Rough morning in mommy land!

Can I just start off by saying how blessed I am to have my two girls. It was not that long ago that I spent my days pleading to the Lord to bless our lives with children. I longed and wanted to have a family more than anything! I am so thankful for them. Now, I just hope we all survive to see them grow up!

WARNING: If you have perfectly sweet and always obedient children you may not should read the post below....it may cause you to feel prideful! (I am so kidding!)

I so lost my patience with ella this morning. God love her...but she about sent her mommy over the edge. It went something like this.

me-Ella, we are going to take a shower and get ready.
e-No mommy, I not like shower...I take bath.
me-Ella, we take a shower everyday... don't be grumpy! All your toys are waiting on you!
e-No, I take bath!
me-okay, you can play in the tub and mommy will wash you when I am done. I put about two inches of water in the tub and jumped in the shower (they are side by side in our bathroom)
e-(Screaming) Shower mommy! I take Shower!!!
me-okay, okay, hold on...I'll get you! Jump out and grab a towel!
e-No mommy...I bath!
me-(my blood pressure is rising by the second) Okay you stay! I jump bath in the shower. (Sweet eliza is an innocent bystander sitting sweetly in her bouncy chair!)
e-(Crying) mommy I take shower with you. Please mommy, shower!!
me-no ella you lost your chance!
e-(Crying and screaming) Mommy, SHOWER!!! SHOWER!
me-Okay! I get out (thinking this would help me out in the long run because I could bathe her with me and save a step!) I pick her up and put her in the shower as she goes crazy...trying to get out with all her might!
e-my bath, my bath, my bath!
me-bath is OVER...you are not getting out...this is ridiculous!! My blood is boiling and my hot water is running our by the second. Sweet little eliza is wondering what all this drama is about because it is really ruining her early morning nap!
e-Screaming trying to get the shower door open! (this went on for about two minutes)
me-You are done! I pick her up and put her in the bath and tell her to sit quietly and she is in big trouble!
e-crying
me-freezing water at this point. Finish shower. wrap my little drama queen in her towel and politely plopped her little self in time-out! I counted to ten..took deep breathes....and told the Lord I was angry and needed help!
e-after a lengthy little sit....was told to apologize, got diapered (I wasn't about to put panties back on her in that state of mind), dressed and deposited in her bed for a very early nap! I haven't heard a peep since!
me-sat on the couch with my bible in hand and looked desperately for wisdom from the Lord.

Proverbs 31:26"She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."
Help me Lord....I have my work cut out for me....and it's only10am!

Diapers and a day at home!

Nothing too exciting is happening around our house this week. We've had two long days at home and I am wondering if going to buy groceries is going to be worth the hassle or if we can make do a few more days. I have been working on potty training ella some this week. I have been putting it off because in my opinion changing diapers is way easier than cleaning accidents, extra loads of laundry and running to the potty all day! I would definitely be waiting even longer, but the thought of saving on diapers is our motivation. We are spending quite a bit each month in diapers and it sure would be nice to not be throwing it in the trash...quite literally! (And no I would never consider doing reusable/washable diapers! I know they are nice and easier to use than they used to be...but I really do not want to mess with all that!

We've got a lot of work still to do. She is trying and so I am proud of her! We'll continue to work on it! Thankfully my sweet eliza is super content most of the time!
Ella just woke up and is calling from a three hour nap and it is time for her to eat some lunch!!! To bad I wasn't more productive when I had the chance!!!

Friday

Today has been a good day. We've been at home all day, but it's been fun. My older sister brought two of her four over to play and ella had so much fun! She was worn out when they left.

Ella is napping and eliza is asleep in my lap on the boppy pillow. I should be cleaning my upstairs and doing laundry but I am lacking the motivation right now.

Ella is 2 years and 3 months today and I thought I'd write this post about her. She is growing so fast!

-She is FULL of life and is spunky! She has her dad's temperament and when I say that I mean...she never meets a stranger, wakes up with the chickens, goes and goes until she crashes, loves life, is caring, loves animals, and loves to be outside!

-She is quite the little organizer! She loves to sort, classify, and organize! What can I say...she is like her mommy too! We keep finding things like this around our house!

(She always is trying to organize our shoes in front of the door

which makes it hard to open any doors!)
-She talks ALL the time.

-She says about 100 times a day, "Mommy, what you doing here?" and "Mommy, what is dat?" She is very inquisitive about everything and is learning so much!!

