When Kairi was first born, we placed a cosleeper in our bed and she slept there for a while. We eventually moved her to a bassinet and when she was a few months old I finally consented to putting her in her own room in a crib. I enjoyed sleeping w/ my baby. I just wish she had enjoyed sleeping with me. From the time she was a few weeks old on, every noise in our room woke her up. Chris' snoring, my rolling over, either of us getting out of bed for any reason -- they all woke her up. The day we moved her into her own room, her sleeping times stretched waaaay out. We loved it.

There were times when I tried to take naps with her or would need her to sleep with me because of bed space -- but it never worked out in my favor. She would thrash and yell and scream and cry for her bed. She needed the walls of the bed. She needed her own space. And she needed quiet. Apparently none of those were to be found in my bed.


Fast forward to today. Kairi still loves her bed. She sleeps no where else, except for the occasional moment in her carseat. But this morning, we had to be up at 4am. Chris had to have a ride to work, and he had to be there by 5. We got home shortly after 5am. I knew it wouldn't work, I just knew it, but I had to try.

First, I put Alex in his bed. I didn't think he'd go back to sleep. But he did! I thought about putting Kairi back in her bed, but thought about the amount of toys in her room. I didn't think that that would work. So I did it ... I took a risk.

Mommy: Kairi, would you like to sleep in mommy's bed?
Kairi: No.
Mommy: Are you tired baby?
Kairi: Yes, Mommy, so tired.
Mommy: Do you want to sleep in your bed or mommy's bed?
Kairi: Mommy's bed! Mommy's bed! Mommy's bed!
Mommy: Ok, but you have to be a really big girl. Can you do that?
Kairi: Yes Mommy! I a big girl!
Mommy: Can you hold really still and be quiet?
Kairi: Yes Mommy! I steeeeeel.
Mommy: Ok, we'll try it. Go climb into Mommy's bed.

It was magical. She held more still in my bed than she does in her own. She didn't freak out about the airplanes, or the garbage truck, or the car next door. Instead, she laid there and stroked my face until I went to sleep. A few minutes later I woke up with her hand still on my face, but she was sound asleep. And every time I woke up, she was sound asleep but touching me.

When I finally did wake up for the day, she was wide awake but laying next to me very still. She patted my face one more time, and said "Good. You wake up. Let's play now. Ok?"


I have no idea when my bed transitioned from the evil thing that a year ago she freaked out about having to be in to the amazing experience we had today, but I'm so thankful that that transition happened. And the next time she won't nap in her own bed because of the airplanes or trucks that are "soo scarwy Mommy!" I'm going to snuggle her up in my own bed and we'll take that nap together.

Just In Case You Needed Proof....

Alex really does know how to throw a fit. He just doesn't do it very often.

Something Terrible Happened....

Friday I had a baby. He and his sister colored together for a while. They (mainly he, she just took over) even invented a new use for one of Daddy's computer parts. He was such a sweet baby.







Then yesterday -- he suddenly grew up. Here he is this morning. We had dropped Daddy off for duty. We go to Sonic and at least get drinks if not breakfast every time we drop Daddy off for duty. It's our special tradition. One that both kids love, and I have to carefully budget for.



A half-hearted "hi"


Yup, that's right. His hair is cut. It's cute. I like it. But he looks so old!

And for good measure -- Kairi and Alex sharing a laugh.




I have a new love -- stay tuned for details.

It's a Work in Progress

I'm updating and changing some of the layouts and links. If something turns up missing that you would like added back, just let me know. And please be patient. This may take a little bit to get figured out.

One More Picture

One more pic to add in addition to the earlier post.



I walked into the kitchen because Alex was suddenly quiet. He had been eating lunch. Not anymore.

Pictures

Clickable pics





Mommy, pictures were NOT what I had in mind when I asked you to help me. I'm STUCK. Get me out.



Pretending to take a nap.


Seriously, Mom, I'm "seepin" -- Stop the pictures!


Bedhead at it's finest -- on top of Mommy's clean laundry.

An Update of Sorts

As mentioned before, my laptop is not currently working so my only chance to check in is when Chris isn't home and I can use his desktop. That means that this weekend, I had practically no internet access. That also meant that this weekend I had a million and one blog ideas, most of which I don't remember at the moment. But I do remember one, I wanted to give a short update on both kids.

