Give Him All The Praise

So much that I think I may explode trying to write it all down in a way that gives you a glimpse into my amazing life. I am so truly blessed and am on cloud nine right now just hoping to bring a smile or two to your face and capture this in a way I will look back on it when I am having a bad day or two (or three!) and can be taken back to this special pocket in time. You know, in the same way an old song will take you back to your first time driving your own car alone or the way you and a girlfriend used to use hairbrushes as microphones to sing along to New Kids on the Block.

So, HH was gone overnight this week and as I was praying that I would not be afraid to fall asleep by myself, at 11:20 p.m. the phone rings. It was a number I did not recognize so I just let it ring. Thankfully they didn't leave a message and as I was then afraid again, I made a list of all the stuff I wanted to tell my family about our lives right now. SOOO, here it goes...

I'll start with a few pictures:

Our trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday...

We were given a toddler bed and mattress yesterday. Someone gave 2 to a friend and she passed them on since she wasn't going to use them. We picked it up last night and put it in the garage.

This is Baby K's response to the bed:

I told her we would move it into her room and she got off and tried to lift it herself. I hope when we make the transition it is a smooth one. We are going to wait a while longer though. :)

Baby K loves to be tickled. Specifically, if we say, "can I get your armpits?" she will gladly raise her arm and giggle while you tickle her. Precious!

The other day we were in Sams buying only the essentials, I am sure, when she saw me smelling two different packages of bar soap. She wanted to do the same so I propped them on the bar across the shopping cart and she had so much fun smelling, aka kissing, the soap as that is what she thought I was doing. It was such a cute moment.

Taking her to Walmart, the grocery store, Sams, etc. has become so much easier. I used to DREAD it because she hollered most of the time, but I am gonna miss our mommy/daughter trips out when Little Man gets here. It has gotten to be so much fun taking her and letting her help me put the groceries in the cart or sharing an Icee which she now will actually share with me. Used to she was afraid she wasn't going to get it back, but now she will gladly hand it over and when I give it back she nods her head yes and says, "Thank you!" It is the BEST!!!

When Baby K is doing something she isn't supposed to do and gets caught, before I can say anything, she will either put her arms up in the air like saying "hooray" or clap for herself and say "yeah!" Irresistibly cute! Wrong, but cute!

The other day I told her to go get a book and come sit in my lap so I could read to her. She walked over to her daddy's book shelf and started thumbing across all of his history/war/political books to pick one out. She was so excited until I told her we were going to read one of HER books! She knows she isn't supposed to play with his books so I am sure she felt like she was given a golden ticket until she realized what I really meant.

The bossiness has started! She sees me tell the dogs to go in their room when we are packing up so now she stands at their door and says "uh, uh" and points until they go in and then she shuts the door. She does this all the time. I am always having to go let them back out. Big helper!

My favorite word right now is "help". My little Baby K gets so frustrated all the time when she can't do something and gives up very easily and hollers or whines. It has been very frustrating for us too as patience is hard to teach (especially if you have very few yourself!), but lately we have been teaching her to say "help" when she is getting frustrated. It is working! Not all the time, but much more often I hear "help" and will gladly oblige!

My other favorite words are "please" and "thank you". They are starting to become more frequent and I LOVE it! It not only looks and sounds cute, but is polite. Bonus!

Speaking of words, she says "no" (actually sounds more like "mo") for milk. We don't know why, unless maybe it is because we ask her if she wants "more"??? She heard HH and I talking about it the other day and she pointed to her milk cup and said "no". Too funny. She knows she is saying the wrong word, but will not fix it! Stubborn!!! Where did she get that from?

When she eats, she says "mmm" and "ummy" for almost every bite. She tries to repeat so many words now and is understanding so much more. It is so neat to see what she will recognize each day.

One of her favorite activities right now is watching some shows like Dora, Diego and even The Fresh Beat Band. It is kinda brutal, but she dances and sings and LOVES it, so we let her watch some when she is being good. She also loves to buckle things and pick things up. She will dump things out just to pick them all up and she will crawl up in her high chair just to buckle herself in. Putting on her shoes is a close 3rd. She isn't really good at that yet though. ;)

AFFECTION!! She will come up and lay her head on your arm or pucker up and wait for you to notice that she wants a kiss or if she sees me or HH give a hug she will open her arms and wait for hers. The other night he kissed me on the head and she said, "uh" and patted the top of her head until he came and kissed her too. Sweet girl!

She has become very attached to certain stuffed animals and has to pick one to accompany her to bed and nap each day. It is not always the same, lately it has been a giant dolphin someone gave her at Sea World, which is large enough to serve as a pillow. She takes him/her back downstairs after they get their rest.

