Sibling Love and Sibling Rivalry

When I was younger, when my sisters and I fought, my parents would punish us by telling us that we had to pretend we no longer had sisters.  We had to function as if they didn't exist, we couldn't talk to them, play with them, or even acknolwedge their presence.  At the time, I thought it was the weirdest thing, but of course, whenever that happened, I immediately needed to tell my sister something or ask her a question, but of course, if I got caught talking to her, I would get in more trouble.

Well....like most things in life, I completely get the rationale of the punishment now that I am a mother.  If I could do that for a 4 and 2 year old and have them really understand the punishment, I would do it!  But unfortunately, I don't think they would be able to understand. 

When Molly was born, I remember thinking that Brody really wanted nothing to do with Molly...never acknowledged her, never seemed to like her, and I remember being worried that they were not going to be close to each other.  My how I was wrong.  They are literally two peas in a pod.  I actually joke with people saying it is almost like I have twins.  What one does, the other has to do the exact thing.  What one eats, the other has to have the same thing.  What one plays with, the other of course wants to play with it at the exact same time even when it was sitting there for days without either one playing with it.  It is funny to think how wrong I was.

The first thing Molly says when she gets up in the morning is "Where is Brody?"  When they go to bed at night, Molly can't lay down until she gives Brody a kiss and a hug.  It really is pretty sweet!  I am so glad to see how close they are and I do hope it continues as they grow up.  Of course, they do have their moments where one is screaming at the other...or tattling "Mommy.....Brody hit me" or "Mommy....Molly won't give me that!"  But I would say 98% of the time, they are inspeparable!

Right now, as I type this, we are hanging out in the living room and watching Scooby-Doo because it is raining outside.  Where are my children?  Right here....(sorry the picture is so grainy)

That is Molly on the left, twisting her neck so she can see the TV, and Brody on the right.  They are covered up with the blanket.  What is funny is that if Brody got up right now to go to the playroom, Molly would follow right after him....but right now, they are both content just chillin and watching TV. 

This was them yesterday.  So cute!

So on another note, Ted is having to work nights for the next week.  He started on Thursday night...and I have to say I am not a fan.  He works from 10 pm to 6 am and even has to do it over the weekend.  Luckily, his last night is Tuesday.  I could not do this for the long haul.  I, nor the kids, would never see him.  He comes home in the morning and sleeps all day.  Then he gets up around 6:00 or 7:00, eats some dinner (or for him, breakfast) and then takes a shower and heads to work.  Like I said, luckily it is short term. 

Next weekend is our anniversary and I will leave you with this note.....I am going camping.  Yes, that is not a mistake....I typed camping.  I still can not believe that I agreed to go, but my neighbor finally broke me down and I agreed to try it.  The only good thing is that we are not going to be in a tent.....we rented a yurt.  When I originally googled a yurt, I have to say I found things that scared me.  But when I found out what the yurt looked like at the place we are going, it wasn't sooooo bad.  Here is a picture of the outside and inside......not horrible, I guess!

The one good thing is that we are going with just Ethan.....my parents are going to watch the little ones.  It will be nice to spend some time with just Ethan and I think he is really looking forward to going.  My neighbors have a boat and we are going to spend a lot of time on the lake.  I am trying to be open-minded about this whole thing and am happy that I will have a day or 2 off of work.....much needed that's for sure.

Anyway, I am off to do some laundry while the kids are still laying here nicely watching Scooby Doo!

Happy Mother's Day....and Big Changes for Molly

Happy Mother's Day!  I want to say this especially to my mother who is the best role model I could have asked for.  I have already told my mother this, but I really never knew the depth of her love until I had my own kids and I love her so much!  I also want to wish my mother-in-law a special Happy Mother's Day.  I know she hates that she can't be here to be near her grandkids, but hopefully that will change soon.  And don't worry.....they have not forgotten their Mia!

So last night we had a major transition in this house.....for Molly and for me!  She slept in her big girl bed for the first time and did awesome!!  I had to work yesterday and when I got home, Ted was about half done converting her bed/room and I almost fainted!  I mean....we talked about doing this for a couple months now, but I was hesitating a little because that means that was the last crib in our house!  She is my last one (reluctantly by me) and I admit that I was holding on a little longer than I should have to the crib.  But...really....she never tried to climb out and I think she was as distraught as I was when she actually went to bed last night.

So...we did our normal routine.....bath, book, and then she laid with me for a few minutes in the rocking chair in her room.  When it was time to lay her down, she laid right down, but when I covered her up like I normally do and walk out, she started crying.  Ted thought I was crazy, but I was going to see if she would give up her paci (or papi as she calls it) since she was in the big girl bed, but I was going with the motto "don't offer...don't refuse"  So I didn't offer it to her, but before long, she asked for it so I thought that would give her some comfort.  I sat next to her bed for about 10 minutes just rubbing her back and getting her to calm down.  The funny thing is that she never tried to get out of the bed.  She just laid there and cried.  Finally, I decided to be brave and leave and while she was still crying, she was starting to calm down and still...never tried to get out.  By the time I got downstairs, I looked in the monitor and she grabbed her blanket up near her head and was out.  This is what I saw:

She slept all night....no problem and while she was awake when we went and got her for breakfast, she was still laying in her bed.  She is such a good girl and like Tab and I always say....we always get worried about transitions and how our children will adjust....but they always surprise us and end up having no issues with transitions. 

