The Skittles Story

I bought Laiken some skittles the other day. She gets only a few at a time, and only for things she does good or after eating a good supper. A small, sporadic reward. She loves them so much. Well, tonight Trey and the babies were on the couch while I was vacuuming the rug. Trey walked into the kitchen and came back to the couch as I was finishing and wrapping the cord. Laiken jumped onto the couch next to him. She gets right in his face, her nose to his mouth and says, " What you smell daddy??!" She tried to open his mouth (he's laughing so hard) She says, "That's my candy!!" Daddy had sneaked a mouthful of her skittles, but she smelled them!!!! It was so funny. She is getting really good at sharing, but skittles do not fall under that category for her. Update on New Year's resolutions: The diet is only going fairly well. I am having a hard time finding a good work out schedule. 6:15 is when Dylan gets on the bus but Jack is usually up before seven. Not enough time and his morning naps are getting shorter, not enough time. And it would be hard to do after bedtime, and that would also require 2 showers a day. So, there is a stationary bike at walmart that comes with an mp3 player for 135.00. I am considering that because it seems it would be easier than a workout video. I am trying to keep my stress levels down. It may seem silly but this past week I have just tried to breath a little more. No really, it is working. When I feel a snap or loss of patience coming on, I take a deep breath. Then I am able to handle the situation more calmly. I don't know how much longer that will help, but its working for now. I feel less guilty when I am able to remain calm. Laiken seems to sometimes respond better to a calm request rather than a loud angry one. Sometimes she does not respond at all, that could be due to her confusion about who is the boss. In moments like this I allow her a minute or two to sit quietly in a designated spot, where she is not allowed to get up, to let her think about how she could have handled the situation differently. (yeah, I bet that's what she's thinking about in time out.) We have not handled potty training at all, I continue to ask, "do you want to sit on the potty?" She continues to say, "no." So no rush there, she'll do it in her own time.

It's 2009 already??

The month of December was so very hectic for us. But it was a wonderful time for our family. We enjoyed spending time with my family in Hernando, and also in Corinth. I am really glad we got the chance to see everyone and spend the holiday with them. The highlight of the day was definitely the scratch off lottery tickets. I loved it! The kids had a ball playing together, I think Dylan was sad to leave. I am sure Laiken was, she screamed, " I want to stay!" all the way to the car. It may be madness when all the kids are together, but it is so important to get them together like that. I want my kids to know and love my family as much as they do their family here. We're doing a good job, because both Dylan and Laiken know who I am talking about when I say everyone's names. (Maybe not Brian and his family, but they just moved closer so it will take a few more visits). Laiken used to see babies on tv and call them AnnaReece. Now she says Sabana. Somethimes she says Hayden. LOL. We also had a great Christmas here as well. Gran Gran (Trey's mom) stayed a few days with us over the holidays. We had Christmas dinner and Jack's birthday party at Jody and Ryan's. Our kids probably had the best Christmas ever. They got a swingset. Which may not sound like much, but my kids can swing for hours and hours. They love having one in the yard. (although it has rained almost everyday since Christmas). Jack had a great birthday. Thanks to Aunt Lisa, I made him a football cake that he enjoyed all to himself. He loved it. The new year is starting off good. Nikki, Donald's wife, had a beautiful baby girl on Sunday, Jan 4th. She was 5lb and 11oz. Her name is Kelsey Ann Elizabeth Walley. Trey is still in Baton Rouge but is only working 40 hours a week. He will get to come home every Thursday night and goes back every Sunday night. I am so glad to get to see him that much. Might even start to feel like he lives here again. I love my children more than anything else in this whole wide world but it is hard being a single parent of three. I need a little help sometimes. So for new year's resolutions.... I want to lose about 20lbs. I have already started a workout video. I am going to take the babies for a walk in the wagon as many times a week as I can. And I am going to watch what I eat. Maybe follow a diet plan or join weight watchers. I want to reduce stress in my life. I am losing patience and feeling tired too often. I will rest more, drink more water, choose my battles with the kids, simplify where I can. I want to make a flexible schedule to help me move through the day more smoothly. We function mostly on a natural schedule. Breakfast is always about 7:30 or 8. Jack's first nap around 10. Lunch by 11:30. Laiken and Jack nap around 2. Jack has a snack about 3:30 or 4. Supper about 5:30. Jack goes to bed at 7:30 and Laiken by 8:30. Dylan has no natural schedule. He eats when food is on the table, and goes to bed when we tell him to. Last but not least, I want to potty train Laiken. I don't know if she's ready, I think she is. Step one will be to make the potty her friend, she is not overly enthusiastic about sitting on the potty. She doesn't dislike it, just has to be bribed to sit. I am not going to pressure her, just test the waters and see if she might be more ready than I think. She is smart enough to use the potty, but stubborn enough not too, if you catch my drift. We'll just see how it goes.