Sunday, March 7, 2010

Update on us and my lack of Juggling ability

Ok... So WOW. It really has been a long time since I last wrote. A lot has been going on. The girls are getting bigger of course. I had to laugh at my last post (way back in July) because of the talking back issues we had with Allison. I feel like a broken record but this time it is Elizabeth. She is starting to talk back so we will probably be taking all the toys out of her room as well very shortly. I guess that is what happens when you have them close together... it all happens back to back. So quick update on the us.
Allison is 5 now (in November) she will be starting school this coming year, she loves to learn and is enjoying her teacher at Daycare, Miss Vickie. She comes home most week nights with homework, she is able to recognize and spell all of her sight words (is, and, the, it, mom, dad, cat, etc.). She also has her first loose tooth. We found it this weekend! I think I am more excited about than she is... lol. She started back in Gymnastics this weekend as well. Allison now has decided that she wants to be a Princess, a Doctor and a mommy. I keep asking her if she could PLEASE stop growing but she say no. I am losing my first baby, she is becoming a little lady.
Elizabeth will be 4 in June and is a ball of energy, still! We worry about her speech but she is getting better, she was cleared by her ENT with a hearing test so no more tubes or visits to the ENT. She is the girliest tomboy I have ever met, she can walk in high heels better than me! She has told me on several occasions that she wants to be a Princess, a Ballerina, and a Doctor. Of course she is already a Princess and she just started ballet classes so next step is med school... I am very thankful that is a long ways a way.
Jim is busy busy busy. He started back to school for his masters degree. He is doing GREAT of course. He will be finished at the end of 2011. He has class once a week but meets with a class group once a week and usually has a lot of homework to tie him up a lot of the evenings, so for me and the girls December 2011 can't get here fast enough. We suck up as much time with him as possible.
Lately for me I have been thinking about juggling. Granted the physical act of juggling is not one of my gifts. But as a mom and as a human, really, we juggle so much. I have been thinking a lot about what I have been juggling and how well I have been juggling those things. If I was in school I would be in some serious trouble. The other day I decided to just jot down some of the things that I am juggling.
1. Kids
1a. their physical care
1b. their mental care
1c. their spiritual well being - I am blessed with amazing Sunday school teachers and godly friends to help me!!!
1d. their education - I am blessed with amazing daycare teachers that help me with this!!!
2. Jim & our marriage
3. Our House - I drop this ball daily... just stop by on a random Wednesday and you will see!
4. Home Owners Association - Thankfully we have found a wonderful neighbor that is going to take this over!!! One less ball to juggle!
5. Work - I love what I do but I have to make this my 2nd job, my first has to be my family and my God, and that is a juggle in it self.
6. Family - Outside the house. Sorry guys... I know I drop this one a lot!
7. Friends - I need to make more time for my friends and make sure that I am not a constant taker but a giver to those friends who need it and those how have give to me.
8. Personal Care - If I am truly honest, I often don't even pick this ball up... gotta work on that.
9. Precept Studies - I love my current precept class and am enjoying it so much but know that I could get so much more out of it if I applied myself more.
10. Sunday School - I love working with the kids and I feel this is where I need to be, but could always be more prepared when it is my week to teach...hmmm... that is next Sunday.
11. Church - I love the church we attend. But I know that I could be more involved, give more of myself to spread the word.
12. My faith - I am a consent work in progress. I need to have more quite time, I need to read my bible more and I need to share my faith! All these things will help me grow closer to God.

I know that I have left out things and I know for a fact that a lot of mothers or people in general could many more to this list. Sometimes when I am getting ready for bed I feel overwhelmed and I realized that I am putting a lot of these pressures on myself. Asking for help is not a sin and it will certainly not make me a horrible mom. When I was writing down these list I grabbed my bible and wanted to look for encouragement. The very first thing that came to mind was the story of Mary and Martha in Luke (Luke 10: 38-42)
Now as they were traveling long, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
I need to remember to not be distracted like Martha but be as Mary and sit at my Lords feet and listen to His word! Another group of verses that came to mind was Matthew 6:25-34 but the one verse that sums it up to me is And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? ~ Matthew 6:27
Amen to that! So I leave you with those words of wisdom... that I have yet to fully grasp myself but I am going to continue to try. It is so amazing that even through all my flaws and missteps God wants me! And sent is Son to die for my sins! You are an AWESOME GOD!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Man O Man does time fly

