Waiting on the mailman

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Love, Cinderella

i guess i ate a few too many funnel cakes at the fair last fall

Before I had Joshua I was still carrying an extra ten pounds from my pregnancy with Julianna.  Now I'm sixteen pounds up from that which puts me at exactly 26 pounds pre-babies.  I've been bouncing around between fifteen and twenty up from pre-Josh for several months now and I am ready to get it off, if not more.  I would love to lose a total of 32 but I would certainly be happy with just losing 16 for now.  I think I can do that by Father's Day.

I have been doing very well with eating better lately but I still struggle with trying to find time to exercise with two kiddos.  The fact that mommy always comes last has been a hard reality to face.  The exercise thing is getting a little better with the warmer weather. 

Still.  I know what I should do.  I should either use the time that Julianna is in school each day to take Josh out for a walk or run.  I have been using that time to get stuff done around the house and actually take a shower each day.  Plus Josh naps some during that time.

I also could exercise after both kids are in bed but that's usually about 9 or 9:30 and then I'm so exhausted that I can hardly even stand up, much less exercise.

I'm also thinking about eliminating soda from my diet permanently.  Anyone do this?

I've been using sparkpeople.com and I've found it to be extremely helpful at holding me accountable for "journaling" my food each day AND there is an android app that I can use on my phone.  Since I'm still breastfeeding Josh I'm trying not to cut back too much.

Something else I've been pondering is adding some kind of protein powder or something similar to my diet.  Sparkpeople lets you compare the percentage of calories of each type actually consumed in your diet with the percentage of calories of each type that you should consume.  Mine always shows that I eat too little protein and even when I try to eat protein at each meal I don't get quite enough.  That makes me wonder what else I can do to increase my protein intake.  Anyone have any suggestions?

I welcome any advice you can give me.  I'm trying.  I really am.

BTW as I type this my daughter is sitting in front of me eating a grilled cheese that Daddy made her and she just declared it "FANTASTIC!"

Maybe I should go try on my bathing suit...?

chores

Just curious.  What's your favorite and least favorite chore to do around the house?

I love doing laundry.  There's just something about that nice clean smell that I enjoy and I also love how you can start a load and then get something else done while you wait to switch it over to the dryer.  It seems efficient to me and I love things that can be done without much thought and sorta mechanically like that.

I hate to clean the bathrooms.  I really dislike that strong chemical smell from all of the cleaners and I hate how quickly they get dirty again.  It's like all of your work is immediately ruined.  I also hate getting down on my hands and knees to clean the tub and showers.  Plus most of it is just plain gross.

As Julianna gets older we've tried to give her more responsibility to help around the house.  We pile our recyclables in a certain spot on the kitchen counter until there's enough to carry out to the garage.  It's her job to take it out to the bin.  Then there's also a lot of cleaning to do on Sundays before our Journey Group meets and she has to help clean up toys before that.  We also ask her to set the table for dinner occasionally but we try to get her to take her dishes to the sink after every meal.

Have you heard about My Job Chart?  It's a FREE online Chore Chart that teaches kids to work in a fun and productive way. Using an easy and fun online system, My Job Chart inspires kids to do their chores on time. An interactive point system tracks your child's progress, creating excitement and enthusiasm among kids. And the fully customizable chore chart allows you and your child to decide upon mutually determined rewards, fostering communication and developing responsibility. You even get an email or text message when your kids finish their chores or they earn a reward!

I really don't think it's ever too early to teach your kids responsibility and it seems that with Julianna's experience on the computer, she should be able to use this system pretty well.   Does anyone already use this system?  Do you use something different?

I decided to give it a try and created an online chore chart for Jules.  Setting it up was really easy and only took about one minute.  We'll have to see what kind of rewards we can agree upon and then see how it goes, but it sounds great and if you decide to try it out please let me know how it works for your house.

she's no roller derby queen

Julianna picked out some $3 roller skates at a preschool consignment sale a couple of weeks ago.  Here's a video of her first experience with them.  It only took her one attempt to realize that falling down really hurt her bottom and she asked for a... well just watch and see.


