prayers for patience, please!

generally, we use this blog to post pics of our beautiful kids and sing their praises.

and yes, tiara is doing well in school, great in athletics, is a huge help to us and we're very proud of her.

and yes, shae has wonderful manners, is an attentive big sister, can tell you that the black eyed peas sing "meet me halfway," kelly clarkson sings, "already gone," that her favorite is "here comes the sun" by the beatles and we're very proud of her.

and yes, layla gives sweet hugs and kisses, LOVES books and the signing shows, learns new signs and words every day (she now says, "more please" and "book."), knows to leave her pacifier in her crib when she gets out of it and we're very proud of her.

but today i'm going to hang out their dirty laundry.

TIARA
tiara is all about tiara. if something has her picture and/or her name on it, that's even better.

she refuses to leave the downstairs cordless phone downstairs (the only phone that's downstairs).

she forgets to put things back in their places.

she always neglects to turn off the laundry room light.

she wants to buy (me to buy) every little thing including things she already has if she finds it in a different color (pink) which i refuse to do but she continues to pester me.

she has this boyfriend who refuses to follow our phone rule of not calling the house past 10PM (and has had his home number blocked from calling our house).



SHAE
shae insists on picking out her own clothes to the point that she will wail and cry big crocodile tears if she doesn't get her way. it's not just that she wants to pick the clothes... 99% of the time she does. but then if she doesn't like what she picks, she wails to change. today, she put a shirt on and didn't like the way the sleeves were too loose around her wrists... i don't have the patience to dress my 3 year old who has to try on multiple outfits.

she loves shoes and wants to wear them from the closet to the living room. thus, there are always two or three or seventeen pairs of her shoes all over the house.

she wants to eat non-stop. shae will eat cereal at 7:15 and then ask for yogurt at 8:00, a cookie at 8:15, peaches at 9:00, crackers at 9:30, candy at 9:35 and on and on. she doesn't eat a lot at meals and i'm not going to make her keep eating when she says she's done. morning and afternoon snacks are fine with me but i can't keep up with her. i don't let her eat all of the things she asks for.. usually give her a piece of gum and send her on her way. but day after day, she continues to pester me with all these snack requests.

she's great with layla as long as layla doesn't wake her up too early in the morning and immediately surrenders the toy or cabinet hiding place if she wants it.

she doesn't easily swallow the word "no." she doesn't throw fits (unless it concerns clothing), rather, will patiently try to convince you otherwise with her 8 year old conversational skills.

she hates to get her hair washed and she hates her hair being down even more. she has beautiful curls that look fabulous with a headband but she wants her hair braided all the time. we wash her hair once or twice a week (can't wash it every day because of her hair type) and she comes out of the bathtub crying and begging me to braid it right then. not tomorrow - tonight.


LAYLA
layla refuses to wear shoes longer than five minutes. every time i put her in the carseat she takes her shoes and socks off within two minutes. thus, every time i stop the van i have to put them back on her before getting her out. it's cold here this week.. tomorrow, lows around 26.. and if we go anywhere (probably won't!) i'll be searching the back of the van for two socks and two shoes and putting them on her in the freezing cold. i should invent something with little foot holes to block her hands from her feet!

she refuses to stay out of the dishwasher, the trashcan, the toilet and the diaper champ. she knows her hand is in danger of being popped and she does not care.

she will always throw her food and bang her cup.

she always has to be messing with, grabbing at, pulling on, hollering at, stepping on, pulling down, banging on, ripping up, taking apart or eating something. (engineer? drummer? drumming engineer?)

i think her favorite thing to do is empty things - kitchen cabinets, toy basket, dvd drawer, book shelves, my dresser drawers, etc. non-stop.

is very rarely still.

when she wants to be held, she WANTS TO BE HELD.