polka-dot princess...

Kennady wore her new polka-dot dress to school today. When her teacher saw her, she said, "You are a polka-dot princess today!"
Kennady is working on going to school happily. Back in January, there was a day when I had to trade cars with BJ and would not have made it back to get Kennady to school on time. So, I just decided to let her stay home for a day. Bad idea!
Ever since then, she has cried and complained and thrown fits. She is normally such a happy girl so to hear her crying and begging to stay home because she just wanted to be with me broke my heart. However, as time has gone on, it has become frustrating. I had to switch carpool routes with Sarah because when I drove in the morning, she would not get out of the car. Once, I had to physically pull her from the car, hand her over to the crosswalk assistant and drive away. I discussed the issue with her teacher. We prayed for her to have peace and feel calm and happy. BJ and I both had several talks with her. Yet, a month and a half later, the same behavior was occurring. Finally, on Wednesday, as I was pulling Kennady toward Sarah's car in the morning and forcing her in (while holding Jase), I realized that this could go on forever if something didn't change.
Sarah suggested giving her a consequence for her actions. I know you are thinking, "Duh. Give the girl some consequences." I honestly don't know why the idea had not occurred to me before. I guess I thought she was just being sad, not naughty. And maybe that was the case in the beginning. But it had evolved into bad behavior. Of course she can feel sad about having to leave home and go to school, but it is not okay to throw fits like that. So, BJ had a long talk with her that night. They decided that because she was acting out against things she didn't want to do, that she wouldn't be able to do anything she wanted to do for five days. If, in those five days, she could prove that she would have good behavior and go to school as she should, then she would be able to earn back her right to do the things she wanted to do.
I have to admit. I am pretty proud of my girl. Once BJ explained to her that her behavior was negatively affecting others, she agreed that she should have a negative consequence and has shown major improvements. For the past two days, she ran happily to the car to go to school and has not complained at all. She has also been diligently enforcing her own restrictions. Tonight, we took a family walk down to the mailbox. As we were getting ready, I told the girls to go grab their scooters. Kennady reminded me that she was not allowed to ride her scooter for three more days. That's right, my little polka-dot princess! I love you, Kennady!

inventive...

I asked the girls to go clean their room. Brighton said, "My not know how!" So, I gave her assignments, one task at a time: "Pick up the barbies. Pick up the dress-ups. Pick up the hangers...."
(I know this picture is blurry. I grabbed my camera and quickly ran to capture the moment before she realized I was there.)
Once she realized I was there, I got this: (cheese!)I thought she was pretty creative to pick up her hangers that way. And yes...there were actually that many hangers on her floor. She just recently switched rooms and now has accessible closet space, meaning that for the first time in her life, she can reach her own clothes. She loves to change her clothes and often wears several outfits in one day (much to my dismay). I try to remind her that we pick one outfit and wear it all day. But, she is still working on remembering that rule :)

crazy...

Jase is completely content to sit in his swing or bouncer as long as he has someone near him to give him a little attention now and then. So, the other day, I left him out in the family room watching Addy and Brighton play while I was doing stuff. I came out to check on them. And this is what I saw...
They had given him a sweater "to keep him warm" and their favorite stuffed animals, then put some glasses on him. Of course, they thought that was very funny! It was even funnier at first because he had this huge smile on his face. But, by the time I got my camera out, he was done. No more smiles, but still very funny!

exercise...

I have decided that it is time. Time to lose this baby weight. I have begun exercising every morning, which is VERY hard to do with four little people around. So, I do it first thing. Literally. I roll out of bed, grab my tennis shoes and walk out to the family room. I open my computer, log onto Netflix, select a workout video to do, and get started. However, sometimes it takes me awhile to get through the entire work out. For example, this morning; five minutes into the routine, Jase woke up. So, I fed him and changed his diaper. Then, after a few more minutes of exercise, the girls wandered out of their rooms and wanted cereal. Then, Jase got fussy and needed to lay down for his nap, etc. You get the picture. But, other days I am totally lucky and get the whole workout done before anyone else even wakes up. That is the best.
I am determined to tone my body and lose weight. I am a bit impatient with myself too, wanting to see immediate results. Despite how everyone claims that nursing helps you lose the baby weight more quickly, I feel like my body always holds onto a layer of fat while I am nursing (possibly as a measure to ensure that in time a shortage, our babies won't starve?) So, maybe I cannot expect great results until I am done nursing. That would be frustrating. Anyways, I took a before picture, which I will not be posting as I don't want to scare you all away. Then, at the end of six weeks, I am going to compare and hope to see noticeable improvement!

planting...

On Saturday, the girls spent the entire morning outside with BJ preparing the ground and planting seeds. They planted squash, peppers, peas, green onions, carrots, and canteloupe (known as candy-lope in our house). We are really excited to watch our little garden grow!

little stud...

This is my favorite outfit. I never thought that shopping for boys could be fun...then just in time for me to have my little guy, a new store called "The Pumpkin Patch" opened. If you have never been to that store, it is worth a trip over. They have the best little boy clothes...even for tiny babies. Most baby boy stuff is...well, babyish (which is cute too), but I love when I can dress him up in an outfit that BJ would totally wear. He is getting too big to wear his 0-3 month clothes anymore and I am sad to have to pack this one away. But, look for this outfit in pictures again next winter. That's right. I also bought it in a big size so he can wear it when he is older too.

chubber...

