Baby Moses play

Alaina's favorite movie right now is Prince of Egypt. On the top is a photo of Alaina and Ariana watching it. Alaina is afraid in some parts so Ariana is comforting her. Below that is a photo of Ariana and Alaina role-playing. I "caught" them playing Baby Moses here...Ariana is the mommy about to put baby Moses in the river, and Alaina and her doll are the Egyptian Princess and young Ramses about to find the baby in the river. Ariana changes roles from Moses' mother to her sister when the baby is in the river. I so wish I could have caught this on video- Ariana is doing the singing of "My Last Lullabye" but as soon as a camera shows up she's busy saying cheese and posing, so this photo is my best shot. I am so thankful that this is the kind of role-playing that they want to do. I feel so blessed by my beautiful daughters.

Happy Easter!

The girls had a great Easter! It was a fun-filled day at Grandma's and plenty of candy to last a while! Our precious girls love to match any chance they get, and when Clarissa gets here we may have to start making the dresses for them all to match. Only 10.5 weeks left until the arrival of our new little girl. We are all anxious for the big day!

Potty Training

So for those of you that can see our google calendar, you will know we started to potty train Ariana on February 25th. It is going pretty well. Ariana is a determined, independent person who decided after watching the DVD Potty Power and potty training her doll (named Goo-goo Gaa-gaa) that she also wanted to be a big girl and always wear underwear and keep it dry. We kept it very upbeat. We used ideas from Dr. Phil's method of potty training and the book Potty Training in a Day. Both were great resources. We were very positive about the whole experience, but in the end it was Ariana's determination to succeed which has made it happen.

We are still working on getting BMs (bowl movements) in the potty every time. Alaina tries to help by praising her sister, keeping it positive, and modeling. I am certain that much of Ariana's success is due to her big sister's teaching. Now if we could just convince her that it is okay to wear diapers at bed and nap time, and it is okay to need help wiping after BMs! Ariana's birthday was on Halloween, so she is two years and four months old.

Too many thoughts in this head of mine!

I really do have tons to blog about it, but I need some sort of organization of my many thoughts....this site is solely for the purpose to update all of my family life, what's going on with us and stuff. There are two other links to the right, one dedicated to my spiritual growth, and the other to my belly growth (LOL)

As far as what is happening with us...February went by fast, of course it is a short month, but I just blinked and here we are. My sister gave birth to my first niece on my side of the family....I am still trying to get a picture to post...Welcome to the family Naomi Morgan (Feb 2). Alaina seems to be doing well with homeschooling and Ari is being potty'd train this week...she is doing really well. Ari now can tell a joke. We ask her if she is still dry and she responds by saying "Uh, no :(, Just Kidding!:)" Too Funny! I think Beth is better blogging about the family stuff, but I figured since we didn't have a February posting...I might as well do one!

Reflections on Bathtime.

Oh, the challenges of keeping our offspring clean! In our household it is a major ordeal, taking several hours. I usually choose to give a bath in the mornings since I am not too exhausted yet. If only I could do the same for the bedtime rituals....now that is something I would love to do ahead of time!
Well at least for me both of my bathing beauties are willing to take a bath together. First I remove the rugs from the bathroom floor. I lay a slightly used towel (usually mine from the morning) up against the tub to guard against spills. Then I remove the shower head from it's stand, switch the setting, and place it in the tub. Next I start running the water (we must have bubbles! Not too hot, not too cold!) Then I take the Dora the Explorer no-slide mat from the hook it dries on and stick it to the bottom of the tub. And finally I dump the "bath toys" from their net bag into the tub. Did I say finally? We also need at least two more towels and washclothes!
Tired? I haven't even cleaned anyone yet! Then there is the announcement of the bath, followed by cries of, "Naked time! Naked time" and small bodies running about in various states of dress. Eventually they are herded into the bathroom, when Ariana says "where baby?" and searches for her favorite bath toy. No, it is not a baby. It's actually a toy jellyfish, in an unlikely shade of blue, with a doll-like face. Or maybe it is an octopus. what do I know? The manufacturers created this toy for Target for a mermaid playset, not originally intended for the tub, but hey it works.
Alaina usually makes me "coffee;" a red cup full of bubbles and water. At some point there is usually a waterfight with the squirting bath toys (how does one get those clean?) and "No hitting Ari! Mommy she's hitting me!" from my eldest. The youngest today yelled, "No throw toys Nayna!" so I assume neither child is ever entirely at fault....like most people.
Usually the bath ends when Ariana begins to climb out of the tub and streak through the house. Then I have to capture her, clean her little body, and wrap her in a towel. The showerhead comes in handy then...she most often has her hair washed while wrapped in a towel on my lap. She pitifully cries, "all done mommy!" at the top of her little lungs. She then must be lotioned up (no I can't skip it, it combats her eczema) and diapered and dressed, while reminding Alaina to wash wash wash!
While Ari sits and sucks up some Dora time, I tackle Alaina. Typically it involves setting the timer for some more "play time," double checking to see that she's washed herself (amid cries of "that was short" and "Can I play some more?") and washing her hair. This particular day she had orange paint in it as a result of her art project yesterday (and on her back and shoulder. She wore both a shirt and paint smock, so I was amazed.) Washing Alaina's hair is no longer a chore, because she's (finally) learned to keep her head tipped back. She also wants to be picked up from the tub, wrapped in towels, and cuddled. Although we still have the cuddle time (and often Dora time) she has to walk now since I'm 20 weeks along.
I wonder why it is that so many parents choose to make bathtime a daily ritual. My day isn't long enough, and I am blessed to stay home! Two or three times a week is plenty!
I know that time is limited, though, when bathtime will be so much fun. I enjoy the rituals and snuggle time, too, and I wouldn't want anyone else to take care of my little girls. Although I encourage Alaina to consider a shower ("Lele takes showers") and I know it will be less work later, I will miss this stage when it passes. And I wonder how adding a new little one will change the dynamics of our family. But I am looking forward to finding out. A baby is a blessing. Ariana has blessed our lives, and another child will only make life richer and fuller for all of us.

Three's a charm!

Well, it's official, I have three weddings to save for! I won't lie, I have been dying for some testosterone in my home. But I have felt that this was going to be the outcome and I am really thrilled at the dynamics of having three girls. It just means that one day I will get my very own bathroom, or outhouse. I have been more anxious for this little one to arrive, and been holding babies any chance I get, and they have been little girls. We are officially at the half-way mark, and it went by pretty fast. So I guess many are wondering about her name and you'll be surprised it will not begin with an "A"....so we can't wait until CLARISSA JOY is in our arms, and big sister Alaina can't wait either. To see pictures from our latest ultrasound, click on the pictures to the right.

We have gone "green" with our family newsletter!

What do I mean by green? Well we are going to save at least 1000 sheets of paper! And not to mention the other kind of green...$$$ We hope you have found us because you have received our recent family picture. We love it and hope it has blessed you. Be sure to visit our blog site as often as you can, and promise to stay in touch!

Click on the following link to view our Christmas Letter for 2007

Christmas Newsletter 2007

We love you!

Chris and Beth Flores