i be sweet...

ella kate has been unusually testy today! normally, she is pretty sweet and predictable... tries to push the limits, but almost always obedient... but today she threw me for some loops. she didn't want to share ANYTHING today, and kept throwing her toys. we don't throw stuff here at home, so it was odd seeing her do this! we were playing with the little people downstairs, when she decided to go upstairs to her room to bring out something else. now, we have a rule at our house, that we clean up one set of toys before we bring out another. for instance, if we are playing with puzzles, but she wants to bring out the blocks... then we pick up all the puzzle pieces and put them away before we dump blocks everywhere! and she knows this, but today when i told her that we needed to pick up the little people, she started throwing them everywhere. not neccesarily at me or josiah, but not in the tupperware bin that they belong either. i corrected her and asked her not to throw the toys, but to put them away gently. and this is what she said, "sorry momma, i not fro my toys, i be sweet. my's a big girl!" then i got proud thinking, wow that was easy! i'm doing a good job at this mom-thing!! and i look back at her and see that she's throwing some more.. geez!

our sweet sharing 'siah!!

this afternoon, ella kate, josiah and i were outside playing. we had our usual play items, the stroller, dora (or dura as ek calls her), the bucket, sidewalk chalk... you know, all the neccessities:) well, josiah loves to push dora in the stroller, (i know, i know.. we need to get him a manly wagon or something, but for now he loves the hot pink stroller!).. anyways, ella kate had been pushing it around for a while and josiah wanted a turn. i asked ella kate if she would share and let josiah push it for a while, she snapped back with a disrespectful, snoody little remark! i, in return popped her and put her little hiney on the bricks for a time-out! so now, it was josiah's turn to take 'dura' for a stroll, but he had a hard time listening to ella kate whimper on the bricks so being the sweet little boy he is... he pushed the stroller back to ella kate and plopped down next to her on the bricks, trying to make it all better! sweet boy:)

back to the bucket...

as i have mentioned earlier, josiah likes to wear this purple bucket on his head. it is his new found comfort thing. he goes and looks for it as soon as he wakes up in the morning and he keeps it with him all throughout the day! anyways, it was bedtime and the bucket was in the living room and someone noticed that there was some sort of water in it.... just a little puddle, sitting in the bottom. we had no idea how it got there, but we dumped it out and washed it off and put it back where josiah could get it in the morning. so the next morning came and for some weird reason, bill had the urge to ask ella kate this question. "ella kate, did you TT in josiah's bucket last night?" and with a GIGANTIC smile and completely proud of herself she said, "yes ma'am!!!"

what a sweet sister... wanting to leave 'siah a prize to dump on his head when he wore the bucket the next day:) gross!!

exciting times..

i swear when bill is working late, our kids plan a secret team meeting and plot ways to drive their momma crazy! like tonight, bill didn't come home until 8ish, so it was another long day... and the crazies were at it again!! ella kate wanted pigtails this afternoon and they were anything but cute! but two a 2 yr old, they were "perstick... my's a pwincess!!"josiah had found one of ella kate's buckets from vbs last year and decided to wear it on his head THE WHOLE NIGHT! he was bumping into walls, running into doors, falling down the stairs and yet never took it off. he never cried when he would smash into something, he would just keep banging his head until he figured it out. one time he got stuck in ella kate's room and kept walking into the door, backing up and walking back into the door again. ridiculous! then ella kate was on the potty for what seemed like all night. she would go and then get up, but feel like she had to go again and sit back down on her little pink plastic potty. she stood up one time after sitting there for a while, and the potty was stuck to her hiney and came up with her. then it fell and TT splashed and slushed all in her room. there was however a cracker that she had dropped in her potty during her long visit and josiah had found it after it splashed out and grabbed it to eat it! (very seldom so i scream at my kids, but this afternoon i let out a sound that they wont ever forget!!) i just didn't want jos to eat the TT soaken cracker, but he wasn't close enough for me to grab it from him, so i hollered out.... and he dropped it and cried. poor guy.. all he wanted was a snack!! so little exciting events happened all night and needless to say, i am glad everyone is in bed now! i love my babies, but they wear me out!!!

4 months old already..

where does the time go?? our smiley miley is 4 months old today:) it is flying by, and i am kinda sad!! usually, when one of our babies is 4 months old, i am already pregnant again... but not this time:) bill and i both want more babies, but we are gonna try and space them out a little farther. not that having 3 babies ages 2 and under isn't fun and all, we are just wanting to give momma a little break.. haha:) anyways, back to miley. have i mentioned that she is the best baby EVER??? well, she is:) the lord has blessed us with 3 amazing babies and we could not have imagined a greater love for our children!! we pray for them daily, that the lord with call them to himself and that they would have a passion and desire to serve him with everything that is in them! and the lord has instilled in miley such a sweet and calm spirit that just melts the heart of everyone who 'meets' her! she is so quick to offer that crooked little smile to anyone who talks to her, and she is starting to talk back with her sweet coo's! she loves to laugh at her daddy, and doesn't miss too many meals:) she is still on good ol' momma's milk, but i am getting the itch to wean her off soon. we are going to introduce some rice cereal this month, and i am sure that i will have some cute pictures to share! she has got big, blue eyes and dimples like her brother, and a head full of dark hair like her sister... both of whom she LOVES!! here is a little pic of our growing baby girl trying to find her thumb:)

my big girl

as i have mentioned earlier, we are really working hard on the potty training with ella kate. she was supposed to be napping just now, and i heard her in there talking to herself. so i opened her door and this is what i found.. and sure enough she had tt'd in the potty!! yay!! that is 3 times in the potty so far today, and i am so proud if her!! on a side note, i wanted to share with you a cute thing she has been saying lately. i was reading one of my many parenting books, and the author was expressing the need of encouraging your children. they said that for every negative thing you do or say to them (like if they disobey you and you have to correct them) that you should praise them 10 times more!! i had no idea how hard that would be! and they said not to praise their beauty or cuteness, but more so their positive actions. so i have desperately been trying to praise her more. i will say, "oh ella kate thank you for being such a big helper by putting the toys away, etc... " and everytime, she'd say, "momma, my not a big helper... my's a big girl!!"

mr. softy

i can already see that josiah is going to be a 'softy'. or atleast, he will be for a little while.. he has started showing so much compassion for his sisters, that i just want to cry as i watch it. he adores miley and cannot refrain from kissing her and touching her and patting her.. etc:) it is so sweet. as soon as she wakes up from a nap he runs to her and loves her (head butts her, but in an ever so sweet way!) he is going to be the best big brother to her! and he has recently shown a lot of mercy towards ella kate. if she gets in trouble and gets a spanking and sent to her room, he waits by the door to be the first one to hug her and make all better. or if she gets sent to time-out, he will try and go with her and sit right by her side:) it is so sweet! he is such a sweet boy and is growing so fast! he will be 18 months old this month!! we love our sweet 'siah!