I just realized that it has been forever since I last blogged. Sorry about that! It has been a long time but time flies when you have two little girls. A lot has happened since March. Lets see where to start.
For me, things are going well. I am still working, thankfully. My hours dropped to an average of 32 hours a week starting in April. Last week was the first week since April that I had 40 hours. But the time off has been a blessing, I have been able to do some things that I have been putting off, like eye appts, dentist appts, spring cleaning and all that fun stuff. Plus I got to go on a few of Allison summer field trips with her which has been so much fun! I realized that God gives us what we need and for me that time off is what I needed. We often say that God will provide but often we forget that he is going to provide us with what we he knows we need not what we think we need or what we want.
The girls have had a pretty good summer so far.
Allison had soccer this summer. She was so excited about it until the she actually had practice then the excitement quickly moved to dislike. She was OK after things got started but she would cry as soon as we got to the YMCA, luckily it was only 4 weeks long. Now we know. This spring and summer has been a long test for Allison. We have had to deal with some attitude from her. One night a few weeks ago we were having a particularly tough night and I ended up taking all the toys out of her room, putting them in Elizabeth's room and not allowing Allison to go in and play, that went on for 3 DAYS!!! The next night she got home from daycare ate dinner and got to sit in her toyless room for the rest of the evening. That was the toughest we have had to be on her so far. Since then she has gotten better about listening and not being mouthing back. She is a constant work in progress but I think that is all kids. Allison also took a test in June to see if she qualified for Public Pre-School. This is a free program in the county we live in. They said that typically they have 60 to 80 people apply for 40 spots, we found out in July that she is on the waiting list and come mid August we will know if she gets in otherwise she will start kindergarden in 2011. I can't believe it!!! Kindergarden!
Elizabeth turned 3 in June. It is hard to believe that she is 3 already. She is very active and very independent!!! She is finally completely potty trained. The weekend of 4 of July she started sleeping through the night in panties and we have only had a few accidents since then. We are so proud of her! She is getting tall too. She is catching up to Allison. There are things that I take out of Allison's closest and it goes directly over to Libby and she is able to wear it right then. She is also almost in the same size shoe as Allison. I think she is going to be tall like daddy. She is just so loveable too. You get a million kisses at night and when you take her to daycare. The other thing that she does, that I love, is every time we are going to be apart, like bedtime, daycare, whatever, she says to us 'When I come back (or wake up) I'm gonna give you a hug and a kiss', she just melts my heart! She still sleeps with her wipe (check an older blog to understand), we are slowly getting her out of it, but a lot of nights she still asks for a wipe at bedtime. Strange! Now that Allison has given us a break with the attitude Elizabeth has stepped in, b/c that's what a sisters do, lol. Lately she has been our difficult one. We have seemed to have a routine down. Every night we set down for dinner and Libby melts down about something (wrong seat, wrong cup, Allison too close, something), she gets sent to the steps for isolation until she changes her heart, she decides to say she is sorry, comes back sits down and we eat dinner. Almost every night for the past week and half we have done this.
This parenting stuff is hard! LOL The other night while we were going through this, Allison chimed up and here is the conversation we had:
Allison: (with a very serious face)"Mommy, you know what I think you should do with Libby?"
Mommy: (trying not to laugh) "Allison, what do you think we should do?"
Allison: (again with the serious face) "I really think that you need to take all her toys out of her room!"
Mommy: (holding my breathe for a second to stop the laughing) "You know Allison that is a good idea but right now we are going to do this and see what happens, but thank you"
She is learning. She knows that she lost her toys for a few days b/c of her attitude and not listening. It made me feel good that the message got through to her but it made me laugh that I was taking advise from my 4 year old about how to deal with my 3 year old.
Our other parenting trial is trying to get Allison to face some of her fears. She and Elizabeth both completely melted down when we went to the beach the beginning of July, well we decided that we need to go to the beach more often and teach them how we act at the beach as well as that the ocean is not as scary as they are thinking. Last weekend we went back to the beach. Allison amazed us. She played and played in a little tide pool and went down and put her feet in the actual ocean a few times. Elizabeth on the other hand completely melted down again and screamed and cried, so I finally took her to the car and made her sit in the car while Daddy and Allison played and had a good time on the beach. This was Allison's reward for doing so well and facing her fear of the ocean. It wasn't any fun for mommy having to sit in the car and not in the sand but it was worth it to help Elizabeth to understand. In the end she had a change of heart and we took a short 5 minute trip to the beach so she could put her feet in the sand before we left, but she never did get to play in the sand, which is what she loves to do. Just another reminder that you don't get to a vacation from being a parent.
Last but not least Jim is doing well. His work is picking back up. He is in a basketball league, 2nd this year, and he is enjoying it. We all are getting ready to take a trip to visit his parents. He and his dad are going to Montana for a week to do some male bonding and me and the girls are going to have some girl bonding with Grandma Habeck and Great Grandma Byers. We are all very excited about the trip. We are going to miss Jim and Gary while they are gone but we know that this is something that is going to be so good for them! Plus Jim will get to see his Grandma Brunette while he is in Montana.
WOW, I just wrote a book. I will try to blog more often so it isn't so long all at once.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

