AND I'm Back!

I sometimes don't know why I blog, and then when I don't blog I wondered why I don't blog. I think for me it is just the lack of time and maybe I feel my life just isn't interesting enough to keep updating it weekly. So I will go on Blogging once every couple of months. It has been 2 months since my last update.
Jake is his usual rambunctious 2 year old self. Sometimes I look at him and think he is 3, but really only because the kid is wearing 3T clothes and isn't even 2.5 yet. He gets it from daddy. There is no way my short self produced tall hefty children. We finally got him into a twin bed a few days after Christmas. He was climbing out of his crib a lot so we knew it was time for him. It wasn't hard convincing him to sleep in his new bed. We dressed it up with tractor sheets and his new Moose Pillow pet. Jake has been an excellent sleeper for us since he was 6 months. He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night unless he is sick. Our only struggle with him are mornings and the early hour he wakes up. Bed time has always been about 7:30 or at the latest 8pm for him. He has been waking up at 5:45 or 6am for the last couple of weeks. The first week he would run into our room and feel around for me waking me up out of a dead sleep. One morning I remember feeling little hot hands all over my face. I had no idea what was going on so I began flailing my arms around as if to try to swat away a swarm of bugs. I have been walking him back to his bed and telling him not to get up until we come and get him. I also put a clock in his room and have been showing him what 7:00 looks like so he has a time he is allowed to get out of his bed. I don't mind getting up at 6am, but not to start my day because Jake gets me out of bed. I would love to get up at 6am and read, journal, pray for an hour before I start my day. It always better prepares me for my very busy days with two busy boys during these long, cold winter months. Yesterday morning I woke up hearing a milk thudding noise. I found Jake in his bathroom playing in a sink filled to the top with bubbles. He had dumped an entire bottle of a travel sized baby shampoo bottle in the sink and ran the water for who knows how long. That was at 5:50am. He said he was brushing his teeth! I hoped it wasn't with the soap!
January and February are rough months for me. Winter is just too long and being stuck inside our tiny house all day long makes us all a little bonkers. Last winter Jake and I went out nearly everyday for a walk even when it was 20 degrees. This year I have only been out a handful of times if it is below 40. Having a 9 month who can't crawl around on the wet, cold and muddy or snowy ground makes it hard. I have a hiking carrier I can carry him with but he is pretty heavy after 30 min. Jake has been good about playing outside with Max by himself. He either stays in the backyard or in the garage. He loves the snow! I enjoy watching him run around with Max laughing when Max chases him and knocks him into the snow.
Jake has discovered the movie CARS and is in love! We got him Mator and Lightening cars for Christmas and Grandma Shari got him the movie. He asks me everyday to watch Lightening. When I say "No, not today" he usually responds by saying, "my love Lightening." I love the sentences that come out of his mouth! I understand most everything he says and if I don't have a clue Jake usually tries to say it a different way. One time he was trying to say the name of an animal and I was clueless! He knew I didn't know what he was saying so he started making the sound the animals makes to help me out! I was impressed at how he thought to do that.
Short update on Wade. He started taking his first steps the day he turned 9 months! I try not to encourage my babies to grow up too fast but I do love it when they start walking early! He has been practicing for 2 weeks today and as of 2 days ago he walks more than he crawls now. It is so funny to watch because he is still so little to me. He has great balance, just like his mommy.
I haven't moved Wade into Jake's room yet. With Jake waking up at 6am I don't want Wade being woken up when he usually sleep until 7-7:30am. I would love to have them together now but want to give Jake a little time to learn that he isn't supposed to get up before 7am. It wouldn't surprise me if I found Jake in Wade's crib waking up his brother so he had someone to play with.
Well boring update but I feel better now that I have at least written something. I wish i had pictures. Our camera stopped holding a battery charge so I have no new pictures to post until we get a new camera.

Christmas Time is Coming...

