Ups and Downs of Parenting

Last night we had one of our first real challenges with the boys. Dinnertime has been a struggle lately and especially Ezra does not want to eat what I have been making. The boys even requested that Papa do the cooking from now on!! Trust me, my cooking has not been that bad.
So last night we sit down to eat and immediately Ezra says he doesn't like the food. He hadn't even given it a chance. Then Addai jumps on the bandwagon and is picking at the food on his plate. So after about 1 hour we decided they were finished. We made them throw the food in the trash, or as they say "junk it" and go to bed early. I know they are adapting to so many things right now and some may feel that they simply aren't accustomed to our food. But we truly feel they are just trying to see where Mama and Papa will draw the line.
Needless to say it broke this Mama's heart to have to follow through with this discipline all night. I wanted to call my Mom even though it would mean an "I told you it always hurt me more than it was hurting you" lecture! But I toughed it out and so did the boys, and thankfully God grants us the opportunity to start everyday anew.
Today the boys were absolute joys and pushed us much less. We really had a great day with them. We went to my place of work and the staff there had a huge Welcome Home party for them. The department was decorated with streamers and balloons and the boys couldn't wipe the silly grins off their faces. They were showered with gifts and to top it all off they presented each boy with a brand new bike! We were blown away by their generosity to say the least. Thanks girls!! (and guys).
After the party we went to the boys first doctor appointment. He thinks they are doing really well and we agree. They then had to go get blood drawn. We explained on the way there what they would be doing and Addai said "I will cry" and Mama said that is just fine! Ezra of course then had to say "I will not cry". Have I mentioned these boys are like night and day?! They both got the labs done and neither one cried. They are troopers and Addai is so brave. He even volunteered to be first.
One more kid story then I will stop boring you. On the way home from church tonight Ezra said he had something in his shoe. Now with the boys' accents it is no small task to figure these things out. Once we did it sounded like he was saying he had a duck in his shoe, he was actually saying dirt. So then Papa says is it saying "Quack, Quack" and from the back of the van Adddai pipes up and says a dog doesn't say "Quack, Quack", it says "Woof, Woof"! So basically no one in the car was understanding anybody else in the car which makes for a very interesting conversation, especially when it involves 2 five year old boys. Ryan and I were cracking up and had tears in our eyes. Addai says "Why are you laughing at us" and we say because you are funny. He thens says "We make you happy?" and we both chime in a resounding "Yes".
The ups and downs of parenting. I wouldn't trade it for anything!!