Back at the In-Laws.

We packed up and headed home, only to hit a stand still on the highway. Since traffic wasn't moving at all we assumed there must have of been an accident. Due to the fact that the kids were cranky we headed back to the in-laws house. Thank God we had only traveled 10 minutes away! I guess we will try again later. We have to get home tonight because hubby has to work tomorrow. The worst part is I needed to go grocery shopping today. I will have to find some way to get to the store tomorrow. Since we only have one car when Daddy works we usually just stay at home all day. If we don't we have to get up and be ready to take him to work at 7:30 then pick him up at 8. That will equal tired cranky kids!

Smart Girl

Evie is growing so fast. Every day she surprises me with the things she says and does. She picks up everything like a little sponge. She never ceases to amaze me with the stuff she learns. She counts to 7 by herself. It was so cute the other day Christopher spilled his juice. I was frantically trying to clean it up, red Hawaiian punch! Evie started counting the spills, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7! I was so proud. She did that with out any help or encouragement from me!

Hair pulling, obsession!

Christopher has a horrible obsession with hair. He pulls hair all the time. The other day Evie came into the kitchen crying hysterically. I couldn't understand a word she said, but then Topher came running in with a hand full of her hair. I knew what was wrong, poor girl that hurts bad! I keep putting him in the pack n play for a couple minutes whenever I catch him pulling hair. I tell him not to do it that pulling hair hurts. I remind him that I love him. I think he might be to young for that, because he doesn't seem to understand he just keeps pulling hair.

He also loves to play with hair. He usually can not fall asleep unless he is playing with my hair. Naps and bed time all the same. He lays on my right side so he can watch tv and play with my hair. He is usually out within a few minutes. He also wakes up many times during the night and plays with my hair to go back to sleep. I have no idea how to stop this behavior, and I will not put him in the crib just to scream himself to sleep. In fact I took down the crib since I can't get him to sleep in it anyways!

Yesterday, we went to Dennis second cousin graduation party. There were so many little kids to play with that Evie and Christopher had a blast. I don't know if it was because of how excited he was, but Christopher must have pulled the hair of every kid at the party. I had no idea what to do, all of a sudden my son is the meanie that no one wants to play with! He made one girl cry over and over.

He also hugs a lot! He would hug kids or I think he was hugging them. Then he would pull them down to the ground and put his head against them to cuddle with them. He'd also laugh, and many times pull their hair. I think he thought he was playing with them, but I don't really know. He took down kids from age 1 to 14! He's a real bully now I guess. I don't know what to do or if I can do anything. However, I would really love the hair pulling to stop!

Working Days

My husband is currently no longer working nights. He is now on the day shift, 8 am to 8pm. It is so much nicer because we get to spend so much more time with him. Plus, he isn't as tired as he used to be so he helps me out a ton more than before. The only thing that sucks is he gets home at 8:15 and if the kids aren't asleep yet I have a horrible time getting them to bed. They get so excited when daddy walks in that all efforts to get them to bed are lost! Daddy might need to start helping with the bed time routine even though he's just getting home from a long day at work. I would push it but that factory is so hot that when he comes home I know he is exhausted. I don't think he understands how important it is that the kids get to bed at their bedtime. He will if I ever get a job and he has to deal with tired cranky kids in the morning. Bed time is 8pm, but some nights I haven't been able to get the little monsters to sleep until 10 or 11, and believe me by that time they are monsters!

If this schedule lasts I might get a part time job working 2 days a week! I would love to get a job. It would be nice to help out with money because it seems like now a days money is never enough!

The potty train!

I started potty training Evangeline around 18 months. We bought a potty chair and put it in the living room for her to sit on and just get used to it. I didn't want to rush her, and I found that she would sit on the potty for stickers. At first every time she sat on the potty she got a sticker, but I didn't know how long to have her sit, or how to get her to sit for any amount of time! So I let her play with the stickers. I made a poster and pinned it to the wall at a level she could reach. Then while she sat on the potty she put stickers on the poster. You can get tons of stickers at a local dollar store, ours is called Dollar Tree!

After a while this got old to her, and she was ready to start sitting on the potty with no diaper. She went a few times and we made a huge todo about it! This got her excited for a while. We then had the problem of her not being able to sit on the potty without her brother climbing on her. Plus, her Dora potty kept falling apart. So we got two new potty chairs "frogs". The kids love them. We keep these in the living room and Dora in the bathroom.

This solved the problem of brother climbing on sister. Then as an added bonus Christopher is already starting to potty train without even knowing it. He is encouraged to sit on the potty when Evie does. With his diaper still on because he doesn't sit long. He even says, "pee pee in potty" in his baby voice, but momma knows what he's trying to say. When Evie goes we take the tray to the bathroom to empty it, flush, and clean it out. Christopher follows with his in hand just because that is what you do. He isn't ready for actual potty training, but this foundation should help!

After the joy of the stickers wore off I made a chart on poster board. Evie got to color it then I wrote on it "Evangeline's good girl chart" I filled the chart with squares and every fifth square had a star on it. She gets stickers for going potty, and any good behavior I notice throughout the day! Then every time a sticker gets placed on the star she gets a prize. I have a shoe box that I fill with toys from the dollar store for her to pick from. It is our treasure chest.

Christopher is old enough that he wants stickers and prizes to, but doesn't understand why or what for. Every time Evie gets a sticker he does to. He also gets stickers for any good behavior noticed during the day! Then he to gets a prize. His chart is simply a blank calender that says on top "Christopher's good boy chart".

Both of them love to get stickers and prizes. The problem I now face is that Evangeline goes potty all day with no accidents only if she is naked. I can't get her to tell me she has to go when she has diapers or pull ups on. She even has accidents in panties. I don't know if she isn't quite ready for that or what. I know that she can not pull up or down her pants on her own. I am working on teaching her how to. Hopefully that will help. So for now when we are home she mostly runs around in a tee shirt!

Finaly on the internet

We are trying to save money so I haven't had the internet in what seems like an eternity! I miss it so much. Now that I am finally on the net I don't know what to do or say. Not that I have nothing to say to the contrary I have so much overflowing I fear it will be more like word vomit coming out than actual intelligible posts! Don't worry I will try my best. The kids are doing so good and have changed so much over the past month. Ever growing more and more into their own persons! If anyone knows of an affordable internet service that doesn't require a phone line I am all ears. I can not live without the internet!