February Instagram

Day 32: When I failed to take pictures, the kids made up for it. The top two were taken by Mason, his magnet creation and a selfie. Bottom left was taken by Landon, a very close up picture of the snowman puzzle he put together. Bottom right taken by Emma of her magnet creation.

Day 33: I'm bummed this picture is blurry and that it didn't happen 2 seconds prior. However, it was a sweet moment between these brothers that I want to remember. Landon was just sitting on the floor with a sad look on his face when Mason came down and put his arm around him and asked him what was wrong. I couldn't make out what Landons reply was, but Mason then began to make funny faces at him to get him to smile and laugh. Landon was in full blown giggles within seconds. It was a simple gesture, but one that made my mama's heart swell.❤

Day 34: Steven and Mason at Donuts with Dad this morning. So grateful for an amazing husband and father who is very hands on and involved with his kids. Mason was so excited to have his dad join him at school for breakfast this morning.

Day 35: We had fun at Home Depot this morning helping the kids make🔨 and paint helicopters! 🚁

Day 36: Once a year we pretend to watch the superbowl🏈 so we have an excuse to eat party food and ice cream. Thanks to my hubby for making all the food!

Day 37: Made a last minute decision to take the kids to Nana Beas for a special after school treat.🍦 I'm so sad they will be closing their store in just a few days. This was probably our last visit to the cute mom and pop store on the corner. 😢

Day 38: I'm certainly not missing the cold Logan winters today as we are enjoying the beautiful 60° weather here in Colorado. Love being able to get outside in the fresh air!

Day 39: Landon had his 2 1/2 year well visit today. Weight 29 lb 3 oz - 47%, height 34 in - 5%, head circ. 19.7 in - 81%. Basically he's short, average weight and has a big Workman noggin!😂He's perfectly healthy, other than having a little eczema, he did great with the doctor, but wasn't thrilled about getting 2 shots! 😔 I can't believe he'll be turning 3 this year!

Day 40: Another good day for being outside and riding bikes! Between school and playing outside this boy was filthy by this evening and ready for a shower. Mom also made him wash off all his awful stamps on his arms!

Day 41: I'm feeling a little guilty today that our poor friends and neighbors back in Logan are dealing with horrible flooding while we're out playing at the park in the 75° weather.

Day 42: Steven and I have been recovering from head colds, so we've had a pretty laid back, lazy Saturday at home.

Day 43: Church this morning, naps and home teaching this afternoon, playtime outside, lazy evening on the couch, and one out of the blue puking episode by Mason (thus the bowl).

Day 44: His "out of the blue puking episode" from last night turned into puking all night. No school for him or work for Steven today, so that I could go. Amazing what a little Gatorade and a bubble bath can do to lift his spirits!

 Day 45: Part 1- I never knew how much love could grow between two crazy kids, but one things for sure I love him more every day of my life! I'm so blessed to be his wife for eternity! Happy Valentine's to the love of my life!

 

• Day 45: Part 2 - Steven is the love of my life, but these 3 are right there behind him! I am so blessed to be their mother and I can't imagine life without them! 💞

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• • Day 46: We're 3 for 3 now.😷 Landon was up for 3 hrs straight puking every 15 min and then every hour or so after that. It was a looong night, but you'd never know from his giant smile this morning. Emma just joined the club this morning. If you need me I'll be doing laundry and cloroxing our house!

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  • Day 47: The awful stomach flu continues. Emma had a really rough night, and went a solid 24 hrs without keeping anything down. Needless to say it was another long night. Glad these two were able to catch up on some much needed rest today.😴

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  • Day 48: This stomach bug has kicked our butts! We are on day 5 and Emma and Landon are still struggling to keep anything down, but showed interest in toys for the first time in days which is a good sign.

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  • • Day 49: Emma has barely kept any food/liquid down for 4 days now, but we were finally able to break the cycle with a little medicine today. The challenge then became how to convince her to eat. We were trying everything, including daddy trying to fly food into her mouth. Praying she is at the end of this awful illness!

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    • Day 50: My girl is back!!! No puking for 24 hours, fluids, food, and a good nights sleep has brought her spunk and smile back!! She asked me this morning if I prayed for her to feel better, and I told her every day! She said Jesus must have made her better then because I prayed for her. ❤ her and her faith. Grateful for answered prayers.