It has been a while...

Gosh, it has been a while since I wrote. A lot has happened since then. The girls are growing and growing like little weeds. Where to start...
Elizabeth: Libby still has not interest what so ever in potty training but we are still holding out that she will be potty trained before she graduates high school. : ) She has also gotten very opinionated. She is not afraid to express herself, usually in a very loud manner. But we love it. She is a great helper. She likes to be my helper and clean up or cook. She is doing wonderfully with her colors. She has gotten them down. She is also doing great with her shapes, she sometimes stills gets mixed up but then again who doesn't. We are getting ready to celebrate her 3rd birthday. I still can't believe that my baby is going to be 3 in 3 months. She loves music, more specifically, mommy's music. Her favorite songs are "Blessed Be Your Name" and "Cinderella". She claps and sings along with them.
Allison: Alli is getting really big. We are getting ready to have her tested to see if she can get into Public Pre-School next school year. She is growing to be a very smart little girl. She also loves music and on occasion will go into 'big kid church' with us so that she can sing with us and she LOVES when they play a song that she knows. Her favorite songs are "Blessed Be Your Name", "One Step At A Time" and "Cinderella". She is very sensitive. Just the other day when we were listening to Cinderella (by Steven Curtis Chapman) she asked me why Cinderella was going to be gone, (If you don't know what I am talking about you really need to listen to the song) I thought it was so sweet that she was really listening to the words and wanted to understand what it all meant. She is also in Gymnastics at Daycare and she seems to really enjoy it. It is ending soon and I think we are going to move to dance b/c my tiny dancer is always singing and dancing around the house.
For Jim and I we have just been busy with family, work and church stuff. We had a little scare when Jim's father had a minor heart attack but thankfully it was minor and he is home and doing very well.
Well I can't think of anything else excited so I am going to go and feed my little ones.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Saying Goodbye...

