EASTER SUNDAY

My lesson for the week is on how you should spend the holidays with your children as they get older, and really start understanding what the holidays mean.
Laye started talking about Easter and the Easter Bunny a week before the actual sunday. The thursday before Easter her school threw a big easter egg hunt. She was so excited about this; she would not put her easter basket down. My family and I dyed eggs with her, but in the end all she wanted to do was eat them all. On saturday we went to a huge easter egg hunt at ellis park where she got to meet the easter bunny. This did not turn out too well; seeing when she went up to him she started crying for me to come get her. She finally rubbed his arm but that is as fas as that was going. So you can only imagine what that picture look like.
On sunday; Easter, we got all dressed up to go to church. ( Laye loves putting dresses on). We hide easter eggs around the house for her, and she recieved lots of candy. ( not to fun for me). My grandma even called Laye on the phone, and she thought she was talking to the easter bunny. My daughter had so much fun for easter and I was so excited for her. It thrilled me to see how happy she was.
In the end, my advice to all future parents is to enjoy the holidays as much as you can with your children, in the end youll will both have so much fun.

My Doggie's Hurt

The lesson for the week is that you should buy your child a dog.
When Laye turned two we got her a puppy so she would have a dog to grow up with her. When I was small I got a dog named Meranda that I had in my life for twenty years. This is the same experience that I wanted my daughter to have.
We named Layes' dog " Suga" and she loves this dog to death. Well when Suga started getting too big we had to start keeping her outside. Well one day Suga got lose and crawled up under the house, and then she got stuck under there. My boyfriend had to climb under the house to get her lose, and when he got her out she was bleeding casue she cut her arm. When I looked over at Laye to see what she was doing while we were all outside I noticed that she had her hands over her little face. I asked her what was wrong and between tears she told me " my Suga hurt mommy." This really had me upset so I had to keep reassuring her that her dog would be okay, and that I would make her better. It really amazed me how much she cared for her dog.
So my advice to all future parents is you'll should buy your kids a pet because it will turn out to become their best friends in life.

Singing in Church

My lesson for the week is that you should enjoy every moment of your childs' life; even the smallest things in the world that they do.

I came up in church ( First Freewill Baptist) cause my grandfather has been my pastor my whole life, and a very good teacher about my faith. So it is very important to me, especially as a parent that I teach my daughter about Jesus and bring her up in church at a young age.

Laye has been going to church since she was a baby, and she loves to sing ( even outside of church). I call her my little diva, because since she was really small she started singing and dancing. At church she will even yell Amen while her grandpa is up there preaching.

My whole family sings in church; I guess its something that runs in the family. So while I'm up there singing a song Laye comes with me and sits on the pulpit in front of me. While she is sitting on it she sings the songs with me. If I start crying during a song she will wipe my tears away and say, " mommy its okay." This always touches my heart in a way that is unexplainable to anyone.

Now my daughter and I have always sung the song together, " this little light of mine," and its her absolute favorite song for us to sing together. Well one sunday at church she really suprised me and told me she wanted to go up there to sing. She got up in front of the whole church to sing, " this little light of mine." It was the proudest moment of my whole life watching my two year old sing in church. I was sitting on bench in the back crying like crazy, because what a wonderful, gifted daughter God has blessed me with.

My advice to all future parents, your children have a way of suprising you in life, even just small moments in life. So let them be independent sometimes because they might WOW you...

Miss Malaysia and The Frog

My lesson for the week is on how a child will make you watch the same movie about a hundred times a day.
My daughter loves to watch movies, and I do too. Yet when my daughter watches a movie she wants to watch it over and over agian.
Well when Laye turned two a movie called, Princess and the frog had just came out into the world. Now I think the movie was very cute, and I loved watching it with her at first. Then my daughter started wanting to watch the movie everyday, and every chance that she got. She could tell you every word to te movie and sing all the songs. For weeks in our house all you heard was...." when Im human, and Im going to be..." this is from a song in the movie.
Then when we would go to the stores she wanted anything that had princess Tiana involved. My mind started going crazy with frogs. She watched the movie so much that the movie begin to skip places while watching it.
Thankfully she finally moved past the princess and the frog phase, but now we have moved to the " Tangled Movie Phase." Please someone help me before I go Disney Movie crazy......LOL.

