Oh My Goodness!

Lately my 2 year old, Kyleena, has taken up the nasty habit of citing the words "Oh my G**" under her breath whenever she feels a little exasperated. Mommy and daddy have tried explaining patiently that we say "gosh" or "goodness" because that makes Heavenly Father happy. We've tried disciplining TV characters out loud in front of her if we catch them saying it, etc, and yet still, our little angel continues to take the Lord's name in vain. I'm not as frustrated as I may sound. In fact, I think it's rather cute and I often find myself scolding her and then turning my head to laugh. I know she'll grow out of it or else finally grasp that we're serious about not having her say it. However, all of this leads to my little anecdote:

 

This morning while baby Ryker napped, Kyleena and I were about the house on our various bits of business. I had already punished her two or three times for this little faux pas, and as she walked over the threshold leaving her bedroom, I overheard her muttering again "Oh my G**I need to…." and she casually stated the next thing on her two year old to-do list. I immediately sat her down for a time-out, once again stating that Heavenly Father didn't like it when we said that. This time, we said a prayer so that she could tell him she was sorry. Swiftly following the word "amen", she unbowed her head and, holding up a wrist she had placed a bracelet on during her time-out, said, "We say, 'oh my goodness that's a pretty bracelet!'" I smiled. "Yes we do." She continued to expound, "And Heavenly Father says 'oh my goodness.'" Laughing a little I replied, "I'm sure he does, sweetie."

 

As I walked off on my way, feeling that perhaps I had finally gotten through to her, I heard Kyleena shouting over and over again as she returned to her toys,

 

"We don't say 'Oh my G**!"

Ryker Douglas Ballash

August 5th, 2010, 8:51am

7 pounds 1 ounce, 20.5 inches

POTTY TIME!!!

Kyleena came up to me while I was on the phone with Sterling saying happy birthday and spouted, "I need poo-poo potty." She then proceeded to strip down and remove her diaper. I realized I wasn't going to be able to stop her one-handed before the real diaper-removing damage was done. So, I figured she was due for a change and let her sit on her little pink potty in the bathroom while I finished my conversation. A few minutes later, I was still on the phone and Kyleena stood up nonchalantly and proceeded about her business. I happened to glance down and there it was... pee-pee in the potty!

Needless to say mommy was thrilled! Kyleena received loads of praise and later that night when Doug got home from work (yes, he actually worked last week...yay!) we headed straight to the store to buy big-girl panties and treats.

We started potty-training Friday and have been going strong all weekend... this is a perky business. I have been saying things I never dreamed in a million years that I would say; things like, "You did it! Look at your pee-pee! Big girl!!!" I have been throwing a party every time I see human waste in that tiny pink potty.

It's exhausting and silly... but there's a diaperless (for a few months anyway) light at the end of this tunnel.

WOO HOO! IT'S POTTY TIME!!!!!!!!!

Meet Our New Baby

This little man is going to be named Ethan Douglas Ballash. We've posted the whole ultrasound video. You may note just how long it took (insert facetious tone) for us to find out he was a boy!

And FOREVER Later....

I actually got on here to read all about my brother-in-law Jason's big new job news (say that 10 times fast), and I happened to graze past our little blog which was an ode to Halloween. OK! Time for an update!

We've had some big changes here at the Ballash house, starting with one I can't really mention online (and for those of you who know, please don't comment me or facebook me or myspace me or anything about said life change because it's still a secret from many people!) But the change is big enough that even though I can't yet say it, it's still worth mentioning.

Aside from our secret change we've also got one I feel like shouting from the rooftops: Douglas is on his final semester at Embry-Riddle. 2 and 1/4 months left and he's officially a college graduate! I can't even count the ways this graduation will be a blessing. We still don't know where he'll be working upon graduating, but he's applied all over and had a couple small leads. It's still early in the process so we'll keep you posted. (And if anyone knows of anyone who's hiring aerospace engineers, please feel free to let us know.)

We are dying to get out of Prescott. Of course, we'll miss all the friends we've made here dearly, but I can't say it's been my favorite place overall. Doug is on job number 3, count 'em 1-2-3 that has run out of work for him to do recently. Sure, the economy is rough all over, but having three jobs in 6 months is ridiculous. And as Doug has just piped in.... Why hire someone if you don't have work?! So, with our savings gone, our debt at an all-time high, and our food storage waning, we are just hoping to get to a bigger city with more opportunity ASAP.

And on that pathetic note we leave you with these hopeful and happy thoughts:

Kyleena.