Easter

New Easter Dress from Grandma, Jonathan's Mom.

Waiting for church.

So pretty

Easter presents from Me-Maw and Da

Easter basket and eggs

She loves her new Little People camping set. It even had a bunny!

And so it begins....

And so it begins.... I have begun " rewarding her good behavior with positive reinforcement by using a visual aid to spark interest and show a tangible reward" you know, fancy talk for bribing my kid to do what I want so we can all live peacefully... some what normal... you know... so I don't go "mad mom" on her cute little tush.

And seeing how my house had become a non stop wonderland of this:

And yes, that is her telling me "No" for the 100th million time that day when I asked her to pick up a few toys.

So we needed to start reigning in that "terrible two I'm the boss" attitude before she ended up shipped back to Texas.

One of the biggest things was her total disrespect for prayers. She did great at folding her arms for a long time. But then she turned 2 and apparently you don't pray when you are 2. Oh think again sweet child of mine- you need all the prayers you can get! It had gotten bad..... my brother commented on it, my mom noticed, and her BFF yelled at her to fold her arms and she still didn't. Oh yeah.... time for a beat down... I mean a teaching opportunity.

Enter: THE CHART.

That's right, I typed up a Big Girl Chart. It consisted of 6 things- 3 she was good at and 3 things she needed to work on. One trip to the dollar store for 100 girly fun stickers later and we were in business. I wasn't sure it would work, but I under estimated the power of sparkly stickers. It was a hit!

She was so proud of herself. She got to pick the sticker and put it on the chart herself. What a big girl. There is a happy dance involved after each sticker placement. That's right... BY ME. The things I do to get my way....

She even started getting stickers in the ones that she needed to work on.

And best of all: The girl is back to folding her arms and saying prayers- now without any help from mom.

Her prayers go like this:

"Dear( mumbles something here- cause she is trying to say heavenly)Father, Bless daddy. Bless Mom. Bless me. Hooray. Go Party Amen"

I can't make this crap up. Everything is a party to her. :) And the back talk and yelling no are better- which is great because nothing makes me go crazy screaming I'm going to have a nervous break down mom like her talking back to me.... yeah yeah.... I know: it's not like I never back talked my mom.... but it's a button. and pay back I'm sure... whatever mom.

Zoo Trip and Best Friends

She was excited to see the "B-low" (buffalo)

She's quite the climber. If she can climb it- she does.

Ally: Come on Lucy lets shut the door and hide.

Lucy: *Smiling* Okay they'll never find us and you won't have to leave!

Lucy: Those are Mere Cats.

Ally: You're so smart Lu.

Mom... more juice.... about all I'm good for these days... fetching her drink.

Ally said "wow" a lot as she saw each animal.

Lucy taught Ally how to accessorize as well. Ally now thinks she can not leave her room until she has some sort of accessory on. Then and only then is she "done dress mom" (done getting dressed)

While we were down in Texas we of course made time to visit with our very best friends Christie and Lucy! Lucy and Ally were so excited to see each other. There was the typical shouts of mine and no and we had to make them have alone time a few times, but they loved being together and so did their moms! Lucy and Ally hugged so hard one time that they tumbled over. Ally laughed and said " Funny Lu!" Of course it was my giant kid crushing her, so Lucy didn't find it that funny until Ally was lifted off her! Lucy was kind enough to take Ally to the zoo, which was Ally very first time. We had so much fun visiting and I hope that the Lott Family will soon join us in Arizona so we can have many more play dates.