Untitled from c525600 on Vimeo.


Untitled from c525600 on Vimeo.

easy like Sunday morning

Hollywood

six months

Dear Joshua,

Today you are six months old!

This has been the month of the babble. You shriek, you giggle, you say ga ga grrr daaa, and you just overall blabber, your tongue and mouth seem to never stop moving.

You’ve learned to like your baby food so much more than you did. It's so funny because you make it pretty difficult to feed you because you always grab the spoon ferociously and shove it in your mouth. Peas are still not your favorite, but most everything else you like. You haven't become a fan of the sippy cup or juice yet. We're still working on it.

You've finally rolled from your back to your belly but you’d only done it two or three times and you still didn’t roll the other way very often. Until today. Today you finally figured out that rolling could get you to where you wanted to go. You would roll across the floor in a flash and maneuver yourself around so that you could get a better view of the TV.

This was my most favorite age when Julianna was a baby because she had learned to sit by herself and would play with toys for an hour at a time but yet she wouldn’t crawl away and get into trouble yet. We finally reached that milestone with you this month too and I absolutely love it. You much prefer to sit as opposed to laying anywhere. The other night at Journey Group you sat and played with toys while the adults talked and you hardly fussed at all. You’re such a good boy.


So we had to cut your hair. Your bangs and the bottom back pieces were getting ridiculously long so I just snipped off a tiny bit. You look much more like a little boy now. I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but of course you are the second child.

Your favorite thing to do this month has been to enjoy your walker. You’d known how to go backwards but you finally got the hang of going forwards and you scoot around with delight. You're not efficient by any means and you don't go fast at all yet, but it won't be long. You definitely have the desire and where there's a will, there's a way.

Your bottom two teeth came in this month. The first one came in on April 2nd and the second one came in a week later. You were 5 months 11 days old when you got your first tooth and your sister was 5 months 13 days old. It amazes me to compare the two of you although I know I need to stop that. It looks like you'll get another bottom one in the next couple of weeks.

My goodness, child! It’s become increasingly important for me to go into a quiet room to nurse you now. You are so very distracted by the world around you that you can’t concentrate on eating. It is beyond frustrating, but I can understand it. I’m nosey too.

Only time will tell if you're finally over your second double ear infection.  You've now had two rounds of antibiotics for it and you've been off the meds for one week exactly now so you may be in the clear, but I hesitate to say that.  We'll go to the doctor for your check-up on Monday and they'll check your ears then.


Bud, in case I don't say it enough, I love you.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the past six months with you.  I can't believe how fast it's gone by, but I am excited about the next six.  Love you baby.

Love,
Mama

We're having a very enjoyable afternoon. How about you?

now all she needs to do is learn how to roll her eyes

Julianna told me on the way to dance today that she didn't know everyone's name.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  Upon questioning her further I came to find out that she was talking about knowing everyone in the world's name not just everyone in her dance class.  I told her that I didn't know everyone's name either and I tried to explain that it would be impossible to know everyone's name.  Anyway, she thought about it in the back seat for a minute and then she said to me, "I thought adults were supposed to be smart."

 

it's coming

I'm going to be so sad when Jules finally figures out that the correct way to say caterpillar is not "calla-pitt-er".

That is all.

bubble machine fun

It's a relatively cool day compared to what we've been having, but the little breeze makes it the perfect day for bubbles!  Julianna is enjoying her bubble machine while Joshua naps and I make up a new to-do list.

habits

For some unknown reason, I have had high anxiety lately.  I find myself biting my fingernails often these days and I have another nasty habit that I really want to get rid of.  I scratch at my face.  Whenever I am nervous or anxious about something my hand will find it's way to my chin or my nose or some other part of my face and I will begin picking at the tiniest of blemishes until they bleed or become red.  It's so gross.  It even disgusts me to type this.

I really want to stop.  It makes my face look like a 13 year old's and although my skin is really not that bad, you can certainly look at me and tell when I have been having high anxiety about something or other and I just plain look awful.  So what pointers can you give me for breaking a bad habit?

