Quote of the day...

Savannah Grace has been on a Peter Pan kick lately. We own the first one and we rented the second one from the "movie store" (Hollywood Video) recently. She was watching the original one in the car today, thanks to my mom and dad, on our way to a play date and all of a sudden I hear her yell from the back seat, "Pissty dust, pissty dust!!" Thankfully I very quickly translated that into pixy dust, as in Tinker Bell, because for a short moment I was ready to reprimand her and tell her we don't use words like that and then ask her where she heard that word because we don't say that in our house. Ahh, the words of a 3 year old.

Tub Terds

Disclaimer: This is a little on the gross side!

You read the title right, the unthinkable happened the other night while bathing my children. I had both of the girls in the tub at the same time along with a bowl full of toys. They were playing and having a grand ole time as I started some laundry. After they had played for awhile I came in to bathe them. We washed faces, we washed hair, we conditioned hair and I started bathing SG. All of a sudden she said, "Mom it stinks in here!" I replied by asking her, "Did you toot in the tub?" She promptly replied, "NO!" So I told her that Rylee probably tooted and continued to bathe her. I finished with SG and began to lather up Rylee's washcloth. I said, "Rylee stand up it's time to wash!" As she stood up all I could see left behind was a brown smear on the tub. GROSS! So I quickly tried to scrub her down before anymore came out, but I was to late. What I had failed to noticed was that a "floater" had already happened and was being camouflaged by all of the toys. I quickly screamed for Phillip's help. I started gathering all of the toys and trying to get them out of the tub. I told SG to scoot all the way to the other end of the tub. I was in panic mode. All the while Rylee was just looking around like, "What's going on mom? Why are you flipping out?" After I had retrieved all of the toys I used one of the pitchers that I usually use to rinse the girls hair to try and scoop out the "floater." Every time I went to scoop it it just floated closer to the girls. I couldn't get it to go in. Phillip kept saying, "Anita why are you flipping out? You change poopy diapers every day." And I promptly replied, "I know, but it's all contained in a diaper not floating around an open tub. Plus floating around in all that water is making it soopy poopy!!" Finally I scooped up the floater and flush it down the toilet. I quickly rinsed the girls off and got them out of the tub. As the last few drips of water trickled down the drain Phillip lovingly handed me some baby wipes to clean up the brown smears in the tub. Glad we're in this together for the long haul.

Progress Made

So for all of you guys out there dying to know how Savannah Grace did at church today... progress was made. She did not run out of her class. We paired her up with an adult volunteer name Annie who stayed with her from start to finish. She had SG help her sharpen pencils and hand out security tags, and Savannah Grace showed Annie everything she does in Quest. It seemed to work out pretty well. I think there was only one moment of crying and wanting mommy so Annie and SG sent mommy a text message. Huge thanks to Annie for giving my daughter some one on one attention. I think we'll continue to do this for the next several weeks until SG is totally adjusted. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and for her, keep it up!

In other news, church was awesome today!! I'm so glad that we didn't cancel. In fact I heard that we had some visiting families today because their churches were canceled. We had a visiting pastor from the area today, Pastor Jonathan Martin from Renovatus Church, who filled in for Pastor Steven while he was away in Charleston refueling. Let me just say his message was awesome and God used it in a powerful way to speak to my heart. (you can listen to his message here later this week) He spoke about how we all need a tangible touch from God in our lives. Since God is not on this earth as a tangible person through Jesus Christ anymore the way we receive that tangible touch is through other believers. Believers that are intimately acquainted, who know each other and are known by each other. This is what I need. We have been here in Charlotte for about 7 weeks now and I have met a ton of great people. I have been to more play dates in the last 7 weeks than I had been on the whole 3 years we lived in Atlanta, but I'm ready to move deeper. I need some accountability and mentoring in my life. I need people who will drag be back to Jesus when I stray, people who will love and encourage me, flaws and all. I also want to be that person for someone else. We all need that tangible touch from God through other believers in the body. I'm ready to go deeper, anyone coming with me?

Snow #2

Wow, two snows in one week! That's got to be a record hear in the south, right? Just thought I'd throw up a few pics for your viewing pleasure. (yes, these are different pictures than the ones on Phillip's blog)

Paranoid

Well I don't really know where to start this post other than saying that my oldest child had another brilliant display today as we were having a playdate at the Lineberger's house. My fleshly paranoia is starting to make me feel like no one is going to want to have us over/be our friends because of my daughter's behavior. We are in an area where there are a ton of young families with a multitude of stay-at-home moms and I feel like I can't go anywhere or do anything with my children without having a meltdown moment (or 2 or 3...). I'm pretty sure that everyone with kids goes through a time period when they feel like this, she is only three ya know. (I have to remind myself of that often) Plus the whole transition with our move has added to the problem, but seriously how long can I use the excuse of "we just moved here and she is going through a lot of transition"? I don't know. And the thing is, it's not like we don't discipline her. We have used every disciplinary action imaginable, for a 3 year old. We spank, we use time-out, we've taken away toys and privileges (although, selfishly, this is the one I use the least because when we take away her privileges it usually means we all suffer) So, I'm at my wits end. I don't know what else to do or try with her. Any suggestions?

