UPDATES!

New product added to "Products You'll Love" compliments of April B. Thanks girl!

No Cookie Cutters Here

Wow, kids pick the oddest times to pass gas. I was totally engaged in a deep conversation with the doctor today & Aidann was doing such a great job just sitting still in my lap. It started out very subtle where you couldn't even hear her, well I hoped the Dr. didn't hear her. Then a few minutes later, she started letting out short yet audible 1s. The Dr tells me, "Oh, kids" & laughs it off to try to make me feel more comfortable....Not working. By the time we were reaching the end of our conversation, she was passing full out melodies. Oh my goodness. I know she is just a kid & claims to not be able to hold it in, but it is still very embarrassing! So much for a serious conversation. She looked so innocent as she used her manners in at least saying "excuse me" & smelling up that office. That's what I get for feeding my baby her veggies. Haha!
That is 1 of many gas stories. I am sure if you are a parent, you have many of them. Those times where your kid passing a silent but deadly 1 & you hope to God people don't think it was you. Lol!

Well, today I was just thinking about how different each 1 of my kids are. If you take the time, you eventually learn how to deal with each 1 of them. There isn't 1 simple parenting formula that works with every kid, ya know? Look at the way babies develop so differently from 1 kid to another. Some talk faster, some crawl faster, some babies are more demanding, while others are more laid back. Differences between children carry on as kids grow & become more & more obvious if you look for them.

Aidann is more of a perfectionist & when she gets into trouble & does something wrong she acts/feels like it is the end of the world for the longest time. She hates "disappointing" you. Asher, on the other hand, when she gets into trouble she will cry for maybe 1 second & then be right back to her happy-go-lucky self in no time at all. Aidann is very particular & likes all things proper (using a fork or spoon is a MUST even with tacos), clean (obsessed with wipies) & in their proper places (she cleans like a lil' adult). Asher could care less if she has a lil' mess on her face or if she is outside barefoot. Aidann  loves to be hugged & kissed on a lot throughout the day. Asher loves to sit in your lap, but doesn't like to actually be cradled & hugged until right before she goes to bed.
While these are subtle differences, they are important to recognize & acknowledge.

Our kids just aren't the same & sometimes need to be disciplined, loved on, & handled in different ways.

Its not a bad thing that they are different. Some of these differences need to be celebrated. I don't want Aidann to be Asher or Asher to be Austin. I want to raise my kids to be happy & proud of who they are and their different talents. I am definitely not saying that all differences/behaviors should be accepted (like a kid being an overly picky eater, or tending to be more violent, etc), but hopefully you understand the gist of what I am saying. Lets just take that lil' extra time to try & understand our kids & that lil' extra effort to find out what they need. Kids are not cookie cutters & thank goodness for that! Lets stop trying to force them into a one of a kind mold.

-M&M Momma



UPDATES!

Added new item to "Products You'll Love" tab
M&M Momma

More Than Words

My 1 year old is only allowed to have her "binky" (aka pacifier) when she is taking a nap or going to bed for the night (We are just about to ween her off it completely). Well, Asher had  found a binky laying around somewhere while she was playing, stuck it in her mouth, & went right back to what she was doing. Well, Aidann noticed this & immediately said, "Bad, Asher!". I could not believe my ears, where did she get that from!? She knows Ash is not supposed to have the binky, but to actually call her "bad" is not her place of course, but also wrong.
Many times I hear parents discipline by saying "Bad, (kids name)" when the kid does something wrong. Why do we go straight for attacking our children's identities, we should be calling the choice/action they made bad instead of the actual child. I would hope that our love for our children is not based off of if they are good 1 day or bad another, because the fact is they are just kids & are going through the process every day of learning what is & is not acceptable. Instead we should focus in on the actual choice they made, "Was that a good choice to throw that?" or "Hitting your sister was a bad choice, we need to make better choices".
As parents our words are going to hold more power than most people. We need to focus in on building our children up instead of constantly tearing them down. Their will be some days that feel like we are scolding more than uplifting, but really try to dig for those good choices they do make no matter how small. "That was so helpful the way you held open that door" or "Thank you for being so quick to obey when I asked you to clean your room". Kids (no matter how much they may try to play it down) love to be encouraged & praised. They really do try hard to make us proud, even though sometimes it may look  like the exact opposite. Lets try our best to keep our kids on the right path of making good choices. Yes, we will have to scold & discipline sometimes, but thats part of being the parent.
Another important thing with words is that we do not always focus on the purely physical aspects of our child, "You are so beautiful or hansome". We need to also tell them how smart they are & talented. Contrary to how the world may make us feel at times, looks are not everything. We should try to encourage our kids not to just rely on how they look or how they are dressed, they have so much more to offer this world & we need to make sure they know this. Looks will fade!
In addition to making sure our kids know we are proud of them by constantly telling them, we need to also make sure they are proud of themselves. For example, say they just played a soccer game or drew a picture, ask them, "Are you proud of yourself?". This is such an important skill to teach our children, to be proud of themselves & their accomplishments.
It is definately a process & will require a concious effort daily on our parts to watch our words & to build up our kids instead of tearing down, but we CAN do it!
-M&M Momma

@ Faith's 1st Birthday
Over Weekend

UPDATES!

