Chalk one up for Mom!

Nope, that cute, little, pout-y face didn't prevail. I, the mom, have won the milk battle. Thank you for all the comments, words of advice, encouragement...it was comforting to know I wasn't the only one who has suffered through circumstances such as these. I have opted for the juice and milk concoction (barf). She isn't to the guzzling point yet, but seeing that it is all I'm offering, the odds are pretty good that she'll "like" it soon :). Wednesday was tough, Thursday was a little better, but today when she thought she'd try her fussing technique (ie. arching her back and screaming) it only took one 'no', and one quick discipline and she conceded and drank her milk when she was told. I praise the Lord for 'new days.' I couldn't have made it through without His mercy and grace.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. The are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23

For The Love of Milk

Honestly you would think that out of 3 children I'd get at least one who likes milk. One, that's all I ask for, just one. Sure Stella and Jonah drink it now because they are told. I won't go so far as to say it's their favorite, but at least I know when it's given to them they'll drink it without complaint. Can't say the same with my sweet Ava girl though. It's funny to me how she sucks it down when it's warmed up in a bottle, but served cold in a cup, she wants nothing to do with the stuff. And yep, I've tried warming it up in a sippy cup. Apparently it's not the same, just ask Ava. This morning, from 10:40am to 12pm, was probably the worst morning ever. Ava sat in her high chair for that length of time with her milk cup just sitting in front of her. I thought for sure she was going to fall asleep in her chair from all the crying and carrying on. One drink, that was all I was asking. One drink from her little hands picking up the cup and bringing it to her mouth. It wasn't happening. I ended up putting her down for a nap with a notch going on her belt for winning the battle. I need help, or advice, or words of wisdom to help out in this matter. She's strong, that Ava, she's strong and today I just didn't have it in me. What do I do? The doctors say they need 24 oz, and well I think I may have gotten 1 oz forced down her throat that wasn't spit out...it was bad, the worst yet out of all 3 of them. So really, if you have advice or tricks on how to get them to drink it, or ideas on how to handle this situation with a strong willed child, please tell me. Pretty, pretty please.

A Sweet Dress for Sweet Girls

I came across this blog the other day where it had tutorial for making pillow case dresses. I instantly loved the dresses and thought they sounded easy enough for even me, the beginner, to make. Well, I didn't have a pillow case, but I did have some fabric from some old curtains. So technically this isn't a pillow case dress, lets just call it a curtain dress. My mom whipped this one up for me while I stood back and took notes. The plan is to find some actual pillow cases, or go to the fabric store and get some fabric, and make my girls matching Easter dresses this year. I don't claim to know how to sew, but I desire to learn and thought this is the perfect dress to start with. I don't know about you, but I think it's awfully cute.

Keeping it Simple

So I was planning on doing a post titled, Keeping it Real and then talk about how I really don't have it all together, as some people have voiced, or may think, I do. I was going to talk about how I wear sweat pants and sweatshirts 6 days out of the week and how on one particular Friday, the day I help out in Stella's class, Stella says to me before we left for school, "mom, make sure you look nice today." I was going to talk about the dust bunnies that collect under my bed and how they really aren't bunnies at all, they are more like dust dinosaurs, or monsters, they're big and they always try to take over the rest of the house too. I was going to mention how Ava has been really crabby lately, with the whole teething deal, and has been waking up early and how some mornings when I hear her crying I just want to yell "get out of your crib and get your own bottle already!" I was going to talk about my laundry room and what it looks like in its current state...

...but I really don't want to talk about such things. Those things scream for an intervention of sorts. I don't feel warm, fuzzy feelings when I talk about that stuff. Nah, I'd rather talk about Ava wearing a sweet outfit her dad put her in and maybe do a little play by play of her getting in to some gum for the first time. Yeah, that sounds fun. That sounds happy. I'm going to do that.

Hi, my name is Ava and I'm wearing polka-dot tights and a striped shirt. My dad chose this because he said he couldn't find any pants. But when my mom looked she found some. Funny how that works.

I found something. Yummm.... gum. Stella and Jonah are always eating this stuff.

Let me just lay down and check it out.

It smells so good I wish I could get it out already.

OH, I almost got it.

Aha! Now for a little taste.

I like it. Lets try it again.

Uh-Oh, busted. Mom's been watching me.

No more gum for me. I'm sad.

and then there was Stella

My oldest. My first born. I love her.



Stella's favorites as of March 11, 2009

Bible verse: "For nothing will be impossible with God." Luke 1:37
Book: A Kitten Called Moonlight
Song: Oh Christmas Tree (???)
Food: waffles and cake
Drink: grape juice
Color: pink and purple
Movie: Sleeping Beauty
Thing to wear: dresses and skirts
Hair style: an up-do
Time of year: summer
Sport: basketball
Thing to do at school: math
Thing to do at home: hug my mom and color

A quote from Stella while we were at the dinner table....
"Mom when I get older will you give me this recipe?"

What can I say, she's a fun girl and I love her a lot.

Grammer according to a 4 year old

It's always fun when your kids (and yes I'm saying kids, I know it means baby goats, but children sounds too formal so just bear with me) start to talk. One of my favorite things is when they start to add endings to words whether they need it or not. Kids will know the word is different, yet they don't know how to say it correctly so they'll add, for example, an 'ed' sound or an 'es' sound. It's amazing how they can pick up on that change on their very own. Here are some of my favorites from Jonah...

"Mom, we can go by our self-es."
"I got two knife-es!"
"Mom, you're the best-est mom ever."
"I think that one is good-er."
"Mom do you know how older I am? 14!"
"I burp-ed." (said with two syllables)
I'm all grow-ed up."
"I catch-ed it!"