So my advice to all future parents, you better have a love for disney movies or become a huge fan because that will be all your child wants to watch 24 hours a day...

Interview

Interview with Brittany
Guest Post by: Classy with a Twist
I had the chance to interview Brittany from Loco Parenthood with Mama-B. This is a must read interview, because she gives advice that new mother's need to hear. Her incredible blog offer lessons that every mother should be aware of.

1).    Classy with a Twist: Can you tell me about yourself?
        Brittany: I am a senior at Catawba College with a major in Communication Arts. I have a three year old daughter named Malaysia. I love to read, write, and go to different parks with Laye.

2).    Classy with a Twist:  What is a typical day in your life like?
        Brittany: Wow..I have to get up early to get my daughter ready for school and myself. After I take her to school, I go to school across the street. After classes I either go to my internship or to work. I have to cook dinner every night, and then give Malaysia a bath. When I finally get her settled down for the night I have a chance to do my homework. After we go to bed we get up the next morning to start the same routine all over agian.

3).    Classy with a Twist:  Why did you name your blog Loco Parenthood with Mama-B?
        Brittany: Actually my mom helped me come up with the name. I wanted new readers to get a grasp of what my blog was about so thats why I put parenthood in the title. Loco came from the part that most of my post are about crazy things that happen while raising a toddler. Then Mama-b is a name that I started calling myself after I had Laye.

4).    Classy with a Twist:  Why did you choose your blog topic on parenthood?
        Brittany: I chose my topic on parenthood because it is a huge part of my life, but it is something that also brings a lot of joy in my life. I wanted readers to hear the stories that you can not read in a parenting book, but stories that make you look forward to having children.
       
5).    Classy with a Twist:  How do you handle it when you can’t think of an idea to write about?
        Brittany: Actually this is a funny confession, but when I started this class and decided on my topic for my blog. I went ahead and start a list of topics I would write every week. Kind of dorky I know, but with a crazy life like mine I don't have time to think of a new topic every week.

6).    Classy with a Twist: What is the best advice you have for new moms?
        Brittany: The best advice I have for new moms is to just enjoy all the little things that happen with your child. Even the smallest moments in life can leave an impact on your heart.

7).    Classy with a Twist:  What is the craziest thing you heard your daughter say?
        Brittany: This is funny, but she likes to tell every one that her dad and I  " be drinking a beer." It is so embarrassing but so funny at the same time.

8).    Classy with a Twist:  Is it a good idea to let your child name their pet and why?
        Brittany: I think its a good idea to let your child name their own pet, no matter what the name might be. It shows your childs true personality come out. Then in the future you will have something to pick on them about if they named for instance a cat named scobby-doo.

9).    Classy with a Twist: What is a creative activity you do with your daughter?
        Brittany: Malaysia and I put together a photo album together of places we have visited, and of the family. Laye and myself really enjoy it and it gives us a chance to spend time alone together.

10). Classy with a Twist: What’s the best part about motherhood?
      Brittany: One of the best parts of motherhood is how a child can change your mood in one second. Just looking at you without telling them to and they say they love you. Or when you're at church crying during a song they wipe away your tears, and tell you to stop crying. Even as soon as you wake up all you see is them smiling at you. These are the best parts of motherhood for me; its nothing big but it is the most special part of my life.

11). Classy with a Twist: What comes to your mind when you hear the word Laye?
      Brittany: ONE CRAZY LITTLE GIRL. Honestly she is the blessing in my life, a little angel sent from God, and the child who brings a smile to my face every day.
http://classy-twist.blogspot.com/

Don't Tell Me That Daddy!!!