For the record I want everyone to know that I love my eldest daughter very much. I see so much of Phillip and I in her, obviously. I also know that these qualities in her that are giving us such a hard time now, if channeled in the right direction, can be great qualities that God can use for His glory when she gets older. If you have been around us, read our blogs or seen us at church I'm sure that it has seemed less like love and more like "Boy are you gonna get it when we get home." lately. However I don't want anyone to ever doubt that we know what a special gift from God we have been given. This passage says it all. I want to bend her will without breaking her spirit.

Father, give me whatever it is that I need to raise these girls into the Godly women you have called them to be before the foundations of time.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

Well Phillip's mom loves shoes and she loves to buy cute shoes for girls, and I'm ok with that! For Christmas she bought them matching pink boots. Too cute!! I especially love the profile of Rylee in her boots with her round tummy sticking out, she kinda looks like Phillip's dad.

BTW, Hugh, I totally think you guys should go to Disney World this year!! (and bring some friends along) We could have an Elevation family excursion to good old Orlando. The more the merrier!! My girls have never been, I'm already packing my bags. (for the entire story please visit Jess' blog)

Side note - Jess just got my first link love!!! 2008 has been full of firsts on my blog!!! My first picture and now my first link, what is going on?!?!? Before you know it I'll have sitemeter on my blog and be checking my stats like I have nothing better to do. Yippee!!!

Ok, enough of the random ramblings... I'm out.

Dress Up

Aren't they cute!!! Rylee, up until now, has been disinterested in playing dress up. In fact Savannah Grace was much older than Rylee when she first wanted dress up clothes. I think we bought her her first trunk full of dress up clothes for Christmas 2006, right before she turned three. However, with a big sister in the house, Rylee wants to do whatever she does. (unfortunately Savannah Grace doesn't understand that and Rylee often gets hurt trying to follow in her sister's footsteps, anyways, I digress) So on Monday while Savannah was sleeping Rylee walked over to me and handed me the Cinderella dress. At first I thought, "This is going to swallow you up!" but I went ahead and put it on her because I thought it'd be cute, and boy was it! I can't believe it actually fit her and didn't drag on the ground. It's a size 2/3! (my kids have always been big for their age) She had a ball in it and as soon as Savannah Grace woke up she put on her Barbie Island Princess dress and joined in the fun. It was a good afternoon.

FYI - Savannah Grace took off Rylee's pants today and put her into a pair of tights, all by herself. She ran around most of the afternoon in a t-shirt and tights. After we got done with dinner she crawled up into my lap and pointed at the tights and said, "Off." So I helped her peel them off thinking, "I can't believe how long you left these awful things on. I HATE wearing tights/hose." I suppose little girls view tights through a bit of a different lens. Anywho, she then proceeded to ask me to take off her diaper. I didn't think much of it because: 1. babies like to be naked and 2. it was quite full and saggy. So I proceeded to take it off and let her run around for a minute while I gathered a fresh diaper and wipes. She walked straight into the kitchen and peed on the floor. My first reaction was a gasp, like I needed another mess to clean up, my gasp made her cry. I don't know if it made her feel like she had done something bad or if she was upset because it wasn't in the toilet, all I know is that I'm setting up the "little" potty for her to start using. Can she really be ready to potty train at 18 months? Savannah Grace was almost three before she was trained. This will be a great thing if it actually pans out over the next several months. I'll keep you guys updated. (like you really care about my child's toilet training)

My Husband, the Patient One

Well as you can see this was an extra early morning for me. I heard Rylee crying about 5:55 a.m., and yes that time does come twice a day for those of you whithout kids. So I took a glass of milk upstairs to her but that didn't seem to calm her. In these situations I get frustrated easily because I have been woken up out of a dead sleep, I want her to stop crying before she wakes everyone in the house up and just the fact that I can't figure out what's wrong and she can't tell me. Anyways, the crying continued and then Phillip entered. Now for as impatient as he can be driving behind the wheel of a car he is ever so patient with his screaming child that has just woken him up in the middle of the night. I don't know what he does but 95% of the time he can rock her, talk to her, sprinkle magic sleep dust on her and she calmly lays right back down and goes to sleep. I don't know what it is because I do the same things like rock, sing, administer medicine but when I lay her back down the screaming starts all over again. Well this is one of the mornings that his "magic" didn't work but I thought I would give him a shout out anyways to let him know how much I appreciate the fact that he even wakes up to help me. Thanks babe, you're a great dad and husband. I love you!

Girls Afternoon Out

Ok, I know what you're thinking, "Two posts in one day!! Wow!" Don't get to used to it, I'm sure it's a fleeting thing. So this afternoon Savannah Grace and I and our friends Dawn and Jordan Massey went to see a chick flick, Enchanted. It was so cute and the girls loved going to the theatre and eating the popcorn. Thanks Dawn for being so spontaneous and joining us in our last minute plans. It was nice to spend some quality time with SG and go and do something we couldn't have done if Rylee was with us. Big props go out to Phillip for staying with Rylee so the "big" girls could go out. Hopefully this will be something we can do on an ongoing basis so each of my girls will have these special times with mommies full attention. How did you spend your first day of the new year?

New Addition in 2008

Happy New Year everyone!!! Well I'd like to think that in the year 2008 I will be a better blogger, but I'm not going to make any promises. However I do have a new addition to my blog, pictures!!! I know, I'm way behind the times but we just got our digital camera replaced for Christmas so now I can keep you guys updated with pictures too! This will be especially important for all of the family and friends we left behind in Atlanta. I will try my best to keep you guys updated with pictures of our new life in Charlotte. I hope that you guys have a Happy New Year!