Last Week

One day last week I decided to take the girls for a walk even though the "weather man" said it was supposed to storm. We were prepared with umbrellas though. Hope was fascinated with hers and wanted to keep it open but had a hard time keeping it still in the wind.

Eden's favorite song as of late is "Rain, Rain, Go Away!" She sings it quite well and loves to sing it even if the sun is shining.

We decided to go to the old park since it wasn't too cold.

On Saturday Hope went to a princess birthday party. She doesn't have any dress up princess clothes and she needed a new dress so I took Hope to JC Penney and we tried on dresses. This is the first time that she has actually had to try anything on because she is growing so fast! I had mini visions of her trying on her prom dress and her wedding dress and I almost got teary-eyed. :) She looked so beautiful in all the dresses, but this was her favorite.

We found the tiara at a party store and I made a dress up necklace cause every princess needs fancy jewelry. I tried to fix her hair fancy but she FREAKED OUT. I mean sobbing, hysterical freaking out. The girl does not like her "hair did." Here are some pics while she is still upset.

Still cute, but I prefer a happy princess and a little sister that doesn't look drunk. :)

Perfect.

Big Brother

Yesterday I registered Hope for kindergarten. It was exciting, weird and a little bittersweet. She saw several of her friends from church at the registration which I think set her at ease. Then we walked around the school and looked in the kindergarten classrooms. That is when I got really excited. I had a rush of flashbacks from my own kindergarten experience and my enthusiasm helped Hope see what fun she is going to have.

When I was talking to Noah later that night on the phone I told him that Hope would be starting school in the Fall. "MOM!" He said. The tone of his voice told me that he didn't really like that. I asked him what was wrong and his voice got choked up and he said "I'm worried about her." Aww. What a sweet big brother. I didn't tell him that I am secretly scared to death, too. Instead I told him that she would be fine and she will probably be in a class with her friends and that she is looking forward to it.

I love how he loves his sisters. I truly believe that he was meant to be their big brother and protector. They are lucky little girls.

Miss Chevious Eats

I don't even know where to begin with this post, but I know I have to document this child's behavior for a couple of reasons: 1) Because she will get a kick out of it when she's older...and so will her significant other. 2) Because one day she may be blessed with a Miss Chevious of her own and I can refer her to these posts and then laugh...in her face. 3) To remind myself that I DO have patience with my children in those moments when I feel like curling up in a ball like a roly poly. 4) To give myself a good laugh when the moment has past...FAR past. And finally 5) To let other parents out there know that their child is not the only half angel half devil.

This post isn't really even about anything extreme, just dinner time. Sounds like a simple every day happening in which family gathers around the table to discuss their day and enjoy each other's company and some good food, right? HA! There is an old family story that my mom likes to tell about when I was around Eden's age. My siblings and I had assigned seats at the dinner table and mine was next to my oldest brother, Bobby. Bobby is 10 years older than I am so I am sure he remembers this incident well, and I just have to thank him for having patience with his little sister and not screaming or slapping me into the next room like many other children throughout the world would've reacted in this situation. So one night we were enjoying mashed potatoes. My mom makes great mashed potatoes and unlike my little Hopie, I ate what I was served for dinner, well, I guess I should say "ate". Bobby says to my mom, "Mom, do I have to sit next to Lindsey?" Mom looks over at Bobby to see that I am massaging mashed potatoes into his hair, slathering it around like shampoo.

My children haven't ventured to siblings hair yet, but they've mastered the art of food shampooing with their own hair.

First Hope with the instant oatmeal

and now Eden with the spaghetti.

As a side note, spaghetti is not easy to get out of hair.

You can see she is very pleased with herself. I think she believes she is creating art when she does this. For example, a couple of nights ago we had mashed potatoes and broccoli with our chicken and she made a beautiful piece I like to call, "The Lone Tree".

She does eat most of her dinner and she is quite fond of broccoli. It is when she is done eating that the havoc starts wreaking. :) I suppose now my mom is laughing...in MY face.

In other Miss Chevious news (not having the slightest to do with eating) is her new potty routine. And by potty routine I mean the way she messes her pants, promptly sticks her hand in her diaper to grab a handful and either come show it to me or smear whatever is nearby. In some cases far away objects as well, she isn't picky. Last year she started doing this and I thought I was pretty clever about adding a onsie to her daily outfit so that she couldn't reach down the back of her diaper. That worked well until a couple of months ago when she discovered that she could reach up under her leg and get through both her onsie and the leg hole of her diaper! She does this just about every day and I have started follow her around the house when I know she is going or about to go because I am not about to let her out of my sight when I know what is transpiring. Alas, I cannot watch her 24/7. Let me just stop here to tell any judgemental people who are reading this and disagreeing with this fact to "shove it." Going on...because I cannot watch her like a hawk, sometimes poop ends up on the walls and floors...windows, door knobs, crib, toys, water bottles...you get it. Sunday was special because she decided to share her poop with Muffin.

