Thankful

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful time traveling to my home town to be with family, and ate way more than we ever should have.  I of course forgot to take any pictures. I know, I am that mom that does not have a single picture from my daughters first Thanksgiving. I think I am going to have to dress her up for a photo shoot and pretend. 

I really took the time to reflect this past week on my blessings and what I am so grateful for.  I have been participating in a Bible study, and I have also been attending a series at church on Thankfulness and it has truly gotten me to take a step back.  I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  I have so much to praise God for.  However, so many times I complain, feel as though I want more, am not grateful, become agitated, complain some more.  I find bad in the goodness that God has blessed me with.  That is so horrible.  I have so much to be thankful for!! I am trying to start each day remembering to COUNT MY BLESSINGS name them one by one. COUNT MY BLESSINGS to see what God has done!!

I am so thankful first and foremost for my beautiful, HEALTHY babies.  I was watching a St Jude commercial on Thanksgiving day and it brought me to tears.  I can not imagine the pain, the fear, and the sadness that parents of sick children must feel.  I pray daily that I will never have to experience such a heartache.  I am so thankful that as of today my babies are healthy, happy, and here on Earth for me to love on them.  What a wonderful loan from God they are.  I am reminding myself daily, even in the midst of tantrums and sleepless nights to thank God for the privilege to be their mother, and for the love I have for them.

I am thankful for my marriage.  My husband is nothing other than the rock that I lean on.  He is the person who holds me up when I feel like falling, and the person I turn to when I need advice.  He is a greater man than I should ever be blessed to call mine, and I do not show him near enough appreciation. I am so thankful to God for bringing him into my life, and for the love that we have for each other.

I am so thankful for my family and my in laws. God has blessed me with a loving, healthy support system, and I am so grateful for that. 

I have so many more things to be thankful for, and the list could go on and on.  My blessings far outweigh the negatives, and for that I am truly grateful and humbled!

Photography via amberbridgesstudio.com

Mckinlee 9 Months

I have to admit I am slacking bad this month! I am not only late at posting about my baby girl turning 9 months, but I have also not taken her tu tu pictures. So, with that being said this post will just be of some random pictures of her from this month, and I will have to take her tu tu pictures later on.  

My sweet Mckinlee B, you are such a JOY at this stage of your life.  You have so much personality, are so sweet and perfect, and I love you more and more every day.  It is crazy to take in how fast this 9 months has come and gone, but I am so blessed to have you as my daughter. 

Mckinlee at 9 months:

Eating:  You are eating 3 meals a day, and you are still nursing 5-6 times a day for about 8 minutes each time.  Sometimes in the morning you will nurse longer, and I love having that time to cuddle you.  You are really starting to dislike pureed foods. For breakfast you still get cereal with a baby food. However, you are starting to resist.  I have tried putting small chunks of fruit mixed in your baby food and you really take to that.  You are getting a jar of baby food and table food for both lunch and dinner. You are starting to get better and better at feeding yourself. You always feed yourself for dinner while we eat, and then I give you a baby food as well.  You are such a big girl!

Sleeping: You have dropped your 3rd nap so you are down to 2 naps a day.  This is so different than Caleb because he still napped 3 times a day until he was 15 months.  You wake up around 8:30 and you go down for your morning nap from 10-11.  You then go down for your afternoon nap from 1-3, and you go to bed around 8:30/9.  You are still sleeping through the night in your own bed.

Size: You were 14 lbs 5 ounces last month, and your next appt is not until the beginning of December.  You are starting to outgrow your 0-3 month sleepers completely due to length.  You can still wear 0-3 month shirts but most of your clothes are size 6 or 6-9.  You are wearing a size 1 shoe, and a size 1 diaper (but I think we are getting ready to move to a 2).

Speech: Your speech has blown up this month.  Dada is an all time favorite.  You also say bababababa all the time, and you say mama a whole bunch. If I get out of your sight you crawl through the house saying "mamamamama".  You also call for me when you get upset, and when you first wake up.  You have also learned to say "Bye Bye" and wave your little hand when you do so.  Squealing is still your favorite form of speech. 

Exciting New Things:

• You a really putting on an act if we tell you no.  If you hear the word no you immediately burst into tears and throw your head back and pout your lips.  DRAMATIC :)
• You "play dead" now, or at least that is what I call it.  You will be crawling through the house and I will say something to you and smile. You immediately drop your entire body to the ground, lay your head down, and do not move for a minute.  It is hilarious!!
• You are pulling up on everything and you have started cruising slowly along the furniture.
• You are walking your feet like a pro when I hold onto your hands.
• You climb out of your bumbo like it is nothing.
• You crawl really fast behind Caleb to play with him.
• You know where the toys are, and you will crawl into rooms to get them.
• You love to play with matchbox cars.
• You love looking at yourself in the mirror. You get so excited!
• You are still very much attached to me 24/7.  You are usually pretty upset if you know I am there but I am not with you or holding you.
• You pull up on the gate at the top of the stairs and squeal for daddy when he gets home. 
• You are really taking a liking to drinking from a sippy. 
• You pull your bows off constantly now.
• You have no fear and try to crawl off furniture all the time.
• You have climbed one step on your own.
• You are impossible to dress/change.  You roll constantly and crawl away as fast as you can. Your teeny naked booty is to cute for words crawling away. 
• You constantly crawl over to me and climb up to hold onto my legs.  Almost everything I do around the house is with you standing behind me holding on my legs. 
• You laugh at Caleb all the time.
• You do a little gasp when you laugh that is just precious.
• Bath time is still an all time favorite, and you try to basically jump in the tub from my arms. 

