I will sit on you!

Tonight at our Ladies coffee I was a little desperate sounding for discipline ideas:) I must have been because my dear friend insisted I drop by right afterwards to pick up some cds and material she and her husband just picked up at a Love and Logic conference last weekend. I am willing to try anything. The yelling and playing the bad guy is just not cutting it anymore! MA and J seem to be getting the hang of things and know now that they won't be able to get away with bad behaviors like they were so accustomed to in the past. Of course it only took me sitting on J one time for him to realize that he can either sit in time out on his own accord or I can assist him with that. All the kids thought I was a little crazy that day but it worked. H, A and C on the other hand have seemed to have lost their minds. I know that it is all the adjustments that everyone is going through. No matter how much structure I am trying to pour into our days the truth remains that there is way too much change going on all at once. It was very poor timing when C decided to give up paci inadvertently by losing it. Along with this came giving up naptime which seems like a good idea until about dinnertime. Sweet thing is just not able to hold it together when his naptime is missed. It is really difficult to keep the other 4 quiet long enough for C to think he isn't missing out on anything and drift off to sleep. Another big factor is that C's love language of quality time is being encroached upon in a serious way. Who said that 2's were terrible? I think it should be the "trying 3's" for sure! H is also having a hard time with personal space and finding time to get away. After several days of biting everyone's head off we had a little heart to heart. We came to the conclusion that when she starts to feel a little overwhelmed she will let me know and I will tuck her away for some alone time in my bedroom or the downstairs guestroom. I wish someone could do the same for me:) Actually, I did get a little break this past weekend. I was leading worship for our Ladies retreat and D kept all the kids. This wasn't an overnight, away kind of retreat but I did get some time with adults without any Peyton pandemonium lurking around! I think D was trying to show off a little. For some reason I mistakenly took all the sets of keys for the suburban which left D and the kids stranded at the house. He seemed to make due just fine. When I got home for the evening he reported that they ordered pizza and that the neighbor friend was also staying the night. What a show-off. Not only was he ok with our rowdy 5 but he took on an extra one by choice! Needless to say the house was still standing on Sat. It is going to take me a little time to get caught up on laundry and house work but the time away in God's Word was well worth it. Now I just have to figure out a way to apply my Loving Well information into my life everyday. Good stuff, Beth Moore.

Three means forever!

The newness is beginning to wear off a bit as the kids are starting to bicker and argue like a real family. The jury is still out if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Another thing I have noticed with J is that he has started to cry when he gets in trouble. Not that I want my child to cry but I think this is a good thing. Before when he got in trouble he would stand there in defiance and refuse to look at you or do what you asked of him. I thinks this means he is starting to care what we think and doesn't want to have us upset with him. He has also started giving kisses at night. With all the kids we do this family thing called "three means forever." Three kisses and three hugs mean our love is forever. If you don't give all three you WILL be called on it. J had picked up on this and does this when he is tucked in at night. We'll make Peytons out of them yet!

It didn't really occur to me until the other day that MA and J are not used to being in the house so much. Usually at the orphanage the kids were outside all day long. With the weather turning so nice lately it has been a great release for both mom and kids:) Of course Texas weather is so fickle and can't decide what it wants to do so we may have to squeeze a day in here and there.

First Dental Visits

Well I finally made a trip to Target to get MA a doll. When I pulled the doll out of the bag she and J both started screaming for joy. J was so excited for his sister- it was obvious that they had been discussing a doll for several days. Someone asked me if I got her a black doll and I did not. Her doll is white with long blond hair (so she could fix it the way she likes) and she couldn't be happier:) All the girls have carried their dolls around for days. This has definitely been a time of good bonding for the girls. MA and J had their first trip to the dentist office and they both did amazingly well. J was very worried at first- I am sure that he was remembering the week before of shots and lab draws. He would not let the hygienist near him with the scary looking tool so I had to stick it in my mouth, poke around on his hand and eventually count the teeth myself before he would warm up to the idea of someone poking around in his mouth. Shockingly, there appears to be only very minor decay in his mouth so we will keep an eye on it. MA was another story. She did fabulous in the chair but her poor teeth are going to take some work. We go back to have 3 cavities filled and probably another cleaning since she had so much plaque buildup. She is also missing 2 front, bottom teeth that will take some orthodontics to fix. MA also has two very small canine teeth that will be visibly smaller than all her other adult teeth. This is more of a cosmetic thing than anything and will be quite awhile before anything can be done about this. Overall, they loved going to the dentist. How could they not- everyone there is so kind. Dr. Jeremy Rudd's office is highly recommended!!