Calling All Ears

March 22

Kamden seems to have found a willing set. As Dustin was taking a break in his room, per the request of his momma, Kamden decided that he wanted Dustin out of there to show him something. The first time Dustin came out, I sent him back into his room disregarding the fact that he had come out because "Kamden wanted me to." So Kamden went back and got him the best that he knew how...by pulling on his ear. I guess that will make anyone come with you.Food for my thought...When I was working on Thursday morning I heard the words from a child that started out talking about an apple corer and somehow turned to the child stating, "Your house is perfect, I wish I lived here. It's never messy." I know we all have a mess somewhere in our house. They just seem more visible to our own eyes, in our own houses.

~

I am probably the most guilty of being hard on myself for not having my house in the shape I want it to be. Most of that I blame on the fact that I have a smaller house that we are raising our 3 children in and my line of work. But I need to change to the focus of a child, it's happy (most of the time) and thank you Lord, that we have a house to make a mess in.

~

March 23

Came home from bible study to this...

March 24
Take the time to unbury those flowers then sit and watch the beauty of the world around you.

I was so excited to see that the bulbs that we planted last fall were, indeed, going to bloom into flowers this year. These are the first, that I have planted, that have actually come up in all the years of us owning this house. It was nice to see the smile on the kids' faces as they recalled where we had planted all of them and were excited to take a flower trip to see their progress.

Such beautiful weather, we have to spend it outside as much as we can either building stone property dividers, raking, or uncovering flowers. All of which easily turn into some fun time.

This is the abandoned house next to us that we decided to shoot a couple hoops at. Figured no one would mind since we haven't seen anyone there in 5 months."Look guys, I can almost make it."

"With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall."

Psalm 18:29

Potty Training

22 Months Old and Growing Faster Than I Want...

March 20th-March 22

This weekend was supposed to be set aside for spring cleaning, getting rid of the clothes that don't fit, the toys we've outgrown, tossing the extra tupperware that have no lids, packing the snow clothes away and finding the swimsuits for swimming lessons. But with Kamden's recent interest in using the potty, I figured this was the weekend to try to start since it was a three day weekend for the kids. That makes my days of teaching Kamden to use the potty easier since I do not use pull-ups and on an average day I make three trips to the school. So undies it was on Saturday.

I kept a record of how many times he wet his pants and how often he went on the potty. Sometimes when you are in the moment it seems like you just left the bathroom but it has indeed been an hour already. It can also seem like he has wet his pants more times than you are willing to deal with.

~

At one moment I had just jumped out of the shower with enough time to wrap a towel around my hair and nothing else, when a small boy barged through the bathroom door with his legs apart as if he had just gotten off a horse. It is at that point when he had wet himself 6 times within 2 hours that I wonder if he was ready. Even Skylar said, "Mommy, I don't think he is ready for undies yet." Listening to her say it I realized that I needed to not get discouraged as the other two did the same thing on the first day. And afterall, that is why you gave him the juice in the first place, because you wanted him to go pee, no matter where it was, right?!

Sure enough that was the last time he wet himself for the day. He was dry for nap. The count for the weekend was as follows:

Day 1: wet 6 times-peed on potty 10-made stinks on potty 1

Day 2: wet 0 times-peed on potty 8- made stinks on potty 1

Day 3: wet 1 time -peed on potty 9- made stinks on potty 1

Day 4: wet 0 times-peed on potty 9-made stinks on potty 2

~

I do know that he will still have accidents especially if I am blogging and not paying attention to offering him the potty about every hour. Opps. But he does rely on me to bring him rather than to voice that need himself, each time. On day 2 and 3 he did cry at bed time and was anxious to go, "Peepee, potty" when one of us went in to get him. And sure enough he went when he asked. We will remind him regulary and have a potty on hand for times when he is reluctant to sit on a potty that he thinks is going to swallow him up. (The gymnastics potty seems a little big for such a tiny behind. He was reluctant to go and it did not have a splash guard. So on day 4 I offered him the van potty when we finally were able to leave the house. He did go peepee on that one. And keep dry the entire day!)

I am so thankful to have two little helpers who are patient with our need to come in from the warm weather just so Kamden can use the potty. They are excited about him becoming big like them. They even took their turns reading to him...and listening for the peepees. (Check out the pink shoes Kamden snagged from his sister. He likes to wear other people's shoes.) Dustin insisted on being this close for his helper shot. When all was said and done, this is what I got done for spring cleaning. I vaccumed the snow pants into space savers bags. But I did potty train a boy... bye-bye diaper champ!

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

Colossians 3:12

Family Milestones

March 14-

Kamden is learning how to take his own clothing off. I hope that only turns into helpfulness rather than any embarassments. Ha. On Monday the 15th I went off to bible study and when I returned home there was a note on the table that said, "Dustin's tooth is under his pillow." That was the tooth that he had lost on the 10th. I had been meaning to get a picture of his snaggle tooth that was holding on, on the top, missing his companion tooth. He has such a noticeable gap on each side now that one of the big ones was missing. Well, daddy informed that this note was written before he lost the second top tooth this night. Now there were two of them under his pillow. He had pulled that one out himself as well. Sweet smile.

Another pajamboree on Tuesday March 15th. These are such fun for the kids.Even Dustin joined in for this one when I told him he could wear his shorts to school for his jammies. See he skipped the last one because he did not want to go to school in his jammies. Something his sister thinks is cool to do just is too out of the norm for this one. Kamden's favorite was getting to play the 'drums' on the stage.

