9

From this....





A life was made.

And a beautiful life it is.

Happy 9th Anniversary to the person that has made it all possible.  Can't wait to meet more of this life.

Still here!

Yup, I am still here.  Normally, I would have done several blog posts about holiday decorating but this year was different.  I LOVE Christmas and twinkling lights and Christmas villages and snow and cut out cookies and holiday music and holiday decorating and Elf on a Shelf.  And I did most of all that this year.  

But I felt like I was just rushing through all of it to get to something even better.  Meeting my daughter.  It can't come soon enough.  I truly cannot wait.  But I have to wait.  

So in the meantime, some pics and vids from Christmas 2013.  Our last as a trio...

Yes, there was a lot of Poppy but he was too fun not to include all his shenanigans.

Hope you all had a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.

"Santa I want a dinosaur toy" and more Poppy

Tonight was Sully's school/daycare Christmas program.  It was his first year actually participating and it was adorable.  I have some crappy video of it on my iPhone and may try to get it on the blog but it was not the best angle or quality.  You may just have to take my word that it was so stinking cute.  After the little story and a few songs, Santa made his way into the room.  I was shocked to see my tiny son had run up to him and was first in line to sit on his lap.  It kills me just thinking about it!  Mr Fearless.

 Yes, his nose is red since he was one of the many Rudolphs in the program;)

Santa, "What would you like for Christmas?"

Sully, "A dinosaur toy" (this kind of threw me for a loop since he already has a dinosaur but I guess he wants another one)

When the hubs asked him what he asked for from Santa, Sully was sure to tell him a dinosaur toy.....and a dragon.  I don't remember him asking for the dragon but now he has convinced himself that he has so I guess I will be going shopping this weekend.

Afterward, he needed to look outside for the reindeer and sleigh but all we could find was the tracks.  He claims to have seen "lots of Rudolphs" in the sky on our way home.  Gotta love it:)

In other holiday news, here is what Poppy has been up to....

 More acrobatics.  He is such a show-off.

 Then he started a countdown to Christmas.

And had to have Santa read him Twas the Night Before Christmas.

 Then he had a staring contest with Birdface.  At least I think that is what is going on here.  But I can't be sure.

Then he decided to show up Sully with how fast he can fill up a jar with felt balls.  I guess I owe him a trip to Dollar General.

 BTW, the jar filler for behavior modification seems to be working most of the time.  Not 100% because the kid is 3 and he has his moments but he really does "get it" and tries to model good behaviors so he can fill up his jar.

But then we found Poppy in the dinosaur's mouth this morning.  I guess the dinosaur did not think that he deserved all those balls that were in his jar.  Or he just likes Elf.

Behavior Modification

The 3's have come in like a lion and are going no where fast.  I was really hoping that Poppy could help us out a bit here, but no such luck.  In order to save what sanity I have left, I was desperate to cut down the amount of whining, tantrums and negotiating I was doing on a daily basis.  Near the end of a particular trying day, I texted my friend Kaiti that I was just not sure how much more 3 year old drama I could handle.  She responded with solutions, which I wasn't expecting.  I was just expecting some fellow mom camaradarie, like "yeah, damn kids are ruling our lives!!"  But actual solutions are much better!

One of the solutions was to try "Bucket Fillers."  I had never heard of this so naturally, she had to explain it to me.  The basic concept is that you fill a bucket (or other container) with objects (balls, papers with compliments, rocks, whatever) when the child exhibits a behavior that is favorable.  Conversely, you remove an object when the child exhibits an unfavorable behavior.  When the "bucket" is full, the child gets a reward.  I had nothing to lose, so we are on day 3 of this.

Here is our bucket (small mason jar) and filler (felt balls).

Why did I decide on a jar with felt balls?  Because I already had them and we needed to start this IMMEDIATELY!!

So far he has a few balls in his jar from peeing on the potty, having a good day at Grandma's house today and listening to his parents.  A few more were added tonight after a very nice dinner helper effort and easy bedtime routine without crying. 

We are trying to get this first jar filled up fairly quickly to get him his reward as to give him more incentive to keep filling up the jar.  His reward is going to the Dollar General (his favorite place ever) and picking out a toy.  The toy can even be above the $5 shelf!!  Exciting!!!

7 Days of Poppy

We have an Elf this year.  His name is Poppy.  He is interesting, I am still trying to figure him out.

 He was pretty excited about the tree.

 Then he took a wild ride on a fox.

 Which apparently got him super dirty so he needed a bath.  Sully was not sure that he wanted to share his duck with him but I talked him into allowing it.

 He felt pretty spry after that bath and was up for some acrobatics.

 Which apparently got his bowels moving...

 Which got him curious about Slash...

 He spent 1 1/2 days reading this.

St Nick came tonight.  He is peaking at all the goods.

I can't wait to see what hijinks he has planned for the rest of the month.