Let me explain...

Before anyone judges me, yes I know I should be in church right now... but sometimes the call of motherhood throws an obstacle in our way! Poor Landon has been battling an eye cold for a little over a week now. He's finally good enough to where I don't think people would have avoided us like the plague in our meetings today (I stayed home with him last Sunday). But upon arrival from mine and Brandon's night out last night, we were greeted by a puking Hunter. :( Granted, I am not a puker (I've only experienced the phenomenon twice in my entire life span thus far.. including pregnancies), and I've been very lucky that my kids have had "tough" stomachs as well. Being spoiled has it's ups I'll admit, but it does throw you for a loop when something normal to the rest of the world shows up on your doorstep! So alas, I am home again (Brandon teaches the deacons so we can't alternate this responsibility!) with my two sad boys who are for the moment "resting" if not sleeping. :)

Spare moments are hard to come by these days, so I figured I'd better seize the opportunity to redeem myself as a mother and post about the festivities of the month... what festivities you ask? Why Bailey's 4th birthday of course!!! ...I know, I can't believe it either! :(

The day began with breakfast in bed (of course!). During which Brandon revealed the dollhouse he had put together for her the night before - the two of us are pathetic like that.. NO patience! Then Bailey chose McDonald's (another no-brainer) for her birthday lunch with mommy. :) I tried to talk her out of chicken nuggets in her happy meal since she also chose chicken nuggets for her birthday dinner, but she didn't mind having them two meals in a row! :P That evening we celebrated some more when Brandon got home from work.

Think we were partied out yet? NO WAY!!! My mom came into town at Midnight on Thursday to be here for her birthday party with her little friends on Saturday! "Dora" was all the rage this year, and she was plenty spoiled as usual! As always, a GREAT dragged-out-as-long-as-humanly-possible birthday celebration at the Hooley home! :) Happy Birthday Bailey!!!

Love and Logic

There is a fantastic book that has changed mine and Brandon's lives called "Parenting With Love and Logic". Truly the greatest approach and advice on parenting that I've come across to date! But I'll save the sales pitch spiel for a different day...

I know that my kids watch me WAY too closely, but we've only been following these new techniques since Christmas. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that she picked up on it so quickly, I mean she mimics everything else I do (which is quite the eye-opening experience by the way)!

So we're eating dinner this evening and Hunter is fiddling with his food more than anything else. He scooped up a big hunk of rice and played with it on it's way to his uninterested mouth until it fell off the fork onto the table...

Me: "Hunter, that's messy, could you please pick that up?"
Hunter: "EWWWW! It's yucky!" (I know, I know.. a boy who doesn't like to get his hands dirty - what's up with that?!)
Bailey: "Hunter, you have two choices: You can pick your rice up and put it on your plate with your hands, or with your fork. You choose."
Hunter: "OooohKaaaaay..." (He chose the fork.)

Simply stated, priceless. I LOVE this book! Oh and PS. it's by Foster Cline, M.D. & Jim Fay. For all those who either have kids or plan on having them... FABULOUS!!! Changed my life and my view on parenting 110% (and I mean that in a VERY good way)! Of course if you don't want to go through the trouble of reading it, I could always rent you Bailey... ;)

And the winner is...

Christine!!! Congratulations Christine!:) E-mail me at eehooley@hotmail.com so I can send you the redemption code for your $25 in FREE product from www.baileysblossoms.com !!! Thanks for participating everyone!:) I'll definitely be doing this again so check back soon!:)

Jesus wants me for a...

SUNBEAM!!! Bailey has been ready for a very long time for this critical moment in her aging process.. to graduate out of the nursery, and into Primary! Given that she's a January birthday, and will be FOUR (my word!) next week, she was more of a teacher's aid than anything else with all the "babies" as she liked to call them. ;) But let's not confuse her willing and readiness with my own... I was not even close to being "ready" for this moment! :( I dropped her off into the Primary room and watched her skip away without so much as a glance backward at her over protective adoring mother.. then I did what any normal emotionally enhanced woman would do -I BAWLED! I wish I could say it was one or even two glittering tears down my cheek, but that would be nothing short of a lie. I would like to blame it on being pregnant, but really, I am an emotion-on-my-sleeve kind of gal.. prego or not!

Once I finally gathered myself (to a degree), I started the lonely walk back to my own Sunday School class, when I heard the very distinct sound of Hunter's unhappy calls in the nursery. It was bad enough (and unusual enough) that I went in to console him. He buried himself into my shirt, shaking and sobbing "Bailey!... Bailey!..." all the while pointing to her now torturous picture on the nursery wall. I tried to help him calm down, but it only set me off yet another time and, let's just say we were a sad sight to see! :(

I keep telling myself it would be crazy for three of my kids to be in nursery at the same time, and Landon's picture will soon replace his very "big" sisters... Alas, I am VERY excited for Bailey and all the "growing up" that she's readily embracing, but MY WORD - SLOW DOWN ALREADY!!! Don't you know I'm an emotional woman?!

Bailey's Blossoms GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! And what better way to celebrate than with $25 in FREE product of your choice from www.baileysblossoms.com ?! Just post a comment and the winner will be randomly selected and announced on January 8th. Good luck everyone!!! :)