Well, we transformed my baby's room and my little loves are now officially in big girl beds! They slept on the bottom bunk together for the first time on the 27th. We put them to bed at 7:30 but they played together until 9:30. They woke at 5:30am a little disoriented and thirsty, so after getting them a drink, I tucked them back in & they fell back asleep til 9am! I'm so proud of them! I heard them calling out "Hello!" when they woke, went in to get them and we had breakfast on a tablecloth in the living room while watching Winnie the Pooh.
We're not quite ready to introduce them to the top bunk. When they're better climbers & learn how to get up & down unassisted, we will assign days of the week to them and they can switch off sleeping on the top bunk. Sunday will be reserved as a treat for whoever gets the most stickers on their chart during the week!! Potty training has taken a step back but once they get used to sleeping in their big bed, I'm going to reintroduce it and hopefully we can get hang of it before their birthday.
Here's my growing girls! I feel so blessed to have been with them for almost 2 years! Every stage of their lives has been exciting. I will miss knowing them as babies, but I look SO forward to knowing them as little ladies!
I know my posts are typically of my girls' growth & progress. I love sharing all the new things they learn & pick up from week to week, but I want to switch gears and talk a little bit about my man.Yesterday we watched the movie "Courageous". For those of you who don't know, it is a movie centered around the moral/biblical responsibilities of a man at work & at home, as husbands & fathers. Most of the men in this movie worked for the Sheriff's Department. If you're not familiar with it, watch this clip before reading on.
It was a good movie, but it hit us pretty close to home. It has caused Ian and I to think and talk a lot about our roles in regards to his job on the police force.
Y'all honestly, I never wanted to be married to a cop. That life was never something I thought I would be able to handle because I've always been scared of being alone. I tend to see the gloom before the glory in most situations. How do I let my husband leave our home everyday knowing full well that it could be the last time I see him? How do I ever let go of him, knowing it might be the last time I'll ever get to embrace him? Ian is an invaluable part of who I am, and if something ever happened to him, how could I continue on without that part of myself? These are everyday worries that I carry with me until I hold my beloved once more. Yes, I worry, but the Lord has a way of delicately refocusing our views and that is why I'm not consumed by fear. I know my husband and I know my God.
Ian is more than my Hero! He is an amazing police officer and sometimes that means he's travelling the dangerous road. "Courageous", though a well made movie, does not even come close to portraying what Ian has to face on a daily basis. He sees and deals with pure hatred & evil. But he possesses a strength that I have never seen in anyone before. He knows what's right and fights for it! He is smart, calculating and always seems to be prepared for anything. He is never taken off guard because he never lets his guard down. He is always protecting. He's very open with me regarding the difficulties & pressures of his job, but he does not bring the street problems that he faces into our home. While caring for the needs of others, he still finds time to treasure his family and touch the heart of his wife. It might sound odd, but my worry for him when he's in the thick of trouble, means that someone else doesn't have to be scared anymore. When Ian is out on the job, I feel safe and proud, not alone and frightened. And that's only due to the peace of God. He began a work in Ian and I long before we met. Ian's purpose was to be a peace officer and so was mine; his job is to make peace and mine is to live in it! When he's out keeping us safe, I am with him. I send him out with a prayer for safety and greet him again with a prayer of thankfulness! And I can tell you now, after plenty of moments of dread, that I don't wish things were different. It is hard, but the hard is what turns the good into great!
The God that my husband and I serve has numbered our days, and nothing can happen to us until God desires our presence with Him and calls us to our heavenly home. Even when Ian is away from me, Jesus Christ still faithfully walks beside him and I trust Christ with Ian's care. Therefore, Ian possesses an armor that is unseen and cannot be removed or penetrated. He is covered in love and prayers and I am confident that he is as safe as he could ever be.
One of my favorite hymns is "Because He lives". I often hum it to remind myself to surrender my fears.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know, He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.
"...If God is for us, who can be against us?" Rom.8:31.
Continue fighting the good fight, Ian my Love!
