Finding Chapstick

Lately our little man Nate has gotten pretty chapped lips from sucking/chewing on them. So Isaac and I thought maybe if we got chapstick w/ a familiar character on it that he would be more inclined to use it periodically. Finding Nemo chapstick then became a part of our bedtime routine: put on pj's, sit on potty, brush teeth, put on Nemo chapstick, read book, pray, lights out. So far so good - it seems to be helping. I say all this about the chapstick in order that you be able to understand the following cute story (at least I think its cute).
This morning at breakfast I was asking Nate about the family get together we had at my parents' house yesterday. "Did you have fun, Who did you play with," etc. I then asked him what movie he watched. His answer was kind of excited and fast so I didn't catch what he said right away so I asked again and he said "Nemo Chapsick". I kind of giggled to myself as I realized why he answered that way. Nate then seemed to realize that what he had said wasn't right and he said "Finding Chapstick".... then he finally said "Finding Nemo" and seemed rather proud of himself for fixing the statement on his own. Obviously the whole thing was adorable but it was so neat to watch his thought process as he figured it out all by himself. He is getting sooo smart! My little boy is not so little anymore! sniff....

Personality Quiz Results.... Nurturer, who me?!?

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You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's Your Personality Type?

Sickies

I don't know about other moms but when your kids are sick and whining you feel a certain satisfaction and frustration that you are so needed. Actually in the past week or two all of us have been sick at one time or another and its just wearing me out! I just want us all to be healthy again! Is that too much to ask?!?

Sitcom Withdrawl!

So I get a little obsessed/addicted, whatever you want to call it when it comes to a few tv shows. Due to the WGA writers strike (which I do support) all my favorites are on hiatus indefinitely. sigh.... Reruns just aren't the same. I miss the ongoing saga of Heroes and their quest to understand their powers and (of course) to save the world. I miss seeing Jim and Pam on the Office and their developing relationship and the awkward humor that Rainn Wilson and Steve Carell bring to that show. Here are a couple of videos that help ease the withdrawl symptoms that I've been experiencing. Maybe they'll help you too.

Check out this video: Jim and Pam - A Love Story



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Check out this video: Tribute to NBCs Heroes - If Everyone Cared



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Thirteen Ornaments On Our Tree

1. Strawberry Shortcake
2. Classic Winnie the Pooh w/ pix of Pooh and Piglet and says "We'll be friends forever, won't we Pooh? asked Piglet. Even longer. answered Pooh."
3. Care Bear's Baby's First Christmas
4. lovely crystal and gold butterfly
5. trolley car from San Francisco
6. Indianapolis Colts bulb
7. Homer Simpson drinking syrup from a jug
8. chinese takeout box w/ fortune cookie that says "What good fortune to have each other."
9. s'more snowman
10. Lightning McQueen from "Cars"
11. Hershey's Kiss
12. one with the Monopoly guy on it
13. German pickle from Pier One

Cool Gift Tags!

I found these gift tags on a crafting blog. They're ok to print and use if anyone is interested. I wish I'd seen them before Christmas, I'd totally have used them on a few of the gifts I gave! Maybe I'll use them for my family's Christmas this weekend!

Who Loves Their Christmas Gifts? I Do!

Merry Christmas! We have really enjoyed the time with friends and family in spite the boys being sick. I got a couple of gifts that I'm really excited about! From my inlaws I got some cool scrap/crafting tools, the book "Bend the Rules Sewing", and a sewing machine to go with it! I'm excited to get to start some new projects! Isaac got me some pretty jewelry, a book on how to grow my photography business, a scarf & hat & gloves set and the book P.S. I Love You. I am reading it now before I go see the movie - which by the way is the perfect way to do it. I've already seen previews so I know which actors are playing which characters, etc so I get a proper mental picture of everyone. If I read the book before I saw previews then I'd form my own ideas of what the characters should look like, etc and then I'd be frustrated when I saw the movie and everyone was different than what I'd pictured them. I know, I'm weird. I've started the book already and its pretty good. The only thing is the book is written by an Irish or English woman and the verbiage is kind of hard to get used to at time. Everything is "bloody" or stuff like that, you know what I mean. Oh, well.... we haven't yet had Christmas with my family since most of them are out in New Mexico still. I miss them. tear, sniff....

New Blog

Since this blog has evolved through recent posts I created a new blog just for pix and info on my kids. We'll see how I do trying to upkeep three blogs and my myspace and facebook pages.

Confessions of a mom who does not know it all.

