This week Krissy began school. She is attending The Hair Academy. I am so incredibly proud of her. College and parenting combined is hard. (I know! I did it, too.)
When Krissy discovered she was expecting, I told her that when she went to school, her dad and I would do everything under our control to help care for her baby. SO - I am back in the day care business!! I have Wyatt all day Monday through Wednesday. Devin and I split Thursday. Devin cares for Wyatt on Friday. Chad and I will also have Wyatt some Sundays while Krissy works. Having Wyatt is a joy. I am so thankful for the time with him.
It is also a lot of work! I was so upset with myself for a while this week because I was feeling really overwhelmed. I remember when Krissy and Jamison were similar in age to Mataya and Wyatt. It did not feel nearly as difficult then as it does now. Any you know what? It wasn't! When they were little, they were my only kids! I did not have 5 other children counting on me. My laundry pile was much smaller, my home was WAY smaller, and I was not working at all. My life was much simpler, which means caring for them was also simpler. I felt so much better when I realized that!
So, my question of the week was - do you REALLY need to do that?
I discovered that there were many tasks that could and should wait. (Even with my slimmed down tasking, I am totally exhausted! Transitions are hard. we will get it figured out!)
Mataya loves, loves, loves her little nephew. She also loves, loves, loves, loves, loves her momma. Sharing momma is hard - especially so frequently. Learning to walk into the store herself, rather than having mommy carry her is. . . interesting. Mataya craves physical touch more than any other toddler I have parented, which means I spent much of the week with a baby on each hip. Boy, am I glad for all the pushups I did in the past year! I'm tired, but I am not sore!
So this is what our home looks like lately:
Mataya is so tactile. She loves to have her hands busy. BINGO markers, pens, or playdough constantly cover my island.
Wyatt is way chill. He is happy to sit and watch all the crazy around him.
Mataya's newest thrill is dressing herself. She changes many times a day.
Below is a sampling of her outfits from one day this week:
YEP - 7 outfits in one day!
Good thing I love my laundry room!
Sitting on the floor and playing has always been a challenge for me as a parent. I prefer to read to my kids, do an art project, bake, sing silly songs, but just sitting and playing causes me to fidget! I am always tempted to go and do something "more important." I took this photo as a reminder that THIS IS IMPORTANT. Sitting and connecting IS the most important I do with these peanuts every day.
" Hi Daddy! Hi Grandpa! Hi Mommy!"
I brought both kids to my office twice this week.
Good help is hard to find, I tell you! These two did super!!
Mataya LOVES the IPAD. She calls is "PADPAD."
I hate electronics. I think kids need books and imaginary play. Her begging for the PADPAD makes me cringe. I also understand why she is so intrigued. All the bigs in her life are on their phones, computers,or tablets often. So - she is allowed to use it for a few minutes after her nap. She also gets to use it while I exercise. She runs it like a boss. I can not even imagine the skills she will have with electronics someday. It is a whole different world than I raised Krissy in!
Toddler tales:
Mataya has learned to tattle. Jamison was bouncing a ball off the ceiling (which I hate) and she ran up to him and yelled, "Naughty!" (There have been many more naughty moments pointed out since then!)
Mataya no longer likes kisses. When I kiss her she quickly wipes them off, looks at me with a teasing grin and says, "wipe it!"
Mataya loves to deliver mail to the guys at the office. As I go through the mail she runs from office to office handing out mail.
Mataya is Wyatt's "puppy." She eats all the food he throws off his tray.
We took Mataya to a hockey game, and she is hooked. She begs, "hockey, please, please Hunter hockey!"
Mataya is FAST. She loves to sprint around the house. She tells Jamison, "Racin! Fast!"
She loves to clean.
She loves to feed the dog. I finally explained that she can only feed him twice a day or he will get fat. Now she tells everyone, "Riley FAT!!!"
She loves to tell people "Good day" (Have a good day!)
She has begun saying, "Love you!" because she does! She also names other feelings - happy, crazy, silly, mad, and cry (hurt, tired, angry).
She has the craziest hair. She has a permanent case of bedhead in the back.
She is not always kind to Wyatt (think stealing toys and pushing him out of her way) - but she can not stand it if he cries. We drove to town this week and he cried and cried. She was so sad for him. She told him, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Cry! Sorry!" Finally she lost all patience and said, "Stop!"
She loves to jump. She also loves somersaults.
She loves McDonald's. How do they do it? She has only had McDonald's about 4 times in her life, but when we drive by she yells, "Donalds! Yay!!! Donalds!"
Since her potty training revolt she is the happiest kid in the world. So if a diaper makes her happy (she was seriously the moodiest toddler I had ever been around for a while) it makes me happy. At least for now.
When she really likes something she says "kiss it" even when it makes no sense. This morning when she saw the sunrise she said, "Booful! TayTay kiss it."
She always calls herself TayTay. But once or twice I have heard her call herself "Auntie." Can you even handle the sweetness?
She always pretends to talk to Grandma on the phone.
She feels very proud that she gets to play with her friends in the nursery at church, but she never talks while there. It is so funny because she's a chatterbox!
She is one of my very favorite people in the universe. Her sweetness overwhelms me. Her thought process tickles me. Her smarts amaze me. Her expressions are priceless. I am going to miss her like crazy when I'm in Ethiopia. My heart aches already. Good thing she has the world's best daddy. She loves him so very much she will probably be sad to see me return!
