A Day Without Mommy

Yesterday I attended the Beth Moore conference at my church. She spoke on insecurity and I gained some wonderful knowledge from her. God really used her yesterday as she spoke to the 9500 at our church as well as almost 300,000 in the simulcast. Because of the large number of attendees, we were asked to have our husbands drop us off if we lived locally. I didn't want to park in Tim-buck-to, and add to that it was raining all day, so Marc played chauffeur. On top of that he brought the girls back to the church for the lunch break so that I could feed Brooke. I'm sure it felt as if he was in the car all day.

This was the first time he has had all 3 girls for an extended amount of time. He is such a great daddy and I know the girls had so much fun. I also know that they wore him out. :) Once when he was putting Brooke down for a nap he came downstairs to Kayla and Macy squealing and running around. That's nothing out of the ordinary. He does live in a house full of girls. However, what they were wearing is out of the ordinary.

Yep. That would be underwear on their heads. Kayla said that Macy brought them to her, and Macy says that they came out of the dirty clothes basket. Macy doesn't always know what she is talking about, so I'm going to assume that was the case and that she got these out of the clean clothes basket. There is no other option.

One more shout out to Marc for taking on baby duty last night. Brooke was fussy from 2-4 and he let me stay in bed while he was up and down getting her back to sleep. Right now I'm pretty sure he is sleeping in the rocking chair with Macy. He deserves it. After all, it's hard having all 3 kids by yourself for half a day and then having to stay up at night with a baby too.

Rough Morning Turned into Great Afternoon

The morning started off a little rough. Brooke was up more than I would have liked last night. Marc left at the ridiculous hour of 4:00 for work because he couldn't go back to sleep after she woke up to eat. And if I had to take a guess, he'll stay there until at least 4:00 this afternoon. After Macy got up (too early for my preference) I tried to take a nap on the couch. I think I got a couple of 15 minute naps before the fussing between sisters started. I had plans of going to Target. I really wanted to get out of the house and there were a few things we needed to get for Kayla including an SD card for the new camera she got for her birthday. Kayla hates running errands, so I try to keep it as painless as possible. She's such a home-body. In preparation for our excursion, and because I'm on a strict time line with Brooke, I had everyone's clothes laid out last night, bags were packed, and list was made. Kayla was excited because she would get to take more pictures and we could get some juice. We ran out of apple juice yesterday and you'd think it was the end of the world at times. Well Kayla decided to start complaining again about having to leave. I reminded her what we were going to get and she wanted to get it, but she didn't want to go to the bathroom and get dressed. Finally she went to the bathroom and on the way to get dressed started whining again about having to leave. So instead of reminding her for the 17th time that we were getting things for her as well I told her never mind, we weren't leaving. There would be no Target trip, no icee, no SD card, no juice, and no new shirts to replace the ones that are getting too short. Oh the drama that followed. She was so upset about not going. Seriously? I thought she didn't want to go. It ended up being a good consequence for her decision to complain. After we got through the morning whinyness (Macy had her fair share too) the day has turned out beautiful. Brooke has been napping like a champ and in her bed no less! The girls played outside and had a picnic lunch. Brooke sat happily in Bumbo while I prepped some green beans for dinner. I managed to make 3 doctors appointments for the girls' check-ups. And to top it off my mom made us some of the most delicious shrimp stuffed potatoes for me to heat up for dinner tonight. YUM! Right now the 2 little ones are sleeping and Kayla is watching Max and Ruby. I still have no idea what the girls see in that show, and the educational value is about a 1.5 on a scale of 10, but oh well.

Thank You Mrs. Bekah!

I really like my quilt.No, I really LOVE my quilt.

Thank you Rebekah for such a beautiful, hand-made quilt. You are such a blessing to me and I am so thankful for our friendship. I treasure all of the quilts you have made for the girls.

