My Mom Heart

Wow! I feel so full! Full of love and inspiration, encouragement and conviction, ideas and ideals. I have recently returned from Sally Clarkson's Mom Heart Conference in Dallas, TX, and I am ready to go! Ready to be the mom that I am supposed to be. Ready to have a change of heart for my kids. Ready to change my focus from raising happy, successful, well-adjusted kids to raising kids who believe and love Jesus! Ready to be a different mom.

My eyes were opened to the negative energy that I bring to our household. There is a phrase that I use when I am disciplining my girls: "I love you too much to allow you to act that way." This weekend, those were the exact words God used on me. He loves me too much to allow me to act this way. I heard myself saying to the girls, "you chose to disobey", "you need to change your attitude", "you need to have self-control", and I realized that it was me, not them. I'm the one who often times has a bad attitude. I'm the one who needs self-control. And I'm the one who disobeys God's word ("do not exasperate your children"-Eph. 6:4, "do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen"-Eph. 4:29). But God is not punishing me for it. He is graciously bringing it to my attention and showing me a different way, His way.

One thing Sally said during the conference really struck a chord with me: "Aren't you glad that Jesus doesn't require first-time obedience from us?" Oh yes. I am so glad! I realized that I need to have alot more grace with my girls. Teach them and train them and even discipline them, but do it with love and grace instead of with a stern voice and a frown on my face. I want my girls to know that I am HAPPY to be their mom. I was God's first choice when he was choosing a mother for my kids. And I am so glad he chose me.

Heidi Update

Our little Heidi is getting quite big! She has doubled her size in the last 6 weeks. She now weighs a whopping 6 1/2 pounds!

House-training is going pretty well. Especially now that it's warming up a little bit. She does not want to go outside when it is cold, especially when it is cold and wet. So those days have been very hard. But she is getting better and more consistent every day. So I am hopeful that we'll be fully house-trained before too long.

The hardest thing now is the biting. When she get's in a bitey mood, she is no fun. Her little teeth can latch on to the girls ankles and then it get's loud and crazy with screaming and growling and running! And then I want to scream. I don't really know how to train her not to bite. I'm assuming she'll grow out of it, but that might take a long time and I'm not keen on just waiting it out. I think obedience classes may be in our near future.

She is SO cute though. Just in the last few days, she has started being able to stick her ears up a bit and I love it! She looks at me with that curious little face and those ears sticking half-way up and I just have to kiss her.

Sweet Recognition

One day last week when Princess got off the bus, she ran to me waving a green piece of paper and yelled, "Mom, I got invited to the art show!!" "Oh, that's wonderful!", I said, not having any idea of the implication of being invited to the art show. The invitation said that Princess was invited to attend the Elementary Artwork show on Thursday night. I asked Princess if her art was going to be displayed and she said , "yes, my city picture". So, of course, on Thursday night we went to the art show to see Princess's picture.

There were a bunch of people there, walking up and down a very long hallway that had artwork displayed from the 50 different Elementary schools in our school district. When we finally found the Hamilton Elementary section, and Princess found her city picture displayed up on the wall, I teared up! I was so proud of her!! I've always thought she was a very good artist. I'm so proud that her art teacher thinks so too!

(I forgot to bring my camera, so this is a very poor picture that Drummer Boy took with his phone. I'll post a better one when she brings her picture home.)

Got It!

Princess has had a loose front tooth for about 3 months. About 6 weeks ago, it became very loose when she was using her mouth to hold onto a leash that Pumpkin was pulling on. For the last few weeks, it has been hanging on by a thread, but just wouldn't come out! She looked a little funny because it kind of stuck out and would show a little when she smiled. We've been telling her to wiggle it and eat apples and I even offered to yank it out for her, but she insisted that it be left alone!

Finally, last weekend, Drummer Boy and Princess were out running errands and he told her that if she got her tooth out, he would buy her a special treat. Amazing what a little incentive will do! She pulled it right out.

Now she has that typical little girl smile. What a cutie!

Christmas Festivities

One of the great things about having both sides of our family so close to us is that we get to celebrate every holiday twice! This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with the Blazers. It was great to spend some time with my sisters just relaxing and enjoying their company. Of course we love the presents too, giving them even more so than receiving. It was a great day.