I used to pop my knuckles and my entire family hated it.  My husband finally made a deal with me that he'd paint my toenails anytime I wanted if I'd stop with the knuckle thing.  I did stop for years and I have enjoyed his manicure/pedicure services.  Hee.  I have started popping my wrists again though and I need to stop that too.  I don't want to forfeit my nail luxuries.

Make me feel better, please.  What bad habits do you have?  What bad habits have you broken?  What motivation and you give me to quit?

prayers

Busy week.  Sorry I haven't blogged much, but I'll post more this weekend.  I just wanted to get these prayers down really quickly before I forget them.  These are prayers we've overheard Julianna saying at various times over the past few days.

Dear God, Please help Mrs. Robin to feel better soon.  Amen

Dear God, Please take care of Lucy and don't let her get hurt.  Amen

...and my personal favorite

(before putting on roller skates)
Dear God, Please let me have fun on these skates and not die.  Amen


I am tickled to death that she has started spontaneously praying own her own and I am impressed with the kindness in her heart.  I couldn't love that little girl more.

Anyone else have any other kid prayers to share?

ok, I'm going to open a can of worms

We are contemplating early admittance to kindergarten for Julianna.  Are we crazy?  Thoughts?

my daughter, the sponge

Julianna is at the point where she's practically begging for more "work" and she's soaking up information with such speed that I can hardly get her more worksheets before she's done and wanting more.  She can count to one hundred; she easily does basic addition and subtraction; she's spelling three letter words and sounding out almost everything she sees.  Yesterday she wrote "invitations" for Nanna's birthday party and she spelled almost everyone in our family's name with little help.  All she wants to do all the time is write.

Here is the latest stack of workbooks that I gave her last night.  She had finished the first one within ten minutes of work before bed and ten minutes of work first thing this morning.  This is all after she'd already completed a variety of the bigger workbooks all year long.  Sometimes I cannot believe how fast she is learning and how much she wants to learn.  Is every kid this way at some point?

naked as a JoshuaBird

What? Don't all of you put your baby down for Tummy Time in the nude?

another great visit to the dentist

invasion of the pollen

Julianna: Mommy, I think I know what all that yucky stuff on my slide is coming from.

Me: It's coming from the trees.  That's pollen.

Julianna: NO IT'S NOT!  IT'S COMING FROM THE TOP OF MY PLAYHOUSE ROOF!

please ignore the annoying silly baby talk voice coming from the mama

He has got to be the happiest little boy that ever was.  He RARELY quits smiling and it takes so little to get him to laugh.  Love, love, love his laugh.


Untitled from c525600 on Vimeo.

I'm not spoiled. Why do you ask?

Happy Easter!

Julianna told me the Easter story the other day.  She had recently heard it at Chapel at school.  She told me how they put a crown of thorns on Jesus' head and nailed him to the cross.  She talked about the disciples, calling them the "recycles," describing how Jesus' body was placed in the tomb after his death and how Mary went to find him the next day.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Matthew 28: 1-10

Last weekend when we were at the beach we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at the Bass Pro Shop.  She had a lot of fun looking for the eggs hidden among the clothing displays.  She also got to visit the Easter Bunny which she could have cared less about.  We talked about why the egg has become a symbol of Easter after we dyed them the other day.  I hope she truly understands the meaning of Easter or that she can begin to understand.  I hope that God can give me the words to teach her of His miracle.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

Matthew 27:51-54

washin' the car

We've already dyed Easter eggs and I've begun cleaning the house.  Now Julianna and Jonathan are washing the cars while I have some quiet time with Josh.  It is an absolutely gorgeous day with temperatures in the upper 80s.  There's not too much more I could ask for.

blessing

Julianna has learned so much at school this year.  She learned The Pledge of Allegiance, song after song after song in Music, and plenty of Bible stories in Chapel.  She also learned a pretty neat blessing that she sometimes says for us at home and I wanted to get it down so we could remember it.  It's so sweet.

Dear God,
Thank you for the world so sweet.
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing.
Thank you God for everything.
Amen

Enjoying the sun and an ice cold teething ring

Welcome Spring!