Alex
1. Alex is now speaking! Not in complete sentences or anything of that nature, but he is saying a few words and a LOT of babble! I cannot describe not only the joy but the relief hearing words and babble come from his lips gives me. His current words are hi (his favorite), bye, none (all done), yay (as in "Yaaaay Alex!" after he says anything), dada, ga (good), na (no), and ni-ni (night-night).
2. He's responding to questions and participating in Bible class! Another huge step for us. He shakes his head yes and no to answer questions, and knows what's expected of him in class. His teachers keep repeating how much more in tune w/ everything he seems to be. :D Nothing makes me happier to hear than to hear that he loves his Bible class and is able to participate.
3. Alex has recently begun to throw fits. I think it's a combination of being frustrated with not being able to talk, and entering the stage where he expects Mommy to immediately obey and doesn't know how to respond when she doesn't. On a similar note, he's beginning to learn the word "obey" and comes at least 50% of the time when I tell him to obey me immediately. We're still working on the other 50%, but it's progress! :D But the point of this bullet to was to share how cute he is when he's throwing a fit. He keeps his feet on the floor, and then puts his hands and head on the floor so that he creates a triangle effect while screaming. Eventually he falls to the floor. And the entire time, Mommy laughs. I think it's cute and compared to his sister's fits (then and now), it's nothing. I love it. ;)

Kairi
1. Kairi's imagination still runs wild! In the past week she has been a kitty, a pig, a cow, a frog, a spider, a princess, and a pirate. My favorite was when she was a princess pirate. She had me put on her tutu and her red princess shoes, and then she grabbed her "sword" (think plastic play shovel that really should be outside) and then she pretended to sword fight with me (I had the vacuum cleaner extension) while she hollered "pincess py-it is hewo! pincess py-it is da besssssst!". Of course in the end, Mommy surrendered her sword and the princess pirate won. She's such a good hero. ;)
2. Potty training is going great! There were next to no accidents yesterday -- she even went potty at church several times! I am so very proud of her. And she's proud of herself which is awesome. I'm going to buy her a ring to sit on the big potty as that's the next step in this process. I can't wait till I'm not dumping potty seats anymore. :)



Ok, that's as far as I'm going to get it looks like as I need to get dishes washed and toys put away so that I can go grocery shopping -- let's see how far I can make this money stretch!

Pictures!

But not nearly as many as planned. My laptop is no longer in commission. The cord has split and until Chris fixes it, it's not able to stay powered for more than about 30 seconds. (Yeah, I need a new battery too.) All the pictures saved there are not accessible at the moment, but I do have some pictures that I hadn't taken off the camera, and a couple from last night that I can share today. :)

So without further ado:

Alex in sepia to help the grossness of food not be so gross ... but what a cute smile!


Pouty face!


There's that pretty grin!


Kairi as a kitty cat! I'll tell this story after the pictures.


Meeeooooowwww!


Here kitty kitty!



Gramma, you kept commenting on her long hair, here's a better picture of it!



Last night we joined some friends at Zaxby's for supper. Thursday nights are kids eat free nights, and they bring in a face painter. Carter went first, but refused to have his face painted -- he wanted it on his hand. Kairi crawled up next.

Lady painting faces: Hi! How are you?
Kairi is all business: I Keye-wee. Paint!
Lady looks at me for interpretation. I explain that her name is Kairi.
Lady to Kairi: Hi Kairi, my name is xxxx. Do you want me to paint your face or your hand.
Kairi patting her face, again very serious: FACE. Paint.
Lady to Kairi: Do you want to be a kitty or a butterfly or ...
Kairi interupts: KITTY.
Lady to Kairi: Or you could be a puppy...
Kairi: KITTY PAINT!

Kairi did really well and followed directions as best as she could. I was really proud of her. Afterwards she ran to her daddy telling everyone in between her and him that she was a kitty. On the way home she repeated over and over:

K: Hi Mommy!
M: Hi Kairi!
K: No Mommy, I kitty!
M: Ok, kitty.
K: Hi Mommy!
M: Hi Kitty Kairi!
K: Good job Mommy!
repeat

SUCCESS!

Kairi has not had an accident all day and went poop in the potty today as well!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Pictures (not of poop or potty) to come soon. :)

"Truth Truck" -- Let's have some honesty here

My mother has been volunteering at the Crisis Pregnancy Center (now known as The Life Center) in Midland since I was in high school. Maybe before that even, but I can't say that with certainty. I remember volunteering there in high school and even doing a little bit of data entry for them in college. My youngest brother still dedicates time whenever he's able to helping out there. To say that my family wholeheartedly supports The Life Center and believes in their cause would be an understatement. We are committed to doing what we can to help those girls that are considering abortion in order to change their minds. The Life Center focuses on loving their clients, promoting sexual purity, and educating teens and parents on sexual purity, stds and abortion.

The preacher at my church has recently been talking on truthful grace. It is the balance of standing up for what is right, standing firm on our values, while still showing the grace and compassion that Christ showed us to the rest of the world. None of us are righteous on our own in the eyes of God. It is only through the blood of Christ which was spilled because of His LOVE for us, that we are able to have a relationship with God and to be called His children. Truthful grace -- what a concept.

Where is this coming from? Why all the information?

I am furious.

