with getting all those baby pics!

Anyway, we spent a few days at my parents house and that Saturday we had a party for Ashtyn. My sister and brother-in-law were able to come with their kiddos! Everyone enjoyed the cupcakes. There was plenty of sugar to go around!! Here are some pics from the birthday festivities.

Here We go Again...

In January 2009 we experienced the worst ICE STORM that had hit Western Kentucky in 100 years. We drove in horrific conditions to get out of Kentucky and our town was without power for almost a week! So naturally when we heard weather reports on Monday evening that said "massive ice storm" and "potential widespread and prolonged power outages," we took that as our cue to LEAVE!

Fortunately we got out of Indiana before any bad weather started. We've been hanging out at Trey's parents' house in Princeton for the past couple days. We can't go home until we know that we have POWER and the roads are cleared.

CRAZY weather this winter! And supposedly the winter weather is at it's worst in February...not looking forward to the rest of the month!