Love you mommy

Dude has been talking for several months, but now he is learning to put words together and create little sentences. Last night when my love was putting him to bed, he told Dude to say love you mom. We ask him to say love you all the time, and he has yet to do it. Well last night he did! He gave me a big hug and said, "love you mommy". My heart melted. It is so adorable to hear that precious boy tell me that he loves me. I think God knew what he was doing when he made us. He must have know that 2 year olds are very difficult to handle, and that's why at 2 they learn to say love you, and give big hugs and kisses. Thanks God!

Last weekend I got to spend 2 nights with my honey and no kids. It was a much needed break from motherhood (minus the pumping every few hours) and some good quality time with my husband. I think every couple with children needs this at least once a year.
So I came home feeling refreshed and ready to deal with Dude's behavior issues. What I have learned in the last 4 days is that MY behavior was the issue. I was getting so angry at every little thing he did. Instead of calmly putting him in timeout I was yelling and forcefully taking him to timeout. When I don't give him the big reaction and attention is takes away all the fun. He has significantly reduced the amount of times he hits and pushes Tank over. Now when he does hit him, I comfort Tank, give him all the attention and THEN go calmly put Dude in timeout.

Its amazing how much better I have felt as a mother and a person these last few days. I feel like I can deal with my kids and teach them how to handle situations without getting so worked up. Now lets see how long I can last like this...

Sleep Training

I decided it is time for Tank to stop getting up in the middle of the night so Monday night we starting letting him cry it out. We moved a pack n play to the basement and put him down there so we couldn't hear him screaming so loudly. I was so stressed about having him down there and just leaving him there to cry when I could easily go comfort him. It seemed so much easier when we did this with Dude. But non the less we need to do. So Monday night he cried for about an hour and a half. Not too bad. Tuesday night he cried for maybe 30 minutes and last night he didn't cry at all. My little Tank went to bed at 7:30 and didn't wake up until 6:45. Why didn't I do this sooner?! It's so funny how worried I was about it, wondering if he'll still want me to hold him the next morning. Will he still feel safe and loved? You would never know I did this just 2 short years ago with Dude. I thought how much easier little things like this would be the second time around. As it turns out, they are just as hard, maybe even harder!

rain + dirt = fun day at the park

We were stuck at home all last week with colds, so yesterday we needed to something fun to do. It has been raining here for a couple days and the park was quite muddy. I decided it was a great day to play in the mud. We called our friends down the road and met them at the park for some good old fun in the mud.

There were a couple moms at the playground giving me some interesting looks as I put Tank in a big pile of mud. I think it's funny how we try so hard to keep our kids clean and don't let them play in the dirt. I've realized that a little dirt isn't bad at all. A quick bath and a load of laundry makes them all squeeky clean again, and the kids love the mud!

Dude's new best friend

Dude got a new baby a couple days ago, thanks to our friends who were getting rid of some old toys. Since Monday he has hardly let baby out of his sight. Baby sits at the table with him and eats, baby sits and reads book with Dude, baby goes ni-night with him.

Who ever said "little boys shouldn't play with dolls" was wrong!

I am new to the blogging world but I will try to write about our crazy life and share my ups and downs as I try to raise these little boys into Godly men. So here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks.

They sure do love each other

Dude found my pump and tried it out

Dude is learing that Tank is going to play with HIS toys. Sharing is so hard!