This week Jim's mom and dad came down and we all LOVED having them here. The girls were pretty sad this morning when they woke up and realized that Grandma & Grandpa had left. But they had such a good time. They went to the park to play and had a picnic, they got to go to 'Old McDonald' aka McDonald's to play in the playland, they went to the beach and so much more.
Jim and I love when they come too. We love visiting with them and trying to talk them into moving next door. : P But we will have to hope that when Gary is ready to retire they decide to head for warmer weather. The good news is that we will be seeing them in a few months.
While they were here we had some really fun times. Elizabeth showed Grandma and Grandpa what happens when Libby isn't happy... NO BODY is Happy! Elizabeth also showed Grandma and Grandpa the super sweet lovable Libby! And the loved every minute!!! Allison got to show Grandma and Grandpa her new attitude but she also showed them the super smart Allison as well has the helpful, sweet and lovable Allison.
They got a kick out of watching the girls jump and dance to music. And how they will fight and fight with daddy over who's music we are going to listen too.
They both have 2 new favorite songs. Blessed Be Your Name by Tree63 and One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks. And they both will argue with Daddy until he lets them listen to those two songs. They are definitely his daughters.
It was so nice to have them here and watch them with the girls. Next will be to head up to PA so that we can enjoy Grandma Bev and Pappy. That won't be for a few months... sorry guys, but we love you all!
The girls have pictures at Daycare today. Grandma and I got went shopping and picked out matching dresses for the girls. They are just so cute. I will have to post a picture or two when I get them of course. The girls got to play fashion show last night for Grandpa and Daddy with their new dresses and a few other outfits that they got this week too. Girls Girls Girls! This was a good week!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Introducing Zibby & Nik Nik

First I have to say that I am STOCK FULL of good stories tonight. But first I have to introduce Zibby & Nik Nik.
These names have come to pass over the last few days. It started the other night when we were in the car and Libby was telling us what her name was. Well Jim started calling her Stinkerbell (b/c she now loves Tinkerbell) and she got very upset saying that her name was LIBBY not stinkerbell. So I told her that her name was actually Elizabeth and Libby was her Nickname and she got REALLY upset and yelled "DON'T CALL ME NIK NIK, MY NAME IS LIBBY'... and Nik Nik is borne : ) So since then we have been calling her Nik Nik when we are all playing... well frankly to get a good laugh at her getting really serious and telling us that her name is LIBBY HABECK!
Well not wanted to let Allison out we tried to come up with a new nickname for her. She has several, Alli, AlliCat, AlliPie. We tried AGHy (AGH = initials) but that didn't seem to sound just right. Then remember a old story from when Allison was little and Libby was just a twinkle in my eye (or a little june bug in my belly). So here is introducing Zibby:
When Allison was little, say around 12 months old she decided that she really like the word 'Zibby'. No one really knew what it meant, we thought it meant she wanted a sippy cup but this word came out when she was happy, mad, playing, crying, you name it. She just seemed to like the word Zibby. During that time we used to call her Zibby b/c she said it so much... and there Zibby is reborn!
So now we will have the many adventures of Zibby and Nik Nik. Although Allison says that her name is not Zibby it is Grilled Cheese because that is her favorite food. LOL, Zibby!

For the first of, I am sure, many adventures of Zibby & Nik Nik!
Tonight we decided to go out for dinner. So off to Chili's we went, YUMMY! We got there and both girls were extra wound up from spending the day with daddy b/c of no school for MLK Day. On the way Allison, aka Zibby, was saying how much she LOVED Grilled Cheese and that was what she wanted for dinner, well Jim spoke up and said that he really liked Grilled Cheese too. Allison got all serious and said, "Daddy, you can't like Grilled Cheese". Daddy replied, "Why not Alli?"
"Because it is Girls Cheese Daddy!" Now I know that sounds like a corny joke but I swear it came out of her mouth... Ask Jim...
Nik Nik had an interesting night too. As we are having the "girls cheese" conversation she chimes in with some silly things and in a matter of about 30 seconds falls asleep. Then once we get seated and the girls start to color she proceeded to fall asleep coloring and drools all over her hand and the crayon and wakes up right before her head hits the table. Man where is the camcorder when you need it. I guess daddy really wore them out today.
Ok, one more very sweet thing from Zibby (Allison) and I will be done for the night. After we are all done with our dinners and we are getting ready to leave Allison announces "Mommy & Daddy this was ABSOLUTELY the place I wanted to go to eat tonight!" Who knew my 4 year hold knew the word absolutely let alone knew how to use it!
And there you have it the first adventures of Zibby & Nik Nik.
Good Night...

Sunday, January 18, 2009

What has it come too...