Resources and information are a good thing.... sometimes. I will admit that I can sometimes be easily influenced by a good argument. Sometimes I read things (in books or online, whatever) that are helpful and encouraging and I am built up, strengthened in my parenting skills, etc. And then other times I just feel like I'm such a loser of a mom and no matter what "method" you look at I'm doing everything wrong. I mean, I must be doing something wrong because I'm not doing anything just like anyone else.... right? I think my parenting is kind of like my mom's curriculum while she home-schooled us: kind of mix-n-match, a little bit of this method, some of this curriculum, a bit of that guy's ideas, some of so-and-so's instructions. Kind of a hodge-podge collection of the best of everything - right?
So here are some of the things that I do - I don't know if they are all the "right" ways of doing things but they're what I do: I am a somewhat scheduled mom (I'm flexible, but I like to have structure too is that so bad?), I would like to co-sleep but don't because of my husband's sleep disorder (better safe than sorry), I am serious about breastfeeding (the first one I nursed until I got pregnant with the second - about 15mos - and the second one is 9mos old and hasn't started solids yet), I do not promote belief in Santa Claus - I don't think other parents are awful for doing it - I just don't see any benefit in it, I do spank (gasp!) but try to use more creative alternate forms of discipline/correction as much as possible, I love to play and read to my two year old but gosh darnit sometimes I can only read the same board book so many times before I want to tear the pages out, I don't medicate my children over every little sniffle, I do sometimes get offended when given unsolicited advice, I do use the tv as a babysitter sometimes (I'm sorry, but I am only human), I was really really scared (and still am a little) when my son had his seizures, I plan to home-school but I'm not committing to a how long - we'll play it by ear, I know I'm not supposed to but I do sometimes compare my kids - I can't help it, some days I pawn off bedtime on my husband because I'm tired and frustrated by the end of the day, I spend naptime (the short quiet time of the day) blogging and other stuff instead of cleaning house because I need this outlet to keep my sanity, I worry about things out of my control, and even though I don't think this about other moms (really) I sometimes feel like I'm under the microscope and every thing that my kids do "wrong" or whatever is blamed on me.
Sometimes there is a battle of wills going on in my mind. There is a big part of me that believes that I am doing things well and while my kids aren't perfect they're good boys and they know that they're loved and that is more important than if mommy used "attachment parenting" or the Ferber Method. Then the other part (my mind's evil twin or something) is taunting me saying that no matter what I do they're going to grow up and blame all their problems on me - I'm the mom - it is always my fault, right?
Then I have to take a deep breath and pray and remind myself yet again that while I'm doing everything I can to be the best wife and mom (the two go hand in hand you know) ultimately God is in control and whether they're nursed til they're 6weeks old or 6years old, whether I cry tears of frustration because my two year old ate crayons for what seems like the hundredth time, whether I meet my own expectations or not.... God will guide my children to be the adults that He wants them to be. Thank you, God.

Funky Christmas Cards

Ok, so I'm not the best or most creative card maker but I thought these were cool and unconventional for Christmas cards. I embraced using non-Christmasy colors more than I thought I would. The biggest reason I went with these colors/styles was the cards were $1 for a box of 8 cards and envelopes at the Target dollar section. I love a great deal!

Christmas Questions

I stole this from another blog... oh well...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? a little of both - I hate dealing with odd shaped packages so I use bags for those... anything thats in a box I'll use paper.... a quick fact about me.... I got reserved grand champion in gift wrapping in the 4-H fair back in the day.... I was in the paper and everything... aren't I cool? Or is that dorky and I shouldn't tell anyone that?

2. Tree - Real or Artificial? Fake.... the first year we were married we got a real one and were so excited until we had to deal with all the needles and decided fake was the way to go.

3. When do you put the Christmas tree up? Usually at the beginning of December sometime..... but this year I've been dragging my feet. I am not looking forward to keeping my two year old out of the tree and gifts, etc. Its so much work!

4. When do you take the tree down? Around New Years... give or take a week.

5. Like Egg Nog? Not so much. I'm more of a hot chocolate girl myself.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? A couple of them but I don't like the ones I have.... I would really like to get the Willow Creek one.... but its pretty expensive.

7. Favorite gift received as a child? The one that stands out the most was my first real good camera. My family doesn't over-do Christmas but the Christmas nearest our 16th birthdays was always a big deal and my parents got me a 35mm SLR with a couple of lenses.... I was so psyched. I went out and took pix of the fresh snow we'd gotten... those pix got blue ribbons at the 4-H fair.... ok.... revealing my dorkiness once again.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband's family. If they want something they buy it for themselves.... that doesn't leave much for us to get them. Plus, my husband is no help whatsoever.... all the gift ideas and buying are left up to me.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Varies from year to year.

10. Worst Christmas gift? I keep no record of wrongs.... I mean bad gifts.

11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? Snail mail of course. I did a combination of photo cards and handmade cards. I just didn't have time or energy enough to make 50 handmade cards.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? well.... I like alot. Even though my family never did the santa thing and we aren't doing it with our boys I really like Miracle on 34th Street, While You Were Sleeping (thats kinda a Christmas movie), Elf, Holiday Inn.... and per my husband's insistence that he can't get into the holiday spirit without it - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start late summer, early fall. I like to spread it out so its not a huge financial burden in December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? maybe....

