The sugar high

Well, if there was any doubt that Hannah is negatively affected by sugar, yesterday proved otherwise. The day started out like any other: Hannah came down in her fancy dress and had breakfast while watching a couple PBS shows, and then we all got ready to go to Angela's house for a playdate/mommy visit time. There was nothing unusual or disastrous about the preparation, and Hannah was obedient & helpful, in a good mood. (I'm setting the tone...)
After we got settled at Angela's, Hannah was offered a sucker, and I thought "Why not? She's doing well this morning, and she'd been asking for a treat since she got up at 7:30, so she's waited a while!" The kids were playing video games, but that shortly turned into a battle for the controller, so eventually we sent them outside to burn off some energy. While outside, Hannah did a number of mean things to Carston, including hitting him in the head with a rock. I was kind of surprised she would do such a mean/destructive thing, and she was appropriately punished. (Hint: Starting to see a theme of disobedience & erratic behavior.) During lunch, the kiddos were told that if they ate well, they could each have a mini cupcake. Again, I figured this would be okay, since she'd had the sucker a couple hours before and she had since been outside, had been jumping on furniture ("It's okay at this house, Mom!"), and had been playing...somewhat nicely. (In retrospect, that reasoning was more lazy than anything, because had I really thought it through, I probably would have told Hannah she couldn't have a cupcake because of her violent behavior towards Carston!)
At any rate, Hannah got to have her cupcake, and then for the next hour, she did okay because they watched a movie together while us moms had a little quiet time for visiting. By the way, during all this, Gemma was playing by herself, talking to the dog, and then taking a nap, lest you think she was completely ignored during the playdate. :) Oh, I did give Hannah a little juice at some point in there, and I realized after the fact that Angela usually waters it down before giving it to Carston because it is a kind of juice you would usually mix with something before drinking it down...hmmm...another hint!
After the movie, and only having to intervene about five times over that hour period, it was time to go. This was the worst part of the afternoon, because suddenly, all the sugar & passive-movie-watching got to Hannah, and she turned on the temper tantrums FULL BLAST! I needed to run out to the car to bring out some of our stuff, and Hannah had a big fit because she wanted to go with me. She didn't have shoes on and I couldn't carry her because I was carrying a load of stuff, so I said she could watch me from the window. (I made sure she knew I was not leaving, and it's not like she's never been left at Angela's anyway; she's totally comfortable there!) She started crying/screaming at that point, and did not let up even when I got back in the house. I tried some of my sister's OT calming tactics, but when those wouldn't work, I took her into the bathroom to have some quiet/private space. She continued to cry, attempt to punch, and flail about, while I tried to ignore her. The only reason I didn't leave the bathroom is that I honestly thought she might break something if she was alone with her temper! I finally wiped her face with some cold water, and that seemed to calm her down a little bit, at least enough to talk to her & leave the bathroom. At some point after that, she became reasonable again and it was almost as if it had never happened. We talked about what had happened, and she gave hugs to everyone before leaving. I thought that would do her in for the afternoon, but then she had another meltdown once we were out in the car. I think she didn't want help buckling her carseat, even though she was having trouble & couldn't get it buckled right. The natural assumption would be to try & help, right? Not right when you have a 4-year-old, I guess. At any rate, she got into trouble for attempting to punch me in the face, and then she melted down even further, if that is possible. I could not believe she was acting out SO much, and that's about the point that it hit me: she'd had three times as much sugar as she has on a "normal" day, and it was all with my approval! She cried for a couple blocks, and then I threatened to stop & sit on the curb with her if she was going to continue carrying on (which I would have done--safely--so don't think I wasn't telling her the truth!) At that point, I was ready to leave her on the corner with a sign that said "Will have tantrums for suckers." Please don't call CPS on me, okay? I didn't ACTUALLY do it. :)
On the way home, she fell asleep (and it's no wonder--I would too if I had just exerted that much energy & anger!), although that's the last thing I wanted at 4:00 in the afternoon because it would most likely push her bedtime to approximately midnight, so she had to be woken up along the way. That's another "fun" thing--trying to wake up someone who has just fallen asleep after having an emotionally tiring afternoon!
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful; Keith got home a little later than expected, but by then, Hannah was dancing around in her dress-up dress, happily singing along to her bible songs CD and acting like the sweet 4-year-old that she is! We had pizza for dinner, and then we went for a short walk as a family, which turned into a mad dash through the POURING rain that came on fast & hard. Hannah & Gemma thought it was hilarious.
Hannah went to bed very easily (shocker!), and we didn't hear a peep out of her all night. I don't think she even had any more tantrums that evening...those were just for mommy. ;) Each night after the girls are in bed, I try to go in and pray over them, watching them sleep for a few seconds. This has been given to me as advice from a number of moms, who all say the same thing: it's important to see them as the sweet, peaceful, content little children that they are in their hearts so that days like yesterday become nothing but a faint memory. This was especially important yesterday, and I was not disappointed. Hannah looked so angelic, and she was snoring lightly, probably dreaming of all those delicious goodies that she got to have!
I hope none of this taints your image of Hannah, or makes her out to be a mean-spirited, rebellious child, since that wasn't my intention of this post. I know all kids have their "thing," and I think for Hannah, it is an intolerance for high amounts of sugar, which leads to ridiculous fits of rage & destruction. I will be thinking about this day as a reminder the next time I'm tempted to allow more than one treat in a period of four or five hours. And as for today...it's going to be fruit, "no-added-sugar"-juice, and sugar-free gum. :)

Thanks for listening!