You become more and more perfect every day. I love you more than I could ever express and I am so thankful for these 9 months I have had with you so far my sweet precious girl. 

Calling all Wise Mothers (Of Potty Trained BOYS)

So, Caleb is officially potty trained and he is doing great. At home he just uses the potty whenever he needs to, and when we are out in public he tells me when he needs to go.  All is great right?

Well, we have one little issue, and I need advice.  What do you do with little boys when they have to potty in a public place.  I mean we all know the need to have your little man hold down his tee tee so his pee pee does not fly everywhere. Caleb does great at home with this when he sits on his little potty or on his potty seat on the big toilet.  However, when we go out in public, he has to use both hands to keep himself from falling in the potty, and his pee pee goes everywhere.  Today, I literally had to hold his pee pee for him, and my hand was peed all over (the things we do for our kids).  There has to be an easier way.

So my question...
Do you take your potty with you and only use it? If so, do you have more than one kid?

Do you bring your potty seat for the big toilet with you? If so do you just place it in Kroger bag or how do you transport it?

Do you hold the tee tee for them?

What has worked for you? Please help! :)

Adventures

Well, I officially once again stink at daily posting on my blog.  I really do try, but there is not always enough time, pictures or excitement in a day to post about. 

This week has been a pretty dreary week.  We have spent a lot of our time at home, and did not venture out until today.  Yesterday was a horrible, rainy, cold day, and with 3 kids in the house (because I am nannying) ages 2 and under it was getting a little wild.  So, I did what any mama would do, and I turned the experts of Pinterest for some fun activities. I came across an idea to make a road out of painters tape on your floor, and let the kids drive their cars.  HUGE HIT! My road is not even, and is a little crooked, but Caleb was in HEAVEN. 

We also are learning about C, and the color orange this week.  I allowed Caleb to paint a letter C with his cars the other day since C is for Car. Another huge hit.

Today, I threw out all fun activities around the house, and I decided to take the kids out for a fun filled day at Otterville. Always a huge hit, and always a guaranteed long nap day! They loved it.  Even little miss joined in the fun today, and she climbed a small step for the first time....seriously?? Time is going by way to fast when it comes to my Mckinlee B.

A Day at the Firehouse

A few weekends ago we took Caleb on an adventure that we knew he would love.  My child is all about cars, fire trucks, trains, cars, firetrucks, trains (you get the picture). He is all boy when it comes to this joy of childhood.  We have daily conversations about the choo choo, the big truck and his car, so I knew he would love our surprise.

My father in law is a firefighter, and he was working at the station the day of the surprise.  We told Caleb we were going to see "Pa" (his name for all grandpas).  Once we arrived, and Caleb saw the big trucks he was in heaven.  Looking at them up close and personal was enough to make him giddy, but when Grandpa allowed him to "drive" them, honk the horn, and see the lights he was in HEAVEN!!

I was so happy seeing my little mans face light up, and it was so great that he was able to share that time with his grandpa.  He knows grandpa is a firefighter, but seeing it in person is a whole lot more exciting than seeing firefighter pictures in a book.  He is so cute :) I swear I could squeeze him to death!

In other Caleb news he is completely potty trained and in big boy undies now! He is also really catching on to "learning".  Today he walked in his room, went to his learning board and pointed out "orannnng" (orange), and "triiing" (triangle)....now if I can just convince him that the letter D is not an O (so hard to distinguish)!

Hey Jude

This past weekend we traveled to Indianapolis to visit mama Beth and new baby Jude.  Jude was so precious, cute, and snuggly! Oh I just fell in love the moment I saw him.  Mama and baby are both home and doing well now which I am so thankful for. 

While in Indy we decided to hit up the children's museum.  It is suppose to be one of the top in the US, and it was a great time.  We were there from around 11-5, and we still did not see all it had to offer.  Caleb and Mckinlee both had a blast playing in the various rooms, and I was personally in love with the Barbie room.  If you ever have a chance to go I highly recommend it. 

 I'm kind of obsessed with this picture. I love to see my babies playing together :)

Mckinlee became really tired at one point of the day, and stupid me had forgotten my sling at home.  I could not get her to fall asleep in the stroller, or just in my arms.  So, I did what any baby wearer would do, and I made a make shift sling out of my jacket. She was out in an instance.  I looked a little funny, and I even had one lady walk up to me, look, and say "Oh, that's a baby".  I smiled and said "No I just have a growth".....(some people.....).  Any who, she slept the remainder of the day there, and we continued our fun.

It was a great weekend, and now I am back to reality in terms of work, and cleaning my horribly messy house. 

Pumpkin Babies

This past weekend was spent taking in the last few memories of October, and we had a list of activities to check off.  The activity that I was most excited for was inspired by this little creation on Pinterest

I had big hopes of recreating this little picture with my sweet pea, and I must say it kind of worked out perfectly.  We bought a "big" pumpkin on Sunday, came home carved it, and prepared it for miss Mckinlee.  At first she did not know what to think.  She went from looking at it weird, to eating it, to crying.  She was by far the cutest baby ever placed in a pumpkin if I do say so myself.

 Big brother was not left out of the festivities.  Although he is WAY TO LARGE to fit in a pumpkin, he had just as much fun painting pumpkins for our front porch.  We have an artist in our hands for sure :).