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Grandma's cookies!

16. Clear or colored tree lights? colored

17. Favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night - and Holly Jolly Christmas

18. Travel during Christmas or stay home? Stay home as much as possible. I'd love to just stay in and make everyone come to us but we've got too many church and family commitments.

19. Can you name Santa’s reindeer’s? yes

20. Angel or Star on tree top? I prefer a star.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas eve at grandma's and Christmas Day at home and my inlaws.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Too many people out shopping.... I went to Walmart the other day and it took forever just to get a few groceries. Its ridiculous.

My Yahoo Avatar

So this is basically the best cartoon version of me that I could create - give or take. Which clearly gives away the fact that I don't always make the best use of my time.

Professionalizing Motherhood

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I heard Jill Savage speak and she was so genuine and real in her knowledge and experience and it encouraged me to read one of her books. It is "Professionalizing Motherhood - Encouraging, Educating and Equipping Mothers at Home". She is the mother of five (one adopted) - she had teenagers and toddlers at the same time! She is founder and director of Hearts at Home - a ministry for mothers. There are is a quote from the book that I'd like to share: "The profession of motherhood has one primary goal: to see a child grow into a mature, godly, respectful and loving adult.... We may be pursuing a result that we will only see decades from now, but lets not lose sight, over time, of our extremely important goal. Motherhood is a vitally important and worthy profession to commit ourselves to." How true! And how hard to remember sometimes! There are some days when I feel like everything I do gets undone, or ignored, or defied. But long term the little things that I do every day - reading my son books that seem mindless to me, especially when I have to read the same ones over and over again, those books are enriching and the time spent together is building our relationship and creating a bond that will last, when I reprimand him for poor behavior and he defies me now, someday he will be able to make the right choices in life because I have instilled values and taught him right from wrong, even though I have to fight to get him to eat his vegetables now, someday he will have healthy eating habits.... and though now he has to be walked step by step through his prayers someday he will pray on his own because his faith will be his own. This is my prayer, this is my hope, that the things I do day after day that seem sometimes to be insignificant now will someday result in a grown man that loves God, loves his family, is responsible, kind, generous, funny, and mature.

If anyone is interested you can find out more about Jill Savage and Hearts at Home at the following websites:

www.jillsavage.org

www.hearts-at-home.org

A Little About Going Potty - New Tooth - And Weight

We’ve started trying to use candy as incentive for Nate to go on the potty. Monday he went four times and today he went twice since naptime. He’s excited about wearing “Cars” pull-ups – I wouldn’t let him wear them until he’d gone potty.

Josiah’s first tooth came in today! I knew it was coming and my nipples hurt just thinking about it! We still haven’t introduced Josiah to solid foods because with Nate as soon as we did my period came back so I’m kind of glad to postpone that for a bit longer.

I hope it didn’t sound awful in the last post when I said I looked good in the pix. Its just that my weight has fluctuated a lot over the past few years and its kind of nice to be able to shop in normal sizes again – not plus or maternity or plus-maternity - and feel pretty good about the way I look (most of the time). My body certainly has changed a lot both before and after both pregnancies. I gained a lot of weight our first year or so of marriage (I blame it in part to the pill and my sedentary job at the airline call center). I lost a little bit of weight before I got pregnant with Nate. I was huge (seriously) when I gave birth to Nate. Thanks to breastfeeding the weight came off after that and I lost quite a bit before I got pregnant with Josiah. Again I lost the baby weight pretty well, I’m just a few pounds away from my pre-Joe weight. I’ve still got awhile to go before I’m at my ideal weight but I’m almost to the weight I was when we got married which feels pretty good.

Family Time

We had dinner at my parents' the other night - the whole gang. It was a huge spread - my mom outdid herself. Roast pork, leg o' lamb, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, mandarin orange salad, clam chowder.... trust me, we did not eat like this when I was growing up! We had a nice time visiting and took a family picture afterward for mom to use in the Christmas cards. Of course Josiah was happy all evening except when we were trying to take the group picture. Oh, well.... I look good, thats all that matters.... ha!
I'm kind of bummed most of my family will be out of town for Christmas.... their taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon and coming back through Albuquerque to see my grand parents. I'd love to go but I think that would be too much time in the car for my two boys. I wish traveling wasn't so expensive... I love to travel, see new places, etc.... but we just don't do it anymore. These are the times that I miss working for the airlines! The travel benefits were so great! I'm trying to talk Isaac into saving up and taking a really great trip someday. Like touring Europe or a cruise or something. Isaac really hates how much traveling costs.... I'm not sure he'll ever be able to justify it like I can. We'll have to wait and see if it'll ever happen.