Happenings

We have had some fun happenings around here...

I'm throwing hubby a Roarin' Twenties themed 30th Birthday Party {his bday is Thursday} this weekend and we are doing a costume contest. Hubby and I have had fun picking out and gathering ours and we are all ready to go so I am hoping to whip up something for the littles this week. I've been looking forward to it for a couple months and I'm glad it's finally {almost} here!!

We recently bought some furniture for our basement that serves as our guest area and now my sewing area! Thanks to Ikea we have a new sofa bed and I have an awesome sewing station {I'll post pictures when I get everything organized}. Up until now most of my sewing has taken place at the kitchen table and it can be a pain to have to pick it all up every time we eat a meal. Set up and take down is now valuable time I can spending sewing as I can leave a project in the middle if I need to take care of any "Little" business. The space is now kid friendly too, with a train table and a doll house I recently found at a consignment sale! 

She loves her 'new' dollhouse and has played with it endlessly since I brought it home!

Today we bought some sand for the kids to play with in our water table! They loved playing in it this afternoon! I thought sand would be good to play with at the beginning of spring/summer and we can switch it out to water in late summer, when the heat of the days will warrant nothing else!

I got a hair cut and it's perfect for the currently beautiful and warm weather we are having as of late {Wahoo for mid-70's!}

The front

The back

We found these mini popsicles at the store and they are a hit around here. Just the right size for 'little' mouths!

{Source}

And just some more pictures for the grandparents...

Daddy's buddy. He seriously falls asleep like this every time hubby holds him. I love it!

Love this little chocolatey, sandy mouth 'cheese-er'!

So serious.

This explains a lot. Gotta share the 'real.'

Hope you had a great weekend. We did!

A "Little" Update

Little Lady...

• says cute and funny things all day. I love listening to her play and talks to her doll and other toys. She is definitely a girl and she is a talker! Even when she is playing with her blocks, she pretends they are people and they talk to each other and go places. Love her imagination!
• says her "piggy pank is melting" when it starts chipping off. {Piggy Paint = non-toxic nail polish}
• loves to put on a pair of girly shoes and dance around the room. She also loves to put on music and dance! Our favorite to listen to is Seeds Family Worship.
• is very "mothering" {a.k.a. bossy} to her little brother, even to her dad and me. We are practicing asking for people to do things in a nice way and using polite words instead of demanding. We are also practicing how to handle when people don't do what we ask them to do.
• loves cupcakes! She loves to eat real or pretend ones. We 'make' and 'eat' cupcakes a lot.
• likes to be called Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba. Calls her brothers Brobee. As ridiculous as the show is, it has been easier for us to teach her some things by referring to Yo Gabba Gabba. They have annoying repetitive songs with catchy phrases that teach the kids lessons. For example: "Don't take it away, Don't just take it away." And "Try it, you'll like it!" There are others but those are the two we use the most often.
• is often heard saying phrases like, "Thats the truf, mommy" and "I AM funny/silly/a princess" and "How'd I get to be so cute, mommy?" Then I'm prompted to say "God made you that way."
• will pray and thank God for everything she can think of at random times throughout the day without being prompted. She is understanding more biblical truths all the time. She loves going to church and Sunday school.
• is going to be 3 years old in less than five months. We will be starting preschool homeschooling in the fall. I'm excited and in shock all at the same time. Wasn't I just about to have my first baby, like yesterday?! No that was your third.

Little Dude...

• is talking so clear and often! He surprises me with all the words he can say. If you say something, he can and usually does repeat it right back to you. Just this morning he walked up to me holding his pacifier saying, 'Wash it. Gross.' Just like that, the same way you and I say it. I would make a list of words he says but I think the list of words he can't/doesn't say is shorter. I'm not even sure what those are!
• is our emotional and sensitive one. If any one coughs or sneezes he is the first to check on them and he will genuinely keep asking if you are "O-Kay" until you assure him that you are fine. He also loves to say "Bess you" if you sneeze. When ever big sister is in trouble or sitting in time out, he wants to be with her and make sure she is ok. We also have to be careful how we respond to him when he does something so adorable you want to coo or giggle over. He gets embarrassed very easily and I'm working on taking him seriously. But he is seriously cute.
• has started coming up to us out of nowhere and say "wuv you." Melts a mama's heart every time.
• LOVES to be: chased around the kitchen, tickled like crazy and snuggled.
• adores his big "sissy." He will ask were she is if we take him anywhere with out her. He walks up to her and asks "doin?" or "watchin?" when she is playing or watching a show. The sweetest part is that he crouches down and puts his hands on his knees and tilts his head to one side.
• has an addiction to his pacifier, or whats known as a squishy in our house. He can usually be found with one in his mouth and one in his hand.
• thinks strawberries are a main food group. Cheese is the other one.
• will be 18 months soon and I can still remember holding when he was the same size as Itty bitty.

Itty bitty...

