41/52 + 19 weeks

1 -  LM got in a cat fight last week. Okay, maybe not. But a cat was thrown at her face and she got a gnarly looking scratch that barely missed her eye and goes all the way down her cheek on one side. Luckily it wasn't too deep so she won't have a lasting scar. I was not very happy when it happened and the mama bear in me came out since it was not an accident, but sometimes crazy things happen when a bunch of kids are playing together and I had to dig down in my heart for some forgiveness. It helped that she forgave the child soon after and was a good example to me. I am constantly learning to be a better person from my children.

2 - This is the week we will start working on saying goodbye to Lark's thumb sucking. We have a plan all worked out with daily incentives that I am crossing my fingers will work since it is a lot cheaper than my plan B. I was just going to splurge on the thumb guard, but I decided I may as well see if I can go a less expensive route first. I have been talking to her about stopping for a while now to get her used to the idea. I can tell she is starting to come around so she won't feel like we are forcing her to quit against her will, but I'm sure it is not going to be all sunshine and roses. I have no wish to make this a bad experience for her though. My hope is that I can help her feel empowered and ready to make the choice to stop herself as the days go on. I'm sure it is going to take a lot of patience and love. Wish us luck!  

3 - And as I try to wean one child off of the thumb, another has started finding and sucking on his, haaaaa. Funny joke, life. I know it is not the end of the world, but I had really hoped he would take a paci. He sort of does both at this point so I haven't completely given up. I know everyone has differing opinions on this, but I've experienced a child who took a paci (LM) and a thumb sucker (Lark) and I would just rather play out the paci scenario again with Tommy. I shouldn't complain though because at this point he mostly just does it at night which is helping him sleep from 7 pm-7 am which is actually pretty great.


p.s. The winners of the Luvsome giveaway have been notified by email. Thanks to all of those who entered!

Luvsome pet food GIVEAWAY - closed

Do your kids have daily or weekly chores? We have been trying to do better about getting LM and Lark to help around the house this past year by giving them responsibility over their room and a few other household chores. It definitely hasn't always been a smooth road for us with whining on their end and yelling on mine, but I am finally seeing some results as I have tried to be consistent and I'm not going to lie, it feels awesome. The other day I asked them to clean their room while I nursed Tommy and put him down for his nap and when I came out they had actually done it. The best part was they were so proud of themselves and excited to show me what a good job they had done!

One of LM's jobs is to feed our cat Tiger Lily every morning. This actually happens down in our basement storage room which is where we keep the cat food, water bowl, and litter box. My husband had the brilliant idea to install a cat door on the storage room door so Tiger Lily can go in and out as she pleases and it has worked out so great. It wouldn't have made for very appealing pictures though, so this day we completely confused her by feeding her in some natural light, ha!

LM has accepted feeding the cat as her responsibility and is even starting to take some pride in it which has been fun to watch unfold. Sure there are still days that she doesn't want to do it, or she needs Lark to go with her into the basement if she's feeling a little timid, but for the most part she does it willingly and knows it is a way we expect her to contribute in our home. I try to make sure both girls know how much we appreciate their help and that they play an important role in our household as well as in our family.

Luvsome gave us some of their nutritionally balanced cat food for Tiger Lily to try out and she has been making the switch over to it the last couple of months. Apparently, she was ready for a change because she ripped a hole into the bottom of the bag before we could even open it, thus the reason it is opened upside-down. We used their recommended method of transitioning Luvsome cat food into her old cat food slowly over a period of time, adding a little more each time until the old cat food is completely phased out. This is to help prevent your cat from getting an upset tummy. I am happy to say that Tiger Lily is doing really well on Luvsome now!

Would you like to try out Luvsome for your pet? They are generously offering my readers two switch kits, each with a free coupon for Luvsome and a $50 gift card. Simply leave a comment telling me what kind of pet(s) you have and their name(s) along with your email. I'll choose two lucky winners next Friday. Good luck!

*******This giveaway is closed. Winners have been notified by email, thank you!*******

38/52 + 16 weeks

(I meant to post this last week)

Sometimes the only pictures I take all week are snapped within five minutes of each other like these. There is less variety but I am still capturing a moment that is worth remembering to me. Honestly, I am quite proud of how I am doing with this challenge, even though I've missed some weeks along the way, and I am so glad it has motivated me to get my camera out (and not just my phone) even if it was only for a few minutes one day. Life with three young kids is busy!

1- The girls like to let Tommy pull their hair since he has recently discovered his hands and is starting to grab at things. It is cute and funny to them now, but I'm sure as the months go on when he gets a fistful of hair it will become less so, ha.

2 - I read somewhere that redheads have a higher pain tolerance and it seems to be true when it comes to Larkie. While the rest of us have a point where we yell out and stop Tommy from pulling our hair out, she just sits there and giggles the whole time no matter how hard he pulls.

3 - Tommy started rolling all the way over the day he turned 4 months old. As you can see he is quite happy about this new trick. Or, maybe he just finds it amusing that we are all willingly letting him yank on our hair for kicks. :)