I recently learned of a "ministry" called Operation Rescue. I use the term ministry lightly as I believe that a true ministry is devoted to showing others the love of Christ and to reaching them through that love. This ministry has created a truck called the Truth Truck. It is based on the theory that when people are faced with the truth about abortion through pictures of aborted babies, that they will have no choice but to change their mind and not support abortion. And it's probably right. But they put it into practice by plastering pictures of aborted babies all over a cargo truck, and then driving that truck through major cities. BAD PRACTICE.

Visit www.truthtruck.com in order to see pictures of this truck. WARNING -- VERY VERY VERY GRAPHIC.

To me, this sounds exactly like something that an overzealous teenager would dream up. I say teenager, because only a teenager would not think through the consequences of such an action:

~Young children will see this. Can you imagine driving through traffic in Sacramento and your 2 year old son being terrified by this truck, and then being stuck NEXT to the truck for over 20 minutes? Can you hear him crying for you to save him and help him because of the "scawy tuck Mommy! Scawy tuck!"? Can you imagine not being able to hold him and tell him it's ok because you're on the freeway stuck in traffic? And that, my friends, is a true story. A friend of mine was on her way home when her 2 year old alerted her to the truck with his tears. And it's through her that I now know of this truck.

~Parents are going to have to explain to 4-10+ year olds who are much too young to have to face the horrors of abortion what it is and try to explain to them that we love the people but hate the action -- something that a child that young cannot understand. It should be a parent's choice to decide when to explain abortion to their child. Most children that young will not be able to comprehend that a baby in a mommy's tummy is not equivalent to a baby outside mommy's tummy and may feel threatened themselves. It is one thing to show these pictures to a grown adult that has the emotional maturity to handle it -- it is another thing entirely to force those pictures on a young child.

~Women that have already had abortions and are in severely depressed states because of it (and research shows that most women go through major depression as a result of their abortions) are going to see these pictures. Maybe to a few it will be an eye opener of what really happened (which will simply force them into a severe depression without them knowing what resources are available to help them through it), but most others could be sent into a downward spiral with no one there to help them. We should be striving to provide support, education, and showing compassion to these women. It would be an even greater tragedy than already exists if the mothers hurt themselves or committed suicide because of something that a follower of Christ did, especially when all that Christ wants is to show these women how much he loves them and is willing to forgive them. Jesus preached against leading others into temptation, as did Paul ... we need to remember that that goes for ALL sinners. A mother who had an abortion's sin is no greater than my own in the eyes of God.

~It hurts the pro-Life cause rather than helps it because it associates all pro-Life people with this truck. It tells the world that pro-Life advocates have no problem terrifying people, as long as they get their message across. It reflects condemnation rather than compassion.


I suppose what set me off on this is that MY children should not be held as collateral damage in this "ministries" zeal to end abortion.

Is abortion wrong? YES
Does God hate abortion? YES
Does abortion break his heart? YES
Do we need to educate people on abortion? YES
Is the world wrong on when life truly begins? YES
Does legislation need to be corrected? YES

But do I believe for one moment that the "Truth Truck" honors God? NO!!!



I am praying that this organization takes this truck off the streets. I want your help in trying to get rid of it. I emailed them last night explaining why I firmly believed that this was not honoring God and how hurtful it could be. I asked them to end this crusade. Please join me in pressuring them to take it down. I know that California's legislature is being contacted by the previously mentioned mother and they are taking steps to try to stop this organization, but I would hope that with enough pressure from fellow pro-Life Christians that the organization would recognize their errors and end it on their own.

Their contact information (taken from their website):

Operation Rescue West
PO Box 601150
Sacramento, CA 95860

Phone: 800-705-1175
Fax: 916-244-2636

info@operationrescue.org

A Work in Progress

We began potty training Monday. It's been a long week, but every day this week Kairi's peed in the potty once! We are going through all of her panties every day, but at least she's beginning to get the idea.

Right before going out, I decided that Kairi had peed so much in the last 30 minutes that she could not have any more pee in her system. I dressed her in a cute skirt and boots (although the "Brobee shirt" was NOT coming off she said). I was pleased and chased her w/ the camera for about 2 minutes.

First decent shot:


Last picture:

Click on that picture. See exactly what she's doing.


Apparently, Mommy was wrong. Kairi had more pee left in her.

We went to the bank in a diaper.

Another Picture for the Day

This was given to Chris in August. I'm just now getting it up here because I lost the sd card that I had scanned it onto. Now that the card has been found again, I was able to upload it.

Not being certain what info is acceptable to post and what is not, I have edited out anything that seems like it could possibly be asked to not be posted.





Click to enlarge.

My Son

Alex walked up to me holding Sister's bow. He hit his head with it several times. I put it in his hair expecting him to immediately pull it out, afterall Kairi did at that age.

Instead, 30 minutes later I was able to get this picture.