shake it up, baby!

Last week we started a reward system for the girls that has actually been working out GREAT! They are super excited about charting their progress and working hard for those daily stickers! Jessa has been having great success in therapy and we are seeing huge improvements, but still we are forced to deal with this one ginormous little hiccup every morning and we've had to deal with it since she has been home and that is just the way she wakes up. She wakes up every and I mean EVERY morning tantruming. It is exhausting for her and for us. So we made her a chart and explained to her that if she could wake up happy, use her words to express her needs (I need to go potty. I need a drink. I need a hug.) instead of screaming and crying, then she could get a sticker on her chart and a lollipop. Well...immediately she was up for change! amazing! We told her if she got 7 stickers she could go out for a special ice cream treat with Mommy! :)

Her first ever Chocolate Shake!                                                "SWEEET!" :)

Just look at those eyes! So excited!                                               "Coooold!"

Warming up before another long sip.

Her lips were actually turning purplish blue. She was so cold. :)

but, this is my girl, and if there is chocolate...well, cold or not, we can make the sacrifice. heh.

And now for the sugar high.                                                   YAY!

So while she isn't THIS happy in the morning...

And let's just face it most of us are not. Unless you are annonyingly suprisingly happy every morning like my husband some people I know and then that's just your vexing special curse gifting and I would beg you to use share it wisely nicely, but I digress, some of us are not morning people, not that I would know anything about that. ahem. but, that being said, most of us at least wake up content and not in full blown volcanic eruption. So as long as she is waking up with a content spirit and able to communicate her needs with words instead of wailing, I'm a happy camper! The girls and I have actually memorized a verse together and we say it each morning. "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"  They are the cutest saying this all by themselves. And of course, we are not perfect people, the none of us, so on occasion Mommy grits her teeth and in between the dog peeing on the floor, Hollyn begging for the 100th time for her sippy cup of milk, and Jessa sobbing so hard she is sucking all of the air out of the room at every inhale while I'm practically shaking I need my coffe so badly and the microwave can not warm it up fast enough, but you will still hear me saying to myself under my morning breath...."Shelly...Yes, even THIS is the day the LORD has made, I WILL rejoice and be GLAD IN IT!" :). But the important part is that my girls are getting it, and they understand that "the Lord" is Jesus, and he loves us so much and has given us so much to be happy about and to rejoice over each day that we should be thankful and count our blessings...namely...each other, and of course, chocolate shakes!

So of course, Hollyn was going to get in on that action! Ice cream treats? Are you kidding me?! She's my girl after all! :) And I mean what kid doesn't want a lollipop every morning? ha ha!  That's her treat if she makes it through the night. So it didn't take but a millisecond for me to figure out what she should be working toward. It just wasn't going to be that easy for her and part of me didn't want to ask her to do it because afterall, she's my last baby, and she is so stinkin' cute with it in her mouth! So you might have guessed it...she is working on sleeping with out her binky. I NEVER thought in a MILLION GAZILLION years that we would be able to pry that away from her. I actually thought she would be in 7th grade and still be asking "bink?" at bedtime. lol! But what do you know?! She gave it up the first time for nap. Got a sticker and lollipop and it was going great! but then we tried at bedtime and it was a no go. So I had to make the reward more inticing and wrapped a small present and said if she went without her bink at bedtime, she would find a present on her highchair in the morning. So...every morning this week our sweet Hollyn has opened up a present!

This morning she came downstairs from her bedroom as if she had just visited New Orleans for Mardi Gras! Beads GALORE! Love it!

I bought her the American Girl Birthday Tea Set for her Bitty Baby and gave her just one piece of it every day. She LOVES it and since there was two of everything she figured out, "this one for Jessa's baby!" And I don't think I've ever seen a child so HAPPY about sharing her new presents with her sister! She absolutely LOVED giving Jessa one of the two cupcakes, one of the two lemonade cups, one of the balloons, etc.

Notice all her jewelry! LOL! so funny! She was really excited about a lollipop even before breakfast. I know...I'm a crazy Momma. But that's how we roll. Not sure how long this will last, probably until the lollipops run out much like the M&M's did. ;)

I guess Dr. Phil is right - you just gotta find your kid's currency! lol! So Hollyn is about to get a HUGE present this weekend. I've decided that I'll have her help me wrap her binkies up in the same yellow bag that I used to give her the daily small gifts and then we'll go and give them to Aunt Melissa for her new baby to use. wink. wink. And in exchange for handing over the yellow gift bag full of binks, Hollyn will receive one last BIG present from us. I think she will be sooo excited she won't hesitate! That's the plan anyway. I'll keep ya posted. :)