What happened to my baby?

It seems like Elsa (9 months) went from being a little baby to being an almost-toddler overnight. She was this little baby that only wanted mommy and loved to be tickled. Now she crawls everywhere, throws tantrums, prefers daddy (unless she's hungry) and wants to bounce. She's still little and I know she's still a baby but she just changed so much in the last few months, it's amazing.
Last week I bought 10 jars of baby food to try out, see what she likes. Now I have to force her to eat the baby food because I paid good money for it, before I'll let her eat what she really wants: whatever we're eating. We have discovered she loves rice and noodles especially.
She also now has 7 teeth. 7! That's almost one per month. And I can see a little molar start to push its way out in the back, too. But because of those teeth she bites constantly. And boy does it hurt.
*sigh* My little baby is growing up, too quickly as always. At least she still likes to nurse, I will ho

ld onto that as long as I can. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Oops!

I have fallen WAY behind in my Thanksgiving posts. I'm so far behind I'm not sure I can catch up. So I'm not going to try. But I have a lot to be thankful for. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams! Thank you Lord, for all You've done for me.

#9- Our Exciting Evening!

Last night we got to go to an Exhibition game at the Allen Fieldhouse to see the Jayhawks play! It was a great game; the Jayhawks won, the kids were very well behaved, there weren't any rude fans around us, and we didn't have any problems! We did have to pay an astounding amount of money to park. If it hadn't been pouring rain and dark we probably would have looked for cheaper parking but parking close sounded like a good idea. It was a great night and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go!

Thankfulness #8

If you know me for very long you know that I love shoes. If I had the money and space, I would have a lot of shoes! Right now in our trailer I have over 30 pairs of shoes including boots, heels, sandals, flats, and regular shoes. Plus I have probably another 30 pair in storage that don't fit me right now or are summer shoes. But my favorite shoes right now are my new boots I got for my birthday. We got an amazing deal on them, we ended up paying less than half their original price! (I love JC Penney, that might be tomorrow...) I wear these boots almost every day, I'm wearing them right now! They are so comfy and keep my legs warm.

Thankfulness #5, #6, #7

#5- Our Fifth Wheel
I am still amazed at how God worked out for us to get this fifth wheel. When we started in our ministry 2 1/2 years ago we started with a tiny fifth wheel that was so small, our whole family did not fit. Then we were given a fifth wheel that was a little bit bigger. We all fit, but Noah had to sleep on the floor and Anna didn't have a bed. Then, when we couldn't stand living in that anymore, God worked us out to be able to get this Fifth Wheel. A missionary family to Mexico that just happened to have the exact trailer we needed, just happened to have it for sale, and just happened to pass through Arkansas where we just happened to be working at a job site! After several months of talking back and forth, and lots of prayer, they lent us the trailer on a one-year basis. They basically let us use it for free (saving them from having to pay storage fees), and we worked to raise support to be able to take over payments when the year was up. Because of different circumstances, our church ended up taking over the payments and refinancing the loan before the year was up.
The trailer has two bedrooms; the back bedroom has four beds. It is a four-seasons trailer which means it can stand heat and cold, and it has several other features that fit our family exactly! God is so good and we're blessed to have such a nice trailer.

#6- Elsa's Play Pen
Elsa will play, sleep, and cry in her play pen and I don't have to worry about her being underfoot, or rolling off the bed. We were able to find this one at a consignment store and we got it for a very good price. It is an amazing blessing to me, and she seems to enjoy it!

#7- Dry Erase Board
Last year Caleb found a dry erase board that fits perfectly on the freezer door. I use it everyday, for lots of things! I write Lela's phonics story on it, shopping list, hang menus on it (it's also magnetic), and keep cute magnets on it. I don't know what I would do without it.

Dealing with Consequences

My oldest daughter Kayla is 7 years old. She's normally a very helpful, funny, kind-hearted girl. But lately she has had a very selfish, greedy attitude. I didn't know what it stemmed from, or even how to get it to stop. I tried talking to her about it, giving her scripture about what happens when you're selfish, I tried scolding her, I tried all I could think of and it wasn't getting any better. If anything it was getting worse. Maybe her selfishness was a way to get attention.
So I've decided something; I'm not going to accommodate her selfishness anymore, she's just going to have to deal with it, even when it hurts me too. Yesterday at church a sweet lady in the church brought some hats she had knitted. Kayla immediately snatched up a red and blue one and said "This is mine!" I wasn't near her so I couldn't say anything about it, but because she grabbed that one, there wasn't one for Lela, our (almost 6) 5 year old. But Lela didn't cry or complain, she just had a sad face and the lady said she would make some more that would be her size. Today she brought two more hats; a green and yellow one and a light pink and red one. Kayla decided she wanted to pink and red one also, and told Anna (2) that she could have the green and yellow one even though Anna got a pink one yesterday. That made Lela upset and she started to cry.
This is where I had to be firm with Kayla so she could see how her selfishness yesterday effected her today. I told Kayla that Lela got to choose first since she didn't get one yesterday and since Kayla had already told Anna she could have the green and yellow one, and Lela wanted the pink and red one, that Kayla had to stick with the red and blue one she greedily grabbed yesterday. She was not happy about this, and was upset for quite a while. But I hope she sees on her own that selfishness seems to get you a gain when you're in that moment, but in the end, it limits your blessings. If she had shared yesterday, she could have gotten the pretty one today. I told her "Sometimes your choices keep making bad choices for you." I'm praying she'll see that selfishness does not equal gain.

Day #3 and #4

Well I missed yesterday, it was a long day! So I'm going to combine yesterday and today.
Yesterday I was thankful for Contact Paper. Yes, you heard me, contact paper. It's a homeschooling moms best friend! It's a little tricky and it takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it you'll want to use it on everything.

Today I am thankful for cool weather. I love it when it gets cool and your nose and cheeks turn red, and when you step outside it kind of burns to take a deep breath. I love being outside of a cool but sunny day! The kind of day where it's bitter cold in the shade, but deliciously warm under the sun rays. Today is one of those days and I'm hoping to go out and enjoy it some!
I will add a picture later, I want to get one of the kids playing outside.

Day 2: Smile

What's my favorite thing that makes me smile? That's easy, my husband! He is so funny, we laugh all the time.

Jumping on the bandwagon....

I'm going to do the 30 day challenge of things to be thankful for. But I don't know if I'll make every day! I'll see what I can do.

The first one is "Favorite Food" and I have a tie! Dr. Pepper and popcorn, of course!

These two things together make the perfect snack!