Adventures in Parenting (The things no one warned you about)

For the summer we had a goal for each child that we wanted to accomplish (or have them accomplish)by the end of the summer. By the end of summer we want..... Elizabeth to tie her shoes. Sarah to stop sucking her thumb. Cole to be potty trained. When we set these goals I don't think we imagined they would be so hard to accomplish. I'll start with Cole. He is doing a super job of going to the potty! I am pleasantly surprised with how well he is doing. We promised him that he could go to a baseball game with his daddy if he did really good, so this week they are going to a game (if it isn't rained out). Hopefully next week we will be confident enough in progress that we will be able to put him in undies. You may ask why this excites me like it does, well I will tell you. Elizabeth will be 7 in a few weeks. She was still in diapers when Sarah was born, and Sarah was still in diapers when Cole was born, so we've been doing diapers for 7 years! Elizabeth claims that she knows how to tie her shoes, but it never works out right. She says it's not her fault. I am not convinced. You see, she's the child that did not start walking until she knew her balance was just right (13 months). She's a perfectionist that makes straight A's and gets upset when she makes less than a 100. She says she doesn't want to play sports because she doesn't want to loose. It is my opinion that she does not want to try to tie her shoes because she doesn't want to get upset with herself when she doesn't do it exactly right. Anytime we practice tying shoes she gets upset and it doesn't matter who does it with her. This perfectionist thing does NOT come from me. I'm pretty sure it's not from her father either. It's one of those things that can be a stumbling block because she doesn't want to do anything she's afraid she won't be good at. Sarah is my stubborn, sweet, but sneaky middle child. We bought her a thumb guard because it was recommended by her dentist. The kit came with 2 guards and 60 bracelets in different colors. She was excited about it because like her sister if they do well they will get to go to the movies and that excites them. She wore it with pride and never fussed about it the first day. We put her to bed and she was worried she wouldn't be able to go to sleep. I went to check on her and she finally fell asleep sucking the other thumb. :( I was beginning to think we wouldn't be able to break this habit. The next night we used both thumb guards and she told her sister she couldn't sleep and slept in the bed with her (I will add that she also we her sister's bed. It was a LONG night). That night I had to pull her fingers out of her mouth! :( She's been doing better. Her sister helps watch her at night and one day we even forgot to take her thumb guard off her right hand (She only wears that one at night. She wears the other one all day.) She never fussed and once we notices (which wasn't until lunch) we cut them both off because they were wet inside. Here's the part no one ever told us about. No one tells you when you think about having children how hard it can be to potty train a child or how expensive it is to do diapers for 7 years! No one ever told me how hard it would be to teach my perfectionist how to tie her shoes. AND No one ever told me how hard it would be to get my Sarah to stop sucking her thumb (or thumbkin as she calls it), so I thought I would take the time to let those of you who don't have a almost 7 year old, a 4 year old and a 3 year old in so you would be informed. Now you know!

New Adventures

It's been so incredible long since I have updated because I was so busy with student teaching, doing homework, and taking care of my hubby, kids, and home. I'll be honest...I did forget about the house most days just to spend time with the kids. I am finished with my student teaching now and officially have my Masters in Special Education. I am working on my certification and am looking for a job for the fall. Jonathan's basketball team won the state championship and he should be getting his huge ring sometime in the next month or so. We should find out next week if he will be able to work at PCHS next year. Elizabeth is finishing up first grade. In spite of her problems with her eye she has managed to make straight A's! She's such a smart cookie! Her eye is much better. She has been infection free for two months or more! It's so hard to believe that she will be in second grade in the fall! She is becoming such a smart, beautiful girl. Sarah Grace has learned so much this year. She can spell almost all of her color words and can write her first name. Honestly, I think she would be ready for kindergarten, but her birthday is too late, so she has another year before she can do that. She tells me she learned how to be smart from her sister. She's just as amazing as her sister and just as beautiful! Cole, well as his teachers say he's just Cole. He never stops. He can be outside for just a few minutes playing and his hair is stuck to his head with sweat. He has learned so much in school and he's only been there since just before Christmas. He knows the days of the week and can count to 20 sometimes higher without messing up. He's absolutely wild, but when he looks at you with those big brown eyes it makes it hard to get on to him. Despite the fact that he gets intro trouble, he's just so stinking cute! I guess that's about it. We're good. Kinda in limbo at the moment because we don't know about the job situation, but we're good.

