May the words of my mouth...

Another not-so-fun first...McKenna has learned the word "stupid" :o( We know she heard it on a TV show and it only took one time of hearing it to get it to stick...I know this may sound dramatic, but my "Mommy heart" was crushed :(

Sigh...

The first time she said it we were sitting at the table eating dinner and she just blurted it out. We were shocked. She told us exactly where she heard the word and we had a conversation about how that is not a nice word- How it is not a loving and kind word, and how we do not need to say it again. I used my "Mommy tone" and "Mommy eyes" to let her know how serious I was. I even explained to her that if she does use the word again then we would need to wash her mouth out with soap because it is a yucky word. I thought that would be the end of it...

Sigh...

It was out of the blue again...We had friends over playing and she just blurted it out all by itself, "Stupid!" I immediately removed her from playing, took her in the bathroom, reminded her of our conversation (which she said she totally remembered), and got the soap. This was not pretty to say the least. Again, I was totally sure that THIS would be the end of it, but again was wrong. Later that SAME night she said the word again...more soap, more crying, more conversation.

On the 4th offense, yes...the FOURTH...I took it a step further with talking to her this go 'round. Psalm 19:14 came to mind as I was trying to explain why we do not use the word "stupid". "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Also Ephesian 4:29 - "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."

I tried my best to explain these verses to my 3 year old, praying they would sink in somehow and resonate in her little heart. We are to use our words to be kind and loving so that others can see Jesus in our lives. What a reminder this was to my own heart... Words can be so harsh, hurtful and ugly, tearing another person down. They can also be wonderful, beautiful, and encouraging! Words have power.

We have yet to have a 5th incident, but I know others will occur if it's not with "stupid" it will be with another....I pray that the Lord continues to allow Scripture to help direct our reasoning when we discipline and parent. It makes it that much more easy to explain why we do and don't do certain things. Heaven help me if my child comes home saying a "real" dirty word...

Oh the joys :o)

Month 3 & 4 with Addi

As always time keeps on tickin' away without warning. 2 more month have gone by and our Addison is 4 months old!

Several highlights are- She rolled from her belly to her back during month 3. She moved to a 4 hours schedule and dropped her dream-feed (10:30pm) at 4 months. She also got her 2 bottom teeth at 4 months. One popped through and then 2 days later the other popped through! She was not a fussy teether. She did ok! She just drooled A LOT and always has her hands in her mouth. Once I figured out she was getting teeth, we started Tylenol and that seemed to help her sleep better. She also found her feet and they went straight to her mouth! I don't know how babies are so flexible :o)

Her last feeding is around 8pm and she doesn't wake up until 7:30-8am! During her appt. she weighed in at 16.4lbs (95%) and is 26 inches long (off the charts). She was a trooper with her shots, only crying until I could get a bottle in her mouth. We are going to wait and start solids with Addi at 6 months.

She continues to be a sweet natured baby. She laughs out loud with a precious giggle. She is NOT a good napper and fights taking her bottle - Lord only knows why! A perfect day in her schedule would look like this:

8am - Wake, Bottle, & Play
10am - Nap
12pm- Wake, Bottle, & Play
2pm - Nap
4pm - Wake, Bottle & Play
6pm - Nap
7:30pm- Wake, bedtime routine (bath, book, bottle)
8:30 - Bedtime

While this rarely ever happens the way I would like it to, we manage just fine :) She has begun taking "cat naps" along the range of 45 mins - 1 hour. Hopefully it's just a teething/growing type phase!

She continues to love her sister and McKenna loves her too! I pray every day that they will be best of friends for life! It won't be long until our little chunk of love is sitting up by herself! She does not like to be cradled like a baby anymore...she wants to be sitting up straight in the middle of whatever is going on! She likes her swing, playmat, bumbo seat, and exersaucer! She likes to be sung to and read to. She's a keeper and we love her more every day.


First bath with big sister...won't be doing this again for a while :) Too stressful for Mommy! Addi's cheeks got chapped with all of her drool so that's why they're a rosy :) She worked hard for those 2 teeth!


Sisters and best friends!!! Aunt Amy, Dave's oldest sister, made the girls matching dresses! They are oh-so-cute!

Girls' Weekend 2011

5 YEARS!!!! We celebrated our 5th year of Girls' Weekend this year! How amazing for 6 friends to keep up such a wonderful tradition! We know it's important, so do our families, and that's why we keep it up!

We headed down south for yet another get-away time in Stuart, FL. Our husbands keep teasing that girls' weekend is no such thing...it's more like a week....so yes....we left Wednesday morning and came back on Sunday late afternoon :)

Kelly has since moved to Michigan, so she flew into Jax and got to ride down with me, Lauren, and Jillian. Nicole drove over from Tampa, and Marie had to stay in NY this year due to just having a baby. We missed her so very much!


Each of us brought a little something special in honor of year #5. Jillian made us a delicious Paula Dean breakfast one morning, Lauren brought us each a coffee mug koozie, Kelly bought us all of our favorite junk food, Nicole brought us matching coffee mugs, and I came with a bag of questions to pull out whenever the mood struck. It was the little things that made it a great time together.

Dinner in (Tacos) and Jamin' Jenson is a tradition! Jamin' Jenson was a little slackin' this year, so we might have to figure something else out if they don't get their act together next year :)


Breakfast at Jan's is another tradition!


LB grilled the yummiest steaks ever one night.


Seafood/nice dinner is ALWAYS a must....


And we topped off our last night with some to-die-for cupcakes.

As you can see, food was the utmost of priorities :o) We also slept in late each morning, drank our coffee while it was still hot, laid out by the pool, took naps, laughed until we cried, stayed up late solving the world's problems, and just thoroughly enjoying our time together.

Thank you to our families who help watch kids and encourage us to keep our friendships strong. Til next year...

Addi meets Papaw

Dave's parents, Gran & Papaw, came to help Dave watch the girls while I went out of town on my annual girls' weekend trip. This time they brought my niece, Matilda, with them for extra hands and help!

Addison finally got to meet and get loved on by her Papaw. It was sweet to see them together. Addi got to meet her cousin too which is fun. They had a good long weekend together. The girls missed them when they had to leave. I was so thankful they could come and stay while I was gone. I didn't worry about leaving one bit :o)

Family is the best!