The 4 T's

My cousin Phebe has decided that we can not call NyCee by her nickname anymore because it throws off the pattern of the names.

There is Tenaye.

Tre'

Taylor

Tyler


Of course, everyone else is using a nick name.

Philisi'a Tenaye
Trevion
Frederick Tyler

So NyCee is the only one being called by her birth name. But she doesn't seem to mind. I think she is just having so much fun playing with them, she will answer to anything.

The Strength of Sampson

I do not know where Tyler has gotten his strength from lately. I noticed a few days ago that when he doesn't want to sit in his seat, he will arch his back and stiffen his body. Then today, I sat him in the carrier to attend to NyCee. When I returned to the room, he managed to somehow slide out of the carrier and was on the floor! What child does that at 3 months old?!?!?!

NOT a career choice

Pool Party

NyCee attended a pool party this afternoon and had a great time. She was so excited she kept asking, "Ma. Mallie party." And when I attempted to make her take a nap before the party, she kept getting out of bed, running into the living room saying, "All finish nap. Mallie party."

The birthday girl's name is Mallory whom I commonly refer to as Mallie Moo. She will be nine years old on July 30, 2008. Mallie, on the right of NyCee and her older sister Hayley is on the left of NyCee) was only four years old when I began working with her mom. She has really grown into a young lady. She was very helpful with NyCee despite her friends who wanted to play with her in the pool. Mallie even told me, "Don't worry Ms. Dayna. She is safe with me."

The adorable little crab seen below is Maxwell Tyson, commonly known as Max. He is four months older than Tyler and is cute as a button. He is such a happy, outgoing child. This picture is his second trip to the pool. When I arrived, he was zonked out as he had played so hard in the pool he could barely keep his eyes open.

Because she failed to take a nap earlier in the day, NyCee feel asleep in the car while eating a bag of chips. I wanted to capture a picture of her attempting to eat a chip while nodding off. But I was driving of course.

Facial

Some people get mud facials.

Others, cucumber masks.



My child opted for the Trix yogurt facial.

Potty Training Joys

Earlier this evening, I left the house for what I thought would be a quick 30 minute trip to pick up my little cousin from football practice. Boy was I wrong.

Not 10 minutes after I arrived at the school, NyCee informs me that she had to potty. Of course she would tell me then. Why would she tell me when we were in the house? Also, this was our first trip out in "big girl panties."

So, I left the school and drove up to the Publix grocery market and we made it just in time. She successfully completed the transaction of pottying. We gave each other high fives, washed our hands, and headed back to the school.

Approximately 15 minutes later after arriving back at the school, NyCee exclaims, "Mommy. Boo-boo. Potty." So, I paused and took a moment between stimulus and response and decide against trying to reason with my two year old as to why she should have done that deed while we were at the Publix. Once again I started the car and drove up the road to the Publix.

We entered the restroom and NyCee just sat on the potty. Everytime I asked her if she had to "put boo-boo in the potty," she replied, "yes, ma'am." So we waited.

While waiting, NyCee decided that she wanted to sing the ABC song, Twinkle, Twinkle little star, the machine song, and shout "Hallelujah Jesus" a couple of times. Again, I paused and took a moment between stimulus and response and again asked if she had to potty. "Yes ma'am" she exclaimed gleefully. So again, we waited.

After spending about 15 or 20 minutes in the restroom at Publix, nothing happened. Zilch. Nada. No prize for the potty. Absolutely Nothing. So she smiled and said, "Mommy all finish potty." Once again, we pulled up the big girl panties, washed our hands and headed back to the school.

Thankfully she did not have an accident as the 30 minute trip turned into 1 hour and 30 minutes because Trevion's football practice did not end until 730p. Not 600p like he told me.

Playful Pals

A simple game of wiggle, wiggle nearly goes wrong.

Transition Complete

Ty is on the bottle. Bring on the job!

A Child's Encouragement

I received news yet again, that I was rejected for a job opportunity. This one was followed by an actual interview rather than the rejection emails that have started to pile up. After bath time, I was sitting on the bed with Tyler and tears just starting streaming down my face. I do not cry in front of NyCee as I do not want to upset her. It is not her fault that I am in this position.