Heaven

I have just read what I believe is the most wonderful book ever. If you have ever wondered if heaven is real you absolutely MUST read it! It's called Heaven Is For Real and it's by Todd Burpo. It tells the story of his three year old son's trip to heaven and it is intertwined with scripture that backs up what the little boy says he saw while he was there. It is absolutely incredible and exactly the kind of book I love to read as a girl who majored in religion for my bachelors. It did get me thinking though. My own son was very sick when he was just a few weeks old. It was to the point where he didn't move or cry. There were no wet or dirty diapers and all he did was breathe. You couldn't make him cry if you wanted to. He was just there. It made me wonder if while he was so sick and we were so scared of losing him was he sitting in the lap of my Savior who was showing him things that I may not see for a very long time. Now, if you know Cole you know he if my little wild man. He is full of life and never stops moving. He wiggles in his sleep. He can drive me bananas, but he can also be so sweet that he makes you melt. Reading that book just made me wonder if while we were rushing around between Birmingham and Clanton was my Jesus holding my son in his lap and showing him the wonder that is heaven. Did he meet my Great Grandma Ruby, my Mammaw or any of my other great grandparents? Did he see angels or even the face of God? I may never know that, but after reading this book I am almost certain that he did!

Jeepers, Creepers Elizabeth's peepers!

Over Christmas break my mom was reading with Elizabeth and noticed that her vision was much better in one eye than it was in the other and suggested we have it looked at. We did and found out that she had some scaring on her cornea. It has effected her vision in her left eye tremendously and we have been seeing a cornea specialist on a regular basis since then. Last week we had a bit of a set back. She had an ulcer come up on her eye. It must have been extremely painful because she didn't open that eye for DAYS! She had to go to Birmingham to see the specialist 4 days last week. She got to go spend the weekend with Grammy and Peepaw and her vision was much better on Monday when she went back. It's been a long journey and we're thankful for those who have helped us out. I never dreamed that so many health issues would come up when I started student teaching and could no longer be home every day. After all that last week and her missing school Tuesday of last week through Monday of this week, we get to school yesterday and she throws up all over the van! She stayed with me until her Daddy could come and get her. He's been so helpful since I can't take off very much. So thankful for my helpful family and the concern that Sarah and Cole showed for her while her eye was hurting so bad. While she was at Grammy and Peepaw's they both cried for her. They love her very much although they do not always show it. They were so happy to see her come home and we were very relieved to know that her vision went from 20/400 at one point last week to 20/60. She was supposed to see the cornea specialist again yesterday. That didn't happen, but we have a standing deal for when she goes back on Monday. If when she goes back her vision is 20/20, WE'RE GOING OUT FOR ICE CREAM! It was her goal. I was shooting for 20/40. We'll just have to see what happens on Monday!

The little old lady that lives down the hill

There is a little old lady that lives down the hill from us. She has the cutest little dog that she walks every time we drive by her house or so it seems. Normally when we drive by she points her cane at her dog like she is threatening to shoot the poor thing if it moves before the car goes by. I've always smiled and waved at her. Usually I get a dirty look back, but today was different. I smiled and waved, and.......she smiled and waved back! Maybe it's the Christmas spirit or maybe she's finally used to this little family driving by and waving that she decided to return the favor for once. Today she made me smile!

Cole goes to school!

Last Friday was Cole's first day of school. Since it was Friday I picked him and Sarah up after lunch as is my normal routine. He's quite the character. He refused to let me take his picture as is our first day of school custom. I did get some pictures after school, but they were more action shots than then were pictures because I was literally chasing him all over the place. He didn't cry, and seemed to have a good time Friday. All I could get out of him though was that he ate lunch at school. Today he rides the bus, so maybe I can get a little more out of him. I would also like to report that mom has been managing these drop offs tear-free! I may not be very productive while they are gone, but emotionally I am doing well with everyone being gone.

The tooth story!

I've been holding on to this story for about a week, but I have to share it! All the teeth Elizabeth has lost have been loose since before we moved to Reform! About a week ago we noticed that they were just barely hanging on. I cannot pull teeth. I am too afraid I will hurt her, so her Daddy decided he would be the man for the job. I had the job of hand holder while she screamed. After talking with her last night we decided that the fear of the pain was much worse than the actual pain. Anyway, he pulled on tooth one night and another on the next night and last night he pulled on on the bottom. She is now missing her front teeth. Her bottom two below those are in, but their neighbors on each side are gone too. I'm not kidding when I tell you that you can already see the teeth that are coming in! She still insists that we could have waited a while, but we were seriously worried that she would swallow them! The second front tooth is the one with the story. Daddy was wiggling it and she was screaming. I was holding her hands. She wiggles and Daddy throws her up and says, "Don't swallow!". When she wiggled his finger bumped the tooth slightly and it came out. It's a good thing she didn't swallow it. I don't think the Tooth Fairy comes if the tooth is swallowed.