Thankfully, our bedtime spats were short lived, but I tell ya...Phew! It sure was rough there for a while. Being a Mama is difficult sometimes. Last night was heavenly. I put them to bed, they went down without a fight and slept til 10am this morning! I hate it when my babies cry and wish I could fix it every time, but there really is something to leaving them alone to let them cry it out. They've learned that after I say goodnight, they won't see me again til morning and for that, I'm so thankful. Uninterrupted sleep is best for all of us!
They're in pullups during the day, diapers at night. We're in the same place potty-wise. We have plenty of days with wet pants, but they're doing much better at recognizing when they have to go #2 and telling me. They jabber to one another all the time & are starting to form sentences..."Sissy, where are you?", "there you are!", "all better", "I wanna hold you". They're also starting to sing along with us to songs in the car! It's adorable!
Another new development is rapidly approaching. We will probably be in big girl beds soon. They often nap at Nana's in pack'n plays and they've been climbing back & forth from one to the other.
Rather than putting them in toddler beds, Ian and I will be assembling the 30+ year old bunk bed he (all the Mader kids) slept in as a child. It's an incredibly fun bed and SO cool that his daughters will be sleeping in it now! We're probably still a few months out, but we're thinking about putting it together for their birthday in April. Pretty exciting!
We've been experiencing a new phase 'round here..."Babes being boss". Karis & Kelsie have been far too demanding lately. They expect me to get them what they want when they want it, and their manners are lacking. They do not understand why they can't always have what they want. Well, it is now affecting our sleep.
2/7 - fed the girls an early dinner and wanted them to be full when I put them to bed, so I fed them oatmeal 30 min. before. Ian was off work, and a half hour after we laid them down, all heck broke loose. Our girls have never done this before, so it really took us by surprise. They screamed at the top of their lungs, so we kept going in to see what they needed & tried to help anyway we could. Every time we left, they screamed! Usually they're really good at communicating what they need/want. Y'all, it was so bad I thought maybe a scorpion had crawled in their jammies or somethin'. Checked for all the usual signs of illness. No fever, no diaper rash, no incoming teeth, no bugs in bed, no dirty or wet diapers, NO REASON TO BE CRYING! Since they'd never done this before, we figured that the oatmeal probably gave them an upset stomach. Kels cried/screamed until 2am before I decided to let Dada & Karis get some uninterrupted sleep. Took Kels on the couch with me and through her soft sobs, she was finally able to fall asleep. She looked like an angel in my arms. I put her back in her crib at 4am, went back to the couch to get some much needed sleep and that's when I hear Karis start up. Phew! Here we go again. I rushed in there to get her before she woke anyone up and she fell asleep on the couch with me. They always look so angelic & perfect when sleeping. I put her back to bed at 6 and they didn't get up til 10am. We were betting on this being a one time thing, but...
2/8 - ...nap time was no different. Major temper tantrum!! Cried for 30 min. When bedtime came along, it was a repeat performance. But Ian and I decided that this is an "I'm mad because I can't get my way!" attitude. Since we tried disciplining them with no affect, we decided that it was best to just leave them alone to work it out. Tonight Ian had to work, so with his authority behind me, I was determined not to tend to them til morning, even if they screamed all night. Kare stopped crying a half hour later, but Kels scream/cried from 7:15-10pm. Sounded like her leg was being cut off. She was so mad!! I turned the monitor down to the lowest setting and just let them cry/scream. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to endure!! I just kept reminding myself that sometimes the best thing I can do for my kids is nothing at all.
2/9 - put them in bed, sang, prayed with them, kissed 'em, and told them I wouldn't see them til morning. They cried for 15 min. and are now silent. I know we're probably at the beginning of temper tantrum stage, but I'm hoping we nipped this one in the bud and this "crying at bedtime" phase will pass quickly. I will not let my kids rule the roost. They don't have to like it, but they need to learn to obey. As a parent, you never know how much you can endure until you're forced to go through it. This has been a good, hard lesson for us all to learn. Any cries hurt a Mama's heart. Your prayers are appreciated.
Ok y'all, I'm sorry to keep posting about the potty training, but it's kind of a big deal around here right now. The girls have really impressed me the past few days. They are really starting to catch on and they're developing a stronger desire to go potty. They've made it fun! I am continuing to take an encouraging roll, rather than drilling. I ask, but don't force.