Awesome song

Hey everyone. Normally I would post this kind of thing to my facebook, but since I don't do that anymore, I thought I'd share it with you. This song is worth a listen, and you can see all the words in this version. Very powerful, very uplifting, and very true.
Love you!

She REALLY did it!

Gemma took her first steps tonight! It was very exciting and sweet, and she was thrilled with all the attention it got her. :) It was as if she was thinking "Man, I should have done this a lot sooner! Look at the reaction I'm getting!" Keith started by standing her up against the couch and then calling her over (a tactic that worked successfully with Hannah, too.) I heard him saying "Good job!", so I rushed in to watch the progress. She definitely took a couple steps before lunging towards whoever was sitting in front of her at the time. (Alternating between Mommy, Daddy, and Sissy Hannah.) Hannah got a big kick out of it too, and she was so proud of her little sissy! :)
As much as I'd love to share the video we caught with Keith's phone, it won't upload correctly for some reason. :( Boo! Here is a picture that definitely doesn't do the experience justice, and you'll just have to imagine the infectious giggle that accompanied each step my little baby girl took towards her cheering family. (Sniff, sniff...)


We'll try to figure out the problem with the video (and let me know if you have any ideas...) to hopefully post it later this week.

Thanks for sharing in this momentous occasion! :)

She did it!

As I was thinking about writing this post, I realized that most people will think I'm talking about Gemma walking...which she hasn't learned how to do yet. :) However, she learned how to do something else that I've been trying to teach her for the last few weeks: drink the remaining milk from her cheerios bowl in the morning! Hahaha.
Here's are the pics of her, showing how proud she is of her accomplishment:



Gemma has been so fun to watch lately, as she's learning lots of words, and similar to her personality, even her babbling is spoken in a cheerful, lilting manner. :) She say's book ("buh?" with a questioning tone), doggy, kitty, sissy, mama/mommy, daddy ("dehddy"), thank you (day-doo), and most recently, "Chee", which, depending on the situation, can either be Cheerios or Cheese (for smiles or the food). She also still says "moh" and "mil" (more and milk), and I think she's starting to say "pees" (please) and juice. It's so fun to hear all the words & ideas that are starting to form in her little mind, and I love hearing her "talking" to Hannah, as she's doing right now.

This weekend we had one more celebration for Hannah's birthday, this time with Grandma & Grandpa J. My mom and I were agreeing that Hannah has been the most excited for this birthday, and she has seemed to understand the significance more this year than even last year. For one thing, she talked about it/started making her list a few days after Christmas! For another, since her actual birthday, she's been saying "I'm a four-year-old now!" so I know she gets that she is now a different age. It's really fun, as I've always loved birthdays! :)
Here is a pic of her new dress-up dress from Grandma. (Hannah's doing her normal twirling pose that is so common when she wears any kind of dress.)


These last pics are some I was quite proud of...yesterday Keith was doing a few things out in the garage and so Gemma hung out in the yard for a while. I caught her playing with some dried grass & stuff, and it was the perfect picture op!

Hannah's Birthday

I promised a post about Hannah's big birthday yesterday, so I'll get that up before Lisa & her kids get here! :)
Hannah came downstairs yesterday morning in proper birthday attire...

(She comes downstairs like this most mornings, alternating between her "evening gowns", her pioneer-looking nightgown, and this ballerina thing. :) It's pretty funny!)

After breakfast and watching Aunt Senia's funny e-card, we went to a Andreea's house for a walk & park playdate. The weather was gorgeous for the first day of summer, and we were all hot by the time the walk was over (but NOT complaining!) :) Hannah & Lorena played nicely, and then it was time to head to Hannah's birthday lunch with Aunt Mary Brown. Shari's ended up being a great place to go, as they have lots of kid's lunch choices and free pie for birthdays! Hannah had mac & cheese, and chocolate velvet pie for dessert. (I did not force this choice--that girl just has good taste!) Here she is blowing out her candle after we sung to her:

Although she only ended up eating the chocolate syrup and chocolate flakes at the restaurant, she thoroughly enjoyed another piece of it when we got home!

The gift of the day was from Aunt Mary, who had picked up a set of Disney Princesses--straight from Disneyland! Very special. :) Hannah was in awe of the set, and ripped it open as soon as we got home. She played with them for two hours that afternoon, and then off & on the rest of the evening. This morning before even coming out of her room, I found her in there talking to them & arranging them in formations. Here she is setting them up in front of the castle picture that was part of the box. (I was quite proud of myself for thinking to save it before recycling the rest...We'll see how long it lasts. ;)


Later, another gift arrived with Daddy--he brought home an inflatable pool that had Hannah jumping up & down and racing upstairs that second to put her swim suit on! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of all that hubbub, so I'll take a couple next time she's in it. (Today, of course, it's looking a little cloudy, so I doubt she'll be able to go in it. Ironic...)
Here is Hannah with her birthday quiche for dinner. Probably not the most ideal 4-year-old choice, but she already had her choice on Sunday night, and I had already planned to make the quiche last night. :) Notice the clever candle holders...

