Confessions of a Lazy Mom

So I have been kind of preoccupied lately with the fact that I feel my parenting has gotten very lazy. I can see it in Jackson's behavior and I don't like it at all!!!

Here is the background for what tipped the scale yesterday:

Luis and Jake stayed home from church yesterday because Luis has been sick. I took Jax because he was reciting the Article of Faith in Primary (He only whispered the first 4 words of #8 and then mouthed the rest... it was cute). Well, I am in the primary presidency, so I am very busy during primary. Thankfully yesterday I wasn't doing sharing time so I could deal with the situation at hand! Jackson was kicked out of class 3 times because of his behavior. At one point he was hitting the other kids, and throwing himself on the ground and kicking and yelling, even when I went in to be with him. It was awful and I ended up leaving church early because he couldn't be in class and he couldnt be with me in Senior primary. Jackson's behavior has been on my mind a lot lately, and this solidified the fact that SOMETHING has to change... for Jackson's sake! I can't even imagine sending him to school with him behaving like this. He would be in the principal's office non-stop!

So, here is the parenting makeover I am about to go through:

Jackson needs structure. He thinks he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to. He doesn't really have a concept of behaving a certain way in certain times. So, we are going to start a very strict schedule to include 1/2 hour of scripture time and 1/2 hour of school time. I have already been doing school time with him, but not very consistently with work and all I've been gone. Even school time will be structured. Jackson will know that there is an order to things and before we can move on to one thing, we must complete the others. School time will go as follows, Story/Flashcards/Activity/Writing Letters/Watching Letters DVD. I am hoping that this will prepare him for school and being told what to do with by a teacher. I want to buy a posterboard and write our schedule on the board and keep it in his room so we can refer to it whenever he gets fussy about doing something!

Silvia just bought us the scripture books with pictures from every chapter... you know the ones that were made in the 70s but are still around??? She bought BofM, New and Old Testament and D&C. I am so excited because this is exactly what I need to make scripture time better for Jax. We already read scriptures, but he only lasts long enough to look at the pictures in the triple combination. (Which he loves now, he even knows what happens in each picture. The other day I skipped the picture of Bethlehem on accident and he pointed back and said "baby Jesus" :) So I am excited to get him more involved with the actual scripture stories.

Also, we have not been having family home evening. I have been really upset by this because I really want Jackson to have a strong foundation in the gospel. He knows a few gospel principles, but not as much as other children his age. So, this week I am going to start FHE. It probably won't be on Monday nights, I think Sundays will work best for us, but I am really excited to teach Jackson these lessons. I get emails from LDS Living.com and they email FHE ideas. I will use that, as well as lessons from the internet.

I also have realized that we yell at the boys too much. I just hate it! We have been very stressed lately and I try really hard not to take it out on the boys and I usually succeed... but not always. I am going to try harder with that. I did an experiment the other day. I tried to go all day without yelling at the boys and I was so amazed at the results! It sounds bad that I had to consciously try not to yell, but I did. Jackson totally responded to the change! He was much better behaved that day! That just proves that I need to be more patient and controlled. I am really looking forward to seeing a change in his behavior after I implement these changes within myself.

The bottom line is that Heavenly Father allowed Jackson and Jacob to come to our family, trusting that we would teach them the things they need to know so that they can live with Him again. Sometimes I forget that and get distracted by other things. I am so thankful for my boys and I know they deserve the best Mom that I can be. If it takes sacrificing some "me-time" or whatever, I can do that.

As you can see, I am very motivated to step it up in the parenting department! I will keep you guys updated with any changes I see in Jackson. If you have any tips on what has worked with your kids, or what has worked for families you know, I am all open to hearing ideas. I am kind of clueless here and I am just doing my best to improve! Help is appreciated whether you are an experienced mom or not!

My big boy in a little bed!

Jackson is the slowest eater ever! Unless, of course, it is a hot dog. It is so frustrating because unless I take the spoon and feed him myself, he will literally take an hour to eat. So I threatened to put him to bed if he didn't eat, and he didn't! It is only 5pm, so I didn't think he would actually fall asleep, although it makes sense... since he's been sick. I walked him upstairs and realized that Jake was napping in their room. We still have the playpen set up in our room, so I put him to bed in the baby's playpen. He was so sad, but hopefully it will teach him to eat his dinner. After a couple of minutes it got quiet and I went to check on him and this is what I found! Too cute.