The room was fairly dark so I thought letting the tears falls would be okay because she wouldn't see them. I was mistaken. Instead, she looked at me so innocently and said, "Don't cry mommy. I kiss it. All better? No worries, Mommy. "

Lately, I have been saying "No worries" as a response to nearly everything. So I know that she picked that up from me. She actually used it in the correct context. I just smiled and told her mommy was okay.

As usual, I cried my tears, wiped my face, and will get up tomorrow and face yet another day. I will keep sending out resumes. A door will open for me soon. I have to believe that. I refuse to think or speak anything negative. I know the realities of the economic state of our country. But I am choosing to believe in the economic state of the God of the universe.

"Kiss it."

"Mommy, my booty hurts."

"Do you have to put boo-boo in the potty?"

"No, boo-boo potty. Kiss it."

And she turned and put her little rump in my face for me to kiss. So I literally kissed my daughter's A** today."

Same parents; Different children

I have always heard the saying, "Every child is different" but I am truly experiencing it first hand. There are things that Ty likes that Taylor couldn't stand. For example, the swing in the picture below. Tyler loves the swing and will sleep in it. Taylor wouldn't have anything to do with the swing.



At six weeks, it was easy to put NyCee on the bottle and formula but Tyler fought it tooth and nail. This picture of him drinking out of the bottle was taken after hours of screaming on his part.


Additionally, he can not drink Enfamil with Lipil like NyCee did. After a week of him vomiting, the bright light illuminated and God spoke from heaven saying, "Give him the soy-based formula." DUH! (I know, after the first couple of vomit episodes I should have figured that out. But then again, I didn't know what the little red stick on the mailbox was for. So simplicity often eludes me.) It is amazing how different they are. Also, he did not like that bottle shown in the picture. I switched him to the Playtex drop-ins bottles. He likes those much better. Plus, they are so much easier to deal with.

I haven't quite figured out if he is allergic to the Enfamil yet or if his system needs to adjust to the change. Either way, I am constantly noticing differences between them every day.

Self-Motivation

Lately, NyCee has been singing a song that my mother taught to her. The only words to the song are: "Nobody but the baby." (Everyone in my family knows this song.) I was only trying to capture her singing the song but I thought it was cute how she motivated herself to climb in the chair.

Sibling Love

NyCee is really good with Tyler. We were playing on the floor and she stopped assembling her puzzle to come over and give Ty a kiss. You can see a smile on his face. She is very helpful with him and understanding when I need her to be patient so that I can attend to him. I am very proud of her and how well she has adjusted since Ty's arrival.

I'm Back...

My internet was inoperable for a week and due to the holiday, it was just repaired today. THANK GOD! Amazing how we miss modern conveniences when we do not have access to them...

Private Dancer

After getting out of the tub and prior to reaching the bedroom, NyCee decided to drop her towel mid stream, throw up her hands and shout, "HALLEJUAH!" All while shaking her little rump back and forth.

(It truly would have been better captured on video but there are too many sickos in the world for me to publish that on the world wide web.)

Deep Thought

Why is it that we do our most profound thinking while sitting on the toliet? Even at 2 years old, she just sits there swinging her feet and singing or telling me all about her day.

From the PH to the ATL

10 months ago, I came to Port Huron, MI for my yearly visit. What should have been a two week visit turned into a life changing, for the better, journey.

Port Huron holds a lot of memories for me as I was married here and my son was born here. It is a quaint town where neighbors speak to one another and children ride their bikes to school. The boardwalk is peaceful and serene giving you a place to sit and clear your mind.

Of course when people learned that I was moving back to Atlanta, I received the same reaction over and over again. The phrase, "But you hated living in Atlanta" was the common theme from everyone. True, at the time I lived in Atlanta, I hated it. I was so miserable and for 4 years, I constantly spoke of how all the bad things that happened to me while living in Atlanta happened because I moved to Atlanta. Well, of course that is not true. Neither my former employer, the city of Atlanta, nor the state of Georgia were to blame for my dysfunction. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the source of my emotional dysfunction was me. (Shocking reveal I know- HA!)

Identifying and addressing my emotional dysfunction, as I like to call it, was paramount to me experiencing true freedom and happiness. Today, that is where I am. While Phoenix will always feel like home to me, I can live anywhere because the place is not the determinant of my lot in life. I am.

