Craft Time

I am going to try to do craft time with Jackson every once in a while. Just to give him some Mommy and Me time where he gets my undivided attention for a while. Today, I gave him crayons to color while I fed Reagan and then planned to do crafts with him when I was done. He colored for 5 minutes and threw the crayons on the floor for the next 15 minutes. That was fine, he could pick them up when I was done, then we could have fun. Wrong!! Today, he decided he did not want to pick up his crayons. 45 MINUTES LATER, after 6 spankings, much wailing, a call to daddy, and time in bed, he said "okay mommy" and happily picked them up. Someday, I will figure out what makes him tick. So then we got to have fun with scissors, glue, and construction paper. Hopefully next time we get to go straight for the fun stuff.

Work

I had a meeting today with the district director to see if I could work part time. There is just no way I can work full time with two kids. Some days are great, but some are not - just trying to get stuff done without anything extra going on. I am not even sure how I feel about working part-time, but I felt I needed to ask. It is really a good job, I would like to "keep my foot in the door", and I really don't want to lose my pension benefits. But I really am not sure right now what I can handle. I thoroughly enjoy being with the kids, but being out working just a little bit every week would help me personally as well add a little extra to the monthly budget. I am not worried about it at all. God knows what is best. Every step so far in my life especially the last few years has been exactly where I needed to be for that particular time and I know that as long as I trust Him and don't try to figure it out on my own, it will all work out.

Linus and his Blankie

This is Jackson sobbing at the dryer because his blankie is in there and not dry yet. We have had this episode several times in the last 2 and 1/2 years. I need to document that as well as a happy boy with his "Raar" (pacifier) and "Blankie". The pacifier stage is passing on, he only needs it sometimes to fall asleep. I think we might have the blankie around for a while though.

Jackson's Sensory Disorder Problem

I have been taking Jackson to the Y for a little art class. Basically to give myself some incentive to go work out. They just read a little story and then do a craft project to go with it. He likes gluing and cutting, but I found that he does NOT like finger painting or anything that gets his fingers messy. It ends up all over him and me. So I decided to work on this issue at home and I gave him a cookie sheet with shaving cream on it and some hot wheels cars to drive through it. He literally freaked out!! He was crying hysterically and yelling "I dooty!" He did not like being messy. I showed him how to clap his hands together and make "snow" so that kept his interest for a while, but he still wasn't happy. Finally I stripped him down and put him in the bathtub to clean him up. He was worried about his trucks, so I gave them to him and he was happy as a clam washing them off in the water. Oh well, at least he likes to be clean -- we will work more on the texture issues later.

My new hairdo

I had to cut down on my time getting out the door. It takes at least two hours to get me and 2 kids dressed and fed in the mornings. So I cut my hair short to expediate things - at least on my part. (We took this picture on our way out the door to celebrate our 11th anniversary).

Lazy Day at Home

Having a fun day playing in the sunshine.
Reagan relaxing in her pack n' play
Little Fish
What a mischievous face!!
So much fun to be outside

Extra Big Brothers

We usually take pictures when we go away, but then never do when we are just hanging out at home with friends, so I am trying to remember to do that too. Parker and Braden Mottor are really just extra big brothers to the kids. They were over yesterday and love holding Reagan. They also discuss who is on "Jackson Duty" whenever we are together with them. Yesterday, Braden played trains with him and Parker read books with him. Fun Times!!