Her favorite foods right now (consistently) are cheese, fruit and pasta, so mac and cheese is a big hit! She will eat meat and veggies, but not the same ones each day... meaning leftovers are not really successful right now. Just because she loved something yesterday, I do not expect for her to eat even one bite today.

She is doing much better in the car lately, maybe because she is understanding more of her movie. I got in the car the other day and handed her a snack and didn't hear a peep for 30 min. Now, not every car ride is like this, but they are getting more frequent. Whew! Praise the Lord!

I am a part of the MOPS group at our church and it is sooo much fun. It is Mothers of Preschoolers and a time to let moms hang out with other moms in a structured setting. We have a guest speaker, FOOD!!, a craft and discussion of a book we are all reading. It is such a good time and when I went to pick Baby K up the other day the lady said she had been very good and they gave her a coloring page. She came home and colored me a pumpkin while I fixed lunch. I was so proud of her. She is getting so big so quickly!

Also, on the home front we have had a good change that has lasted for about a month now. She has been sleeping past 7 and then staying in her bed until almost 8 or sometimes later! It has been nice that both HH and I are getting some rest on Saturday mornings. We were used to getting up at 6:30 or earlier and would be woken up by her crying and upset. Now, she is going to bed at 8 or later and is sleeping later and waking up happy. Loving it!!!

I was having trouble sleeping and having alot of back pain a few weeks back. I was falling asleep every day during her nap and still being tired all the time because I wasn't sleeping at night so Dr. Tucker put me on Ambien. It is working! I am sleeping at least 5 hours at a time without waking up and then falling back asleep easily when I do wake up. I have gone all week without needing to nap when she napped. SOOO, I am getting some stuff done around here again!

Speaking of Ambien... I woke HH up crying the other night because I was having a leg cramp. The Ambien didn't allow me to wake up enough to stretch my leg out and be still, so I just kept moving and making it worse. I didn't remember what had happened until I got out of bed and realized my leg hurt! It was so painful and I called HH and he said I was crying in my sleep. He asked me what was wrong but couldn't understand what I was saying. Thankfully it went away.

I have found the best book for the days (which are most) when I crawl into bed feeling unsuccessful as a mom. It is called "What Kids Need Most in a Mom" and was written in the 80's or 90's. I bought it in a sale at our church library for about 25 cents. I was very upset one night after disciplining Baby K all day and she wasn't listening, I was frustrated. It felt like a disaster of a day. I picked this book up and it is amazing! She says every mom will experience guilt, but the question you have to ask yourself is whether or not the guilt is justified. If it is, fix it! If it isn't, just keep trying and quit beating yourself up. It also reminds us that "mean moms" make a difference for the good. Mean meaning a mom that makes her kids eat veggies and doesn't let them run wild. The book also talks about making memories every day. Your kids will remember the memories you have made with them and that relationship you created more than the fact that you may have hollered or lost your temper every now and then.

She really likes the songs "The Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It". They always make her smile and do the motions.

I asked Baby K the other day if she wanted and baby. She flat out told me "no" and 15 minutes later I laid down next to her on the floor and she ran and got a diaper and
"diapered my belly". It was so cute.

So, on another subject, this summer I volunteered at vacation bible school at our church. As Christians I feel like we are often "guilted" into volunteering instead of doing it because we feel Christ-led to do it. Well, this was and wasn't one of those cases for me. In one respect, as a stay-at-home mom I feel it is my obligation to help with this to allow other moms that can't to have a place for their kids to learn about Christ. On the other hand, I really wanted to do it.

Well, I took a back-seat role as a helper in the class for the 1st graders. It was such a joy taking time to get to know these kids and their little spirits. I just want to say that I was blessed beyond measure with a really great friend out of the experience! She was the teacher in the class and by the time the week was over, I don't think there was a doubt that we would remain friends long after this week of VBS! I think many times we don't volunteer because we are "too busy" and we really miss out on blessings. I am glad I didn't miss this one! I just wonder how many of these I have let get by me out of selfishness with my time.

The other night that same friend was over (while HH was away) and she brought her 4 year old daugher and 7 mo. old son. Well, she walked away and laid him down for a moment and said when she came back she would change his diaper. Well, I thought, why am I sitting her talking to him, change him for his momma! I got his diaper and wipes out, opened up his diaper and was blown away. He has BOY PARTS!!!! It took me forever to change him because I was sure I was missing something and had no idea whether I was doing it right. She came back and we laughed hysterically. She said our whole lives we grow up being told not to to touch them, look at them, etc. and then we are given a little boy to care for. I am wondering how many ladies have experienced this when they changed a little boy for the first time in a loooong time.

I am so excited to hang out with some ladies from church on Sunday. Four friends of mine are hosting a baby shower for me and Little Man and I am looking forward to some good old girl time.

Okay, as Dora says, Adios for now and we will see you back here soon!

Love you all!