The Beach

Hey guys, sorry for the lapse in posting. Here are the pics from our Valentine's beach trip. Sorry to post and run, but it is busy busy busy with Screamfree this weekend. I'll get some updates up next week!

Sweet Sisters

There are a few sweet moments in our daily lives where Makayla and Caroline act like loving sisters. Thankfully they were showing off when the new minister and his wife where over for dinner last week. And then there are some sweet nights that we find them in bed together, snuggling. Makayla has actually started to request to sit in bed with her sister. It just makes the heart melt. Here is a picture I took a couple nights ago, they had even swapped blankets.


To come: Valentine's Surprise Weekend at the Beach!

My New Secretary

Having this new job has been a lot more work than I anticipated. It doesn't seem like there is a day that there isn't a long list of "to-do's." The girls have enjoyed going to church so much, they LOVE Bible class and Josh likes the income (although he's not quite sure how it feels to be on the other side of ministry :) Things around the house have been slacking tremendously, as you could tell from the last post. So, I've decided to hire myself a secretary, someone to handle all those little things that take time, but don't necessarily require my doing it. I even got a pretty cute guy too (come on! are men the only ones allowed to have a cute secretary!) He's been extremely helpful, he even let me take some pictures of him so I could post them! Enjoy!

My secretary making sure my copies come out ok, always so thoughtful!

My secretary keeping my chair warm, how many secretary's do that!?

In other more serious Bradley family news- Makayla has forgotten how to go potty. One day last week she just quit. We've been having accidents multiple times a day. I'm not quite sure what happened. She has been potty trained for well over 6 months. But, regardless, she's decided it's just not for her I guess. On the positive side, she has only peed on herself :) Caroline is actually showing some signs that she's ready to potty train. Hmm... I just can't decide if I can handle that. I'm going to have to think on that one a little bit.
Josh had an interview with UNC for the Peds unit only to find out that there is nothing open in Peds. He was a little bummed, but had other choices. So now he is aiming towards the Burn unit. It's amazing that jobs that are in such demand can be limited with our economy right now. There are a few hospitals in our area that are even on a hiring freeze. Josh is guaranteed a job, it just might not be exactly the unit he wants. I personally am ready for Josh to get a job. We're entering the crunch time. We have less than 6 months to graduation and we're both looking at each other wondering if we can make it until then with the money we have in our bank account. The Lord has been so faithful to us so far, and He gives me peace. Although I cannot see how it is all going to work out, I know that it is in His hands

I MISS MY MOTHER-IN-LAW

I have been way to pampered lately because of my surgery. I have been blessed with a freezer and refrigerator filled with food and tons of free babysitting. The best part was having my live in maid, I mean, my mother-in-law come to visit for a week. I didn't have to lift a finger! So... I need her to come back! I'm piled high with laundry..I hate laundry, it just never ends. I took a picture of how much laundry I had to fold today because I've been putting it off for so long. So, Mama Stanley, would you reconsider our mailing plan?


I also have a new toy. Since Josh requires the computer a lot to do school work, it can be hard for me to get my work done for church. So, I have recently acquired a tiny laptop! It's so cute and small, it fits in a diaper bag. It's smaller than a sheet of paper and very light since it doesn't have a cd drive. It works great for what I need it for, and it's cute!

Rats!

So apparently rats have infested our home, because this past week Makayla has been waking up with some pretty tangled hair. This makes it so fun when it's time to start getting ready. I took a picture for your viewing pleasure of our worst rats nest yet.I got the pleasure of going to a John Rosemond workshop on Sunday. I learned a lot of helpful stuff that I can implement with the girls to help with discipline issues. One was the issue of toys, mainly picking them up. It was clear, we have too many. Rosemond's advice was that 2's have no more than 15 toys. So, now we have a closet full of toys and a playroom full of... well, playing now. It was so cluttered with toys that playing didn't really go on, we now have peace. I like that. Plus, cleaning up is a breeze because it's a task the girls can actually handle. Another thing I learned was since all of us parents think our kids are gifted, we are only to tell our children to do things once and then walk away with the expectation they will be done. If they are not completed, then discipline takes place. So we have been implenting that as well. Makayla sure is smart...too smart. We have been practicing this for the past two days. Tonight at dinner she had made a mess with her grape peels and I asked her to put them back in the bowl and then I walked away. When I returned, Makayla had employed Caroline in the task of putting the peels back in the bowl, which she was doing joyfully and with much enthusiasm. Makayla was just giving out instructions with each peel and Caroline was ignorantly obeying, so I took a picture of that too.

Now, they say that kids grow up too fast. Well, I have really been struggling with that fact recently with the girls birthdays approaching. I can't believe that they will be 2 and 3, that's just too old! Well, I decided to watch the news tonite (which I never do) because I heard it might snow again. I am clearing the dishes from the table when I glance at Caroline. She is sitting there, remote up, trying to change the channel. She just looked like a little adult trying to catch the news. Oh..kids.