Yesterday, Silvia's friend came over and brought her daughter, Jade, who is in Jackson's sunbeam class. They played ALL day! We did fun things like play Cooties, Chutes and Ladders, watched Hooked on Phonics, read books, and played outside! They loved it! It was so cute to see Jax and Jade play because I have never seen him interact with someone besides Jake like that. He even put his head on her shoulder when they were watching TV! It was sooooo cute! She only speaks a little English, so I got to work on my spanish and since Jax doesn't talk very much anyways, I guess it just worked for them. Here are some pics!

Lately

We have been dealing with sickness!!! First I got sick, thanks to 10 minute health advising sessions with about 1000 people the past 2 months... I'm sure one of them gave me this bug! Luis got sick, then Lew, then Jacob, and now Danny, Silvia and Jackson are all sick!!! Luis got it the worst and was pretty miserable for almost 3 weeks with a horrible cough and cold. Thankfully the boys are doing pretty well, despite the fever and the cough. Everyone is on the upside now, so soon we will be back to our healthy selves!

All of you who have kids... get Hooked on Phonics for them!!! It is amazing! After just 2 weeks of practice everyday with the DVD, Jackson knows all his letters, the sounds they make, and can blend simple words like sat and cat... in other words... HE CAN READ! Now, I did say simple words... but at 3 years old he knows how to sound out words! It is awesome! Whenever we go out, he sees a word and spells it out with the sounds... His speech has improved so much because of it too!!! I am pretty positive that he is going to enter kindergarten already knowing how to read. He is using the Pre-K level 1 program. Jackson got the complete set for christmas... so I didn't have to pay for it. I know it's not the cheapest thing, but it works soooooo well! http://www.hookedonphonics.com/learn-to-read/?ShowPopup=0&gclid=CMzRwdONnacCFc4M2godIEU4fw check it out you guys!

So, like I've mentioned before... Jacob loves oranges, and Jackson has now learned how to use this to his advantage. I was peeling an orange and Jax and Jake were playing. They started fighting because Jake was playing with his popper and Jax wanted it. Jake wouldn't give it up, so Jax ran up to me, grabbed a slice of orange, and ran off. I looked over at the boys later and Jax had the popper and Jake had the orange slice in his mouth... sneaky and manipulative Jax!

curls!!!

Soon I hope to get a video of the boys playing together. It is so sweet to see them interact. Jacob is developing quite a personality! Both boys need haircuts, but before we do that, I wanted to show how curly Jake's hair has gotten. He is starting to look like Jesse! If I brush it out while it is wet it won't be as curly, but if I let it dry by itself, this is the result! Can't wait for everyone to meet the boys in Sequim!










Jacob has been sick for the past few days... here is a picture of him being sick, but happy after a bath!

Jacob's First Word

Jacob said his first official word!!! He has been really good lately about saying sounds, like the D sound for dada and the B sound for BaBa, but he actually said "baba" today when I showed him a bottle. He said it twice for me and then wouldn't say it for Silvia! It was so cute to hear him say it! I love it! He will be 13 months on Sunday, so hopefully he will start speaking right on schedule. It seems like he will! It's very exciting!

cute Jackson...

I was giving Jax and Jake a bath and I have a blue loofa and Luis has a red loofa. (Yes, my husband uses a loofa) Well, Jackson knows what they are called and tonight I took my blue loofa out of the tub so I could pack my suitcase. As I did that, Jackson pointed to Luis' red loofa and said "redfa"... I think he has always thought I was saying "bluefa" for my blue loofa!!! It was really cute. redfa, bluefa :)

Feels like Idaho!!!

This week has been SOOOOO cold. In fact, it is supposed to snow tonight. There is a 60% chance. That will be cool! It is about 30 degrees right now and tomorrow is supposed to be 25. But by sunday we should be in the 60s. We had to pull out our pillowcase full of winter scarves and gloves before we went out this morning! I didn't have much, so I must have a lot in storage. I know for a fact that Jackson's big jacket is in storage... I didn't really expect to be living with Silvia and Lew for so long, so I packed up most of the winter clothes! We are hoping to be on our own again by April. Here are some pictures. Mom sent a gift card for jake's bday and I bought him that peek-a-boo choo choo in the pics. He LOVED it so much he was crying and begging me for it as I was opening the packaging! He couldn't wait to have it. There is a picture here as well of Jackson trying to bribe Jake into playing with the popper so he could have a turn with the choo choo... it didn't work very well :)Also, Jake loves to sit on Xela's bed... he is so cute when he kicks her off. He loves to lay on it but I didn't get a picture. he prefers the dog bed to his bed!

Oh, and Thank you Linda and Alan for the gift certificate to the nail salon! I finally used it! I got a manicure and my eyebrows waxed! It was wonderful! Thanks so much!