I was not present at the time or I obviously wouldn't have allowed it to happen, but this is how I imagine it in my head. Poor, poor Muffin was asleep in the front room resting peacefully on a computer chair when in walks a defecating Miss Chevious. She stands by the chair watching the cute kitty sleep while she finishes her business. She reaches into her diaper and pulls out a handful of the mess she just created and plops it down onto Muffins fluffy fur. Meanwhile, I am in the kitchen and suddenly realize how quite Miss Chevious is being so I start to hunt for her. Luckily I find her before she has a chance it mash it into his fur, but she still has a handful and Muffin has woken up and is looking around as if he might try to escape. I have a dilemma here. If I take care of Eden first Muffin will likely pounce away and poop will go flying. If I take care of Muffin first, Eden will run around in anticipation of my cleaning her up...and poop will go flying. Hmmm....it's a good thing it was Sunday and daddy was home. Ben contained Eden while I cleaned up Muffin and then I was able to clean up Eden. Flying poop averted. Whew. Now it is time to dust off the old potty chair for Miss Chevious WILL BE POTTY TRAINED!!!

I love this child. I do. I adore her. I could look into her chocolate eyes all day. She is such a wonderful, beautiful, snuggly, loveable little weirdo. But dealing with this much poop is exhausting.

Another Episode of Hope Says...

Hope: I want to look at my pretty self in this mirror.

Hope: How do you get to Heaven? Do you need a map?
I showed her the scriptures, but I don't think she got it. :)

Hope: Why does Eden sound like a little boy?
For those of you who don't know, Eden's voice is a little deeper than most little ladies so this was especially funny.

Mom: Why are you lying on the floor like that?
Hope: Cause it's my favorite thing to do.

Ballet & Turkey

Today at ballet class Hope did not participate fully. Last week she did so good and did almost everything that the teacher asked. I guess that was what I was expecting this time around but it didn't happen. I should have known because it was a fight just to get her into her tights (she insists that they are wet when she sits down.). Still, I was holding onto hope that when she got there her attitude would change. Now I realize that was just a silly thing for me to do because I know my child and her moods.

She did sit in the circle with the other girls and the other girls began to follow the teacher's instructions and example of stretches. Hope just sat there with her fingers in her mouth and big eyes looking around at the other girls...at the floor...at her shoes....at the other girls...back to the floor. This was only her second class so I was trying not to let it bother me that she was acting this way, but soon a couple of the other girls decided that they did not need to participate either. Actually one of them just couldn't focus and her mother rushed over physically making her child copy the dance moves. I had a few thoughts come into my head. One of which was that the mother was doing this in an attempt to show her disapproval of my parenting method with Hope which was just to let her sit and watch the other girls when she didn't feel like participating.  Another thought, was wow....that is a little harsh. Another thought was that is actually a good idea...I wish I didn't have this two year old turkey with me today that I needed to hang on to every second so that I could help Hope out. I don't think Hope would've responded well to me physically making her dance though. Soon another little girl sat motionless and of course here her mother came. She whispered some words to the little girl whose facial expression visibly changed to a frown. The little girl disappeared for a few moments in the hall but came back a minute later ready to participate. This time the first thought I had was "Oh my gosh, Hope's attitude is rubbing off on all the little girls and their lack of responsiveness is her fault...which is actually MY fault because obviously I am a horrible parent because my child won't do her butterfly stretches!" Then my previous thought of the mother purposely disciplining her child to show her disapproval of my parenting method resurfaced.

I had to leave the area cause Miss Chevious began to throw fits so I walked into the waiting room which has a big window so the parents and kids can see each other. It seemed like all the waiting parents were staring in judgment in my direction. I don't know that they actually were cause I didn't have the guts to actually look at any of them. Hope surprisingly stayed in the studio but still sat on her little tushy as the other girls bunny hopped across the floor to the other side of the room. Then the teacher asked a few of the mothers to help out and be "swans" so the kids could hop around them. The second mother I mentioned was called to be a "swan" who was standing near Hope. I watched as she leaned down and began to whisper to Hope and I felt my left eyebrow immediately raise in indignation. I watched Hope's reaction...she seemed to just be ignoring the woman who now I am sure meant well and was just trying to help me out by trying to get Hope to participate. But in the moment a confrontation played out in my head in which I told her to parent her own child and I would parent mine. I was frustrated enough today that if the woman had approached me with the wrong attitude I would've said it. I'm glad it didn't happen.

Writing this all out I realize how silly my whole thought process was and what it should've been. Those mothers probably didn't give my actions a thought whereas I was scrutinizing their every movement thinking they were judging me. And maybe they were judging me...but so what? It is my child and my money and they don't know that it is only her second class and they didn't bring turkeys that needed handling either.

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