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    • • Day 51: So glad everyone is feeling better and we can be outside to play again!

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      • • Day 52: I can't believe that I just signed this girl up for kindergarten!!! How is she old enough to go to school already!?

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          • Day 53: I found these two cuddled up in Landons bed this morning playing games on the tablet.

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          • • Day 54: The weather turned cold and snowy which made for a perfect puzzle and cookie making day.

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            • • I already posted my picture for the day, but his naked pouting was just to funny not to share. Life is so hard when you're two and it's time to get out of the tub.

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              • Day 55: Most days getting Mason to do his 30 mimutes of reading is a huge fight, but occasionally I get lucky and he just does it like today.

                Also pictured, the trio trying to decide what to have for a snack.🤔 Decisions, decisions.

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              • • Day 56: This boy has been my little sidekick all day helping me clean and cook. ❤ this boy!

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                • • Day 57: Dog pile on daddy! I don't know what it is about their dad that gets them all so hyper and riled up!

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                  • • Day 58: I worked most the day and didn't take any pictures, so I thought I'd share this gem from a couple days ago. Kisses anyone?😗💋

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                        Day 59: Mason was SO excited to get a letter from his best friend Gavin from Logan today!📬 It breaks my heart how much he misses him!

                        

Feeling Defeated

I'm feeling very defeated as a mother at the moment and I'm really at a complete loss as to how to change it. It has been a very rough week with Mason and tonight I just find myself feeling very defeated and burnt out. I love that boy to death, but boy has he been pushing me to my breaking point this week. He is very stubborn and right now has a lot of attitude, and has been being very disrespectful and unkind to not only Steven and I, but his siblings as well.

Every. Single. Day. this week at some point we have gone to blows with each other and it usually ends with him being sent to his room, losing privileges and usually grounded. When we've both had a chance to calm down I go talk to him one-on-one and we go through the choices that he made to bring us to where we are now and what we could have done differently to have a better outcome. One of the biggest problems we face with him is that once he gets upset and in that mindset no matter how hard we try to bring him out of it, or how many chances we give him to change his course of action he can't seem to change direction and just digs himself deeper and deeper into his hole. I try really hard to keep my voice level, not yell and to try to get him to see the bigger picture in the moment and what consequences will come from the choices that he'll make either good or bad. However, I can tell you that the last couple of days as I've become more and more worn down I have not been so level headed and have yelled way more than I'd like to admit. It's been a hard week and I feel like we just keep reliving the same awful day over and over again.

Earlier this week I even sat down with him and tried to have him help me think of what his consequence should be when he makes poor choices, is disrespectful, or being mean. He of course listed the usual, no electronics, no friends, etc., but we've tried all those and it hasn't seemed to matter. I ended up deciding that every time I have to get after him, he tells me no, is disrespectful, etc he'll get 5 extra minutes of reading on top of the 30 minutes he's already required to do for school. I don't want him to hate reading, but he already doesn't like it and he hates the time it takes away from playing. My hope was that if he was having to spend that much more time reading it might be enough of a deterrent to him to act out, or to help him change his course of action once he was already headed down that path. Every day he has ended up with extra reading time anywhere from 10-20 minutes and that was with me still being very generous with my warnings before dishing out his consequence. He hates it, but obviously it still hasn't changed anything.

The last couple of days, including today he has been ranting about us moving him here and how he wishes he could just go back to Utah. He says he just gets in trouble here and he didn't before. While that is not completely true, there is some truth to it. I think the biggest reason he acts the way he does here is that he is bored, and doesn't have a lot of friends to play with where we live. He has one friend Dillan across the street and that's it. He had several friends he could choose to play with in Logan, and well life was just different there. It breaks my heart to think that he is unhappy here, and there is only so much I can do to try to improve it for him. That's one reason why I have tried to keep him and Emma both active in extra activities like gymnastics, basketball, swimming lessons, and soon soccer. I felt like if I could keep him active and involved it would help him have an outlet and another avenue outside of school to make friends. I'm not sure if that strategy has been helpful or not.

Anyhow, it's been a long week, and I'm hoping it will get better.