Jase already weighs 16 pounds!

sunday morning...

One definite benefit of having a boy is that I don't have to get him ready for church. BJ is totally in charge of Jase on Sunday mornings. Of course, everything about him is great...that is just one little perk. :)

Today we had stake conference. They split the three existing Queen Creek stakes into five stakes. Ten years ago, there were only two wards in this area and now there are five stakes! We live in the fastest growing area of the church. We were told that we don't need to prove the Book of Mormon to be true. It is true. We need to prove that we are true. True to our faith and true to our principles.

it's raining...

...it's pouring. Well, it really isn't pouring, just raining. But, doesn't it seem like we have gotten a lot of rain lately?

happy heart day...

stuffed animals, candy, chocolate, kisses...
What could be better? Of course, the girls are loving Valentine's Day.
Brighton had eaten a heart lollipop right before I took her picture. See the evidence all over her face? Too cute! :)
*Thanks Grandpa Dave and Grandma Char for the Valentine gifts!*

trust...

Addy took pictures of me holding Jase...

January's visiting teaching message included a quote by Sister Julie B. Beck: "As spirit daughters of God, women 'received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth' (D&C 138:56) on the earth." What a miracle and blessing that is. We were trained and taught about motherhood in heaven! When I look at my sweet baby and see the perfect innocence and trust in his eyes, I feel inspired to be a better mother.

Before Jase was born, I read the book "Baby Wise." Even before reading it, I felt apprehensive about it. The book itself is pretty controversial. The basic concept of the "baby wise" theory is that parents schedule their newborn babies to eat and sleep...well, on a schedule. As a mother, I have not been much of a scheduler. I kind of like to be able to take my own sweet time, come and go as I please, etc.

It is kind of strange to me that I don't really schedule my life, because before motherhood, I kept up a very demanding, rigid schedule. In fact, I craved it, depended on it. I purposely registered for the 7:40 am class at ASU, knowing that would require me to rise early. I did my very best to arrange my schedule to have back to back classes with no down time (aka. wasted time). I ate lunch while walking to work or to my car. Then later, when I started working full time, I switched to night school and worked full-time and went to school full-time.

Then, with the birth of Kennady, I went 180 degrees...total opposite direction. It was a hard adjustment for me. I remember trying to create a semblance of normal, to create a regiment for myself. I remember living for 1:00 when "I Love Lucy" would come on television. Then, we would take our daily walk to the park. I don't know when that ritual ended, but somehow it faded from my life, along with the need to follow a regimented schedule. As far as motherhood techniques, I basically just did whatever felt right to me and whatever worked for my baby.

But, for some reason, when I was getting ready to have my fourth, I worried. Maybe I was worried because he was my first boy and I didn't know how I would feel about that or adjust to that. Maybe I was worried because this is the first time I would have a newborn and a child in school every day. I really don't know what had me so worried, but I ended up borrowing the book from Sarah. Before I even opened the book, I sat and looked at it. I was afraid to read it. I had followed my instincts with my other babies and I honestly feel like we all did great. But, then the logical side of me kicked in; a book cannot change the way I decide to feel or what I would decide to do, right? So, I read it. As is my way with most books that I read, I read it in a day. As I read the last page and closed the book, I though to myself, "What is the big idea? It is not that radical. So, you feed your baby. You put your baby to sleep." It didn't seem that different from what I had done. So, I decided to do it. Sarah has done baby wise with three of her five babies. She loves it. It works for her. So, when I decided to apply it, she was such so supportive. And...I love her. I admire her. Her parenting style is very similar to my parenting style. So, I assumed that since it worked for her, it would work for me.

Well, after Jase was born, I did my best to follow the principles taught in baby wise. I tried to hold off on feeding him until it had been at least 2 1/2 hours from his last feeding. I tried to lay him in bed awake, in the effort to teach him how to put himself to sleep. Then, I would listen to him cry. It devastated me to feel like I couldn't comfort my baby because I wasn't allowed to. I know it is crazy. Of course I could comfort my baby. I just felt like I couldn't because Baby Wise told me I couldn't. Now I am not usually so easily swayed. But, I see the benefits of Baby Wise. It really would be great to have a two month old baby consistently sleeping for eight hours every night. So, I was torn...I wanted the benefits of baby wise, but I also wanted to follow my instincts to protect and comfort my baby.

Then, when I read the January visiting teaching message, I felt so much peace. Sister Beck talked about how women recevied their first training about motherhood in heaven. We were taught before we even came to earth. It gave me balance and courage. Courage to follow my instinct. To resign myself to the idea that Jase may not sleep through the night for a few more months, I may feed him one hour after he last ate, that he may want me to rock him to sleep...and I will give in. And that is okay with me.

speed reader...

At our last parent/teacher conference, Kennady's teacher told me how much Kennady has improved in reading this year. At the beginning of the year, she read 20 words per minute. Now, she ready 118 words per minute! Well, today Sarah was volunteering in the classroom and was testing each child individually. She said that when Kennady was doing her reading, she would read so fast that she would occasionally miss a word that Sarah knew she could read. So, she suggested that Kennady slow down a little bit to make sure she got each word correct. Kennady resonded, in a very matter-of-fact manner, "Yea, sometimes I get ahead of myself." Ha Ha!