Time for children goes by much slower than it does for an adult. As a kid I felt like Christmas and my Birthday were never going to get here! I waited, and waited and waited until it was finally here! Now I don't wish for my Birthday to come as quickly, and although I love the Christmas season I dread the Christmas shopping. I made a wish list and a gift list this year...a first for me. I typically do my shopping last minute and whenever people ask me what I want, my mind goes blank. I can't seem to think up "things" that I want. Most times I am happy to just get some cash or a gift card that I can store away for a time that I find something that interests me. Gift giving is fun and even more fun when you give a gift that someone will treasure and love! I guess one of the reasons I don't like to shop for gifts is that I never seem to find that perfect gift.
I am really looking forward to this Christmas. This will be the first Christmas that one of my boys will be old enough to open a gift and be excited about what is inside. I remember the excitement my sister's and me had growing up as we opened our gifts. My parents have a video recording of me and my sister Heather opening our "Lady Lovely Locks Dolls" and the dorky way of celebrating our new play toys. I also remember sheepishly hitting the box that held my brand new pair of roller skates because I didn't know how else to react about the one gift that I dreamed about opening on Christmas morning. My toothless smile doing all it could to keep itself from revealing the black hole in my mouth because I was more excited about those skates than I wanted to make known to everyone.
Christmas just isn't the same for me anymore. I cherish the time I spend with my parents, sister's, brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws and Joe's parents and the new traditions I will make with my husband and sons on Christmas morning. I'm sure gift giving will always be part of that tradition in my family.
Christmas is a time for me to think about how little I need and how much more I can give. I live a comfortable life and have plenty of stuff. Gaining more stuff isn't going to make me happier. If Jesus was to come up to me after Christmas and ask me a question I can't hear him asking, "what did you get for Christmas?" He would probably ask me what I gave people in need for Christmas.
Yes I will do what I always do around the holidays. Buy a real tree, decorate it with my family while listening to The Carpenters or Amy Grant, make Christmas cookies, gain weight, wrap gifts, and open them on Christmas morning, travel to visit parents and siblings, go to 2 or 3 Christmas parties that you don't have time for but squeeze them in anyway, and when all is finished take a deep breath and be glad that I have a whole year before I have to do it all over again.

the girls all grown up!

I know you all may not know the ladies in this picture so I will introduce you. From the left. Nicola my cousin from my mom's brother. Love her to pieces! We are a few years apart in age and grew up together. She is like a sister to me! In many ways we are a lot alike.
Krista who is Nicola's older sister. She was born the same year as me. She is also like a sister to me. She can be a goof ball which is one of the things I love best about her. She is also like a sister to me. We grew up playing with barbies, and playing dress up.
Heather -The Bride- My dear sister two years younger. We have an understanding of each other. I am very blessed to have had a sister close to me in age. We shared so many things, some not willingly. I remember our nasty fights, but more so I remember our good talks in our room before bed. We loved to play together and laugh together. We became really good at belching the ABC's. I know, weird, but that is who we are, weird. Lot's of people don't get our humor and may think it is dumb or obnoxious, but we are secure in who we are and so long as no one gets hurt we enjoy a good laugh.
Kim - my other sister 7 years younger. I never thought I would develop such a deep and close relationship with a sister 7 years younger than me. I think the younger siblings are almost forced to grow up faster as I notice Kim maturing much faster than I did. She has been married for a year and a half to a man of God. Love her goofy, fun loving personality. Kim and I also have a special connection and understanding that I hope we never let go of. There is something special about a baby sister. Though young I still learn things from her. She went from the annoying younger sister that was ganged up on by Heather and me to a confident and caring person that I have come to admire.
My most cherished memories are with one or all of these lovely ladies. I wish I lived closer to them. There is nothing better than a sister and cousins that feel like sister's!

Poop!

My best poop story was when I dropped poop out of a dirty diaper right next to Jake when he was around 7 months and he grabbed it in both hands and tried to eat it. that was gross.
Well, Friday after I got home from MOPS I put Jake down for a nap and didn't bother to put a pull-up or even underwear on him since he just peed and I thought he had pooped at the church that morning. Ten minutes into his nap he called me in and told me he pooped. It was only a little so I cleaned him up really fast and told him to go to sleep. 30 min go by and he was very quiet. I start to hear him chit chatting and walked in his room to find his mattress, his hands, his feet, and the bed rails covered in poop! Not only that but he managed to pull his pull-up off and throw it on the floor with a big clump of poop! I guess once you are potty trained you don't like the feel of poop on your butt and he thought he could clean it off himself!
I only wish I had taken a picture of his poop painted bed to show you just how gross it was! The only thing that would have made this even worse would be poop in his hair!

