A Request for Advice

Hello everyone who reads my blog. I need some assistance in a couple of areas:

1. Potty training little boys -- Andy has been potty trained for almost two years now, but he can not make it through the night dry. We even get him up in the middle of the night to go potty and he still frequently wets the bed.

2. Thumb Suckers -- I feel like we have tried almost every possibility to help the girls cease their love of their thumbs, and yet they continue to adamantly suck them. Kara can stop for a week or two at a time, and then the thumb is right back in the mouth. We are at a loss of what to do. The dentist informed us on Monday that because of the way Kara's permanent teeth are coming in, she will assuredly have to wear braces. However, since she still does not have her back molars she is unable to get the wire put in her mouth to stop the sucking. Lydia's mouth and bite are not nearly as bad as Kara's, but the dentist informed us that her teeth are getting there. Please, if you have any successful tips, or even any tips that you don't know if they'll be successful, I would love to hear them. We have tried socks over the hands, we have tried painting that thumb deterrent (Kara just says "Yum pepper") .


Thank you for any advice and help you can give us.

Happy Birthday J.A.

In the ten/eleven years that I have known my husband, I just continue to be amazed by his godly attitude. He is continuously directing my eyes upward to my Lord. Today, my awesome husband turns 33! While I have yet to throw him a cool birthday party like my kids (Do you think he would like a GI Joe party :), J.A. supports me in every endeavor I undertake.

He has been an incredible father to our four children, and they each love him immensely. One of the first things we hear in the morning (besides our resident woodpecker) is Ezekiel calling out for Daddy to open the door and let him out of his room. All four kids love pouncing on top of daddy and rolling around on the floor. He also takes time to have them help him on various projects around the house, and he takes an active part in their activities.

Let me tell you a few fun facts about my husband. When he is being goofy he loves to say he wants a car with purple lightening bolts on it. He absolutely loves listening to Patch the Pirate and Adventures in Odyssey. His favorite song to sing in the morning is from This is the Army -- "You Gotta Get Up this Morning." (to which my typical response involves "Someday I'm going to murder the Bugler.")

JA also loves to go hunting, and he is looking forward to getting back into bow hunting (if I can ever find a reasonably priced bow, so if any of you have one you are wanting to get rid of, please let me know).

One thing I love about JA is that he would climb the mountains for me, he adores me in a way that every girl longs to be adored.

He certainly has achieved first place in my heart.