• is almost 2 months already.
• loves to nurse and does it like a champ. 
• already has baby rolls forming and is outgrowing size 3 month clothing and size 1 diapers. See second bullet point.
• likes tummy time already.
• smiles at us daily.
• is awake for most of the afternoons and evenings.
• sleeps for two 3 hr stretches at night and goes right back to sleeping after eating.
• is sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed.
• is adored by a big sister and a big brother. And of course his mommy and daddy are over the moon for him too.

"How did I get to be so blessed?!"

Sweet moments

Yesterday we were out to lunch and just after we received our food we grabbed hands to give thanks to God for our food.

Lately Little dude has been testing his control. A lot. I'm talking screaming tantrums are involved. Ones that attention of any kind, positive or negative only fuel and make explode. We are working on it.

One area of challenge he is pushing is getting what he wants RIGHT NOW. Including at meal times. You can see where this is going... When we tell him we are going to pray first he refuses and in out right defiance he turns away and says "No." So we just let him know that he will have to pray thanks over his food before he is allowed to eat.

**Before I go on, I just want to say that because it's an issue of defiance we are handling it in this manner. I realize it could be interpreted as us 'forcing him' to pray and could imply we will force 'religion' on our kids. That is not the case. If this were an issue of his heart not wanting to pray because of things going on in his heart and head, then we would handle this differently. Most likely with a discussion where he can share what he is thinking and feeling while we listen and then we would lovingly show him in scripture what God's heart is on the issue. 

He wasn't happy, of course when we wouldn't let him eat. I waited a few minutes and calmly asked him if he was ready to pray. He said "No!" and turned away in his seat. This happened a few more times. It was then that Little lady saw her brother struggling and wanted to help him so she said, "I'll pray with you bubs!" {her sweet nickname for her brother, shortened from bubba.} And she proceeded to pray a prayer of thanks.

"Thank you for this food. Thank you for my family. Thank you for bubba not saying his prayer. Thank you for sunshine. Thank you for our car.... Amen. Shake the love around, Woo!" {An ending we adapted from our sweet friends, Lolli and Pops. When we are holding hands and praying we shake our arms and throw them up in the air on the "Woo!"}

I thanked Little lady for her sweet prayer. And noticed out of the corner of my eye that Little dude joined his hands together and put his head down. I heard "Jesus {and then something else I don't know what it was} Amen." And then with his hands up in the air he said "Woo!"

Hubby and I looked at each other with a smile on both or our faces. I can't explain the pure sweet joy of a parent seeing their child connecting and worshiping their creature and loving God. This was a moment that I wanted to remember. A sweet, sweet moment.

Where we've been

My lack of blogging is not for lack of things to write about. It has much more to do with the lack of energy or time! I'm learning that with each new edition I have to manage my time and chose what I'll put energy towards and what I'll let go.

I just can't {as much as I want to sometimes} do it all {shocking. I know.} {and yes mom, I said it. don't ask me to repeat it.} So.... I'll just have to let somethings go and pray I choose to invest in the right things!

I've been writing an update post in my head for weeks now... but when I find a moment that I could sit and write, I'm just too tired. But I'm hoping to get on it, it's on my week's to-do list.

In the mean time, I'll leave you with this much too adorable new item I made and hope to have listed in my shop when I get all the spring/summer line together and photographed!

I know I'm biased, and I think the dress is cute but I'm much more in favor of the model! And her daddy says {and I agree} she looks way too grown up in this adorable dress. :) What these pictures can't capture is her 2.5 yrs going on 12 yrs attitude! Don't know where she gets it from... {any ideas, mom?}

Itty Bitty {1 Month}

Baby, sweet baby of mine...

... you are one month new today yesterday!

You have crept right in to our hearts and you are adored by us all!

Your big sister LOVES to give you kisses and when you are fussing she will start singing you a song, like Jesus loves me or Uncle Goggle's song {as it's fondly called in our house} and she wants to help me with you when ever she can!

Your big brother is always checking up on you. While you are in your swing he will ask you "k?" {"You ok?"} even if you are sleeping! It's so sweet. He likes to give you hugs. And when he wakes up in the morning he will say "mow-ning ee-lie" and I just about melt at the cuteness! I can't wait for you and him to be best buds when you get a little bigger.

Your daddy and I are over the moon for you and we praise God for giving you to our family.

At one month you are:

• Sleeping most of the day, waking only to eat usually every 3 hours or so.
• At night you sleep for 3-4 hour stretches most nights and you are sleeping with me in our bed. I love snuggling with you.
• You can already hold your head up for 10-15 min at a time and you prefer to face out when I'm holding you. You like to look around.
• You are wearing size 1 diapers but they slid off your almost non existent bottom! You are already growing too long for for newborn size clothes. You are long and lean!
• You are starting to make eye contact more and more.
• You hate your car seat.
• If you are fussy, a lot of times I can just lay you down on the floor and you calm down and look all around.

Happy one month sweet baby boy!