Sweet Girl

As I previously blogged, Madeline has developed her own sense of style. She likes to pick out her own clothes, shoes and accessories. This is often very difficult for Mommy, as she rarely picks out clothes that match or things that coordinate. Today I had to tell her to change into athletic, ankle socks after she put on tennis shoe and pulled her pink socks (she was wearing an aqua colored shirt and skirt) up to her shin mid-point. Once the socks were changed and I was getting Ryan ready to go, she found some beaded tattoos that she proceeded to place on her cheeks, nose, forehead and under her chin (see the above picture). She then asked me to braid her hair, which I did. She then picked out a red barrette to wear in her hair along with a purple, plastic head band. What a cutie. . .Mommy just has to suck it up!!!!

We are doing GREAT on the goodbye to the thumb! The nights of crying are over. Two more Saturdays and we head to build a bear!

Grandpa's Visit

While Daddy spent a week in Las Vegas, Grandpa came to visit us. When Grandpa visits, he always comes bearing gifts and surprisingly (sorry Dad :)), he does a great job picking things out. Madeline has a few new outfits that she loves and changed into immediately after opening them and some special Barbie dolls. Ryan also sported some new clothes and a bubble "thing" that he refused to part with once it was opened. Also, very popular with Ryan was a Curious George stamping kit. On Thursday morning, Ryan was eager to stamp again (we had stamped the previous night), but I told him we were getting ready to go to the museum so we would do it later. I placed the ink pad out of reach on the counter and gave him the foam stamps to carry around. Ryan followed me upstairs while I worked on the computer. After about 10 minutes I realized that he was being unusually quiet. I turned around (he was in the hallway and I was in my bedroom) and saw him playing with the stamps. THEN. . .I noticed the blue hue. The little stinker had gone downstairs, pushed a stool up to the counter, grabbed the ink pad and stamped Curious George stamps all over the upstairs, hallway carpet. And no, ink pad ink is not washable. I did my best to clean the carpet, but I think this fiasco will be forever etched in our minds since we have a permanent reminder of it.

Brotherly Love

There is almost nothing sweeter to a parent than watching your children love on each other.  As I snapped this picture, Ry was telling Madeline that he loved her so much (and then he takes her down with a wrestling maneuver). 

Farm Days

Madeline holds a sweet, one day old baby quail.  She loves tiny, baby creatures.  Ryan also loved these sweet chicks.  There are no pictures of him though because he has not quite grasped the fact that squeezing chicks, especially around their necks, does not relay affection to them.

Look at my country girl posing for a picture with a John Deer tractor wheel.

My little love bugs loving on each other.

Fasten your seat belt Madeline.  There's no telling what this guy might do behind the wheel!

I love being a mom and am so grateful to be home with Madeline and Ryan and spend so much time with them.  And though we spend almost all, but the sleeping hours, together I still experience guilt that I am not pouring into them the way I should.  I hate that at times I am more focused on socializing with other moms during an outing than lavishing attention on my own children.  So mid week (last week), I cleared my schedule and spent quality time with the kids and it was wonderful.  Parenting two children is difficult.  I have no idea how moms who have more children do it.  There is nothing worse than hearing your children fight or having to deal with them both when they are cranky or having simultaneous bad behavior.  There are times when all I can do is focus on not yelling or getting angry.  When I just had Madeline I thought I was the most patient mom and could take anything parenting had to throw at me. How different things have become since Ryan turned 18 months old!!!  Though I am so grateful to be in North Carolina, I miss the older, godly women from our church in Virginia, who had such great wisdom, experience and words of encouragement.  

This week has been HUGE in the Wells' household.  Madeline has gone a whole week without sucking her thumb.  She initiated the change, but every night we have had a terrible struggle as she cries over her thumb and we encourage her that she can do it (that is, not suck her thumb). It is heartbreaking, but we know she can do it and she is so proud of herself every morning. She has been wearing socks on her hands to bed.  Each night she picks out the socks (the color makes a big difference) and puts them on her hands by herself.  And every day she gets a special treat, whether it be pancakes for breakfast or a trip to the dollar store or picking out a movie, or something else.  And if she keeps on, we will go to Build A Bear Workshop for the first time in three more weeks.  Though I know this is difficult for her, it is almost as difficult for Mommy.  As Mommy, I don't want her to experience pain, sadness and discomfort, but, intellectually, I know that she has to experience these things to grow and mature.  Thank goodness for Matt's wisdom and counsel. . .I would have caved the first night of not sucking the thumb if he had not reassured me that we were doing the right thing.