The hardest part about returning to Atlanta is that I will always be remembered and viewed as that awful, hateful, spiteful funk bucket of a person that I was. I often equate my recovery to that of an addict. While using, the addict is unaware of the hurt she is causing. When she sobers up, she can clearly see the path of destruction. No matter how many apologies she gives or the length of her sobriety, she will always be viewed as an addict. That is me. People will always see me as that hateful person. They will not see the happy, emotionally healthy woman that I have become. Returning is actually a sign of my growth and maturity. In some ways, things would have been easier had I decided to move to Podunk America because no one there would know the old Dayna~only the emotionally healthy Dayna. We are not always given a second chance to right a wrong.


No matter what the future holds, I am looking forward to embracing it with joy and my children by my side. This is an adventure. A new beginning. A fresh start.

“How did she do that?”

In the past 11 weeks, I managed to:

• Give birth,
• Care for a spunky, active, talkative toddler,
• Sleep by the hospital bedside of my 7 week old seven who battled pneumonia for 3 days,
• Complete a 53 page research proposal,
• Draft a 15 minute power point presentation with sound,
• Submit 10 journal entries,
• Write 2 5 page research papers,
• Take 3 exams,
• Participate in the weekly discussion forums for my classes,
• Get a perfect score of 800 points in my marketing class,
• Pack our belongings for shipping,

And oh yeah, get A’s in ALL three of my graduate courses!

Yeah Baby Yeah! I so freaking ROCK! I don’t know how I do it but I thank God He gives me the strength to keep doing it.

Nine graduate courses down; only three to go!

Sunday Picnic

My father's fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, hosted a picnic this afternoon. Now, people will probably consider me as UnAmerican but I do not like picnics. Being outside with no running water or way to go to the bathroom in a sanitary environment is just too much for me.

But in my show of support for his "frat," I put aside my view and attended. We actually had a good time. Of course there was music and dancing. My mom and Kari joined in the somebody shuffle dance. (I don't know the name of the song.)

And NyCee just played and danced and ran around.

She had a ball. It was a beautiful day. It was nice to just relax and enjoy the company of the other picnic participants.

The Power of Pride

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

A man's pride will bring him low but the humble in spirit will retain honor. Proverbs 29:23

Since posting A Fall From Grace, I have been thinking a lot about the power of pride. Pride is a very powerful thing and I have been meditating on the two verses above to be sure to not allow myself to ever get that prideful again.

In June 2006, I had only been a mother for three months and my old selfishness was still prevalent. I understood, in theory, the concept of sacrificing or working jobs that you really didn't want to for your children, but I didn't have any practical application. You know the story that I have been unable to secure gainful employment since that time but I no longer count that as a bad thing. I have a friend who had many challenges when her son was younger and she often spoke of how she wouldn't change any of the times they spent together because it made her a stronger woman. I completely agree with her.

My children give me the strength to continue to run this race. There are days when I reflect on the fact that I was good at and enjoyed my job. Yet, I refuse to regret the road that brought me to this place. The smiling faces, boisterous laughs, gentle quiet breaths, of those blessings from God are the highlight of my life. I joke about swinging on a pole or selling snow cones on the freeway in the middle of August in Phoenix to support them but in reality, they are the reason my faith in God has grown.

For the past ten months, I have lived like an Israelite. I LITERALLY had to believe God for EVERY SINGLE THING the kids and I needed. I am not joking. (Either it was believing for money to buy the item or for the item itself. But I count that as positive.) Even though the Israelites complained constantly, God blessed them over and over and over again. Not only did he release them from Egypt, they were rich, healed, clothed, and fed. God parted a sea for them to cross on dry land, closed up Pharaoh and his army in the sea, rained manna and quail out the sky, provided water from a rock in the wilderness, and defeated the enemies that came against them. While that generation, save Joshua and Caleb (see Numbers 13 and 14), didn't enter the promised land~that's their bad. I know that God will reward my faithfulness. I know that He will honor the sacrifices I made for my children. And I know that I am headed to the promise land of my life.

Had I never experienced destruction from my pride, I wouldn't be at the place of humility today. Parenthood really humbles you. There are decisions I made when NyCee was Ty's age, that I would not DARE make today. All I can write is thank God for maturity and growth.