And Then There Were Two

Chores with Kyle

Chores with Kyle can be entertaining...

  

   

  

...and challenging.

Kyle's Tear Duct

Kyle has had a blocked tear duct since he was born. It's a common thing that typically clears up on its own (one of the girls had it as well). But Kyle's tear duct never fixed itself. Now at eleven months, Kyle needed some help to get his tear duct unblocked. 

We went to see an ophthalmologist yesterday to have a procedure done. It was a quick 5 minute thing where the doctor stuck a small wire down his tear duct to open it up. I didn't see it happen but I sure did hear it. Poor thing was wrapped in a blanket and the doctor just did. He felt everything. Kyle quickly recovered from it when they brought him to me. 

We should notice a difference in two days. For the next five days, we give him eye drops to prevent infection. I'm glad that's done. With Kyle being sick for the past month, he's had so much discharge from his eye. He's finally getting better from his sinusitis with a second round of antibiotics. His first round of antibiotics was with Amoxicillin and we found out that he is allergic to it. Hopefully he'll be all cleared up in the next couple days and stay that way for a long time. 

Memory Like An Elephant, Counting to 100 and a Ring Pop

A few weeks ago, Karis asked me if she could have a Ring Pop. I asked her how she knew what a Ring Pop was. She told me she had seen one when she watched a football game with some friends. I had no idea what she was referring to so I asked her more questions. I then realized that she was talking about the time we went to a high school football game when we first visited Coppell back in October. BACK IN OCTOBER! She saw some random person with a Ring Pop at a football game and is now remembering it. I was so shocked. This girl has quite a memory.

While at the store the other day with Makena and Kyle, I saw Ring Pops at the registers so I bought two. I didn't want to just give Karis a Ring Pop, so I decided that if she could keep her Pull Up dry for three nights, then she could have it. She was so excited and determined. 

The first night, she went to the bathroom before going to bed. Derek put the girls down and a few minutes later we heard the door open and in a soft voice Karis says, "Daddy, I have to go pee pee." She takes care of business and then goes back into her room. About five minutes later, the door opens again.... "I have to go pee-pee." Derek and I looked at each other and laughed. She was so nervous she was going to wet her Pull Up that she kept getting up to go to the bathroom. We knew she was going to lose sleep over this, so after she went to the bathroom we called her downstairs to have a little talk. We told her we would think of something else she could do to earn her Ring Pop. She went back upstairs and stayed in bed. 

The next morning, she asked me if we had thought of something she could do for her Ring Pop. She wanted this so badly. I told her if she learned to count to 100 she could have the Ring Pop. We coached her in the morning and wrote some numbers down for her to refer to. A few hours later... 

She got her Ring Pop!

Of course little sis wanted in on all this too. I told Makena she had to learn how to count to twenty. I worked with her all morning and though she didn't quite master it, she did pretty well.  

Laughter

I could listen to this all day...

Oh Boy!

Oh, those crazy curls, 

those adorable cankles, 

those massive cheeks,

and happy smile. 

I love it all! 

And I can't believe he's going to turn 1 next month!

  

First Tooth!

Can you see that pearly gem? It's hard to get a photo of it unless I pin him down and pry his mouth open -- and that's not a fun picture to share. So this one will have to do for now. His second tooth is breaking through now. Perhaps I'll get a better picture with that one.

Our 3-Year Old

I was not looking forward to Makena turning three. For me, it marked her leaving the baby stage and becoming a little girl. I want my sweet girl to stay a baby a little longer. She has the cutest voice and speaks almost as well as her big sis. It's been fun watching her develop her speech and communicate her thoughts and feelings. Lately she's been telling us, "You're a good mommy/daddy." I'm not sure why she says it, but we'll take it!

She loves to pray for dinner and often surprises us with the things she mentions. She loves her Bible story book and will often flip through the pages, talking about what the story is about (it's pretty fun listening to what comes out of her mouth). She also likes to make up songs, often retelling a particular TV show. 

I love that she doesn't care what she wears (especially now when there's another girl in the house that is very particular about what she wears). Makena will grab anything from her drawer and come downstairs with the craziest outfits. I usually have to get her to change at least one piece of clothing before we go out. 

She is still our little clumsy one. She'll say, "I'm okay!" after tripping or bumping into a wall. But she often gets bigger bumps and bruises.  

She loves to eat! She loves breakfast and often eats more than her sister in the mornings. She's always asking for snacks. She doesn't love vegetables like Karis, but she'll eat them. At dinner, she tells me she likes everything and wants to eat that particular meal every day. Needless to say, she's not a picky eater. 

She can be easy-going with where we go and what we do. She's happy just being with family and likes to be at home. She's okay with not going out every day. She loves playing with big sis and will follow her lead. Unfortunately, she's quick to copy unfavorable words and actions as well -- even if she doesn't know what it means. 

She can get sassy and sometimes resists being disciplined. She's been testing her limits at bedtime, coming out of bed multiple times to see what we'll do. Karis went through the same thing but we don't remember it lasting this long!

Makena has been calling Kyle her best friend. She loves to play with him and always wants to watch him for me. Here's a little video of them playing together.

I Am Not Super Mom

The other day, I woke up so many times during the night for the kids (yes, for more than just the boy) that by morning, I was a wreck. Thankfully, Derek offered to take the girls to work with him so they could play in the indoor church playground while Kyle and I took a morning nap. When they got back, I was still tired but I was at least functional. After lunch, I wanted to go to Walmart  to return a couple things and buy a few things. It was nearing nap time and the girls had no desire to get back in the car. I bribed them with a lollipop as I usually do, and they happily escorted me to the store. 

I pushed my cart full of babies around the store and after checking out, we stopped by Customer Service for my returns. Behind me in line was an elderly lady and Makena got her attention by telling her she had a lollipop. They exchanged a few words about her wonderful lollipop and then the lady told me that I should have the word "Super Mom" across the back of my t-shirt. I laughed and thought, well having three kids in 3 1/2 years surely isn't qualification for being called a Super Mom. If she only knew what goes on at home.... 

This past week, the girls have challenged my patience and mothering skills like never before. I had to deal with the usual whining, tattle-telling and sharing issues, but on top of that, there's been pushing, lying, talking back, selfishness, blatant disobedience, unkind words, and plenty of attitude. Enough to make a mama go crazy! If I had kept my cool and handled each incident with grace, perhaps I would believe I was Super Mom. But, I failed miserably at every turn and I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with these issues as they arise. Who knows if I'm doing any of it right.

If anything, I think all moms are Super Moms -- no matter how many kids they have or how old they are. I know firsthand what we mamas do day in and day out. We all fail miserably at times, but we're trying our best for the love of our children. By God's grace, my children will grow up to be well-behaved, God-fearing people with joy in their hearts. I just have to trust that His grace will cover over my daily failures and continually pray for forgiveness, strength and wisdom. And hopefully one day the Lord will tell me, "Well done my good and faithful servant. You have done well with the children I entrusted you with." 

First Haircut

Makena's hair was getting long. When it was wet, it would reach down past the middle of her back. Her bangs were always getting in her face and bothering her. I cut her hair myself since she has super curly hair and (hopefully) no one can tell that it isn't perfectly straight. 

Here are the before and after pictures. You can't even tell I cut it but I thought it was funny that Makena didn't smile for the "before" picture. I don't know how she knew that you're supposed to look sad and not smile for a "before" picture.

 

Poor Karis wanted a hair cut too, but that girl's hair just does not grow. Her hair is still barely past her shoulders.