sassy sauce = better attitude FAST

Thank you Sarah for the Sassy Sauce (white vinegar) tip. I had to use it once on Tuesday and once on Wednesday. Mattie Leigh's attitude has been so much better. She is thinking before she speaks and acts (well, most of the time anyway). I know it's only been three days, and I may be jinxing myself, but I have noticed a big change in her. Her attitude isn't where I want it yet, but I'm proud of the difference I see already.

In other news, Allie Grace is now putting herself to sleep at night. I've started letting her cry it out...otherwise she wants to play until close to midnight or falls asleep and then wakes up within minutes of me laying her down.

my little monkeys

Like the new look? I call the girls my silly monkeys so I had to use this background when I found it.

My oldest monkey is having some trouble lately...make that A LOT of trouble. It's with her attitude and it's bad. I'm talking major meltdowns, screaming fits, stomping, slamming doors, lots of tears...even CHOCOLATE doesn't make it better. Seriously though, we've tried one on one time, time-outs, taking things away, and offering rewards. Nothing is helping. I'm low on ideas and patience. I want my sweet girl back.

My baby monkey isn't much of a baby anymore. She's crawling, saying around 10 words, and chasing us around the house. She gets into EVERYTHING. One of her favorite things is bath-time...she tries to crawl to the bathroom whenever she hears the water running. She's so into everything that she wakes up multiple times at night wanting to play.

Needless to say, I'm one tired momma.

Eli

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Eli. He had his surgery this past Tuesday. Kelli found out today that he'll be moving into a room tomorrow and that they'll be bringing him home in just a few days! When they first found out that he'd have to have surgery, they were told he'd probably be in the hospital close to a month. Dr. Salazar met with them before the surgery and told them that he had one baby leave the hospital 10 days after surgery and that others had been in the hospital a month after surgery. Eli is proof that prayer works and that God still does miracles. So many things have worked out so that he was healthier and stronger than we first thought possible and he has done remarkably well after surgery. We can't wait to meet the little guy!

twitter

I started a Twitter account...@heatherw83. Follow me if you have one.

What a Year!!!

This has been a crazy, hectic, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, almost always stressful year for our family.

Here are some highlights...
We celebrated Kevin's first year as pastor of Mendenhall Church of God in January.
At the end of February, I finally finished my master's degree (it only took a little over 4 years).
I went into early labor with Allie Grace...they stopped it, but a few days later (Feb. 28), I went into labor again. They did everything they could to stop it, but Allie Grace arrived at 10:26 am on March 1.
We adjusted to life as a family of four.
Mattie Leigh was potty-trained by 2 1/2 and we only have the occasional accident.
Kevin started his 5th year of teaching (3rd year at SCA) and had a crazy schedule and way too much on his plate there.
Kevin turned 27 in August. Mattie Leigh turned 3 and I turned 27 in October.
Kevin started having to deal with a bunch of junk from people at school and we had a few tough weeks at church before Thanksgiving.
My computer crashed (consequently, I don't have the pictures from everything to post...I'm too lazy to find them all on Facebook). I got a new computer a few weeks later.
We all had a really bad stomach virus...that we gave to my nieces when they came to visit.
Kevin was told he no longer had a job at the school because they were 'making some changes'...now he's on the job hunt.
Kevin's cousin found out she was pregnant...at 20 weeks, she found out that baby Eli had a heart condition called Transposition of the Greater Arteries and 2 holes in his heart and that she would have to deliver at UMC and that he'd have to have surgery soon after he was born. She was scheduled to be induced on January 6, 2011, but her water broke this morning. Eli was born this afternoon and weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches. His color looks great and he is breathing on his own, which is a huge blessing with the condition he has.

I'm probably leaving some things out, but my brain is really tired right now. I'm looking forward to 2011 and hoping that things aren't as hectic for our little family.

so many things

There has been a lot going on in our family lately...from viruses to things that I can't really talk about right now. All I can say is that we're in a transition time and that we're both nervous and excited about the changes.

Some things I can talk about...
Allie Grace is super mobile now. She army crawls everywhere she wants to go. I've caught her in the bathroom, under the Christmas tree, behind the TV, and she's crawled behind me to the kitchen. I'm glad she's finally started moving, but I get so tired chasing after her.

We have all had a terrible stomach virus this week. A kid went to school to take exams sick and Kevin brought it home. He was soooo sick Tuesday night. I thought the girls and I were in the clear because none of us had gotten it before bedtime Wednesday. Poor Allie Grace got super sick with it midmorning on Thursday and Mattie Leigh got sick not long after. I still thought I was in the clear because I still felt fine. However, I got sick before bed...

Mattie Leigh has been such a big girl in so many ways lately. She wanted to send Christmas cards, so I quickly drew a simple design for her to color. It turned out so cute...I like homemade cards best anyway. On top of that, she keeps telling me that she wants to give some of her toys away to kids that don't have any. I plan on helping her go through them this week and doing just that.

As for the rest of the stuff, please be praying that things work out like they are supposed to. It's nothing bad...just change and I'm not a huge fan of unexpected change.

stressed out

The last couple of weeks have been tough ones for our family.  Here's a brief synopsis: we start renovating the sanctuary at church and it isn't being done on the schedule Kevin thought it would be.  Mattie Leigh starts running a fever that is higher than 102 (for the first time ever) out of nowhere and I spend hours with her in the after hours clinic waiting to be seen...turns out she had a bad sinus infection that hit hard and fast.  Allie Grace is teething and fighting with allergies and has not been sleeping well AT ALL.  My computer also died this week...which if kind of funny because I had just told Kevin that I thought I needed a new one as soon as we could get it because several things had stopped working on mine.  Those things on their own aren't even that bad...very manageable. But then out of the blue, Kevin has some pretty big unpleasant events happen with both of his jobs.  I can't go into details, but we'd appreciate prayer for both situations.

 It almost feels like someone is praying for patience for us!  However, I know this is just a growing and learning season for us.  If nothing else comes out of it, I've learned how to operate on very little sleep! Well, I've learned more than that, and I'm sure Kevin has too.  I've learned how to rely more on those around me when crises (big or small) come up.  I've learned how to better control my temper and to keep my mouth shut when what I want to say will not be beneficial, even if it needs to be said.  I'm pretty sure my amazing hubby has learned how to better exercise his authority in both of his jobs and how to speak his mind in a way that isn't destructive to others.

Our whole family is looking forward to some down time next week to celebrate Thanksgiving and to get to spend time together as a family and with our families.  We need the rest!