The lesson for the week is on how children at young ages always tell you exactly what is on there minds.
During this years holiday season, Laye was really excited about the upcoming Christmas. I think a lot of it had to do with her daycare telling them about Santa Clause, all the Christmas movies we were watching together, and the fact that we kept going shopping every chance we got. So every time she would talk it was about Santa Clause, and she wanted to open up her presents.
Well Daddy-J decided that he thought that age two she shouldn't believe in Santa Clause, because he didn't want her to grow up to get mad at us one day for the fact we were telling her about a fictional character. I understood his point of view, but I also knew how much Laye was excited about her Santa Clause and I didn't want to ruin it for her. ( this would be a parents' nightmare).
One day we were all at the house ( laye, daddy-j, and me) and her daddy told Laye, " you know Santa Clause is fake, right?" Laye turned around to him with this mean serious face, and told her daddy " don't you tell me that daddy; my santa clause is real." I started laughing. I told Daddy-J that she told him off, and he should just give up on crushing her dreams for this year. Needless to say she continued to believe in her Santa Clause and couldn't wait for Christmas day to arrive.
So my advice to all future parents, don't try to tell your kids that Santa Clause is fake cause they are going to believe in what they want to in the long run no matter what you tell them.

Did you just call the cops on me?

The lesson for the week is on the age that children begin to threaten you.
I always believed my daughter was smart for her age and then one incident occurred that she proved this to me.
I was giving her a bath one night when I had to wash her hair. Now I'm going to tell you this is soemthing she really does not like ever since she was a baby. She is a real ' girly-girl' you better not mess her hair up. Even during the summertime she doesn't like for her hair to get wet when she is in a pool. ;) Well tonight was hair washing time which also means in the land of a three year old, fighting time.
I start off trying to smooth things over by telling her if she washes her hair tonight like a big girl afterwards we can go get some milk when she gets out of the tub. This, of course, did not work at all. So I just had to do things the hard way; wash her hair while she is crying and yelling for her daddy to come get her. The next phase she begins to yell that I am burning her eyes with the soap ( yet no water has even gotten close to her face). She likes to tell me this because she thinks it will allow me to stop washing her hair. Laye will not care if you keep the soap in her hair, but she does not want you to put water in her hair. ( its the oddest thing).
When I finally stopped washing the soap out of her hair, she looked at me so mean. She started poking out those small lips at me, which just makes you melt. Then she grabs her minnie mouse cell phone, and begins to dial random numbers on it. She puts the phone to her ear and says, " come get my mommy." I look at her thinking to myself who is this girl calling, so I ask her " laye, who did you just call?" She turns to look at me with that mean face to say, " I called the cops on you." Let me just say I couldnt stop laughing at her...
So my advice to all future parents...kids are never too young to get you a knock on your door by the po-po.

How Kids Yell Out Embarrassing Things

 The lesson of the week is how a child can always find a way to embarrass you. One week-end Laye, my mom, and myself went shopping at the store Kohl's. It started out as a normal girl's day out, which included a ton of clothes in the buggie for Laye. Which for a three year old seems to always make her smile. When arriving at the check out counter ( also standing in the front of the line of a ton of shoppers) Laye just starts laughing out loud. I look at her with a crazy expression and ask her, " Laye what's so funny?" Then out of no where she yells, " Mommy I Farted...." She begins to laugh some more. Then starts the chain of laughter from my mom, the cashier, and the people who heard her standing in line behind us. At first I have to admit I was a little beyond embarrassed, so I told Laye " you're not suppose to tell everyone that you farted." Well this didn't help to tell a three year old, she just started dancing around singing in her little voice " I farted..I farted." ( while in her own little world). At this point what could I do as a parent but laugh myself. So my advice to all future parents is try not to be " embarrassed" by the things your children say, because honestly they're just trying to learn their own vocabulary.               