More Birthday

For her birthday lunch Kayla picked McAlister's. She is particularly fond of their macaroni and cheese. She wanted to wear the party hat to church, but I wouldn't let her. Mean mom, I know. She wore it most of the day except when she let Brooke have a turn.For her birthday, other than the trip to Disney we are taking next month, we got her a little computer. Marc ordered a few computers for work and was able to add this on for something crazy like $50. Can't beat that! Kayla is such a computer whiz. At 4 she was doing more on a computer than I did before high school!

Spiritual Warfare

Wow! I know that for a new believer in Christ, Satan is bound to start attacking. For some reason I never thought it would be on a 5 year old girl. Let me assure you, Satan does not care about age. He is out to mess things up. Kayla has always been such a delightful, obedient girl. Perfect? Of course not. But she really wants to please people. Over the last few days we have really noticed some changes in her. One night I asked her to put her paper and stickers on her desk because it was bedtime. She came back quickly so I asked if she put them on the desk or on the floor (she's getting into a bad habit of leaving messes in the middle of the floor). She said that she put it on her desk. Later that night while I was rocking Brooke I saw the papers and stickers under Brooke's bed. So the next day we had a long discussion about obedience. Moving on to yesterday. She came inside and asked if she and Macy could play in the water. I told her no because we were leaving for dance and soccer soon and I didn't want them to get wet. We decided that they could have a water day this week when we didn't have somewhere to go that night. She was good with that. So 10 minutes later I hear screaming outside. They were fighting over a paintbrush that I let them use when playing with the water. Kayla is down to her underwear and Macy had taken her shorts off. Yep, they were playing in the water. So they both came in and Kayla spent some time in time-out for disobeying. I then told her that she would have to wear her clothes to soccer and she said they were too wet. Too bad, you disobeyed and now you have to wear wet clothes. (For the record they were barely damp and had dried out before she had to put them on.) This time I gave her a punishment as well. Moving on to today. All was great after coming home from Timothy. Macy was napping, Brooke was napping, and Kayla was watching a movie. She goes upstairs to use the restroom and a few minutes later I hear screaming. Up I go to find every light on upstairs. In their room Kayla had turned the overhead light on, the lamp, opened the closet door and turned that light on, and was in the process of propping open their blackout shades to let light in. Macy is standing in the closet doorway turning the light off crying and saying, "I want to go nite-nite." Well Miss Kayla decided that she wanted to play in their room so she just went in, turned everything on, and woke Macy up. Seriously? She know that if someone is sleeping she is not allowed to go into the room. Last night I just couldn't figure out what was going on with her. These things were so unlike her and then I realized it was spiritual warfare. How in the world do you try to explain that to a 5 year old?? After they were asleep Marc and I went in there and prayed over her with this. There is a battle raging that she can't possibly understand, yet it fully involves her. How tough is that?

Girl Time!

When Kayla turned three I took her to the nail salon for the first time to get her nails painted. They put little flower stickers on her thumbs and big toes and she loved it. I decided getting her nails done would be a birthday tradition. Of course she is my girly girl and loves having her nails done. Last summer my mom took Kayla with her several times when she went for a pedicure and the place she goes to paints little flowers on their nails. You pay a few more dollars, but it's super cute.

In the car a few days ago Kayla said she wanted her nails painted so I reminded her that we would go for her birthday. Well immediately Macy starts talking (ok, more like whining) about wanting her nails done too. I was going to wait until her 3rd birthday in a few weeks and take her. I have this crazy obsession with trying to keep things "even" with the girls. What I did for Kayla I had to do for Macy and now I will have to keep it up with Brooke. Yes, I know that this is sometimes crazy and unrealistic, but that's Type A personality for you. So anyway, I asked Kayla if she wanted to go by herself to get her nails done or let Macy go and get hers done to. Of course I added that when Macy's birthday comes around she could go with Macy and get hers done again. Type A - I know. Well she ain't (yes, type A's can still say "ain't") no dummy because if Macy went with her then she'd get to have her nails done again in a few weeks. Oh wait, I'm sure that never crossed her mind. She was just thinking of her little sister. :)

Macy was so excited although you can't tell in the pictures. I even have a few more that look like she's being forced against her will to have her nails painted.