Last night Jim had to go to Fedex Kinko's for work so we all went out as a family and decided to go to Citadel Mall and get the girls Dairy Queen (that was the closest DQ to the Fedex we went too). So we park and start to get the girls out and about 6 teenage boys are walking by shouting profanities! They were not talking they were shouting. And it was not just a few bad words it was the "F" word about a million times. I wanted to just get back into the car and go home! I have been trying so hard to keep my girls from words like that as much as possible, I have gone as far as telling a neighbor to get out of our yard for using those types of words around the girls. I know they are going to hear them but I am trying to limit in hopes that I will never hear it out of their mouths. The girls didn't ask any questions about the kids but that was a moment that I cannot take away from them. I keep Elizabeth's attention so that she would not pay attention to them and I think Jim did the same for Allison. What can I do when in a situation like that? I thought about saying something to the kids but with some things that have recently happened at the Citadel Mall I would not want to put myself or my family in danger of having someone that the situation too far.
I hope that I was never that why when I was young. Granted I have never been a curser but I hope that I was never that disrespectful.
It is amazing what you realize now that you have kids.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Boy does time fly

I can't believe that it is the middle of January already. Man does time fly when you are having fun.
The girls are doing great so far this year. Allison is getting bigger and bigger each day. She often now says "Mommy when I grow up, like you I want to ..." that sentence ends in many different ways, ...cook, drive, stay up, ect. She also also asks me if she is growing? I tell her that she is growing each day and night. Something that she said recently stopped me. We were in the car and she asked me if she could see Jesus. We explained to her that Jesus was in Heaven and that he lives in our hearts and she said, "But mommy I want to see him." It make me realize that she was trying to truly understand what we had been teaching her. We have been reading her some of the kids bible almost ever night and she wanted to see Jesus like the people in the bible had seen him. It is interesting to watch her work through what we are talking about and all the amazing things that The Lord has done for all of us.
Elizabeth is also getting so big. She amazes me most of the time. She is such a busy bee, it is so funny to watch her just go and go and go and go. We have given potty training a shot but she is way to interested in playing and have a good time to think about potty training so we have decided to back off for a little while. We had to do the same thing with Allison, we just need to wait until she is ready, pushing just will make it tougher on everyone. Elizabeth still has her strange wipe obsession, it makes it tough now that it is cold out b/c she wants to take it outside with her but I don't want her face to get chapped, try explaining that to a 2 year old. She is the funnest at bed time. Let me just tell you what she has to have in her bed:
1. Wipe
2. Little mermaid Book
3. Her 2 little ballerina princess dolls (Ariel & Cinderella)
4. Her Sleeping Beauty Doll she got for Christmas
5. The Barbie Doll she got for Christmas
6. "Baby Boy"-which is a little baby doll that came with one of the many Dora dolls they have.
7. One of her baby dolls (this usually changes each night which baby she wants)
8. Her Tinkerbell blanket
and finally herself. Now you have to imagine all this in a little toddler bed. She is so funny, she will read the Mermaid book to all her babies, then play for a little and she will usually end up falling asleep in some crazy way, like with the book over her face. She is pretty silly.
Jim was sick last week but is feeling much better now. The girls haven't gotten sick yet, I woke up this morning not feeling well but I am sure it will pass. It is just weird how Jim & I both got it but the girls haven't... granted I am thinkful.
We are having a cold snap down here. BRRRRR... I don't like cold. This morning we were down in the teens, THE TEENS. This is South Carolina! But I am thankful we don't have the snow that my family has up in PA right now. This morning we braved the cold weather to go get some IHOP all you can eat Pancakes for Jim. YUMMY! The girls love their pancakes (or as Libby says cancakes). Then we had a child safetly training class at church. I need to take it because of teaching Sunday School and since Jim has been helping me out, Mama T asked him to take the class too. It was interesting and I have officially decided that I will NEVER LEAVE MY GIRLS OUT OF MY SIGHT!!! I have always been very protective of the girls and after learning more about the different types of people we need to watch out for I have become even more protective than before. I know that I have to trust in the Lord that he will keep us safe but I know that the Lord gave me these 2 beautiful girls and I feel like he gave them to me and it is my responsibility to take the best possible care of these two very special girls. I want to honor My Lord by raising my girls safe, happy and crist loving children.
Speaking of I am off to go play with my two little ones.
Cheers!