She looks pretty happy about the quiche in this picture, but I think it's because this was taken before she had tried it, so I'm pretty sure she thought it was another pie.
:)

Last night it was so nice out that Keith & I sat outside with our coffee and treats. I felt really good about the day with Hannah, and while it is hard to believe she is 4, it is so fun to see what a sweet little girl she is becoming. She is so smart & just, well, interesting! I love that she says things every day that make me think, make me wonder, and make me marvel at all she imagines & dreams up. I'm thankful for my Hannah!

This last picture is a cute one of the girls outside of Shari's. Those are my sunglasses, by the way, although they don't look too bad on Hannah! :)


I love my girls, and I'm blessed to be able to see moments like this every day!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Well, it has been almost a month since my last post, so it's definitely time to post some more here.

First of all, my firstborn is 4 years old today!! Wow--time really does fly! Hannah has turned into this super funny, sweet, energetic, precocious preschooler/young girl...what do I even call her now?! I guess she's more on the "little girl" end than the preschooler, since she'll be entering PRE-KINDERGARTEN in the fall! Ahhh! Anyway, we are so thankful to have our Hannah Mariah in our lives, and we are kind of celebrating her all week! Sunday night we celebrated with a family dinner, next Sunday we'll go to my parents' house for a BBQ, and today we are hanging out with friends & going to an ultra-special lunch at a nice restaurant...Shari's! :) That was Miss Hannah's choice, and she is super excited. We've been there a total of...one time, and that was after we saw "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, so I think she has fond memories of the place. Later this evening after Keith gets home, we'll just have a relaxing dinner, maybe a trip to the park, and I'm sure we'll sing "Happy Birthday" at least one more time! It is so fun to see how excited she has been about her birthday this year--she's been anticipating it for months, and we talk about it quite often. It's pretty cute! I'll post some pics later, but here's one of both the girls. Hannah is being her silly self.


Second, I've decided to leave the facebook world. I know that may not be exactly news-worthy (or even blog-worthy!), but it was significant enough to me that I had a really hard time clicking that "deactivate" button. (Which, in & of itself is probably a good indication that I should not be on there...) I won't go into all the details, since they are probably less interesting to you than they are to me, but basically after taking a few weeks off to participate in a prayer activity through church, I realized something: I didn't miss it! :) I also realized that I was spending more time in my bible, in prayer time, and reading good books. More importantly, I wasn't spending so much time telling Hannah "Just a minute!" while I caught up on all the Facebook news. The part I will miss is keeping in touch with all of you, but Keith reminded me that there are SO many ways to check in with one another, that I really am not losing much. :) I'm hoping to update my blog more often, in case you're interested, and I always love getting e-mails, texts, or even the good old phone call! Haha. I'll also try to post pictures on here so that if you are out of the area (Aunt Senia...sniff sniff!), you can still see what the girls are up to. Keep me accountable, okay??

What else is new?? Gemma isn't quite walking yet, although she is close. She walks around anything sturdy, and has even been caught standing for seconds at a time. She's not big on taking any steps on her own, and does more of the "lurch" thing than actually stepping, but she'll do it! :) In everything, I see more of her laid-back personality coming through, and I think that is beneficial when you have a big sister who insists on picking you up & "helping" you move around the house. Gemma isn't a total pushover, though, as she will wave Hannah away or flap her arms at her if she's really not into being carted. It's funny to watch them interact with one another, and I catch glimpses of them as they will play together in the years to come...with only a little fighting, right?!

Keith is really loving his job and the company. A couple weeks ago they had their annual community service day--a company-wide paid day of work that is spent helping in the community. This year they helped at a teen shelter, and they did a bunch of landscaping. Keith was tired after that day, but I could tell he was proud of the work they did. I am proud that he is associated with such a wonderful company that values family, a balanced life, and community-building. God has certainly blessed us with this job, and we are confident that the six to eight months of job uncertainty has made us all the more thankful & appreciative of how God provides so perfectly.

I am taking a couple months off from my regular piano lessons, with the exception of one very diligent student! :) It's nice to have a free schedule each week, and then to be able to do some spontaneous playdates, walks to the park, and backyard water play (hopefully!!). I'm doing a great bible study called "Experiencing God," and I am thoroughly enjoying that. It is truly changing my life. Look it up if you are trying to find something joyfully challenging to do this summer! :)

Tomorrow we get to have our reunion playdate with Lisa, Luke & Ellie, who have moved back to the NW after a stint in southern California!! YAY! We are so excited, and Lisa & I can't wait to visit in person while the kids get reacquainted. :)

I look forward to keeping up to date on here, so be looking for posts....weekly?? :)