Crazy things children say

 The lesson for the week is on the " crazy" things children say.
 First, most women after they have children don't automatically go back to a size '3' waist line ( of course we wish we could), but the reality is that most of us put on some hips and thighs afterwards. I included myslef in this list of fantasy that I could still imagine that I could wear the clothes I wore before having Laye.
So one day I wanted to test out my curosity to see if I could wear a pair of my old size three jeans. ( ha, ha). While Laye and I were at home one day I dug through the closet, and retrived a pair of my old jeans. I took a look at them, and almost passed out just to see how small they were. ( how could I get my big butt in them?) Well I was going to try regardless of the outcome, or how ridiculous I thought this experiment was at the time.
The jeans, little to say could not fit over my hips, but I continously tried to keep shoving myslef into them. Yet the process became much harder when I ended up having to lay down on the bed to attempt to zip these jeans up. So during this emotional train wreck of hard breathing trying to squeeze my ' mommy hips' in these jeans, laye comes over to me on the bed and says, " mommy you too fat.)!!!!!!!
Well this was a huge blow! I mean of course after reluctless breathing I knew the jeans didn't fit, but to have my two year old daughter confirm this to me made it ten times worse.
Of course I took those jeans off and threw them in the closet. I was not going to attempt to squeeze in them agian, and if I did ever have an urge come across me agian I would make sure Laye would not be around.
So my advice to all future parents...don't try on clothes in front of toddlers. You'll never know what they might tell you about yourslef, but usually the " horrible truth."

My lesson for this week is how to plan a three year olds birthday party.

Most people would assume that this is as easy as one..two..three, but as a first time parent it requires a lot more concentration and creativity. I also know that most of us as parents want our cildren to have a exciting party. First, you have to pick a theme for the birthday party. This monday Laye's birthday theme was Minnie Mouse. Second, it takes the time to buy the decorations for the party, ordering the cake, and making a list of everyone you want to come. Now you must remember it is best to keep all this in the same theme.   Laye's party had around twenty-five people at our house, and it was such a mad house. We had lots of pizza, and chicken wings. The funny thing is Laye started crying when we sang ' happy birthday' to her, and no one knew why. She recieved lots of presents from clothes, dolls, balloons, and even a new princess riding jeep. The first thing she did was go outside in her new car, and start driving it around with her cousin. Now I could tell my daughter will be a real girly-girl cause she looked at me while driving her new jeep to say, " mommy, will you go get my purse?" All I could do was laugh, because every girl knows they can't leave the house without there purse. So my advice for all future parents is plan your childs party in a theme that they enjoy. Don't spend your money on real high price toys, because most likely they will play with them once and throw them down. Last but not least just have a good time cause they are only little once!!!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

My lesson for this week is what you should let your children name there pets. Laye has a childhood obsession with Scobby-doo. She will sit there for hours watching reruns of this show. Well my aunt has a cat that recently had kittens. Laye wanted a kitten really bad so she asked her dad ( daddy-j). Of course he told his babygirl yes ( as always) and so she wanted to pick out her very own kitten. All my aunts kittens were gray except for one boy that turned out to be orange ( how unusal is that) ?! I ask Laye, " what do you want to name your kitten?" Laye thinks for a second and replys, " Scobby-doo!!" I said Laye do you not know that scobby-doo is a dog? Laye replied, " yes mommy, but I want scobby-doo." I couldn't say no to her; I mean she loves her Scobby-doo. I mean I realize that she knows Scobby-doo is actually a dog, but that is how much she loves this show. She is willing to have a " cat " named Scobby-doo. Now you can only imagine the laughs we get from guest to our house when they hear of our " cat " named SCOBBY-DOO!!!! So in closing my advise for future parents have a good sense of humor when letting your children name their pets.

Parenthood is a blessing to go through in our lifes. Blah blah blah...Now this is what my blog really is about. Its about the things that happened to you as a parent that you can't read in a book on , " this is how you raise a child 101." This is about the things that children do to make you laugh, cry, and even want to pull your hair out.
First and foremost my daughter Laye-Laye will be turning three in a few weeks, and myself ( mama-b) is currently in her senior year in college. Now you can only imagine my normal day; getting Laye ready for daycare, going to classes all day, work all night, and then start the day all over agian. one..two..three...Screaming!!!
First lesson of the week is on potty training. Imagine your child at two using her own potty, and doing everything right. Now imagine this night...
Its a typical night that I have Laye taking a bath in the tub. Shes playing around; laughing and smiling. Out of nowhere she says, " mommy look, whats in here?" So I turn to look to see whats in the water thinking it might be a piece of paper or something. Instead what do I see but a floating " turd." I say " Laye, did you poop in the tub?" She replys " well yes mommy." All I could do was sit there laughing at her cause all along she knew she pooped in the tub.
So my advice to all future parents, make sure your child goes to the potty before bath time.