They're Back

Can you believe that the last time Abby and Nate were at our house was December 22nd? I can't! They've had a busy holiday, but they were so excited to come to our house today and Christian and McKenna were equally excited to see them.
They've been having a grand time discovering all of Christian's new toys and so far Christian has been sharing like a perfect gentlemen. We'll see how long that lasts. It's only 10am!

They've already destroyed Christian's room. But that's okay, I'm just glad they're playing in there. They never used to play in there! Hooray for the bunk beds. BTW - Look at Nate's silly face in this picture. Funny boy!

And this is what I caught Abby doing. Standing on the top bunk practicing her letters. Tracing each one with her finger while the boys played wildly underneath her. I do believe she's starting to have a little passion for learning! Yippee!

Bunk Bed Boy

Ever since Christian's cousins moved to town Christian has had two twin beds in his room. The extra bed gets used several times a week for nap time and it comes in handy whenever we have an extra little body spend the night at our house. The problem has been that Christian's room is 10X10 which means, two twin beds fit in there and nothing else. No toys! So for the past year Christian's room has been a sleeping room and it hasn't been used for anything else. Well, that has all changed and I'm loving it!
Christian is thrilled to have bunk beds. We're borrowing them from our cousins because they got a very cool new bed (see above)and their old bunk beds were just sitting in the basement!

Christian is delighted to have his train table back in his room. It used to be in there and there were some mornings when he used to completely skip breakfast and stay in his room playing trains until lunch time! I'm glad he can play in his room again and I'm also excited that the train table will no longer serve as our coffee table in the family room. And I just had to show you this (above)! This is the picture collage that is hanging on Christian's wall. I made it on Shutterfly, my most favorite website. It has a picture of everyone in our immediate family (accept for McKenna and cousin Zavier - they weren't born yet when I made it). I love it that he knows exactly who Aunt Lindsey is, even though we only see her once or twice a year! It's a great way to help him know our family even though we're spread across the country!

Spring Cleaning?

I don't know about you, but I don't really do spring cleaning. I do "after Christmas" cleaning! I always feel the need to do some serious deep cleaning and organizing after the tree comes down and all the new toys need a new home. So that's what I've been up to this past week. Every single cabinet and drawer in my kitchen has been cleaned out. I've been throwing stuff out right and left and I even finally decided to accept reality and pack away my good china.

Actually, I kept out just four place settings, but I put the rest away. I figured that I host way more play dates than dinner parties, so for this season of my life it's not imperative that I keep out all of my beautiful china.
These very cute, wintry, nonbreakable plates are more our speed these days. I scored a whole set (bowls and cups too), 70% off at Target! Yay Target! I love that place!
Stay tuned for the big "after Christmas" cleaning, reorganizing, make-over of Christian's room! He's very excited!

And I thought Christmas was over - Silly Me!

On Friday morning a big brown truck pulled up in front of our house. It had the letters UPS on it and Christian knew exactly what that truck had in it - boxes with fun stuff in them. His excitement could hardly be contained as we brought the box in the house and he eagerly awaited to see if it was for him!

Oh boy, Oh boy! It's from Aunt Angel!

Much to Christian's dismay, the first thing we pulled out the box was this adorable little turtle for McKenna. It's been a hit, mainly because it plays music and McKenna LOVES music. Christian was happy for her and asked if she would please share it with him...that is until he noticed that there was in fact something else buried in the packing peanuts.

Forget sharing the turtle! This race track was definitely more his speed!

So Christian and I spent the next hour having races! He even called Aunt Angel to thank her which is huge. He hates to talk on the phone, he never even talks to his daddy when he travels. He can't wait until Abby and Nate come tomorrow to play race cars with him.

My Fridge

I love my fridge after Christmas! Normally I'm one for a bare fridge, a clean slate. I figure the rest of my house can be in shambles, but my fridge can still be clean and clutter free. That all changes when the Christmas cards start rolling in. I put every photo card we get on the fridge (still a few "after Christmas" cards sitting on my counter that haven't made it to the fridge yet). I love looking at all those faces everytime I walk through the kitchen. It makes me think of people, pray for people and get in touch with people I normally don't think about on a daily basis. So they're staying up for now!

Just a reminder to me!

We've had a trying few days around here. I think it's totally normal, but the discipline issues and testing of this mommy's patience has been extreme. Christian was born with a very strong will! I know that God just wired him that way, but teaching him to use it for good and not for the misery of others is a challenging task. Lately our issues it the "N-O" word. Christian loves to tell me "no." He's even started telling me "never" just to have a greater impact on my nerves. And when he says it he sort of sticks his nose in the air in defiance. It's delightful, really! I wish you all could witness it because it's rather amusing when your not his mom. It would be wonderful if I could just sneak away and pretend like I didn't hear it, but God has given me this child and the responsibility to "train him up in the way he should go." And so the crying and discipline has been frequent. So I'm exhausted and defeated with this whole parenting thing sometimes and then Christian reminds me that he is listening, he is learning and he does get it.

