It all makes sense

I now understand some phrases that always puzzled me in the past:

1. Do you want me to spank you?
2. I don't want to spank you but you are forcing me to.
3. Stop crying or I'll spank you.
4. This hurts me more than it does you.
5. etc...

Everyday when I make these statments to my oh-so-two yr old, I understand now what my parents and the irrate parents at Wal-Mart meant by them. Streed really is a great child. Everyone thinks so. But, he has his moments. Like tonight when he spent at least an hour in his high chair because he would not even try a mandarin orange. Or a few weeks ago when he received multiple spankings because he wouldn't even try a bite of fish. He was crying, I was crying, but I had to win. The issue is obedience, not finishing his meal. We are not extremely strict nor do we demand he walk a straight line. However, we will consistently spank for disobedience and disrespect. We cannot let it go when he yells "no" and kicks his feet when he doesn't want to do something. He does not hate us. Quite the opposite really. It hurts his heart when he gets a spanking. He hugs us and kisses us and holds us tightly when he does wrong. Am I doing everything right? Not by any means. To love is to discipline. The bible tells me so.

Remember When...

On the blog about the double stroller I said to ask me in March if I was exercising and using my stroller? Well, today is January 24 and I went to the gym in the first time in a long time. It has been so long I can't even remember the last time. All I did was the eliptical for 10 minutes and then walked two laps and ran three on the track. And I've been home for an hour and a half and I am still feeling weak.

As I was running I began to think about other 'remember whens' such as...

REMEMBER WHEN:

• A few years ago I started running with my friend Cassie
• We could only run for 5 minutes
• We increased our time each week
• We could eventually run for an hour
• We were so proud of our accomplishment
• She moved
• I quit running (it was a commitment not a conviction)

I would like for this to become a conviction in my life. I want to build healthy lifestyle convictions into my family. It is weird that when you have kids you begin to think about all of your decisions and the ramifications of those decisions. I hope to write posts periodically of my exercise and healthy eating success!

Brown Eyed Girl

I knew when Ella was in the womb that she would have brown eyes. I took this picture this morning as I was attempting to feed her rice cereal. I thought it showed off her beautiful eyes. Yes, she has on Streed's bib and is in his chair. I am going to have to get her a feeding chair soon because Streed freaks out whenever I put her in his. I know you are probably thinking he needs to learn to share but I am thinking one less battle between my two year old and me is worth $20.

Title? What can I say?

When Streed isn't totally aggrevated that Ella is laying in his basketball space he is laying on top of her. She doesn't seem to mind one bit. He is rather light you know.

Too Hot to Handle

We had a photo shoot today with Ella in her mini skirt...a Christmas present from her Aunt Jodi. I think she felt beautiful! Plus she is rolling over now from back to front so she is happy as a lark.

Meeting of the Minds

We had the 2nd mommies meeting at our house yesterday. There were 6 moms and 6 babies with one on the way. (Our neighbor Lana is due in 5 weeks and is on bedrest so she came over.) The ages range from 3 weeks to 2 yrs. Our playroom is a great place for the kids to hang out. It is getting a little tight but I am thankful for the opportunity to host the group. If it gets too big we can use our den as well. One of the girl's husband said it was a "desperate housewives meeting". There is some truth to that. We all enjoy staying home with our kids but we value adult/female converstation as well. Just so its not simply a hang out time, every other week we are going to study a book. Some of the husbands with flexible schedules are going to watch the kids for an hour or so while we talk. The first one we are reading is Shepherding a Child's Heart. We are excited about the fellowship this will bring to the group.

Streed and Jadyn decided they needed some alone time.

Streed took the opportunity to help Jadyn with her game.

How do you spell hoss? E-L-L-A

19lb 10oz

She's actually 4 oz over what Streed weighed at 1 YEAR! She's officially off the chart on her weight and 97% in her height. Poor thing, she gained 3 lbs last month, not unlike her parents. So, she is joining us in our healthy eating campaign. All hers consists of is adding an extra ounce of water to her bottle.

The Boys

We visited Birmingham this past weekend for our friend Kim's wedding. We were able to stay two nights with Donna and Marc. It was a great time but as usual it ended too quickly. Streedy and Marky enjoyed each others company immensely and were glad to get reacquainted. Julia and Ella met for the first time. My only regret is that we didn't get 1 picture of the big smiley baby girls. They seemed to be always napping at different times. Thanks Donna and Marc for opening your home. Hope to see you soon!

Beep

Jill came to me a few weeks ago with an opportunity to make a few bucks. Sounded good at the time. However, at 1:05am when we were clocking out of Belk inventory, we decided it wasn't such a great idea. Monday night from 9p-12a and last night from 5:45p-1a we were scanning an ungodly amount of merchandise. It wouldn't have been terrible but we were repremanded within the first 2 minutes of scanning the first night because we were talking. Needless to say when they split us into 3 groups last night we were not in the same group. So, from about 6-11 last night we scanned in silence. After I had finished my section I went and found her and we just laughed at our stupidity. We enjoyed dreaming about how we would spend our pennies. The first part of my night I personally scanned the entire towel wall by myself. So, next time you are in a nice department store and see the neatly organized rainbow of towels, think of me...think of me fondly!

No Sudden Movements

I am pretty sure I broke my pinky toe today. No good story, just kicked Streed's iron bed as I was going to re-pacify Ella. It is quite painful. The reason I say it's broken is because I heard it crack. That was probably the worst part of the whole ordeal. There have been moments during the day when I have made sudden movements and I was quickly reminded to keep the toe still at all costs.