Discipline = Teach

I have been reading a very interesting book lately on positive disciplining strategies. The book is called Discipline without Distress by Judy Arnall - it is a LLL approved book for better parenting and is amazing. I am so impressed with the information that my mom has gotten the book for herself and my brother.

With an 18 month old and a 5 1/2 year old my parenting skills were definitely being challenged too much - I had to do something since time-outs, yelling, getting frustrated, etc. were definitely not working. This book has been the answer and after a couple of weeks of using a new approach I am seeing results. Before J hardly hugged me or kissed me - now all the time and all of our stress levels have come down.

Anyways the keys in this book give tools for raising caring, responsible children who can communicate and validate feelings without time-outs, spanking, punishment, or bribery. So, far I have learned how important parent maintenance time-outs are - so, now every Sunday I get two hours to myself - and Doug gets two hours to himself. This last weekend I went shopping and then to a coffee house and read - bliss. I have also learned how important it is to give our children the power of communication and validate feelings and work on active listening. Children go through so many different developmental stages and their cognitive development is staged and I have put too high of expectations on my children when they are developmentally not ready yet. I have learned that my children are not doing the the things they are to defy me or being naughty for me - it is just their stage. I have also learned how important the positive is - encouraging more than praising and to say no differently. If our children only hear no and don't get any positives it is very hard for them to be successful. Also, we are her to teach, model and mentor our children into the adults we want them to be. I could go on and on, but I have other things to get to this napternoon:)

Thanks for reading - take the time to check out some positive discipline resources or child development and enlighten yourself today! You will be a better mentor for your and our children I guarantee:)

Pictures

Too much xmas fun!!!

New Year

Well, it is the new year and we are kicking it off big. We ended the old year with some new big purchases - finally, finishing off our last year's tax return. Doug got a new TV, I got a Vitamix and we both got a new dishwasher:) Doug installed our new dishwasher yesterday and boy is it different - lots to get used to. We went with a european brand this time - time will tell. Our old one only lasted 4 1/2 years and went kinda fritzy after only 1 year in use.

Jaadyn is back to school after a long winter break. We did not get out much because I was sick for pretty much all of break. I got this weird cold before school got out - that went into the flu - that went back into a cold - and then just a sore throat for a long time. I am all better now - for now. The first week back to school hit us all hard. Jaadyn and I were exhausted by Thursday. In fact, he took a nap at school on Thursday after telling his teacher he just could not do his math anymore and needed to lie down. I even took a nap that day - unheard of.

Christmas was wonderful for everyone. We did not go anywhere. My parents came for a week right after xmas. Doug's folks visited for a day on the 26th. The boys got lots of fun new toys and mom and dad did good this year not buying them tons. We left that to the grandparents - finally. I was pretty proud of myself when I figured out how much I had spent on both boys - aroudn $40 total. - thank goodness for year round clearance. Santa even made out cheap shopping craigslist:)

Doug and I are also celebrating exciting weightlosses for both of us. Since July Doug has dropped down to 160 and I have dropped 22 lbs. - size 8/10 - to a 3/4 - can you believe it - and none it is excercise based! Hoping it will not creep back on:)

Milestones

Wow -

What an incredible year to date. We have survived the first two weeks of school and it has been amazing for us all. Jaadyn is adjusting to Kindergarten better than I expected and loves it. Carter and I are getting to have Doug all to ourselves and also figuring out what to do with out brother. Doug is taking the changes the hardest. But, is finally getting some one-on-one time with Carter - which is priceless.

Jaadyn has not cried yet at school or at the thought of going. He is making friends fast and oh boy, has girls hugging and kissing him already. What is in store for us in MS and HS? I only cried briefly as we left the classroom the first day - and I did not let Jaadyn see. I was not as overwhelmed as I thought I would be and was more proud than anything! This week on Wednesday I just started dropping him off in front of the school - can you believe it. My Kindergartener can go into the school all my himself.

Jaadyn also mastered tieing his shoes last weekend. I was getting tired of tieing them for him - after about 1 month of wearing tie shoes. Wow! My Kindergartener can tie his own shoes!