Christmas morning was all smiles. Santa left a desk for Princess, a new bike for Pumpkin, and a Wii for Drummer Boy. Actually, the Wii was for all of us, but I think Drummer Boy was the one who wanted it the most. I made a blueberry almond coffee birthday cake for Jesus and we had a yummy start to our celebration of Jesus's birthday.

At the Blazers, we had our usual traditions of the White Elephant gift exchange for the adults and way too many presents for the kids from all the aunts, uncles, and grandparents. And the boys continued their tradition of getting winded and slightly injured playing touch football. And the kids continued their tradition of running around wild and crazy and excited. Can't really blame them. At the end of the day, we were all exhausted, but thankful for the closeness of family and thankful for the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

A couple of days after Christmas, we headed out to West Texas to visit Drummer Boy's grandparents and his mom's side of the family. We haven't been out there for Christmas in about 10 years, so it was really good to spend that time with them. It was a long drive (9 hours) but the girls travel really well, so it wasn't too bad. It was worth it to see Drummer Boy's grandparents. And hey, we came home with a cow that laughs and rolls over, a zhu zhu pet, a pair of rainbow peace socks, and a Texas Tech snuggie. I'd definitely say that was worth the trip, wouldn't you?

How is a Puppy Like a Newborn?

After we had made the decision to get a puppy, but before we actually got her, I told my mom about our decision. She didn't think it was a wise move for our family right now, and she voiced all her concerns to me, ending with, "Amy, it's just like having a newborn baby." "I know, I know," I said. But, even though I knew, I wasn't really prepared. Once again, adding a sweet, innocent little creature to our family has rocked my world! The truth is, in many ways having a new puppy is like having a newborn, or a toddler, but, in many wonderful ways, it is sooooo much easier. Maybe I can make it through this newborn period without the assistance of medication...maybe.

How is a puppy like a newborn baby or a toddler?

She poops and pees ALOT.

She is most attracted to the things that are forbidden.

She would much rather play with a piece of paper that makes a crinkly noise than an actual toy.

She puts everything in her mouth.

She wakes up crying in the middle of the night.

I find myself lying in bed praying, "Lord please don't let her wake up..."

If I turn my back for a few seconds, she is sure to get into something she shouldn't.

She can't communicate in terms that I can understand. She wines alot and I don't know what she wants.

I feel like I can't get anything done when I'm at home with her.

I'm exhausted at the end of the day.

She is adorable and I just want to hug her everytime she looks at me.

How is a puppy soooo much easier than having a newborn?

If I need to go somewhere, I just lock her up and leave her at home.

Or if I just need a break, I put her in her "safe puppy area" (a room blocked off with baby gates) and go about my business.

I can put her food down and walk away instead of having to sit with her while she eats. (I remember when Katie was a baby, she would nurse for 45 minutes every 2 1/2 hours!!)

She requires much less "stuff".

It's not nearly as heartbreaking to let her cry it out at night.

All in all, this puppy is alot of work, and I feel like I'm going through ups and downs just like I did with each of my baby girls. But, I'm hopeful that this roller coaster ride will be much smoother and shorter than the other two. I hope. Only time will tell...

Meet Heidi

Well, we did it! We got a puppy. OMG!! I can't believe it! We got a new puppy!!

I'm not really sure how it happened. It just happened. One day we weren't even thinking about getting a dog. Then the next day the opportunity presented itself to get a dog. And the next day we decided to get the dog. Am I crazy? Isn't getting a puppy supposed to be a decision that you think about and read about and talk about and think about some more? Well, I did all that thinking and talking and reading in a matter of about 2 days. And so far I don't regret it. (so far). No really, I love her.

The girls decided right away to name her Heidi. I like to call her Rascal. Heidi Rascal Blazer. She is a Yorkshire Terrier and she is only 7 weeks old. She weighs 3 lbs 7 ounces. So far, she is doing really well. I know housetraining is going to be a long process so I am hoping that my house doesn't smell like dog pee by the time she gets the hang of it.

She spends half of her day taking naps curled up in a quiet corner or under the couch and she spends the other half of her day being carried around like a doll by Pumpkin or nipping at Princess's heels. My biggest hope is that the girls don't turn her into a fearful, anxious dog before they gain an understanding of the proper way to treat a dog. She's not a doll, she's not a toy, and she's not a scary monster. She's a sweet, precious, curious, energetic puppy and I love her!