-She is so a two year old. Isn't it funny how these stages of growth and behavior just happen! Right now she is very ummmm egocentric! It is all about her and everything is hers! She also says all the time, "Mommy, dat's mines!" To which I reply, "No ella, that's not yours!" To which she replies, "Mommy, dat's ours!" To which I reply, "No ella that's not ours that's theirs!" To which she replies sadly, "Okay mommy dat's dares!" This occurs many times daily!

-She loves to have her nails polished and her "hair straight!" Oh my!

-She loves her sissy but seems to acting out in jealously more often lately! Taking turns is hard at two...so is sharing!

-She loves her dolls and stuffed animals. They ALL are her special friends and we better not lose one near bedtime!

She lines them up around her crib every night!

(I take them all out when she goes to sleep!)
-She likes to carry toys from room to room! So much for order and a clean house! I try my best to not let this stress me!

She keeps this mommy busy and I love her to pieces!!

And She's....

BETTER!!!!

We made it a full day without diarrhea and she woke up this morning with a ravenous appetite! Praise the Lord and thank you for your prayers.

How long does it take a two year old....

to go down a flight of stairs?? We do this multiple times a days. She always has her hands full of her most valuable possessions (right now it is her collection of Miss Pattycake DVD's) that she carries everywhere and would sleep with if we'd let her. It cracks me up because she always starts grabbing whatever her little arms can hold whenever I tell her it's time to go downstairs. I guess she is not sure when she'll be back up! I usually have my arms full with eliza and whatever else she has dropped! It's a wonder we haven't broken our necks!

She made it!

Parenting is not for the faint or weak of heart!

This has been a rough, rough month and a half around our house. Yes, we've had good days and glimmers of health, but our girls (mostly ella) have been so so sick! It all started with that mean, nasty, awful hand/foot and mouth that ella had a terrible case of right before Thanksgiving. On the heels of that they both took RSV (eliza's being much worse...ella's was just a cold). Then ella took a week long viral fever...high fevers and feeling miserably! We had six good days that thankfully were over Christmas and then she's been battling another virus...(fever for two days and diarrhea and one day of vomiting for nine days straight!!! I am end of my rope! I am worried and so ready for my girl to be her active, witty, and healthy self again. We have been to the doctor each time...sometimes numerous times and it's been all viral.

My doctor thinks her immune system is still run down and she has had bad timing on catching EVERYTHING!! I pray this is it and there is nothing more serious going on. I hate seeing her not feel good and she cannot afford many more days of not wanting to eat! Everytime she gains a pound or two she gets sick and refuses to eat! I know there are many parents who wish there child just had a viral infection and I want to keep perspective, but it's beginning to seem never ending.

If anyone has any good immune boosting products or ideas pass them my way! I want my healthy girl again!!

Why I blog??

I have been thinking about this lately and searching my motives for why I choose to keep a family blog. I have decided that I enjoy blogging for several reasons.

-Some days it is therapeutic for me to sit down and sort through my feelings.
-I enjoy sharing pics of my girls for my friends and family who live far away.
-I enjoy journaling our life. As a child, I remember enjoying reading the things my mom wrote about me in my baby book. For example, I used to call the church nursery the "nubey" and the living room the "liv-liv." I have never forgotten those things. I want my girls to one day be able to read about their lives and what they were like at different stages.
-It is a place I can look back and see God working in my life.
-I want to turn my blog into a blog book so that my girls will one day have a hard copy! I just recently realized you could do this and I am so excited that it won't someday just be lost out in cyberspace!!

I enjoyed reading Mckmama's blog today on blogging boldly. I liked what she had to say about being authentic and real. It is so easy to portray the sunny sides of life on blogs or facebook so that others think you have it all going on. In fact, I have been thinking a lot about this throughout this past Christmas season as I strolled with my two cuties through the mall. It is so easy on the outside to "appear" all put together. For instance, I can have my two girls dressed in the cutest clothing, matching bows...I can have showered, straighted my hair smoothly, and tried to choose a trendy and fashionable outfit (which I am not sure ever happens even when I try). I can try to give off the impression of having it all together....but I so don't have it all together. While i don't think there is anything wrong with "cuteness," I want so much more for my girls than this. I want them to be real and authentic. (Don't worry right now ella has this one down. She has no problem sharing her feelings quite freely...in the middle of Target...in the car...grocery store...wherever and no matter who is looking! Guess that is a plus of being two!)

So all that to say...I enjoy blogging. I want to be a more authentic blogger! I want to share my life and what the Lord is teaching me. I want to store up memories for my girls and help them to learn about what our family life was like when they were small. So...that is why I blog!