Why I've been MIA and Lessons Learned Today

Part I
It's been a while since my last post. We had a wonderful visit with my high school youth pastor, John Taylor (click here). John and his wife are missionaries to Indonesia and they have been going from church to church raising the support needed to go back. John and Korie had a huge impact on my life when I was a teen and I'm so grateful for their prayers, encouragement, and discipleship during such an impressionable and hard time in my life. They both are very passionate about reaching out to people for God and have a heart for the people of Indonesia. I encourage everyone to check out their webpage and pray about helping to support their ministry.

Unfortunately, this trip Korie and their daughter, Ellia, couldn't make it to El Paso. However, we did have a good time visiting with Pastor John. Jaycie just adored him and is still asking where Pastor John went. In fact, currently she's sitting in the bumbo playing with the money he gave her and is whispering, "Pastor John gave me money. Where Pastor John go? Pastor Johhhn..." So cute! When I first introduced Jaycie to Pastor John she thought I had said "Pirate John". So he was Pirate John for a little bit until I realized she was saying Pirate instead of Pastor. It probably didn't help that she was wearing her pirate pj's at the time. Anyway, we all had a great time. John met my husband, Josh, for the first time and they hit it off right away. It makes being sent to El Paso worth it to be able to see an old friend again.

Part II
It's only 10:30am and we've already had some major life lessons learned.

1. I learned that when I go to the bathroom do not leave my phone within Jaycie's reach. I came back to find she had called half the people on my contact list and sent out at least one blank txt msg. Sorry to any of you she might have called and probably hung up on!
2. Jaycie learned that it's not a good idea to ignore mommy when she says to use the potty first thing in the morning. And especially not to drag the stool to the sink and stand on it in order to play with warm water. Warm water relaxes the bladder. All of a sudden I hear her frantic cries for help and had to stifle the urge to laugh hysterically as my daughter stands there peeing and unable to stop. Poor girl.
3. Jacobe learned that it's fun to torment your older sister, especially by pulling her hair.
4. Jaycie learned to keep her hair away from Jacobe's strong little hands. And that the game "let Co-baby pull my hair and see what happens" is not as fun as she thought it would be.
5. And finally, I'm sure tonight I'll learn the lesson that there are consequences for letting your toddler sleep in your bed no matter if the wind is blowing real strong outside or your husband is on 24hr duty and you're lonely. She'll still scream to sleep in mommy's bed when you try to put her to bed in her own room. But it was nice to cuddle with her last night!

This Just In: Summer Already??

It's over 80 degrees outside right now. Daddy's washing his car and Jaycie asked Mommy to spray her with the hose. I'll let this post be a picture story...

Chunk's 4 Month Appointment

I was finally able to get to Jacobe's 4 mos Well baby appt today. I was anxious to hear his stats. The nurses were fawning all over him and commenting on how chubby and adorable he is. As well as how happy he was. When they finally weighed him he was 18 lbs and 26 in. I don't remember his head circumference...43 cm maybe? He's in the 95th percentile...which means that he's bigger than 95% of babies in America. The Dr said he's a very healthy boy. She mentioned starting solids whenever I'm ready but suggested I try now to help him sleep through the night better. I'm still debating that topic. Jaycie didn't start until she was nearly 6 mos. I wanted to wait until at least 6 mos with Jacobe but maybe wait until 8 mos. However, I'm not quite sure what I want to do. I guess I'll do some more research and just go with my gut. He did luck out yesterday when big sister popped a sucker in his mouth when mommy wasn't looking. The whole no sugar thing was much easier with Jaycie. But I'm still sticking to my guns with this boy. No sugar, no junk food! I swear that's one of the two main reasons Jaycie eats so well now. That and she didn't really have a choice of what to eat. Anyway, the topic of when to start solids is open for debate. I'm torn this time around. Or maybe it's just I don't want it to seem like he's growing up, lol?

Hop In The Flyboat, Wonderpets!

