Sunday, March 22, 2009

I'm A Third Time Mom: Part 2

Things in our house have been disappearing. First it was the stopper to the sink. Now it is the citrus juicer. Then the other day Chad fished three things out of the trash that Scooch had put in there. I guess germs aren't the only problem with letting your child play with the trash can.


We had our first Easter Egg hunt of the season. We do it early to get the egg hunting out of the kids' system. Then we can actually focus on Christ during the Easter season instead of painted eggs and bunny rabbits. Now that Scooch is 11 months old he's getting quite heavy and I had to put him down. He's cruising around a picnic table with a stick in his hand. I take my eyes off of him to help Kiwi and when I turn back around he is now sitting on the ground with something crumbly. Something dark and crumbly...I thought I had scoured the area for harmful materials, but I guess I missed the piece of dog crap he was about to munch on. I'm still pretty disgusted. I don't think he managed to get any in his mouth, but EEW!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

She Can Be Bought

G-man loves to play Wii. More specifically, he loves to play Lego Star Wars on the Wii. I'd say he's pretty obsessed. I think since he loves it so much, Kiwi really wants to play too. Unfortunately, she is only 4 and struggles to play the game. But, if G is playing, she wants to play too. It creates some contention, although not as much as it could since G knows if they start fighting the Wii gets turned off.
On Friday they were playing and I started hearing the beginnings of a whine fest. G-man asked Kiwi to drop out of their game because she was struggling to do what he wanted her to. Kiwi refused to drop out and I heard the beginnings of an argument, but then it quickly ended and G was able to play on his own.
Five minutes later I heard how they resolved their problem. G came to me and said Kiwi didn't want to drop out so he offered to pay her a dollar if she would. She did and is now one gold dollar coin richer. I guess it pays to be an annoying younger sister.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Happy 4th Kiwi!


Kiwi turned four last week. We had a party Thursday complete with dress up, a three tiered cake, dancing, balloons, flowers, and a full fledged tea party with mini food. I invited some 10 year old girls over to help out because Chad was working. That was probably the best thing you could ever do. 10 year old girls love little kids and gladly help and get involved in a way dads just can't. What does a father know about dress up and tea parties? Everything went smoothly until candles were lit and "Happy Birthday" was sung. Something about everyone suddenly singing to her freaked her out and I ended up having to hold her and blow out her candles. You really never know with this girl.







I have to take a minute to talk about my beautiful daughter. This little girl came into our life with a bang. When I went to bed the night of her due date I said the baby was late because it was girl and she had to make her entrance. Withing two hours I was in labor and two hours after that she was born. It was quite crazy.It kind of reflects life with her at home.






This little girl is quite the independent little thing. She wants to be able to do things for herself, and she wants to do them on her own terms. Expect to hear about it if you try and change things up. Especially if said change is not pleasing to the Kiwi girl.








Sometimes I wonder if her screaming has ever reached levels that would cause hearing loss. Especially while having her hair done. She hasn't taken me up on my offer to cut it all off like my mom did to me.










Kiwi is very determined. I know we shouldn't compare children, but it really paints a picture of her personality. While her brother is very calculating and cautious, she is not afraid to try new things. We were amazed at how quickly she learned to climb and ride her bike, where G-man spent much more time learning these things. We chalk it up to her determination to learn, even if it is difficult.







Right now I am watching her get excited about learning. She has suddenly become fascinated with writing and reading. She made a goal to write her name by her birthday and within two weeks I was finding her name scribbled on any spare piece of paper she could find. Granted, some of those papers were not a her disposal for writing, but you take what you can with her.







I have been so blessed to have this beautiful little girl in my life. We fight almost daily, but she is always ready to hug and cuddle at the end of the day. Chad hardly ever fights with her. He says its because he knows how to deal with girls like her. He's had a lot of practice the last 8 years.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Don't Try This . Ever.

Chad and I took the kids and his twelve your old nephew to Bell Rock in Sedona this weekend. I'd only hiked it once before when Chad and I were first married. It has a very open climbing area and is a great hike for kids, at least on the lower areas. Unfortunately, we ended up no where near there. I found myself about as high as a hiker can get without climbing equipment with a 4 year old, 6 year old, and 12 year old in tow. Since we had gotten there by climbing straight up a crevice in the rocks, going down the way we came didn't seem like an option.
At this point I felt like a complete idiot and I was terrified. Why had I not followed my instincts and refused to climb that crevice? Why had I allowed a 12 year old to lead the way in the first place? I had no idea where we would be when we started going up. Chad had taken the baby and the water with him to where the main hiking trails were. I hadn't even come near this part of the mountain when I hiked it before and now I had to find a way down it. All I could do was say a little prayer and start climbing down. I helped Kiwi and G-man went with his cousin. It took all my effort not to let my fear show, especially since Kiwi was scared out of her mind too. Climbing up mountains is fun, but the going down is the hard part, especially when you're walking on a path that is barely more than a foot wide. Somehow we made it down and found Chad. I have vowed to never be left alone with children while hiking again.