Some motherly advice

You know how everyone says, "Don't swallow your gum! It takes 7 years to digest!" Well, it doesn't and I have two ways that I know that. My mom is responsible for both! First she told me that she actually picked gum out of my training pants once. (Note to self, don't give kid gum when potty training.) Second, she sent me this picture titled "Don't swallow your gum!!"

We thought it was funny.

Blue Moon!!!

Everyday my sweet little girly makes me laugh. Yesterday she was saying things left and right that had me in stitches. But the real kicker came when we were standing in line at Wal-Mart. (Yes Dad, I shop at Wal-mart and I'm sorry!) But anyway, I noticed that Claire's pants were on backwards. I have found that she is putting everything on backwards because "that's how she likes it." I pointed this out to her which was a HUGE mistake! She immediately ripped her pants down right there!!! Of course, she wasn't wearing underpants (no surprise there either) and totally shot the lady behind her the moon! Luckily the lady behind her was the mother of 4 so she found it to be VERY entertaining. I had to laugh. I didn't think for one second that she would drop her drawers in the middle of the store! Oh my little ClaireBelle. She is always here to make sure things aren't too boring. Lesson for today...If I notice that something isn't quite right with the clothes Claire is wearing, SAY NOTHING!!!

Cohen is learning to eat by himself!



Coco in his "tighty blueys" (as opposed to tighty whiteys)



Now that's what I call a HAPPY meal!



Claire's new Tutti Fruity TuTu!
(Thanks Em! We love it!)

Claire's sassy comment of the week.
Claire has been a sick little girl. She has been running a fever, coughing and has a severe ear infection. I gave her tylenol and it made her gag then she threw it up. I think she noticed that she got some extra attention and so she started telling me every once in a while that she was going to throw up. So here was our conversation.

Claire- "Mommy, I need to throw up."
Me- "Claire, try not to because if you do your medicine won't work."
Claire- "But I FEEL like it!"
Me- "Claire, please try not to."
Claire "Mom, I FEEL like it....end of story. Goodbye."

I was speechless! She sounded so grownup! She wasn't hateful about it. Just real matter-of-fact. She didn't throw up and was asleep within 3 minutes! I love that kid. Now if Cohen could just learn how to talk that would be great! He knows what he wants and when he wants it. However, we are having a REAL communication problem. I didn't have this with Claire because at 16 months she was using phrases like:

1. He was just tryin' to be a piggy.
2. Baby Songs on the TV screen
3. I have perseverance.

I'm having a terrible time trying to figure this boy out! I had it way too easy with Claire! I'm sure we will get some language going! He was doing really well with sign language but has totally lost interest. The words that he does say absolutely MELT my heart. I love that kid too!

Interesting stuff!

Calling all parents! Today at church we had a guest speaker who was AMAZING! His website http://www.beyondbelief.com/home.spl has all of his stuff including some free downloads. Brian and I really enjoyed listening to him and thought he had such a great message for parents young and old! Just thought I would share this info because it really got us ready for a new week! (That and our WONDERFUL life group tonight!) Have a blessed week!!!

We're not in Kansas Anymore!

Hope everyone made it through the random January string of tornadoes! We are all pretty sleepy here today from being up all night but we can deal with that. I am a complete coward when it comes to bad weather. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I was right smack in the middle of the big one that ripped through Battlefield 4 years ago. I don't care to do that EVER again! But we made it through and went to bed about midnight to our neighbor Dave Snyder on KY3 saying, "Well folks, thanks for tuning in tonight. Looks like the worst is over and now we will return to regular programming." So imaging my surprise when we woke up at 3:00 am to something hitting the house, the neighbors banging on the door and the phone ringing. I was literally running in a circle trying to decide if I should make sure it was Tony & Carmen coming through the garage, answer the phone, get the kids or pee my pants! I chose to answer the phone, tell dad we were up and grab the kids just in time to get to the basement and hear that the storm had already passed through Ozark. So we hung out for a bit just to make sure it was gone and headed back to bed for a few more hours of sleep. I said a little prayer and thanked God for granting us a reprieve yet again! When I heard that they were estimating that winds reached speeds of 75-100 miles per hour as it passed by I began to think....maybe the "house that Jack built" is sturdier than I thought!

Christmas

I was just looking at my blog and realized I left out Christmas stories! We had a wonderful holiday. It was different without our Oklahoma family but still pretty great. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with the Davidsons. Of course there was yummy food and we got to visit with family that we don't see very often. I can't believe that the Davidson boys are all grown up! Spencer who was about 5 when we met, is DRIVING!!! Talk about feeling old! Brian took over the duty of reading the Christmas story from the Bible. I am hoping that Claire will be reading by next Christmas! We exchanged gifts and especially enjoyed watching Grandma and Grandpa open their "Cruise wear" for their upcoming cruise to Hawaii! We left and drove around for a bit looking at Christmas lights. Claire loves to see the "Glow ups" (inflatables) but her favorite is to spot Mary and Joseph. She was pretty sad when she noticed that someone stole baby Jesus from our neighbors house. I assured her there was a special place for someone who steals Jesus! (totally kidding!) We came home and put little man down. Claire and I sprinkled reindeer dust in the yard. (Oats to attract the reindeer and glitter for Santa) Then she got her cookies ready for Santa. We got her tucked in and had a little time together in peace and quiet! When Santa comes he takes the stockings and gifts downstairs. So when Claire got up she ran in to check and see if the cookies were gone. Immediately her eyes filled with tears and she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Santa came and took our stockings and didn't leave anything!" I assured her that he took the stuff downstairs and directed her attention to a note that Santa left. She was so excited and she ran in to show Daddy. We took a few minutes to read a little book about the birth of Jesus and talk about what the day really means. The rest was chaos! She was a little overwhelmed with the presents. I am still trying to figure out how I spend months preparing and picking out just the right gifts. Daddy goes out two days before Christmas and picks out 2 toys and he is the hero!!! Claire loved her new tent and Cohen was really excited about his basketball goal. He was shooting baskets left and right. That is, of course, until Claire opened her Baby Alive from Grandma. Then he walked around for the rest of the morning feeding and patting the baby. It was REALLY sweet! We finished with gifts and then we ATE and ATE and ATE and ATE! A few hours later, we ate some more at my parents house! The kids spent time with their cousins Alivia, Garrett and Hunter. They had a great evening. I love my family and wouldn't give a million dollars for a single second I get with them. When I say family I mean my family by birth, marriage and by choice! I am so blessed with so many WONDERFUL people in my life. When I really stop and think about it I can't believe that I am so lucky. So with our bellies FULL and our eyelids heavy, we headed home and CRASHED! There was something truly magical about this Christmas. My life is really coming into focus thanks to the help of certain people and most of all my relationship with God. And I have to admit.....I LOVE WHAT I SEE. I am hopeful for what 2008 has in store. Of course my thoughts have been very focused on the Phillips family. If you don't know why, check my other blog www.stephsgonnawin.blogspot.com. I have so much faith that the Lord is working in Steph's life. I just wish there was something more I could do for her. I will continue to pray that He will lead me to do what I can. But this is her year. 2007 was the year she was diagnosed. 2008 will be the year that she beats it.

Blast from the Past

Here is my handsome hubby back in the day at good old KHS! It was quite a surprise when we started receiving calls and text messages about his picture in the paper last week. This was from the Blue and Gold Tournament in 1996 which would have been our first year as boyfriend & girlfriend! Who would have thought that I was cheering on my future husband! Who knows, maybe in 14 more years...this will be Cohen! Happy 2008!