I've mentioned before how my daughter has this wonderful imagination. Her favorite game is to play pretend. Right now she's pretending she's our dog, Vala. She's barking and panting and dumping her snacks on the couch to eat them like Vala would. Last night she cried and cried because Daddy was throwing away her "Flyboat". He apparently did not know that said Flyboat was a box he had just used to clean the litterbox. So he did what any father would do...he blamed it on the cat. Later that night I hear "Hiiiiyaaa!! Hiiya hiiyayaya!" followed by the most pathetic "raaaarr!" from the cat. It was quite hilarious. Poor cat. Then she decided to find a new flyboat. I heard her scooting around the floor and decided to check it out. I asked what she was doing and she told me, "I in flyboat, Mommy!" Her new flyboat? A tiny playing card she got from Whataburger. I told my husband he needed to get her a new box pronto. She also loves to act out her new favorite show, Ni Hao Kai-Lan. Her favorite is to either act like she's rollerskating in which she falls on her butt and proclaims that "rorerska'ing is vewy haad!" Then she bursts into song singing "Two hands, and one hand and all by yourself!" while making me hold her hands while she "skates" around the house. So I got her some rollerskates. She loves her rollerskates. Another favorite is to say "I'm soooo MAD! I stomping all over da pace!" If I don't respond correctly she prompt me, "Say side side, Mommy!" At this point I have to sway my arms side to side like I'm hula dancing and say "Side to side, side to side. Calm down." Then she smiles, sways, and all is well...for five minutes until it starts all over again.

Painting and Cornstarch Goo

Ok, this one really has nothing to do with what I'm blogging about...but I did take it today...doesn't that count? Today was a gorgeous day and so I decided that after lunch I would take the kids outside to enjoy the sunshine. Jacobe slept soundly in his car seat for most of it but Jaycie was beyond excited as she watched me drag her paint equipment outside. She danced around asking if it was time yet. It was nearly impossible trying to get her play clothes on until I finally told her if she didn't sit still for 5 mins she wouldn't be able to play outside. Of course that settled her down but she was still nearly shaking with excitement. I was combining two of her favorite things--playing outside and painting. I also threw in sidewalk chalk (another favorite) and made a special treat for her. I combined a can of cornstarch with some water in a large shallow container and put it outside with everything else.

As soon as we got everything outside she immediately went for the paints. She painted hearts (which she calls happy) and butterflies and rainbows. She also painted her nose then ran to me demanding I take a picture. She moved from the paints to sidewalk chalk. That's when she noticed the "water". She went to wash her hands in it when she realized that this isn't just water. No, this was ooey gooey fun! She had so much fun trying to pick up the cornstarch mixture and bring some to me before it liquefied. If you've never played with cornstarch goo let me be the one to convince you of it's awesomeness. When you touch the mixture it feels solid, but when you pick it up it turns to liquid. And it's such fun to squish your toes in. According to Jaycie "it feels nice!" The first time she stepped in it her shoe got stuck in the goo and I had to help her out. Actually, it was stuck so good I had to take her foot out of the shoe first. From then on she went barefoot. Jaycie loved this goo so much she couldn't decide which was more fun--painting or playing in the goo. So she decided to combine the two at one point.

I highly recommend creating this cornstarch goo for your kids. It's so much fun! Even my husband was captivated by it's gooey fun. And the cleanup is fairly easy.

Building Castles

My daughter loves castles. Ever since her uncle and auntie sent her a Little People castle she loves everything castle. When Mother-In-Law (from here on out MIL) brought her pink megablocks for Christmas it helped her love of castles to flourish. And when we took her to her first birthday party (not counting when she was a baby) and it just happened to be a princess theme with castles everywhere and of course a pink castle bounce house...well, that just solidified her love for castles. Every day this little girl is building castles out of anything. Today, she built a castle out of her collection of play donuts. She cried when the cat knocked it down. She loves to build castles out of the rocks that make up our front yard. Oh, yeah, most of El Paso doesn't have grass in their front lawns...they have rocks.

So the other day we were all playing outside while my husband was putting new wheels on the car. I decided to pull a bunch of cardboard boxes out of the garage even if it was a little windy. I set them up and immediately my daughter yells, "Isa castle!!" and she crawled right in. She didn't even need me to show her how to stack the rest of them, she went right to work. She had a blast as the wind blew her boxes away and she ran around the yard chasing them down. She also made a choo choo train and a Flyboat (she loves Wonderpets). I wish I had taken pictures. Though, I'm sure this won't be the last time she gets to make a castle out of the many cardboard boxes cluttering our garage.

