Not feeling like writing much so here a few recent pictures. We've just been playing around with the camera a little bit. I'm glad to report that things are a little bit better with the kids' behavior too. I got sick last week and my MIL took Avery & Emory for the day. I had the nicest, easiest day with just Alexis. She was so sweet & mild. I think the feeling of competition was completely gone. It was a relief to know that circumstances do play such a large role in the negative behavior. So here's some pictures of my funny little girlies.

Playing dress-up with some yard sale finds!

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Eating is Exhausting!

Precious Sisters

Family News

I mentioned in my last post that our family had a lot going on. My dad who is a pastor just got called to another church. They were here in AR, about 1 1/2 away and just last week moved to Louisiana, about 7 hours away :(. I'm happy for them b/c it seems to be a great place, but sad to have them so far. I didn't grow up near my grandparents and feel like I missed out on not getting to know them better. My parents reassure me that they will come back & visit often, probably every couple of months, but it won't be quite the same. We will adjust, though.

And my brother & sister in law just left their church in North Carolina b/c they feel called to start a new church in a suburb of New Orleans. What a huge undertaking but they feel like God is leading them to do this. I'm looking forward to seeing all that happens with it, my brother is amazingly informed about the role & function of churches and how to reach as many people as possible, so I think it will be a success.

I don't have any huge success stories to report with my kids, but I am reading lots of parenting books right now. Soon I will be the most knowledgeable parent around, or the most mixed-up, I'm not sure which ;). One of my goals right now is to stop the practice of threatening my kids. Either punish them or don't, but threatening is just pointless. Just this morning I caught myself telling Alexis "Come here right now or we're not going!" Okay, not only was that not helpful, it was obviously a lie. Bleh. Pay attention to yourself if you have kids, see if you do it to. :) I got that little tip from "Have a New Kid by Friday" by Kevin Leman.

I've been going through my pictures, organizing & ordering prints, and I found this blast from the past. Hard to believe...

Terrible Two's Times Three - AAAaaahhh!!

These have not been the best days at our house lately. It is still fun at times, and we do laugh a lot at times, but over all it has definitely been hard. It's sad b/c there has been a lot going on but I feel that mostly we are in survival mode here. Emory's been okay, she's just a handful and demanding at times but mostly pretty sweet. It's the twins who are having some, shall I say, behavioral issues. They've had me in tears more than once.

The problem is major tantrums. Screaming, crying, anger over little things. Crying for something, then tossing it away, then asking for it again. Mostly I think the problem is twofold. (1) They are tired. They've stopped taking naps even though I can tell they are sooo tired and majorly need to sleep. Their behavior is so much better in the morning than any other time of day. But how to make a kid sleep? They are still in a crib so they can't get out. I leave them for two hours so I'm definitely giving it time. Not sure what else I can do. I've tried different times, earlier & later. Any tips? and (2) They need more attention than I can give and aren't good at sharing me. If I could just sit & hold them for longer I think they might get a little more secure and stop acting out. But at times that's just not possible.

What to do? I'm willing to try most anything! We've tried all kinds of punishments for tantrums. I've done spanking, time-out, sending them to their room, taking things away... Most of that doesn't work when they are in a full blown fit. I've read a little on positive parenting techniques which are anti-spanking and more attention to direct the kids on a more positive path. I don't feel that it would work for all kids but I'm willing to try it with mine. I do believe in spanking but I hate to do it, especially if it's not working! I'm re-reading Creative Corrections to try & come up with some other ideas too. Nathan's says it's not as bad as it seems, just that there are 3 of them throwing fits at different times! I hate to sound like I'm complaining, obviously we are so thankful & blessed. They can be the sweetest things, cuddly and loving, smart and funny.

Other than that, it's been fun & busy around here. I'll post more on that soon. Lots of changes in my extended family.