If you read yesterdays blog entry, we had successful #2's from both girls! I thought it would still be a once-in-a-few-days kind of occurrence, but this evening, they surprised me. Kelsie has been saying "ickypoo" 30 min. after I put her to bed for the past 4 days. It has become a routine and it's been difficult to determine whether or not it's a real need or just an excuse to get out of bed. Well, this evening she was in tears and would not stop crying. I went in to talk to her and she said she needed to go to the bathroom. I sighed and was pretty skeptical, but took her anyway. She sat there sucking her thumb and 3 min. later she went #2, just like she had communicated! I was SO excited for her! She stood up and said, "Yay! I did it!" There's not a lot of things that are cute about potty training, but it was SO adorable to hear say those words in her sweet, excited little voice!! She got 4 mini M&M's & a sticker on her chart! She was happy after that, curled up & went to bed!
While I was helping Kelsie, Karis was in her crib saying "potty" repeatedly. She tends to be my jealous babe. She had already gone #2 a couple hours earlier so I knew she didn't need to go. I thought is was just an excuse to get up, but she wouldn't let it go, so I took her potty too. She sat on the musical potty seat and pushed. Sure enough, it sang!! She jumped up and clapped for herself! Rewards & praise followed. I tucked them back in and 2 hours later(10:15pm) I heard from Karis again. She started fussing, so I went to tend to her cuz I knew Kels had fallen asleep and didn't want her to wake up. Kare said she had to go potty again. Phew! I thought about forgoing this one, but took a deep breath & hauled her to the bathroom. She sat there, made going sounds & then passed gas a few times. "Yay Poopy!" she cried. She stood up and I showed her there wasn't anything in there. Told her that she would need to do more than just toot if she wanted a treat, and she sat there until a half dollar size amount of liquid made that potty chair sing!!! Ha! She was thrilled and received hugs, praises and treats! Oh how they make me laugh! That's 2 days of success in the potty department. It happens irregularly, but it happens and I'm getting the results I was hoping for...their attitudes toward the concept are staying positive! Here's hoping it continues! Normally, I wouldn't post pictures like this cuz I know that when the girls get older, they'll be bothered by it, but this one is too cute not to share.
Oh where to begin?! We are all finally healthy and I'm so thankful! The girls are growing so fast.
Potty training progress: We are almost through our last box of #4 diapers and once we're done, we will be in pull-ups until completely trained. The girls don't go to the bathroom in their potty seats every day. I make it a point to encourage & ask them frequently, but at this point, I still wait for them to want to. They do like sitting on their seats & reading. They often pretend by sitting on their seats and making "going" sounds. Tonight while sitting in their highchairs, Kare said "ickypoo" & started pushing, so I rushed her to the potty & she went #2. She enjoyed the praise, treat & sticker that followed. When I got done with helping her, Kelsie said "ickypoo", so I took her and she did the exact same thing! They are getting to a point where being wet & dirty really bothers them and they've even begun tugging at a dry diaper as if it's uncomfortable. I'm also so thankful that they're able to communicate better and let me know when they need to go. I hope it continues.
Things that the girls have been doing lately:
name all our colors
preferred movies: "Lady & the Tramp" and "Backyardigans"
reading
helping Mama around the house
counting to 11
call the cat & dog by name
wiping up any mess
howl at any siren
coloring
love being outside, sliding & swinging
singing along with familiar songs
dancing
brush teeth
running
looking at the moon & stars
Saying, "Again", "Alright", "Wow-wee", "Hello", "Oh No", "Mess" and many other words.
really enjoy eating oatmeal
It is amazing to watch them grow! They are learning so fast. Ian and I are fascinated by them and feel very blessed.
Ian's always hard at work but he's enjoying his job. He also got the cool opportunity to meet Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in American history! He was at Hastings for his book signing. Ian was thrilled!
And I'm just busy being a wife & Mama; two of the greatest things ever and I love doing them!
We met freshman year(2002) at Western Baptist College, fell in love, got married, moved to Texas, had 3 beautiful daughters, and are living life and loving the Lord!!
