The struggles of raising an 8 and 2 year old

Well I haven't really felt like blogging much lately but I realize when I do it really helps to share the things going on in my life and how I am feeling. Things have been pretty hectic lately and my mind has been in over drive with all the things that have to be done and how I will be able to get them done. My kids have been keeping it pretty interesting though. Olivia is still refusing to be a big girl and use the potty. One day she tells me " I don't think I ever want to use the potty."  Then another day she promises me she will stay dry, so I put big girl undies on her and that last for about an hour until she walks up to me soaking wet, with the dogs following right behind her sniffing her butt!  Ok, so I try to put her on the potty and all she does is cry.  I thought girls were supposed to be easier, but I feel like she is just being stubborn!  Then my step mom heard Olivia drop the F bomb the other day. We never had this problem with Austin. If we told Austin not to say a bad word, he wouldn't. When we told him to start using the potty, he did. Geeze, these kids are total opposites!  Last night I heard Olivia in the bath tub talking, So I stood where she couldn't here me and just listened. She was talking to the "hot" and "cold" knobs on the bath tub and she was telling them that she loved them and wanted to marry them and then she gave them a kiss. then she told the cold knob not to get jealous because she would be back after she married the hot one. Then she told them not to be upset because they didn't have any legs or arms!  OMG!  This child has an incredible imagination and I can only imagine what is going to happen as she gets older!

My sweet boy Austin was told this week that he is definitely going to need braces because his mouth is already crowded and there is not going to be enough room in his mouth for his permanent teeth. when we left the dentist office he cried because he is afraid kids are going to make fun of him and call him a nerd.  It broke my heart.  I tried to explain to him that many of the kids he knows will have to get braces and by the time he gets older he will have the best smile and then everyone will be so jealous of him.  I know he doesn't understand that now, but hopefully one day he will look back and be thankful that we did that for him.

There is so much joy, frustration and heart break in being a parent. It is the best thing in the world but it takes a lot of love, patience and strength to be a good one. I pray every day that I can be the kind of parent they need and deserve.