The Chunker

My son is a chunk. I mentioned this before. But I have to dedicate a whole post about the chunkiness that is my son. Let me elaborate on this subject if you will. My sister had her baby three weeks before I had my little chunker. My little niece was born at 39 weeks weighing 9 lbs and 11 ozs. Three weeks later my son was born at 37 weeks weighing 7 lbs 9 ozs. At his 2 month well baby appointment (which was done at 2.5 months) he tipped the scales at a little over 14 lbs. When my niece was weighed at the Dr's office just the other day (nearly 5 months) she weighed 14 lbs 5 ozs. I'm almost afraid to see how much he'll weigh in at on Tuesday for his 4 month well baby! I know he's pretty dang heavy though. If you have a baby yourself you'll appreciate the following.... My 4 month old baby boy is now wearing mostly 12 mos clothes. His 6 mos are too tight, his 6-9 mos fit just right but the onesies are starting not to snap as easily, and his 12 mos are slightly big. Oh, and he's been in size 3 diapers for a few weeks now.

So you see why I call my son a chunker? I love it, I have to admit. Sure, it'd be nice to be able to use his clothes a bit longer, and it'd be nice to be able to use that big package of size 2 diapers. However, I love the rolls. All the little rolls of fat on my baby boy are just too cute! He's got 4 rolls on each arm and last I checked 4 on each leg. His wrists and ankles are hidden beneath said rolls. His little belly hangs over his pants and I love to tease him about his little "baby boobies". His chunkiness has brought on several nicknames--Buddha Baby, The Chunker, Butta (which is derived from his previous nickname of Butterball), and most recently is Moto Moto (if you've watched Madagascar 2 you'll know what I'm referring to). I also love to make up little songs about how fat he is. He loves it. He especially loves it when I sing "Baby Got Back".

How did he get so fat? He is a breastfed baby. I always thought that breastfed babies are supposed to be leaner but mine and most others I know have always been pretty fat. Although, I learned recently from my Dr that it's the fat that's leaner. Apparently the fat is a good fat which is good. But then my baby sure does like to eat. He eats. A lot. He's starting to slow down a bit, but it's not stopping his weight gain. I do feed on demand. I don't agree with feeding on a schedule although I do encourage him to wait a little longer now that he's older. I'm sure there are people who don't agree with me or think that I'm overfeeding my boy. However, I'm pretty confident in the way that I'm raising him and I know that he's perfectly healthy. Besides, who doesn't love a chubby baby?

Water Play

My daughter loves to play with water. In fact, it's probably an obsession of hers. No matter how far back we push the water dispenser onto the counter she somehow eventually figures out how to reach it. The good thing about this is that my daughter can get her own water when she's thirsty. The bad thing is she can get water to play in. Another problem we have is that we can never seem to find a sippy cup, especially one with a valve. Now this clever little girl can still figure out a way to get the water out of a sippy cup even with valve, but it does slow her down. However, when we can't locate a sippy cup she gets a regular cup, and she loves that. I wouldn't be surprised if she's been hiding her sippy cups just so to make it easier to play in water.

One of the things I love about my little girl is that she has such an active imagination and she's so inventive. These characteristics of hers also tend to wear me out, and combine that with her love of water play and you can only imagine the shenanigans she gets into. Like this summer when I bought her a water table to play with...yeah, she decided it was a swimming pool and when I had my back turned for just a few seconds she was sitting in it. Or take just now for instance, she poured her water from her cup to the detached hatch door to her Mrs Potato head to drink out of. She also loves to pretend to be a puppy or kitty and pour water on the table and lick it up. One of the most common phrases in this house is, "I said, STOP PLAYING IN YOUR WATER!" It really doesn't do much to stop her. I can put her in time-out or *gasp* pop her little hiney and yet nothing will curb her watery obsession. I tend to be more lenient with her on this subject than her father. I believe water play and messes are big part of development and learning for her. Which is why we try to play with play dough and finger paints often. However, I do try to teach her there is a time and place for messes. This is something she hasn't quite grasped yet. And so, I will continue to find watery messes every day until she does. I pray, for my sanity, that that day comes soon.

Well, I've got to go change a certain toddler's clothes. She's soaking wet and saying, "I'm wet! Bad Jaycie, wet!" That's a mystery in this house...why she says "bad Jaycie", her father and I never tell her she's bad. And it's not like she feels badly for what she's done, she just thinks it's funny. I think she picked it up from one of her books. That girl loves books, and her favorite is No David, but that's another blog. I'm off to clean yet another mess, until next time!

PS, check this out for more on water play! http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/AngelUnits/OneHour/WaterPlay/WaterLesson.html