Now, turning attention to Carter - he is walking everywhere!!! He is at the point where he would rather walk than crawl. He has the cutest little duck waddle. And with a cloth diaper on it is even cuter! He is also getting more challenging everyday as we get closer to the terrible twos - what do they call difficult ones I wonder? But, he is mine and I would not give him up for the world. Oh, and can he pitch a fit! Jaadyn never threw tantrums like Carter. Crazy the differences between these two.

Growing Up

Time is flying by - my babies are growing up. So, I thought I should post. My baby is walking - rather attempting to walk - he much prefers to crawl. Today, he did take about 8 steps to me. Incredible! Carter is walking a whole 2 months sooner than Jaadyn did. So far he has done everything, but start solids before his big brother.
There is trouble in this one's eyes - can you see his mischievous look?

Jaadyn starts school so soon - September 3rd. I cannot believe he is going to be in Kindergarten already. We found out who his teacher is going to be and will meet her tomorrow night. J is going to go to a dual language school here in town and will learn Spanish through a 1/2 day immersion program. Pretty cool. We had to choice him into the school, but I think it will be worth it. Oh, and Jaadyn is reading!!! All the hard work teaching him words since last school year has paid off. He read Doug and I a new book all by himself the other day and did sooo good!

With only a few weeks left of summer I am feeling a bit frantic about where the time has gone. Wasn't Jaadyn just in diapers? What was I doing last year this time? Everything is a big fuzzy blur. But, I have had the time of my life up until now and cannot wait to see how Jaadyn develops in school. And for now am just hoping I don't get too many calls from the school saying my child has chosen not to participate because he already knows (whatever it is). And am going to focus on much needed one-on-one time with Carter. Who is unfortunately like I think all second children, just along for the ride.

Enjoy!

Sizzling Summer Update

Hey everyone - we just got back from a wonderful 2 week stay in Montana with my family. The weather was just right - compared to Wenatchee. While we were gone Doug had 100 degree weahter while in MT we had mid 80s and rain.

So, while we were there Jaadyn got to go fishing with Grandpa and cought 2 really nice rainbow trouts. He did not like the taste when Grandma cooked them up - so, Grandpa had to eat them. He also took another session of swimming lessons and did really great. At the Anaconda pool he could touch in the 3 feet part and he really got confident. So, confident in fact that he went too far out one day and could not touch and paniced - do I need to say more?

We also got to go golfing - first time for me in 2 years, since last year I was pregnant. I forgot our clubs, so Jaadyn hit around with a little plastic set we picked up and I borrowed my mom's clubs. We had a great time! And boy did we relax!!! I told Jaadyn this was my vacation and I was not going to fight with him - and I did not. I let my mom fight with him.

We also got to catch up with a lot of old friends and family while there. It is so nice to be able to go and not worry about anything. The boys did absolutely great in the car. Jaadyn is a great helper. I got him one of those gofer grabbers you see old people have so he could pick toys up off the floor when Carter threw them. Worked great!

Anyways, MT is not the only thing we have done this summer. Jaadyn took a month of swimming lessons here and we have worked on our garden. It is amazing. We have gotten to go to a local waterslide park several times and have had a blast. Other than that our summer has not been too busy.

Now, that we are home I started to watch a friends 9 month old 2 days a week all day. We have had fun. It is nice to have a play pal for Carter.

We are also gearing up for Jaadyn to head to Kindergarten this September. I am excited, but know that first week is going to be tough. Jaadyn is also going to be heading to Grandma Carol's for a few days on his own in a couple of weeks.

We Survived Birthday Week

So, Jaadyn turned 5 on the 2nd and Cater turned 1 on the 5th. Boy did we celebrate and there is still one more party left. Jaadyn had his friends party on the 28th of June with 4 friends and tons of water. Great fun!

Parties!

We have had so many celebrations for these two over the past couple of weeks. One party with Grandma Okyo, one with friends, more celebrating with Grandpa Cory and Grandma Meme and when Grandpa Doug and Grandma Carol finally see them we will celebrate again. Is this how it will be every year? I sure hope not! Both boys had great fun, tried new things and got a lot of very nice presents and of course attention! Funny, Carter likes Jaadyn's toys and Jaadyn likes Carter's toys - who knew.