The Tyrant is Dethroned

R... wanted to sit in the "baby seat" for our hike on Tuesday night. I let her for some of it. She loved it.

W...is actually quite happy when not screaming because of allergies

Everyone wearing their Halloween garb.


Master W

The tryrant is dethroned. It is amazing how babies can become the dictator of the home. This baby got to the point that he would only sleep in my arms, day and night, and if I put him in his crib he would immeadiately burst into tears. Somehow even if he was dead asleep he would know what was happening. Needless to say, I wasn't getting any sleep. So, I decided to dethrone him. Mind you, I have never been successful at these types of ventures. Master I ruled with an iron fist. Many times I attempted a coup with him, you know the quick take over where I try to become the one that is calling the shots. It never worked. He always proved to have stronger determination than me. To this day he panics when it is time for bed and looks for a way out. He can't stand it when I leave.

Little Miss R was too mild natured to ever try to become the dictator. She enjoyed her crib and her binky and blanky. She was so easy going.

Master W has been much like Master I was. He pretty much rules my life as I have already describred. I had a simple plan for the take over with him. I would put him down to sleep when he was tired, but awake at 9:00 am, 1:00 am, and 8:00pm. He would cry but I wouldn't get him out. If I needed to I would pat his back to try to soothe him. When he got up in the middle of the night I would feed him one time and the other times I would just make sure he was ok, but not get him out. Well, I have done it...almost. Ok, so I woke-up this morning and he was in bed with me. I don't remember getting him out of bed and feeding him, but that is surely what happened. I think that I'll still be able to have control though. One false move like that and it would have been a failed coup for Master I. I hope it goes ok. I started last Thursday.

Little Miss R
Some of you have asked if we have had any more allergy moments. Our moment from last week involves The Darling. She wanted a milk sippy bippy and so I gave her one. This isn't a regular routine at our house because she hardly ever drank milk after she was weaned. But she wanted one so I gave her it and continued to do my work in the kitchen. Behind me little did I know that she was doing her dasterdly deeds. The next thing I knew I heard her say, "Well, he liked that!"

Putting two and two together in my mind and hoping that the sum wasn't what I thought it was I asked, "R... did you give W... your milk?" She responded with a big smile and quickly bobbing her head up and down. Well, and that was the begginning a very stressful morning. I didn't know whether or not to trust her because W... has a delayed reaction with milk of 30 minutes or so. But he did react. I think that the most stressful part of his reactions is the screaming. I am pretty sure that he gets hives on the inside of his intestinal tract or some other thing that causes terrible stomach pain. Thank goodnes for Benadryl. It seems to take care of the reaction every time and even puts him to sleep eventually

How can I get mad at The Darling? She is so cute and so wonderful. How can I get mad at someone that says, "I want to go so mucher!" The "er" is added for emphasis.

Miss R still has potty accidents. Mark and I try to persuade her to not go potty in her diaper. She convincingly says, "I wouldn't!" But, she still does.

Master I

This boy is a fabulous reader. His first grade teacher was suprised that we had to work at all on our spelling words for the week because usually the two go hand in hand. But I still remember the day that he came home from school with a 70% on a spelling test. I was devastated by tried to hide my horror. He looked at me and said, "It is a 70, but that is alright because a C is just like normal." I told him later on that night that it was OK that he got a 70 last week, but that we wouldn't ever let that happen again. We would work really hard to learn those words.

And so the spelling tradition began. We put hours into those words. We have the practice suggestions from the teacher, but along with that we have our own regimine. We take a pre-test at the beginning of the week and then use every day of that week to master the words that he missed on Monday in our pre-test. We have all kinds of tricks. We think we have gotten it down and now he gets 100% pretty routinely.

We get him a treat if he gets 100% on his spelling test. He chose a small meal from Dan's of cheesey tater tots and chicken strips. When he got in the car R.... asked if she could have one. He responded, "No, these are my special treats for doing well on my spelling test." But immeadiately after saying that he gave her some. I thanked him for sharing with her. He said, "I can't help it. I love it!"

I asked, "You mean sharing?"

"Yah," he said with a grin.

The other day Master I said to me, "Do you know what I want? I want to live some where else, but have you live with me, but I make all of the decisions." So, I decided that I would try to give him a day where he got just that.

This Sunday was the day. I started the day by reading to him the Sabbath Day chapter from Gospel Priniciples and explained that I would go along with what ever he wanted to do as long as it wasn't breaking the commandments. I told him that if he used his power well that he would be given more power, but if he used it poorly then it would be taken away. (This proved to be the most influential thing I said. He refered to it often and used it to determine his choices.) We then made a list of appropriate Sabbath Day activities, but then spent the morning doing my calling.

We had a Ward Conference to attend in the morning and then I had to do the Sharing time in that Primary. Mark was at the building because he was in bishopric meetings, so I called on him for his help. Instead of doing the sharing time with the three kids like I usually do, I gave them to him during our 11:00 Sacrament Meeting and I taught a sharing time on the other side of the building. Mark opted to sit in the congregation with them rather than on the stand. This proved to be a good choice. By the time that I got to him he was in the flustered in the foyer saying, "R.... is crazy."

"I know." I said. "But at least you didn't go with your original idea of sitting on the stand with the baby and watching I... and R... in the congregation on the front pew. That would have really been embarrassing.

So, anyway. I went home and fed the kids lunch and then went to the Thai/Laotian Ward because they were having thir Sacrament Meeting Presentation for the Primary. So the kids went to three Sacrament Meetings for church yesterday. By the time that we got home at almost 3:00 there wasn't much of the day left, but it was enough to be a very special day for our son. By the end of the day he was saying, "This has been the best day ever!"

"What made it so good?" I asked.

"I was in charge." He said.

The funny thing was that we did the same things that we usually do like go on a walk, read books, family scriptures, eat dinner, etc. But, he loved calling the shots.

The highlight was dinner. He thought it was so fun to choose what we were going to make. He said, "When I am in charge we have appetizers, a big meal with lots of options, and dessert!" He set the table in a fancy style and then he made names tags of where everyone would sit. He helped create a new salad dressing by mixing the Raspberry Vinegarette with the Poppyseed dressing. I loved it. He basked in my approval and said, "See, when I am in charge and I am helping it is like magical. Everything is just awesome."

This is our life. These are our highs and lows. These things make us laugh or want to pull our hair out. In this normal everyday life we feel sometimes bored and other times we feel the significance of what we are doing and it feels downright holy! The best feeling of all is when we feel deep love for each other. The worst feeling is when we feel the opposite. The conclusion is that we are absolutely living the dream!