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Just yesterday I was sitting here at the computer when Christian came running into the room saying, "Hurry mommy, hurry. You've just got to see this. Jesus is making a beautiful sky for us. Hurry, you can't miss it. He made it for me and you. Right at our house." And I do believe he was right! I love it when Jesus makes a beautiful sky just for me!

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On Monday when Christian was throwing up and feeling awful, he kept getting horrible stomach cramps. He would moan, cry, thrash around and beg me to make them stop. There was nothing that I could do. Finally Christian cried out:

C: "Mommy, I need to go to Heaven right now."

Me: "What? You don't need to go to Heaven. You're just fine right here."

C: "But mommy, I need to see Jesus so he can make me better. "

Me: "You don't have to go to Heaven for that. Let's just pray and ask Jesus to make you better right here."

So we prayed and (I'm not even kidding) as soon as we were done his stomach cramps eased up and went away! Oh to have faith like a child!

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So for all the frustrations and weariness I sometimes feel, it's totally worth it to see his little heart learning to be more like Jesus! Proverbs 22:6 says: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. " I think the word "train" in that verse is so important because it evokes the idea that parenting is supposed to be proactive, not just reactive. That I should be looking for teachable moments to train all throughout the day and not just waiting to react to poor behavior. I've been reading the book Confident Parenting and it's so good. There is a whole chapter on parenting with GRACE that has been really valuable to me. But that's not my favorite parenting book. The best book I've read so far is Don't Make Me Count to Three. I think I've blogged about it before, but it's worth repeating. I love it because it's an easy read. You can pick it up and read a chapter and pick it up two months later and pick up where you left off. It's practical and not so theological/psychological that it loses you. So that's my parenting "chatter" for the day!

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And just for the record! Christian is my most favorite three year old in the whole world! Line 'em all up and I'd pick him every time. Temper tantrums and all!

And this is my most favorite picture of the two of us! Hard to believe he was younger than McKenna in this picture!

The "Chatter Box"

Thanks to everyone for all the cute names they came up with for this new blog. What a hard decision! You guys are so creative! I actually had to call my sister and discuss it with her because I couldn't decide. At first I went with "Chatt Worthy News" then I changed my mind and started working on the "Chatter Box" because it's easy to find cute "box" backgrounds. Then Heather posted the "Chatt Room" idea and I was totally confused! So many cute ideas! So the name of the blog might change every so often. You know how I like to change my background all the time. I think "Chatter Bugs" would be really cute in the spring or summer. So for RIGHT NOW, I'm going with "Chatter Box" which means Sarah is the winner. (Who by the way, has the cutest name for her blog "Four men and a Mommy") I will say that Ryan is a little traumatized by the name. Apparently he was called a "chatter box" by some meanie kids in elementary school. I told him it was time to move on :) I think he likes the finished product!

New Years Resolution #1

You might remember that I told you awhile ago that I had signed up to donate blood. It's the sort of thing that comes easily for some people (like my husband) and it's a little challenging for others. I fall into the later category. So I was absolutely dreading donating blood. I was only doing it because Emma begged me to so she could get a Red Cross backpack and because I feel like it's my duty to donate every now and then and it couldn't be more convenient. I'll admit, all day Tuesday I was secretly wishing that Ryan would have to work late and wouldn't get home in time for me to head over to Emma's school to donate, but alas, he arrived home in plenty of time.


When I walked into the gym the site of people laying on tables with blood dripping out of their veins made me feel light headed just looking at it. But I was determined to do this. After all, my husband is a bone marrow donor. This was no big deal. So I answered their little questionnaire, gave the my ID and then got my finger pricked. They prick your finger to make sure you're not anemic and if you are you can't give blood. After waiting a minute or two the results came back. I was anemic! (Yippee)! I mean, darn it! I think I actually told the girl how disappointed I was that I wasn't going to be able to donate and then I grabbed my purse and got outta there. (Note to self- Lying to the Red Cross girl to make yourself feel better is breaking one of the Ten Commandments). This was not one of my shining moments. So, I'm a wimp and a little disappointed in myself. But not to worry, they've got me on their mailing list now! And so that brings us to my first New Years Resolution. I now have 12 months to become a blood donor. Sometime in the next year I'm going to do it. I'm going to take a little iron, take a deep breath, maybe take a little moral support and donate! It's important! It saves lives and one day the generosity of someone else could save mine!