New website added to "Useful Websites" tab & "Free in AZ"!

-M&M Momma

Bananas, Bubbles, & Price Tags

Today we went out into the backyard to blow some bubbles & enjoy a banana (the equivalent of chocolate to my kiddos). 1st the girls ate their bananas & then it was time to blow bubbles. Asher tried to use the bubble wand once or twice before giving up, she kept trying to lick the bubble solution off it rather than blow bubbles. Aidann loves bubbles & was completely enthralled for a good 20 minutes. Asher tried to catch a few bubble but was soon distracted by the banana peel. She started smelling it & licking it & then she started using it like a whip. It was the funniest sight to watch her whip the banana peel at the concrete & then laugh so hard she would almost fall over & then do it all over again. After like 10 minutes of repeating the banana whip move over & over, she then decided to put the banana peel to her ear & use it like a phone. She literally had a 5 minute conversation, peel to ear, as she just walked around in circles. Eventually, I had to ask who she was talking to. "Elmo", she replied & went right back to chit chatting away. Kids are so funny & imaginative.Lol! Eventually she hung up.
Later on in the afternoon, I separated the girls so they could enjoy some independent playtime (I believe its very important for young kids). I put Aid in their bedroom while Asher enjoyed her time in the downstairs playroom. Here I am am going to have to stop & mention that in addition to Aidann's obsession with pockets, she has another obsession that just baffles me, price tags. If you are ever thinking about about purchasing an outfit & trying it on at home before deciding if you really want to keep it or not, make sure you don't bring it  anywhere near Aidann until you are absolutely sure! She is WAY WAY WAY into ripping off tags. She is so quick about it too. Anyway, I had just bought her some new outfits this past week because she is growing like crazy. I simply hung them in her closet until I had time to try them on her. Anyway, when I went to go check on her she was innocently playing on the floor, but then I noticed the closet was now open. On the floor, tags and tags and tags everywhere. I guess we'll be keeping the clothes and shoes courtesy of Aidy!
-M&M Momma

Naptime

Eating banana

Chilling, watching bubbles

Eating the bubble
solution instead...Yuck!

Her new friend...Lol



Some of the evidence

Off Days Happen 2 the Best of Us

Have you ever had 1 those days that is just so "off" & no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to get it back "on" again? I knew I wasn't alone. I swear, you gotta love 'em. Well, Monday was definitely 1 of those days. It started out with my husband & I purchasing a new security system. What was supposed to take only an hour to install, ended up taking more like 3 1/2 hours. After that, my husband had to go down to the social security office. Oh no, not the close 1 (that would just be WAY too easy) the 1 that is like an hour away. Not that I didn't enjoy entertaining 3 girls in the car for 2 hours, but you know.... After that, we caught rush hour traffic & it took us sooo long to get home. When we finally got back, we had a nice lil' note waiting from the police that said our alarm had gone off but it was a false alarm. Good stuff I tell you. After we got all of that figured out & it was already the babies' bedtime, we had to drag them out 1 more time to go grocery shopping. Why was grocery shopping not done already? Well, we had to buy a new refrigerator to match our other new black appliances (we had white before of course). We had gotten the refrigerator too late & so now was the only time we had. We finally got the shopping done (kids held up well) & got them all to bed & then it was time to put away the food. It took awhile but we finally got everything perfectly placed in the fridge when SPLAT! Of course the cottage cheese falls out & spills all over the floor as we tried to close the door. Ahhhh! Then the frosting on that perfect day was that when I tried to pour a late night bowl of cereal because by now neither of us was in the mood to cook, of course I had grabbed the shredded mini wheats without frosting!
Now that it is all over, I can just laugh about it, but it was SO NOT FUNNY when it was happening. So the next time you want to pull out your hair because you have a day where nothing seems to be going your way, remember that you are not alone & it happens to the best of us!

-M&M Momma

The perfect highlight 2 my day,
breakfast @ the park
with Aidy & Ashy