And did I mention Jonah is a big help with his baby sister? Well he is. See for yourselves or as Jonah would say, yourself-es.





In case you're wondering, no I didn't tell him to pick Ava's nose. They were sitting next to each other on the couch looking cute so I thought I'd get the camera and this is what I found. Jonah engrossed in his favorite TV show, Scooby Doo, and all the while helping Ava get the fuzzies (as Jonah calls them) out of her nose. What's crazy is she let him do it. If I were to try she'd scream and fuss. She obviously had quite a few "fuzzies" because there was quite a bit of picking. OH, and don't ask what Jonah did with the "fuzzies" just know I had the vaccum cleaner out after he was done. ;)

Oh Ava....

...I'm happy when you're awake too.

Ava's life as of late...
...is now choosing to walk on her feet rather than her knees.
...loves sweets and will give an enthusiastic "NUM-NUM" while eating them or by just looking at them.
...still prefers baby food over big people food.
...she's the pickiest eater in the whole wide world.
...loves to go outside.
...loves to take naps.
...loves babies or any small child.
...licks her sheets every time I put her to bed (???- I know, weird).
...yells "Della" (meaning Stella) over and over and very loudly.
...still can't say mama...it's disappointing to me.
...she has a major under-bite...she really has 5 teeth, not just two ;).
...she's busy, always moving, spins on a dime...busy.
...she's a little bit naughty...just a little :)
...waves bye to Stella (della) all the way home after we drop Stella off at school.
...In just a few short days she'll be 15 months old!

After dinner tonight Ava comes up to me and signs please. Thinking she just wanted me to hold her I picked her up, but then she points and says "dis, dis" (this). So I put her down and told her to show mama. I told Sean while she was walking away that I bet she's asking for a cookie. Sure enough she walks to the freezer and tries to pull open the drawer. We keep our cookies in the freezer. ;)

A Mother's Bliss

Nap time.

It's now time to go for a run, pick up and put away toys, fold the laundry, do the dishes, sweep the floor, eat my lunch... Pure, uninterrupted bliss.

I woke up to this...

I'm not sure what happened to the sunny weather I was talking about last week. And here I thought Spring was just around the corner - HA! Jokes on me and my tulips I guess...and the little flower I just planted in my flower pot. Oh well, the snow is beautiful. My dad brought Stella to school this morning. Jonah is still sleeping and Ava was so tired she wanted a morning nap. I think I'll just relax and enjoy my cup of coffee on this cold, quiet morning.

In case you didn't know...

...It's Sean's birthday today! He is now the big 31. It's crazy to think I've known him since he was 18. 13 years is a long time to know and love someone. It seems like yesterday when he was calling me in my dorm room singing songs he wrote for me over the phone. Burp Girl (the song he wrote for/about me)...aawww...those were the days. Happy Birthday Sean. I love you.

...My blog is private now. How does that make everyone feel? Now I can tell you all my secrets. No, just kidding. I'm glad it's private. I really don't have a problem with people looking at my blog if there is a connection. I mean, I have no qualms with friends of friends reading it, I'm guilty of doing that. So I'm open if you know of someone that wants to keep reading, I really have no problem with that.

...The Pioneer Woman has good recipes. First of all if you haven't checked out her site you have to. I love that lady. There isn't a day that goes by when after visiting her website I don't laugh at the things she writes. It's good stuff. I recommend a daily dose of her. Anyway, I made a couple of her recipes last night.
Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Fluffy New Potatoes



The potatoes were perfect, but next time I'll do things differently with the parmesan crusted chicken. I confess, I didn't follow the recipe exactly with the chicken, and I know that was the problem. It was good though, Sean said "you're the best cook ever." Jonah said he just liked the "down" parts - meaning the chicken underneath the crust :). Stella liked it, although while I was stirring together the ingredients for the chicken this was her commentary...

"Mom, WHAT is that?"
"OH Mom, I'm freaking out!"
"Who is the Pioneer Woman anyways?"
"Well she's no Rachel Ray!" Speaking of Rachel Ray...

...Rachel Ray came to the San Juan Islands. I'll admit, I was bummed I didn't see her while she was here. I'm a fan. Her and her husband were touring around the island for a few days for her Rachel Ray Traveling show. The show airs tonight at 8:30pm on the Food Network if anyone is interested. I'm going to be making her chocolate eclairs tonight for after dinner! Yum-O ;)

...Buzz is still flying through every once in awhile.
I wish I could bottle up some of Jonah's cuteness and share it with all of you. He's got a lot to give. I catch myself saying "Jonah you're cute" a lot of times through out the day. The things he does, the things he says and how he says it... it's just cute. He has said this twice now and each time I laughed. He asked me "mom when is summer?" So I told him it starts in June. Then he looked at me with a face that looked like it didn't quite understand and said "Junior??" Oh man, it made me laugh...both times.

...I just looked through the Mini Boden catalog. That was my first mistake. I love that catalog. If I could, I'd buy one of each for my kids. The simplicity of their clothes, and the pure cuteness of them....sigh...I like it a lot.

...Ava woke up with some sweet hair this morning.It suits her just right. She's wild, but I love her.

...The weather has been beautiful! It's still cold, but the sun has been shining all week. I love it. It makes me excited for working outside in the flowers and for summer to come. Although, physically I'm not ready yet. I need more time in the Parsons' gym before I'm shorts and tank tops ready. Stella and Jonah hollered down to me from upstairs the other day saying they got their swimsuits and were ready to go swimming. They were both very sad when I told them no. Mind you, it is still only 40 degrees outside!