November Summary

Huge month for us!

Jason was accepted to the PA program at Emory and will begin in the fall of 2010.  We are so incredibly proud of him and can't wait to begin a new chapter in our lives.  We're also thankful that he made it this year, since the timing will work well with the new baby.

Jason and I also have been really involved in the proposed new charter school for our community and organized the silent auctions as the fundraising co-chairs.  Our first silent auction was a HUGE SUCCESS with over $24,000 raised for the school.  After the expenses of less than $2K, the net was unbelievable!  We find out December 14th if the charter is approved.

I had a wonderful 34th birthday, and the best present I could ask for:  a healthy 20 week ultrasound which showed a perfect little baby.  Still confident that it's a girl!  Now I'm trying to convince Jason that if it IS a girl, we need to have another!  Sisters are important after all!

Summary of October

Mickey's boat was awesome... mostly.  Thornton had an attitude quite a bit, and didn't want to see Nannie as much as she wanted to see him.  Holden couldn't be cuter, but still was a big sleeper, so that caused someone to have to be in a cabin, and mommy got some sort of bug and slept for an entire day without moving.  Otherwise, we saw lots of characters who were loved from afar, but not as much up close), had a ball swimming with the dolphins (highlight of the trip), and ate great food.  Mommy and Daddy even got a little personal time in there!

Holden gave up the paci this month.  I thought it would be a bigger deal, but he was fine.  I was more concerned than he was, frankly.

Halloween was VERY WET... thank God 5 houses are enough for a 3 and 1 year old.  It was just the mom's this year at Rene's house as all the dads were working our out of town.  We fell to the power of the pre-made costume and let the boys go as Spiderman and Mr. Incredible.  Next year, we'll go back to family made matching costumes for as long as I can get away with it.

Holden is my big lover, and Thornton is still a trial.  I can't imagine my Ho-Ho hitting the terrible twos as wonderful and loving as he is now.  Then again, I'm not sure if Thornton will live to see 4.  I do know this:  This too shall pass.  Both the good and the bad, so I'm prepared.

Kron Baby 3 on the way!

We always planned to have 3, and now we're there!  Kron baby #3 is due on April 6th, 2010.  We did everything we could to "stack the deck," so if this is a boy, it was meant to be.  I'm feeling girl, though, and we've nicknamed this pregnancy "project think pink"! 

We did get to tell a lot of close friends at Cooper's funeral, and it was nice to have a ray of sunshine during that time. 

My big boy Holden

Just converted Holden from the crib to toddler bed...1.5 hrs later the boys are asleep in Thornton's bed. Should make for an interesting night!

The Power of the Stickerchart

I had to take a moment to share an INCREDIBLE success that I’ve had this weekend with Thornton. For mothers of three-year-olds that have 1-800-GYPSIES on speed dial, I have a potential tool for you to use. Thursday I met a mom who was also ready to sell her child, and then had great success with this method. Who would have thought that a simple sticker chart would hold the power of peace!?!

Here’s what we did.
We created a chart on a piece of paper with the top 6 things that are causing the most problems/meltdowns in our house. I used clip art and let him pick out the picture that he said described the following things. Then we went over each of them a couple of times.
1. Get dressed in the morning without melting down (including crying over wearing our spiderman costume or buzz lightyear jammies to school)
2. Turn off the TV in the morning with a good attitude
3. Have a good car ride (this really means that when it’s time to come home, we don’t meltdown about going inside)
4. Take a nap or have quiet time
5. Clean up
6. Use a fork during dinner

See the awesome sticker chart below:

Then we went to Target and picked out prizes for the treasure box. I got some spiderman magnets and stickers from the dollar bin, a small pack of matchbox cars and some candy. I also purchased a bag of small toys from orientialtrading.com that is on the way. We decorated a shoe box with treasure stickers, jewels, and other pirate stuff, and wrote “Treasure Box” on the top. Then, we loaded the treasure box up with all these items and put the box on the counter in a very visible place.

Over the course of the day, we did a small sticker on the chart every time we completed an activity with a good attitude. Conversely, every time we started melting down (for any reason really), I’d say “remember the treasure box…. We want to have a good day to earn our treasure today”. OH MY GOD…. IT WORKED!!! I kid you not, my devil child actually was a fun human being all day, and if things got challenging, “remember the treasure box” somehow shut it down.

The Awesome Treasure Box

At the end of the day, we made a big deal about the last sticker… and the treasure box that was the last item on the list. We counted all the stickers, and he got all excited about going to the treasure box. He jumped the whole way to it, hopped up the stool, and spent almost 10 minutes going through all his options before he decided on his one treasure. It came down to a matchbox “boat car” vs. a starburst candy… and the candy won. Soooo, basically, I had an awesome day with my child for the cost of a starburst.

I’m totally stoked.

Day at the Lake

What could be better than a day on the lake with beautiful weather and family? Nothin' I tell ya!

My future's so bright.... I gotta wear NONNA's Shades!

Even better, we had two absolutely exhausted little men who swam their heats out, drove the boat and played so well with their new cousins Macy (9) and Madison (7).

Playing with Pappa, Madison, Macy, Ashley and Jacob on the boat!

Neither dirty nor filthy can fully describe this child in this moment!

Holden's Hot Date and the Schoolyard Rumble

Holden's first day of school behind him, mommy gave him the hook up second day out. With paci, blankie and "Milp" in the packpack, he was ready to go. While he did cry at drop off, his teachers said he did great!

Mommy picked him up a bit early and we went to the library for some books on choochoos and then lunched together at nearby JavaMonkey. On the way to lunch from the library, we had to pass the school. Holden stops dead in his tracks, runs back to me, clings to my leg and says "no mommy- up". He was absolutely certain he didn't want to go back to school that day. I carried monkey boy clinging to me to lunch.

Holden "lunching" with mommy on brie and apples - very shishi!

After lunch, we head back to school to pick up Thornton. Walking up to the playground, we see his old teacher, Ms. Chastain, and wave. I notice that she has Thornton by the hand and says to one of the teachers "Oh, his mom is here. I'll just talk to her".... Uh oh.

She's all smiles on approach, but I walk up to her with a heavy heart.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Well, two of the older boys started getting rough, and Thornton got caught in the middle of a fight."

"Did he start it?" I ask.

"No, but when the fists started flying, let me tell you - he held his own!"

I look down at Thornton and his little left eye and cheek are bright red. I ask him what happened and he says "the big boys were kicking and hitting, then I was kicking and hitting, then we were fighting". I reminded him that we should not play with those boys again, and he said "yeah- they're MEAN"!

Way to go Thornton! Great not to start the fight; even better to stick up for yourself when they started in on you. I'm a proud mama!