When we were in the car this week, Ryan, who was very chatty, said, "Mommy, I love blankie sooooooooooooo much".  It was SO cute!  He has also been coming up to Matt and me and telling us that he loves us so much (of course, less than a minute later he is often defiant and not listening to us, but it is sweet in the moment).  Though he is strong-willed and can be blatantly defiant, he is also sweet and incredibly funny.  One thing about Ry that really grabs my attention is his love for his friends.  He loves Jackson, Ty, Jacob, Chase, Lance and Jason so much.  Every time he sees them he squeals in delight and cannot wait to start playing.  I have a feeling that our house is going to be filled with boys and crazy activity in the years to come.  

One thing Matt and I often say to each other is that Ryan does not know how good he has it.  If his sibling was anyone other than Madeline, he would have experienced some serious beat downs.  Though we discipline him often for being unkind to Madeline (yelling at her, hitting her, pulling her hair. . .), she continues to lavish love on him with kind words and affection and is so quick to forgive him.  I hope one day he will look back and appreciate this.

The blessed joys of experiencing parenthood!

 

Fun Photos

On Thursday we met some friends at Baileywick Park in Raleigh. Madeline and Ava had a great time walking from stepping stone to stepping stone. And I love that when I told the girls to pose for a picture, Ava kicked her leg up! :)

Of course, Ryan and Jackson were practically inseparable. This is a picture of Jackson catching Ryan on his way down the slide.

Check out the girl's accessories and outfit. She is styling, and would you believe that she is her own stylist??? She is wearing a pink floral skirt with a white shirt that has "DANCE" written at the top in pink sparklies. On her feet, she is wearing ankle socks with pink, glitter shoes. The girl is also wearing a bright pink ponytail holder, a yellow headband, pink sunglasses, and a bead necklace she made by herself. You go girl!

Mommy's sweetie pies!

Ty Walters, are those earrngs you are wearing or are those the clips from Ms. Lauren's fridge??? This sweet boy is always doing something to make us laugh. Matt and I love the fact that when Ty and Ryan are together they giggle non-stop.

Mommy purchased Madeline a $1 kite at Walmart this week. And Mommy learned a valuable lesson. . .$1 kites don't work so well. Regardless, Madeline had a GREAT time attempting to catch some air. Actually, I'm grateful it was only $1 because the majority of the time, the kite was being dragged along the pavement. :)

Madeline loves her sweet friend Emmy. She cries for her and is always asking me to have Emmy over for a play date.

A Visit with the Shields' Boys

Last night the Wells' home was bustling with excited activity.  Ms. Laura appeared to be in labor and all three boys were spending the night at our house.  Madeline and Ryan love Ian and Conor and Riley.  Sweet Madeline immediately searched the house for a Batman book we had checked out of the library so that they had some "boy" books to read.  Ryan just got right into their midst throwing himself onto each boy.  Though it took a while, everyone finally settled into bed, including me (poor Matt slept on the sofa because his alarm was going off at 5am and I had to move Riley into our room to get the boys to go to sleep and we both agreed that we did not want to wake Riley up at 5am when the alarm sounded).  About 1am I heard whimpering and ran into the hallway.  There was Conor with his blankie crying.  I asked him if he wanted to sleep in my bed and he said yes.  Though I am very tired today, I think all the children slept well!  And it was fun waking up to a house full of children giggling and playing.  Poor Ms. Laura's contractions stopped at 5am and she is still pregnant!!!

Last Monday we had a fun visit with Grandpa Wells and Grandma Pat in Sanford.  They live in a beautiful community with a beautiful lake.  Lacy the kitty and the plastic Easter eggs were huge hits with Madeline and Ryan.  Ryan's eyes lit up when he spotted the eggs and then realized there were goodies in them.  Ryan also enjoyed some fun wrestling time with Grandpa while Madeline and Grandma Pat and I chatted and colored in the kitchen.  

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only that which is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen".  Eph. 4:29. What a powerful verse.  Of course I know that I do not want "unwholesome" things to come out of my mouth, but how often am I concentrating on speaking that which will BUILD OTHERS UP and BENEFIT those who listen.  It's so easy to add a touch of gossip to a conversation.  It is so easy to be self-absorbed in conversation.  It is so easy to talk about the negative and that which bothers me in conversation.  I hope one day my mouth will overflow with that which builds others up and benefits them.

Eggplant Parmesan

Since Matt comes home tomorrow, I knew tonight would be my last night to try a new recipe for Eggplant Parmesan (for obvious reasons, Matt is not a fan of the eggplant). Madeline and Ryan were so excited, as the smells of dinner wafted through the air. They thought we were having pizza or lasagna. I was ecstatic when they both began to eat the eggplant, but by the third bite, both of their little faces contorted and it was obvious that the eggplant was not going over well. Madeline told me that she did not like the taste of these noodles and Ryan just spit out an entire mouthful onto his plate and then refused to eat the mac and cheese on his plate that had touched the eggplant. Oh well, it was worth a shot. Now to see if Matt will eat it tomorrow. . .