Alexa's Birthday Parties!

Alexa turned 2 on the 7th and I am just getting around to posting all the pics from her birthday! It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but better late than never right? Haha!

On the Friday before her birthday, she had a little princess party with a few of her little gal pals! It was tons of fun! Thanks for everyone who came!

On her birthday morning, she woke up and didnt quite get that it was her birthday, until she saw her new bike and presents! I LOVED that bike when I saw it, so I had to get it for her! She was so cute when she wanted to ride it and put on her helmet and knee pads! She got one of her favorite things for breakfast: Waffles!

Then we headed to church and for one of her birthday presents, she got to class with Brandon and I and then sit with me in Relief Society! Haha! She HATES going to nursery, so we decided we would spare her the tears on her birthday!

After church we went down to Syracuse to have her family birthday and Brandon's brother's house. It was so nice of them to let us use their house for her party! It was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone for the great presents for Alexa and the time and effort that was put into them! Also, thanks to LaDonna for Alexa's darling birthday skirt! I loved it! So did Lex!Yes Yes I know..WalMart messed up and mispelled Princess! Oh well.. we all know what it was supposed to say haha!

I am so happy to have Alexa in our lives! Time has flown these past two years! She has definitely given me a run for my energy, but I couldnt love her more! I love her sweet little laugh, her "way bi-i-g" kisses, how she calls out our names every morning in her little voice, saying she is ready to come out of her crib, her constant hugs and "i yuv oo's". Chayse thinks she is pretty much fantastic and is very protective of her! They have started fighting, over toys. Usually its Chayse wanting to play with her toys. Haha! Anyway, Alexa is talking a ton and forming short sentences. Its so cute to here her tiny voice. She has had a problem with screaming..a lot. Especially when I am on the phone in the car. We are working through it though! She has shown a little interest here and there with potty training, but hasnt give us that FOR SURE its time sign! So we are just putting her on here and there and getting her used to the idea. With Chayse we realized they will do it completely on their own time and there is no use pushing it until they are ready!

Anyway, Alexa is amazing and sweet and we love her to death! Its not fair that she is growing up so fast!

A Motherly Experiment

So lately..we have been getting a lot of this..... (ATTITUDE... if you didnt get it!)

So I needed a solution. I talked to a friend or two, put my own spin on it..and here it is!

I put these together tonight. If he makes a good choice by making his bed on his own, helping his sister, eating all of his dinner, brushing teeth, cleaning up his messes, LISTENING, etc...then he gets to put a good choice stick in the other can.

Once he fills up the other can...

He gets this:

I am mean..its sitting on our counter. Tempting him. Taunting him. Making him ask me repeatedly if he can help me so he can get another stick. I love it!

Some of you may disagree with my method. You may have the question I did at first. "Will he only do things if he ends up getting something in the end?"

I guess that is possible, but along with that possibility is the likelyhood that it will also become a habit. That it will become second nature to pick up his toys or to brush his teeth without being asked. Children are very habitual creatures, and if shown something multiple times..chances are they will just do it. I also want him to realize that good consequences come with good choices, and not focus so much on the negative aspect. IE: If you dont clean your room you will get a timeout. I would rather say to him in a positive way "Hey buddy if you clean your room you get another good choice stick!" Sounds so much better huh? :)

Hopefully this...

will be the end result...24/7!

I know I know..wishful thinking on the 24/7 part right? Haha!

Cant post without a pic of the diva! Dirty shirt and all! :) (the girl refuses to wear a bib half the time anymore)

The Flood

So about a week and a half ago, my sister and I came home to water pouring from my ceiling! Not a fun thing to deal with! Something happened with the plumbing in the upstairs vanity, on the pipe, and when the water started coming, it just leaked everywhere it could! The builders put us up in a nice hotel and we tried to find the positive in it all with nice hot breakfast every morning, someone ELSE making the beds and the fun pool to swim in! (Though my kids freaked out about the water..hopefully they will get better with it!).

We were out of our home for a week and we are so glad to get back in the swing

of things!. Things are almost all put back together, so that feels good!

Here are a few pictures!

They ended up having to pull down our kitchen ceiling, pull up carpet and the kitchen flooring and removing cabinets. Luckily the only thing that ws ruined was my laptop but we got that taken care of through Best Buy. We are so thankful that there wasnt a lot of damage to our personal things!

I am really tired..please excuse me if this doesnt make sense here or there! Haha!