Two Little Ghosts

Let me just say, that today was a very bad day! Bella who I always say is my easy, mostly compliant child, (except for the water issue) was awful today. I'll only share a couple of the naughty things she did today. UrgH! Bella decided that she wanted to act like Natalie, so I find both girls putting every pair of their shoes in the dog's water bowl, even Bella's new brown shoes. Water was every where. Natalie got into a bag of bird seed I had sitting out and Bella somehow broke her TV. So, I thought I would be nice and give her the TV from our bedroom, because we hardley ever use it. So I'm walking up the stairs with a giant TV in my arms when I smell a strong whiff of baby powder over-coming me. Then I see a streak run past me into the bathroom (Bella hiding) and a white cloud of dust coming from the nursary. After I put the TV down, I find Natalie sitting on a rubber-made container full of her next size up clothes completely covered in baby powder and she's rubbing her hands through it, it's all over the floor, the rocker, her teddy bears, the dresser, the stool and all of her toys. Bella had pushed the container up to the dresser to get the baby powder down and when I asked her what she was doing she replied "Natty and I were playing ghostists". Can I just say I don't think I'm ever getting that smell out of her carpet!

Help!!!!!!!!!!

O.K. guys any help would be welcomed. We have been struggeling with Bella over playing in her bathroom sink. For the last few months, she has been bringing water into her room so she can have tea parties and what ever else and we keep telling her that she can not take the water into her room. Well, then I started finding glasses of water under her bed. It doesn't matter if we give her sippy cups with water before bed, it's not about that. She is deliberately disobeying and lying about it to us. Everyday she promises she won't make a mess and then I go into her bathroom and find her cups all over the sink and floor with water in them. Every day I step in puddles of water in her room or on the bathroom floor. She takes all the kitchen toys and fills them up and even if I hide all the cups, she somehow finds more. OK, so my master plan was to turn the water off to her sink and make her use hand sanitizer instead of soap and water and I thought I was so brilliant coming up with this idea, but boy was I wrong. It appears my 4-year old is smarter than me. This is what happens. Bella tells Aaron when he's upstairs, "Daddy I need a drink of water" and Aaron says, "OK, you need to leave the room and I will get you some". Bella say's " Dad, I know how you can turn the water on - you just follow the pipes behind the sink where there is a knob and turn the water on" and she goes behind the pedestal sink and tuns the knob to get the water turned back on! Aaron said "how did you figure that one out?" and She said "because I am very smart". Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Bella is usually my good and obediant child. I hardley ever have issues with her, but on this particular issue, we cannot win. Any suggestions? Right now she's grounded from her room and has to sleep downstairs in the spare bedroom, but she's right next to another bathroom, so I don't know what to do. Please leave comments if you have any grand ideas. Thanks guys!

And then there was a princess......

Today Bella had her birthday party and she had a lot of fun. Everyone dressed up like a Disney princess and the girls made their own magic wands, which could have been very messy, but all the moms helped out tremendously and it went without a hitch. They played lots of games, but what Bella wanted to do the most was play with her friends without all that party fuss. I kept having to call her back from trying to jump on the trampoline and kept yelling at her to stop taking everyone upstairs. Ugg. Anyway, she had a princess cake and opened her presents a little earlier than I would have like.....maybe when I was actually in the room for example, but I know she was excited, so I tried to remain calm. She started this new sneaky faze, that is really making me a little disgruntled and I found her hiding behind the couch with the bowl of M & M's. Ugg again. The party was a nap time, so that was kind of difficult, but I had no other choice. I had a lot to do by myself since Aaron was down after his surgery. He did help with the wand creating, so I was thankful for that. She got an Ariel movie and she was very excited about that, so I decided that movie time was a good idea. You could mostly find Natalie following after me with her arms in the air saying "ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah" - you get the picture or laying on the ground crying. She was a big help. I hope all the girls had a good time.

Aaron's Surgery

Aaron had had surgery two days ago to repair a hernia and is still in a lot of pain. Because it was an outpatient surgery, we both thought he would recovery a lot more quickly. He needs lots of prayer that the pain will go away and that he will recover soon. It's hard to watch him hurting and there's nothing that I can do. I have three babies to take care of this week - in Aaron's words, and it's true. I am trying to get ready for Bella's birthday party tomorrow and take care of the house-hold duties and it's a little over-whelming. My to-do list is a mile long. Please pray that we get through this time. Thanks!

