Driving

I am one of two types of driver on any given day.  I'm either in a hurry or not.  Yesterday I was in a hurry.  I had 45 minutes to get to Target, buy toilet paper, baby food and milk and get home for Luke to be able to get to a wedding rehearsal.  So as you can imagine I was behind the slowest driver on the planet on the way there and then the person I followed home set a new record for the slowest driver in the world.  I honked my horn and followed closely all the while thinking "what is wrong with this person??  DRIVE FASTER!  I GOTTA GET HOME!"

Now lets back up a few days.  I'm out with the kids planning to hit a few stores but really in no rush.  As I'm driving down the road going the speed limit a car comes up fast behind me and decides to ride my tail.  How dare they put my children and me in danger by riding my bumper!  Is getting to their destination really that important??  So what do I do?  I slow down even more!

As I'm thinking about this I am reminded of something I heard on Dr. Phil once.  (No I don't watch Dr. Phil but I happened to hear this one time!)  He was doing a show about road rage and he states something along the lines of:  How dare you drive around as if your schedule is most important.  That we should all do exactly what you want us to do to in order to make your life more convenient.  How arrogant can you be?  Ouch!

So there it is.  I'm arrogant.  I want everyone to do what I want them to do when I want them to do it.  The moral of the story?  Give yourself plenty of time to get to and from your destination so you aren't ticked when you hit delays and get out of the way of all the other arrogant drivers out there!

Jael is Funny

Jael cracks me up with some of the things she says and does.  I decided to keep a running post and edit it when I needed to add something.  I have a few so now I will share!

Her foot was falling asleep and she comes to me and says "My foot is really tired and it's kind of bouncing".  She was referring to the tingling sensation.

She takes her fake credit card, walks up to the frig, runs it down the center crack and says "Credit.  Thank you."

She gets up from lunch and claims that she has eaten all of her sandwich.  I go check and she has carefully hid it under a napkin.  I tell her she needs to finish her sandwich and she says "But can you feed me and take the crust off and break it into pieces?  That's a lot of things you need to do."

Me- "You don't need to make everything an issue".  Jael- "I don't make everything a tissue!"

While driving in the car "Mom, thank you for my butt."  (No clue where that came from!)

After several times of asking her to pick up her toys with various responses from her she begins to pick them up and says "I'm trying to gotiate with you but it's not working!"  (Meaning negotiate)

The list goes on and on and on.  Stay tuned for more funny stuff from Jael!

A couple fun videos!

This one is proof that Luke is NOT the baby whisperer!

This one will probably make Jael's grandparents sweat!  While trying to get Jada to bed I decide to go see what Luke and Jael are doing and this is what I enter into!

Being a parent is hard...

If you're a parent you know this is true.  Parenting is probably the most challenging yet rewarding thing that I have done thus far in my 28 years.  Each morning I wake up wondering what kind of day it will be.  Will Jael be in a compliant mood?  Will Jada take her scheduled naps with ease or will she fight me every step of the way?  What form of discipline will be most effective with Jael today?  Is Jada getting enough while she nurses or is she coming up short?  How many times will I need to wipe those two little rear ends and as a result do the massive amount of laundry associated with blow outs and accidents?  The list of "what ifs" goes on and on and as parents we have to be on our toes and ready to adapt.

Last night as I was heading into bed I decided to look in on our two little stinkers and found sleeping angels.  As I walked into Jael's room I gently arranged the covers off of her pretend baby and onto my baby.  She didn't budge.  There was no negotiating or arguing.  She allowed me to cover her to keep her warm and kiss her goodnight.  Next was Jada.  She too had kicked off her covers but slept soundly on her belly.  I covered her, patted her bottom and told her I loved her.  Moments like these are the ones that keep me going every day as a mommy.

It also made me think about my Father in Heaven.  How many times do I argue and negotiate with Him about what He knows is best for me?  It's not until I rest in His arms that He can cover me with his love, warmth and kisses.  What a wonderful thing  :-)

The baby whisperer

Luke calls himself the baby whisperer.  I never believed him until now.  Watch the movie below.

Now every evening I count on Luke's playing to keep Jada happy during her cranky time before bed.  I guess I'm going to have to learn to play the guitar!  Yikes!

Hot chocolate makes things better!

Jael and I are both fighting nasty colds so I thought we could enjoy some hot chocolate!  Jael really enjoyed it and called it her coffee!  :-)  She thought it was fun to drink it with her pinkie up in the air.  Jada sat and watched with her thumb in her mouth.  Good times were had by all!

Separation Anxiety

I've heard about this terrible monster attacking children of all ages but never really experienced it until NOW!  Jael is going through some intense separation anxiety.  It all started at her first drop in preschool experience.  I was hoping it would be an isolated incident but am quickly learning that it is indeed going to be a PHASE.  Jael use to love Sunday School.  In fact, she ran Sunday School.  The past few Sundays have been rough but today the anxiety peeked for her.  At John Carroll School nursery through preschool are all in the same gym area but separated by portable walls.  I walked in and dropped Jael off to class first.  She had a couple of tears but did pretty well.  I then walked to the back of the gym to drop off Jada.  After a few minutes of talking to Jada's teacher I started back towards the door (which meant walking past Jael's class).  I spotted Jael standing alone, head down, toy at her side crying.  I tried to get by without her seeing me but she looked up.  She threw the toy to the ground, screamed "mommy" and ran full speed ahead into my arms.  She was hysterical!  A few of the helpers tried to encourage her to rejoin group but it was all over.  She clung to my neck with a grip no person could pry apart and SCREAMED.  It was clear that she was not staying at class so I brought her up to worship with me.  You can imagine how that went.  So we hung outside of service and visited with friends until Jada's number came up (as it always does) so I could go down and feed her.  It was a rough Sunday morning.  I pray that this phase is almost over!

Good Times with Family and Friends

Dave & Paula were here for a week and Kyle & Callie came for a long weekend.  We had a blast!  Luke and Kyle played in the three on three basketball tournament and WON for the second time!

Here's the Winning Team!

After the tournament we attended the Habitat for Humanity Dream Builders Ball.  Included in the evening was a dinner, presentation, silent auction, live auction and dancing.  We had a wonderful time and were so grateful to Papa and Mema for watching the kiddos!

Jael and Jada had so much fun playing with all of our company!  Papa and Jael went on an adventure every morning in an effort to keep Jael from waking up the rest of the house!  It was nice to be able to sleep in a little bit.  Unfortunately Mema caught a bit of a cold while here.

We also went to the Bel Air Athletic Club for some basketball and swimming.  I promised Kyle I was going to post this picture to document his fantastic tan line!  You're welcome Kyle!  

Friday Evening we had a delicious dinner at Rod and Liz Ross' house!  Jael thought that she was so helpful!

She decided to help Liz wipe out the sink.

It was a wonderful week!  We are so thankful to Papa and Mema for all of their help as well as Kyle and Callie for coming to visit!  We love you all!