Things I wish I were better at, or knew how to do it.

There are some things that I really struggle with and thought it might make for a interesting blog. (I'm trying to work my way out of the boring blogger category)!

I like making lists because they really reduce stress for me. I always have a list of some sort. Grocery lists, To Do Lists, Wish Lists...etc. As good as I am with making lists I am not the greatest at completing them. I may have a to do list but won't get it done until weeks later, or have a grocery list but forget to bring it with me, therefore resulting in a couple of trips to the store rather than one.

I like to stay organized and keep a clean house. Keeping the house clean isn't that hard for me. I just do my best to stay on top of laundry one day per week and make sure the kitchen is cleaned every night before bed. Vacuuming and sweeping is a must every other day because of how anal I am about dirty floors and when you have a dog your floors can really never be considered clean enough. Organizing is one thing I would like to be better at. I find myself re-organizing things frequently, which isn't always a bad thing but it certainly uses up a lot of time I could spend learning something new. My biggest disaster is trying to keep all my documents and random papers organizied rather than left on my counter tops. I really hate clutter! I would be perfectly happy if the only things I my counters were my kitchen aid mixer, coffee maker and cutting board. Clean counters look so nice! I know how to organize, I am just too lazy to get it done. Which brings me to another thing I am horrible at.
I am a procrastinator! Especially with things like studying, preparing for a class, getting a project done, making phone calls, trying to learn something new, getting my lists done, reading a book(unless it is so good I can't put it down). I don't know why I procrastinate because I like to see things get done and it stresses me out when I put it off. Why would I want to add more stress to life when I have plenty of time to do it? Strange isn't it?
I would also like to be a better host. I like to be hospitable, but I feel like I suck at it. I am a horrible planner. Most stuff happens at the last minute and since I don't prepare myself for last minute events I don't want to be hospitable because I have nothing to offer anyone. Mostly food that is. I never seem to have the right foods stocked away for last minute opportunities for me to have people over. I really like making people feel welcome so this is the one thing I am really working on improving becsuse relationships are more important than getting a stupid list done.
I am also horrible with relationships. I love people! I know it doesn't always seem that I do because I am mostly an introvert but being married to an extrovert can change you a little when he wants to be around people all the time. I recharge when I have alone time. Joe recharges when he hangs out with people. This is a good thing. I want to have people in my life but because I tend to hide in my cave sometimes I feel a little intimidated to come out and socialize. I really have to force myself to come out of my shell. I am typically a very open person and know how to have a conversation, but there is something about relationships that causes me to freeze up. I have always wanted to have that one friend that I feel I can share just about anything with, who I can pray with, call when I am hurting, have similar interests and share the same beliefs about different things. Sounds almost impossible right? Like I have made up this perfect girlfriend that doesn't really exist and I keep searching for her. I have great friends. I have imperfect friends and I myself and imperfect so why am I looking for that perfect relationship? Maybe it is because of all the movies I watch and we all know that most movies are a fantasy. Kind of like watching a sex scene in a movie. Not that I have a habit of doing so, but I will not lie and say that I haven't seen a sex scene. Sex is always protrayed as this mind blowing, going to have an orgasm multiple times per night, always incredible, never disappointing... you get my drift, unless you are a virgin of course(please stay a virgin until you are married). Sex is great, but not always like the movies make it look. Same with a lot of things.
Wow, that one was a long one. I might like some feedback on that one if you have something profound to say or are in the same boat as me. Bottom line, if you are my friend and consider me a good friend I consider you a great friend too. I don't know how else to put it. I don't want those who are my friends to feel like you have disappointed me. I think I just disappoint myself in how I preceive my relationships. I don't get the girl bonding time that I so desire I guess is all I am saying.
I would like to be better at giving people compliments. Joes' main love language is words of affirmation. I might think he is amazing, and hot, and my hero, but it means nothing when i keep those thoughts to myself. I need to do a better job at telling him how great I think he is. I want to give other people compliments too. I want people to feel good about themselves, to know that I approve of them and love them, and think they are beautiful!
I wonder if other introverts struggle with the same things that I do. I bet they do, but sometimes I feel like I just suck and everyone else is great! I say this as a way to poke fun at myself. Not having a pity party, or seeking out a self-esteem boost. I am a pretty secure person, just wondering.
The last thing I can think of that could use some improvement is planning parties. Sometimes I think parties are dumb. I like to get together with people, but planning birthday parties is such a drag for me. I would rather someone else plan the party and tell me what to bring rather than doing the planning myself. I lack creativity. I just recently threw a small party for Jake. I planned dinner, and made a tractor cake. Invited a few people and asked them not to bring gifts. No decorations, just a simple dinner with cake. Boring right?! Hopefully I will get better at this as the kids get older but at the same time I don't want them to expect every birthday to be this big production with tons of decorations. Growing up we had small family parties and sometimes invited a few close friends. My mom would let us pick our meals for the day. Mine was usually some sort of sugary cereal or swedish pancakes. Lunch was usually something like mac and cheese, and dinner was usually BBQ Chicken with white rice. I loved rice and still do! Yum! We were able to pick out what kind of cake we wanted and got a present or two. Rarely would we let our guest buy us presents. I remember being annoyed at my mom for telling people not to bring presents, but now here I am doing the same thing!
Wow. I am bad at a lot of stuff. Maybe I should start a another list and this list will be stuff I am good at cause now I feel like a loser! Ha ha ha ha! Not Really. Just being open and honest about myself.