NO WAY!!! I CAN NOT BELIEVE I AM GOING TO SAY THIS, BUT I AM! Tuesday March 16th we arrived home from the sandbox and removed Kamden's socks and pants at the door to keep the sand from entering the house. Then I began to get the bath ready and realized this little guy was removing his own diaper. So rather than letting the running tub water give him the sensation of wanting to pee on the bathroom floor, I placed the potty seat on the toilet and figured he could wait there. I suddenly hear that waterlike sound dripping into the potty. He had peed. "Just a fluke thing, Andrea. Don't read anything into it," I told myself. Afterall, he had done the same thing about a week ago. "It's just the running water." Then on Wednesday, March 17, I was playing a game at the coffee table with him and nature called for myself. He did not want me to leave the game so I told him I had to go peepee. He immediately unzipped his coat then started pulling at the front of his pants as he headed for the potty. So I went with it and put him on the potty. He was willing. Then he put his finger up to his right hear and said, "Yissen." He waited about 4 seconds and then peed. Ok, now there was no running water this time. I praised him and thought about this for the day. Knowing that it is not wise to put this milestone off, I knew it was time. Though not ready to start it in the middle of the week, I figured we would keep the party going and jump into undies this Saturday. I did put him on before bath again at night and sure enough he went!

Now Thurday, March 18th, is here and I figured we could wait just a couple more days. But then I saw him filling his diaper so I figured we could finish the stinky mess in the potty. Again, he was willing and compliant. He finished in the potty and peed. That was a 10:45 in the morning. Then during dinner he said, "I stinks." So I brought him to the potty, trying to assure him that if he told us, we would help him. He pushed and let the rest go and peed. He was so proud to be able to say, Bye-bye" as he flushed them down the potty.

As I sing to him at night before I put him to bed, I just rock him in his chair and think of how much he is learning but how very small he really is. He sat on my lap and his head still fits under my chin, snuggling me and rubbing my shirt as he tells me, "shing." How the sweet moment of him grabbing my hand as I moved it from his shoulder and him placing it back as if to say, "Don't let me go, mommy. Keep your hold on me." Though I would like to keep him small forever, I know that it would only be for my own selfish reasons. I need to let him grow. I will always have my hold on you though.

"We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing."

2 Thessalonians 1:3

Come see us later and we'll tell you how the weekend went with the potty.

A Week of Kamden

March 8-12th
With the luxary of being able to stay home with Kamden during the mornings, the chances of capturing a picture of this little guy doing something worth remembering is very likely. This is such a fast and innocent age that it seems like I want to picture it all, as to not forget a moment of it. I know I did the same for the other two when they were this age. They learn so much in such a short amount of time and are willing to let you have the camera in their faces. Just taking him outside and folding laundry while he plays I was able to see that even a child will take the time to stop and listen to the birds.

We were given this hat from grandma and it has become a favorite for many. We get stopped by grown men in awe of the sweetness of a puppy hat. This day Kamden heard we were going outside and grabbed his hat and put it on himself. Who am I to reverse his hard work, so I left it and out we went.

Then he grabbed a bag and an animal to take for a ride in his car. He really enjoys sticking someone in the trunk and heading off for an adventure.

Here he is, ready to do some gardening, dawning his new gardening gloves and my hat.

Though he may not have been able to get those fingers into the gardening gloves, he was able to find another task that his fingers could perform. How about holding a tiny purse? Now you can not say that he has no fashion sense, the tiny purse matches his shirt perfectly. If you think that is cute, you should have seen him pick it up with that same finger, alone, when he dropped it. He would not place it on the finger but would scoop it with the finger it was to rest upon.

Such a big smile on such a tiny little face.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."

Mark 10:15-16

Happy 5th Birthday, Skylar

We ended week 11 with our little Sunshine turning 5!

Wow, I am having a hard time accepting that she is really that old. I used to think that someone with a 5 year old child was old. But when I look at it in my own life it only makes me realize how young you have to be when you have a child this age. It is not what your biological age is, it is how they make you feel. This little girl makes me feel like a million dollars. It is kind of scary and inspiring to know that she looks up to me. It makes me want to be a better person.

Each year, since her first birthday, I have taken her out to breakfast. It gives me time to really take it all in. I have also given her a special gift of a butterfly pin. This is to symbolize that with the guidance of the Lord, she can soar to new heights in the upcoming year. I have given it to her, each year, on a yellow 'sunshine' care bear. After breakfast we went down to the park to enjoy the beautiful spring-like weather with sidewalk chalk, a basketball and my camera. Just sitting there in the beautiful sun watching my Sunshine, what a wonderful day.

We had such a busy day. Though we could have all stayed for hours, dancing with our shadows...we were given tickets to see Jack Hanna, the animal guy. And since Skylar is such an animal lover, we did not want to miss the show. She was exhausted from the events prior during the weekend. Before bed, Kamden decided to serenade Skylar with a song. He was really into it.

Thank you, Lord for my little girl. Help me to be the kind of mother that you want me to be for her. May I be a godly woman that she can see your love in.

“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Colossians 3:12

March 6th~Party Day

Skylar is blessed with a great group of friends and cousins. All of the kids were willing to take part in her gymnastics party.

Even the big kids got involved. Uncle Scottie on the uneven bars...
Though Kamden would not sit as nicely as these guys and wait for direction, he was anxious to get in there and do some bouncing. The busiest part of the day was chasing him on the equipment.
Skylar atop the mountain.

The birthday girl is the one with her fingers hiding her smile, on the right. I know it seems like the one in the middle would be the one. She has the biggest smile of the group.
Kamden was worried that daddy was going to take his puppy print cupcake so he is protecting it.
It was such a joy to see Skylar smile and show her family and friends what she enjoys doing, gymnastics.

"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

2 Corinthians 6:18