One thing that's been kind of hard of me is Ben is starting to have a little bit of an issue with kicking, biting and hitting. This not only makes me mad it makes me sad too. I know it's normal and almost every kid goes through it- that doesn't mean I have to like it. He's been sent home twice now with "Incident Reports" because he's bitten someone. Sometimes he'll snuggle his face in my legs when I'm wearing pants and bite my pants. He's started to kick at me when I change his diaper and has gotten in trouble with Daddy for that. And today I was holding him and he wanted down and I wouldn't let him because we were in front on the daycare waiting for Ryan to come and he slapped my face with both hands. I know it's kind of silly for me to be upset because he's so little... but I don't want this to become the beginning of bad habits and notions of how he treats people-especially his mommy. He's testing his limits and that's normal... I just want to be patient and stern at the same time and I'm assuming this will be my next challenge as a mommy! It's really important to me to make sure he and I get along but that he respects me and Ryan as his parents. And any adult really. I was taught and raised to respect my elders and I will expect that out of my kids as well.
Delinda made it to Chicago today. That girl... she somehow finds herself in a series of unfortunate events. She had a run in with a cop and an impound lot and then her car unfortunately met a pole but not in a good way, which dislodged the bumper that came undone while driving to stay in Louisville, KY that had to be tied up with the string from a mesh laundry bag! They had to sneak Kidder, her dog, in to the hotel room in a suitcase since pets weren't allowed! Then Louisville was experiencing major flooding and storms and I said to her, "wouldn't be appropriate if your car just floated off?" Luckily it didn't and they made it to Chicago safe and sound. She's starting a new adventure in her life and I'm so proud of her. I will miss her SO much. I know she's gone and left me for AZ and Africa before, but for some reason this feels more permanent. I'm just glad she has plenty of people to visit here in Atlanta so I know she'll be coming often. I find comfort in that. PLUS I've always wanted to visit Chicago so it'll be fun to go and see her digs. We got to hang out with her and Jen on Saturday night. She brought Kidder over and Ben is TERRIFIED of her for some reason, so we watched Kidder torment Ally and Ben be afraid of her for a little while. He started to get more and more used to her but still didn't really like her being around.
We're counting down the days to 1. the arrival of our friend Jiznin (Jennifer G.) getting home from her mission to Mongolia. I can't believe it's already been that long, and it'll be cool because the last time she got to see Ben was when he was still in my tummy. And 2. going to Destin, FL for Labor day! I need something to look forward to and this is just the thing for me. We're going with The Terry's and Clint and maybe Jennifer if she's up to it and possibly another couple of friends. I'm excited to see how Ben does at the beach and to even to just GO to the beach. We'll be staying in the same condo that we stayed in a couple years ago for Memorial Day. So we're excited. Should be lots of fun.
This past Sunday after dinner, we headed over to Jacob's parents house. They have loads of land and it's all beautiful and kept beautifully but also very rugged. His dad had a burn permit so we went and made a bonfire and made S'Mores. It was a lot of fun. One thing that I LOVE about the summer time in the South is the lightning bugs (or fireflies)! I am so excited my kids get to grow up around them. It was kind of hot and humid for a fire, it had been raining all day... but it was still way fun and enjoyable. I didn't have the camera so iPhone pictures will have to do. It makes me excited to finally get to go camping this Fall. We love the Fall in our group of friends... there's SO much fun stuff to do. Camping, pumpkin patches, apple festivals, the leaves changing and nice drives, corn mazes, the Holidays... we're almost there which honestly freaks me out. It's AUGUST people! School starts in our county next week! Weird.More photos of Ben playing in the pool. It was nice and toasty from being in the sun this time.
It's late... off to bed.