And now....for my middle child (Brody that is....).  We have been having some issues with listening lately and he has gotten a little sassy with talking back.  It has probably been for the last week or so, but still....I am hoping it is just a brief phase.  So, on Wednesday, he got in trouble in school and I had told him that if he got in trouble, he was going to go straight to bed after bath and not be able to watch TV.  So, Wednesday, he went straight to bed.  Of course, for the first 30 minutes or so, he cried and then finally calmed down and fell asleep.  So the next morning, I told him the same thing.....and that day, he had a note from one of the teachers to his main teacher saying Brody would not listen to her and that he was being disruptive.  So....same thing.  Except this time, he went straight to bed with no crying.  I think he actually laid there for 2 hours before he finally fell asleep.

So, now on Friday, again....we had many discussions and I told him that he needed to listen (yet again).  Well...I called his school around 3:30 and talked to his teacher.  She said that while he had a better day that day, he was still not listening.  She said he was not being "her Brody"  I swear...I love his teacher.  She has always said that Brody is her "go to" guy because he knows the rules and he is always so helpful.  So of course, it broke my hear that she said "What is going on with my Brody.  This is not like him"  Of course, I told her I didn't know but I was going to do my best to make sure we rectified this situation.  She said "We will overcome this and we will work together on it!"  I do love that woman....I will be sad when he ends up moving to the next class.

So...this weekend, he has been awesome!  We told him he had to earn his stuff back and he has done an awesome job with listening and doing what he is told.  So....we shall see what the week brings!  Hopefully.....this past week was a fluke.....

Anyway, I hope all the Mommy's out there have a great day!

Long long time.....And Funny Stories!

It has been a while since I have posted....and I hate that!  I tend to look back at my blog posts alot just to see what the kids were doing at certain ages and when I don't blog like this for a while, I realize that I am going to regret it.

So...what has been going on!  LOTS!  Work is crazy.  I got a promotion (YAY!) and of course with a promotion, comes alot more work!  Last year, I was working on a huge project in Massachusetts and we found out about a month ago that we won it!  I am so relieved.  This new program is now worth $525 million dollars a year for our company......sooooooo much money!  Considering all the work that went into the project, it is nice that it paid off.  We are now waiting for word on the last big project I worked on here in Virginia.

Kids are doing great!  Because I want to remember these later on in life, I have a few stories about the kids recently.

Molly
Sassy little Molly.  A couple of weeks ago, Brody was put in time out.  Of course, lately here, he has gotten a little mouthy and he starts saying "Let me out...I want out!"  Of course, we tell him the longer he does that the longer he will stay in time out.  So...I was in the kitchen and Ted was in the living room.  Molly was walking towards me and she said something, but I didn't quite hear what she said.  Ted asked her what she said and she said, I quote, "Brody is hard headed!"  I could not believe she said that...or that she said it in the right context! 

Second story.....I was putting the kids to bed one night and we were in Molly's room getting ready to read a story.  The night before, I was working late so Ted put the kids to bed.  Brody said to me "Molly didn't listen to Daddy last night so she didn't get a bedtime story."  Here was our conversation:

Me:  "Molly - did you not listen to Daddy last night?"
Molly:  "Nope"
Me:  "Why not?"
Molly:  "Can't"

Again, hilarious.  It was just simple one word answers!  She is definitely going to be our little troublemaker!

Brody
Brody is smart beyond his years.  I tell you....everyday he amazes me with the things he is learning and the things he knows about.  A couple of Saturdays ago, my parents called and said that since they weren't coming over for Sunday dinner the next day, they wanted to pick up the kids and take them to the park and out to lunch.  Of course, I was thrilled to get a little stuff done around the house while they were gone.  Of course, Brody kept my parents entertained.  At lunch, apparently Brody wasn't paying attention while he was eating and my Dad told him to turn around and eat.  Brody looked at him and said "You are right Pop-Pop....I need to focus!"

Another funny story....On Sunday, he was out riding his bike with my neighbor's son.  After a little bit, they both came in and Benjie said that Brody fell off his bike and scraped his knee.  Brody came to me and he had a little strawberry so I cleaned it up and put a bandaid on it and he went on his merry way.  That night at bath time, Brody told Ted that his knee was really hurting and he thought he might need to ride in a wheelchair!  Where this kids get this stuff, I have no clue, but he is definitely an entertainer!!

Anyway...I wanted to get this stories down so I would remember them later on in life.  Of course, there are many more and I am going to try and get better about keeping a record of them.  Anyway, here are some recent pics....

Pics from Easter.....

Molly chilling in Brody's car....

Relaxing with Daddy!

We took them to a fundraiser at the park near our house and they got their face painted!  Molly loved it!!!!

Brody loved the popcorn!

Brody and I went shopping one day and once we were done, I got him a snack.  After a couple of bites of his pretzel he looked at me and said "Look Mommy.....a 9!"

I just love this picture....not other reason!