She loved them so much that she picked one of the flowers off that same night. Oh well! At least the other 3 have survived the past 48 hours!

Kayla's 5th Birthday Party

Kayla's birthday party was yesterday, and she wanted a princess party. She was so excited all day long and helped get everything cleaned up and ready for the party. She even woke up, picked out her own clothes, got dressed (most days she'd rather stay in her pajamas) and made her bed so "my friends can see my clean room." We rarely make her bed during the week. It's just something I don't usually do. I don't know why because I love the way it makes a room look and it's not a lot of trouble to do it. It's probably because when we get up and come downstairs we don't go back up very often so I don't think about it. I know I should, but I don't. I remember growing up my mom made us make the bed so at night I'd pull a corner of the covers down, sleep really still at night, and then pull that corner back up in the morning. (I know that is totally random, but in 5 years I want to remember Kayla's excitement for the day.)

She worked hard punching out the decorations and setting the table.

I think the reason she wanted a princess party was because she saw this cake and loved it.

The girls came dressed up. We had one more princess come, but I didn't think they'd stay dressed up much longer. We set the office up for dressing up, but since Kayla and Macy had spent a good part of the afternoon playing with everything we had brought downstairs they were tired of it. Macy and Ella did end up going back in and trying on a few things.

Oh I could eat this boy up!

Poor Macy didn't quite understand that all of the presents were for Kayla. Grammie did bring something for Macy and Brooke, so that helped. Thankfully she got over it quickly.

The lighting on this picture is terrible, but it's the best I got. (hint, hint Bekah if you got something better) The 3 guys pulled the girls around the yard on the sled. They LOVED it and the air was filled with the squeals that only little girls can make.

Kayla had a wonderful party and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to share in these special times.

Happy 5th Birthday Kayla!

Five years ago yesterday I woke up in the early morning hours having contractions. Being my first baby I didn't immediately think I was in labor. After all I was a few days early and first babies don't come early, right. Well 29 hours later I gave birth to my first child - Kayla Grace Dutton. My journey through motherhood began and it is truly the most exciting and fulfilling journey.

Kayla,
You are such a special little girl and I am proud to call you my daughter, and now my sister in Christ. You have such a sweet and loving spirit. You are the best big sister that Macy and Brooke could have. You are growing up so fast, and while I wish you would stay young forever, I am excited to see the lady you become. I love you my precious little girl.
~Mommy

Eating Crow

And it sure is bitter! Forget that I ever said anything about Macy being potty trained or how easy it was. I was naive and she is strong-willed. I guess I will continue to go through a MINIMUM of EIGHT pull-ups a day because I have no time or energy to clean up the mess that would be left after she pees in her underwear. I quit so by default she wins.

My New Best Friend

Brooke LOVES this wrap and that means her mommy does too. Thanks Mandy and Michelle for telling me about it. I should have tracked it down sooner, but better late than never!

Easter Sunday

What a beautiful day to celebrate our risen Savior! We had a wonderful morning at church, a lunch with family, and some fun time outside.

We tried to get a picture of the girls and their Nini, but Brooke wasn't too happy about being put down. She just wants to be up and about seeing what's going on.

They were so excited to hunt Easter eggs. I did the Resurrection Eggs with the girls while Marc hid the eggs. This was the first year that Macy really knew what to do. I told Kayla to leave the easier eggs for Macy to find, but Macy was pretty good and ended up with more eggs than Kayla because Kayla had left so many that she thought were easy. Marc hid them a second time and I made sure to make Kayla pick up more eggs.

While the older girls hunted eggs Brooke took a little nap in Grammie's arms.

After they were done hunting eggs Kayla wanted to hide them for the grown ups. After she hid them I handed over the camera to her and let her take pictures of Daddy, Nini, and myself. Most of the pictures were of our backsides bending over to get eggs so they won't be making it to the blog.