Stong-Willed

I've never really appreciated what parents of strong-willed children go through on a daily basis. I think I have the stubbornest kid on the planet, but only when it comes to certain things... like talking, saying her colors, and going potty. Marranda has reentered babyland and won't come out. She responds well to picking up her toys and eating (most of the time). But those other things are so irritating. I know she know her colors, but she refuses to call things by the right color. Everything is green or yellow.... i know she knows them. I know she knows how to go potty... she just won't. Marsha told me to break her from her return to babyland by not letting her get away with doing "baby" things, but man is it hard. She is such a fighter. We can put her on the pot for hours at a time.... nothing... we try the rewards system with everything imaginable.... nothing... we try withholding things.... nothing...
The talking thing is something i'm not sure how to tackle. She won't look me in the face to talk and when i try to enunciate for her to repeat she sticks her tongue out and talks. Ugghhhh!!!

HELP!!!

...and then there were four... sorta

We added a new member to the McMillion Fleet last week. James has been drooling over boats lately and is moaning and groaning because we live so close to the boat launch (10 min) and have no boat. He finally found a great deal on a 20ft pontoon. We looked at our savings account and decided to get it. It sure feels good to be able to pay cash for things. When we went up to Rockford for a wedding last week, James drove up to Racine, WI and picked it up. Gotta love ebay. We replaced the carpet, painted the sides, repositioned the seats and put new panels on. It's good as new. We can't wait to see if it floats tomorrow.

On a different note. My sister bought a wedding dress today. I haven't seen it yet and she doesn't have the ring yet, but it's coming very soon. They're talking about getting married in January. I really think they just can't wait any longer than that... if you get my drift. Oh well... she found a great guy. He'll fit in with the rest of us quite well.

My parents left yesterday morning for Washington State. My brother get's home next weekend. We're really exited that he and Shoshannah will be home soon. Too bad my parents have to drive his monstrous truck all the way out there. Unfortunaely, we won't get to see him until August when they come home again.

Marranda is doing well. She just got caught fillin her britches. She just won't tell us when she has to go potty. oh well. the time will come.

Potty Training...

Well, we've made it two weeks with a three year old. Our biggest obstacles have been bed time and potty training. If we let her nap in the afternoon until she wakes up she won't go to bed easily at night; if we wake her up early from a nap she can be a zombie all afternoon. Nap times are goofy. Some nights she goes to bed so easily and some nights she just wakes up screeming. We're not sure if she's having bad dreams or what's going on.

Potty training is a nightmare. She tells us outright that she's not going to tell us when she needs to go to the bathroom. She will sit on the pot for a half hour, get off and 15 minutes later wet her pants. Tonight I put her in some training pants with the plastic ones over them. She decided to fill them with pee and poop... When we asked if she would tell us before she had to go next time she looked right at us and said "NO"... ugghhh. So it goes... we'll keep trying... any suggestions are welcome.

We're still looking for a place for Marissa. She's Marranda's big sister and needs a place to live. Everyone is pretty much in agreement that it wouldn't be a good idea for us to take her. My heart breaks for her, I wish we could. Both of the girls had a visit with their mom last Monday, it went very well, we were pleased. I hope that through all of this, there can be healing.

That's all for now... I'll talk again soon.

...and then there were three

Hey Everybody, Here are a couple of pictures of our first night with Miranda. Mac n Cheese and Dora... what more could we want!?!

Is There A God???

Wow! My friend Meredith wrote a blog about this question. She googled trying to find out how to answer this question in a good way, but all she came up with were blogs and blogs of bad answers to the question. Try it. You'll find lots of blogs with people asking questions and many people saying that there is no God. They say they aren't sure. Some say that they have been "saved" at some time or another, but they don't go to church because it's corupt and they are a good person anyway so it doesn't matter. Some say it doesn't matter at all. Reading a few of these blogs and the answers is sufficient to yank me out of my little bubble I have once again found myself in. It is amazing how easy it is for my vision to be clouded. I forget that there are people headed to Hell everyday because I have been silent. What if I were to speak up... ???

Pampered Chef

Hey I'm having a pampered chef party on April 29th. If you want to come, let me know. If you can't come, but want to get something, let me know. Here is the website: http://www.pamperedchef.biz/havnfun

Deal or No Deal Flunkies

We were a couple of the goofs who went to the Deal or No Deal casting call. It was the first and last time I will do something like that. I had absolutely no desire to go, but James really wanted to go, so I went too. He told me I earned a lot of brownie points for that. We waited for 5 1/2 hours just to get in the car and go home again. Gotta be honest, didn't expect anything else. There were some crazy people there. By the time we got to the front of the line, they put you in lines of 10 people; then they rush all of you up to one table and you get to sell yourself to them for 20 seconds. I'm glad we didn't make it through to the next round. It was exhausting. Oh well. The things we do for our husbands... Have a great day everyone!