My Baby Turns 4

Last night I let Bella sleep with me and we had a sleep-over. She loves to wake up with me in her bed. I made her favorite breakfast and Aaron worked later last night, so he could spend the morning with us on Bella's special day. We went to the mall so she could go to Build a Bear and she made a doggy and put her on rollerskates. We had lunch and the girls rode all the rides that they put in just recently. They were cute in the little blue convertible. We had Bella's party with Aaron's side of the family and she was so excited. We got her 101 Dalmations and she was so cute when she opened it. She hugged and it and said "I've always wanted this!". Her aunt Carrie called to wish her happy birthday and she said "thanks for remembering me". Aaron and I ended the night by looking at photos of Bella when she was born. Where did the last four years go? Although I miss her being that small, I really look forward to seeing the young lady she grows into!

Today

I am: blessed.
I think: you learn more about yourself through times of struggle and sorrow.
I know: I'm stubborn.
I want: more children.
I wish: my friend Kristen could have her husband back.
I hate: waiting.
I miss: my oldest friends Jane and Aaron.
I fear: I will out-live my children.
I smell: fall in the air.
I crave: time to myself.
I search: for patience.
I regret: all the people I've hurt in my life.
I love: my family and friends.
I ache: when I think about how hard it was to create our family.
I care: about the salvation of my girls.
I always: thank the Lord for my children.
I am not: perfect.
I believe: it's not what happens to you in life that matters, but how you deal with it.
I sing: "You are my sunshine" to Natalie.
I cry: when I remember seeing Bella in the hospital nursery for the first time.
I fight: with my husband about who is right.
I write: all the funny things Bella says in a book.
I win: some arguments.
I lose: my mind trying to pick up toys everyday!
I hurt: my hands when I do stained glass work.
I care: about people who are hurting.
I never: like to hear gossip.
I confuse: euphemisms.
I listen: to my daughter's footsteps running upstairs when she should be in bed.
I can usually be found: cleaning my house.
I am scared: of bridges over water.
I need: God to get me through this life.
I am happy about: having a sister.
I hope: they find a cure for cancer in my life-time and that I don't crash to my
death on the way to Australia in November.

Bella"s First Day of School

Today was Bella's first day of school and what an emotional morning for me! When I woke her up, she jumped out of a bed and gave me a koala hug and was ready for the day. We quick got ready and her dad called to wish her well and asked her how she felt on her first day of school and she said "I'm a little bit scared, but a lot brave". I started to cry. We prayed together for her day and that it would go smootly and I cried even harder. We took pictures before we left and when we got there. When she walked in the class her teacher greeted her and gave her a little hug and showed her where her cubby was. She then had to put the whale with her name on it, into a fish bowl (her class is called the whales). Her teacher sent her to a table to have free time with the kids and she never looked back. She settled in all excited and instantly made new friends and I just watched my sweet baby growing up before my eyes. I tried so hard to hold it together in front of the other parents who were struggling to pry their crying children off of their shoulders. There were enough people crying in that room - yikes! I knew Bella wouldn't be apprehensive, but I was still proud of how she just settled right in and made herself comfortable -she is not at all shy, but she can be moody sometimes. I knew this day would be hard, but I miss her already. Natalie is loving having me all to herself and is having a ball. I don't want to take too much time away from her, but I wanted to write this, before the freshness of the day wares off. My sweet baby girl - I couldn't be more proud of her.

The Long Holiday

Well, we had a good Labor day holiday, but it was busy and there were disasters. My aunt and uncle came up from Texas and all the rest of my family lives down there, so we did a lot of shopping and eating out and we celebrated Bella's birthday - one of her three parties. She got everything she wanted and she was so excited. She told me she couldn't wait until we got home so she could open up her gifts. We got to Joliet fine, but when we were coming home from getting dinner out and we were on the highway, the car started to over-heat and then the police came and helped us out like five minutes later and then a tow truck one minute later. Yikes. They towed it almost to my parents house - they live right off the highway and we got it worked on a couple of days later. I hate spending money on car repair. Yuck! We were late getting home - we hadn't intended on staying so long. These next couple of weeks are going to be busy, like everyone else I guess. The girls enjoyed spending time with Grammy and Pop and Bella already misses them. She didn't want to come home with us:( Of course, she loves her Aunt Carrie and hero worships her. She gets the biggest reaction from Bella. I know how special aunties can be. I'm so happy for family and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful one. I wished we weren't all separated from one another by such distance. Bella managed to hurt herself everyday we were away and is covered in scratches and bumps. She had more than Natalie for a change. I'll be doing their pictures when ever she doesn't look like she's back from war! I hope everyone else had a good holiday weekend and school started off without too many hitches.