"How to Land your Kid in Therapy" by The Atlantic

Several weeks back our minister at church read a paragraph from an article that intrigued me and I asked him if I could have a copy of the article. He gave me his but I found it online too and wanted to share it with you. Feel free to comment whether you agree or not. Here it is if you are interested in reading it.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/how-to-land-your-kid-in-therapy/8555/

He's 2, but not terrible!

Really? I have a two year old? Someone pinch me cause I don't feel like 2 years has gone by already!
I love this kid though! He lights up my life and gives me more JOY than I ever thought a kid could give me!

Jake has taught me a lot about being a mom!
I thought it would be fun to write about those things I have learn over the last two years being Jake's mom.
1. Hold my tongue when it doesn't matter. This one's is referring to keeping my opinion to myself when it doesn't matter. I've learned to accept others in the way they raise their kids. I am learning to have good relationships with others despite our differences.
2. Always check water temp before putting your kid into the tub!
3. Go on dates with Joe as often as possible! This one keeps Joe and I sane! If we start getting grouchy we know that we need a date night and try to go on one at least once every couple of weeks!
4. Breastfeeding is great cause it's free and so much easier that bottle feeding but when I stopped breastfeeding Jake around 12 months my hormones made a return for the better and our sex life went from good to great! I will be glad when Wade is weened in about 6 months!
5. Time to myself is a requirement! I have done a really bad job at this one! I can sort of consider the boys 2-3 hour nap time to be that time but hardly since I am usually doing housework during that time. I need to find ways of getting out more with my girlfriends!
6. It's nice to have a dog as a vacuum! He saves me from having to clean up having lots of food messes! I would rather have to vacuum dog hair ever other day than have to clean oatmeal or sticky rice off the floor
7. Disciplining with love, a calm heart and not raising my voice. I do this so much better than I thought I ever would! I have a temper. Not a terrible one, but when I am annoyed with repetitive foolishness my heart rate increases and I have worked really hard at being firm without raising my voice and remaining calm!
8. Praying for and with my kids on a daily basis has helped my personal prayer life grow! I have always struggled to be consistent in my conversation with God and having kids has taught me to stay more consistent as I pray often with them.
9. Finding ways to be more frugal by way of garage sales, couponing, and borrowing from others!
10. kids forgive a lot faster than adults do! I've messed up as a mom plenty of times and amazed by how quickly Jake moves on when hurt his feelings.
11. Always keep pants on a toddler when going down for a nap so you don't have a poopie mess to clean up later!
12. shopping for my kids is way more fun than for myself!
13. I never thought I would enjoy watching Elmo's world.
14. Kids hear, see and understand a whole lot more than we give them credit for!
15. I drink more coffee now than ever before!

He doesn't know it yet but Jake really has changed me in so many ways! I certainly don't want to get any older but I really do look forward to seeing him grow older and getting to develop more and more of a relationship with him.
Here he is! My favorite 2 year old! Isn't he a stud!