Make it Right Monday

Did you make any guesses? In case you were one of my two readers, I won't keep you in suspense much longer....

The lie was #2! Luke calls me nothing. lol. He isn't big into words or copying. He babbles all day in a very cute language. He is just a little too obstinate to give in to my demands. I ask him to say mom and he says dad. I ask him what a monkey says, and he will only tell me if we are driving in the car and he doesn't know that I can see him in the rear view mirror. Such a cute stinker. He is walking very well, and on a less busy week I'll post some pictures of the cuteness that is Luke.

Jordan did graduate and it is as sweet as it sounds! We celebrated with Friday and Monday off of work. We went to an Aviary and chased peacocks, had a BBQ with family and ate out far too many times. YAY for being DONE!!!!!! He is loving his job, so we will stick with it and enjoy the idea of never doing a homework assignment again. Even though I did J's homework, I think I'll force my kids to do their own:)

I also do only wear makeup on rare occasions. I sometimes wonder if I've let myself go, but then as the thought comes, my toddler lunges toward something dangerous and the thought is gone.

Have a wonderful week!!

Fiction Friday

Secrets and fibs have never been my thing. I get all excited about any surprise I may be planning that I always spill the beans. I blurted out that I was pregnant to my sister in an awkward moment of no self-control, when I was planning a fun reveal later in the week! I often buy my husband multiple birthday and Christmas gifts because I tell him what I got him the day I buy it, which sometimes is months in advance. I really have no business telling fibs. With this preface I introduce my new blogging format: 

Every Friday I will post "Fiction Friday" in a format commonly called "two truths and a lie." You will then have to wait with great trepidation for "Make it Right Monday" where I will right all wrongs and come clean about my fib. With any luck this will help me learn to keep a surprise for more than 5 minutes and I will be able to post regular updates in a fun format. Here goes nothing....

In no particular order...

1. Jordan finally graduated from college this week.
2. Luke is adorably calling me "Mommy!"
3. I have successfully worn makeup once this week.

Of course your guess isn't official unless you leave it in the comments.

Happy weekend, dear reader!

7 months and 300 months

Luke, sweet Luke, you are 7 months old! You roll over, army crawl, giggle and give wet slobbery smooches. Your favorite things are cups and remotes. If anything is used for drinking, you innately know and do all you can to get it. A TV remote will keep you happy for such a long time. Sometimes I give one to you after a nap so I can get some long snuggles in. Your third tooth is just popping through. I hope you are done biting me:( I love you very much!

Jordan and I recently turned 25, or 300 months;) For J's birthday I gave him 25 gifts with 25 reasons I'm not divorcing him. It was basically for me. I loved hiding the gifts and watching him search for them each day. My favorite day was when he opened his kitty note book I got him haha! It happened to be right before his first day of school and you best believe I forced him to use it. It makes me laugh just thinking about it! Poor guy. For my birthday J spoiled me, along with family and friends.

Have a happy day, dear reader. Nap time is calling this tired mom.

Giveaway!

If you are a parent, this post is for you! Growing up in a small town had its perks.

Leaving your keys in your car right next to your wallet.
Never needing to lock the front door.
Knowing every person in your graduating class.

The list could go on forever. BUT needing to go shopping, bowling, watch a movie in a theater, etc consisted of quite a long drive. My parents had a few strategies for keeping 4 kids entertained on these drives, but the thing I remember most is Alexander's Amazing Adventures. These amazing stories kept us quiet and happy for any trip. The only fighting consisted of which story we wanted to listen to, and we wanted to listen over and over. The unique part about these stories is that not only are they entertaining, they teach strong family values. My favorite was always courage, probably because I have limited courage in my "scared of everything" self. There are over a dozen stories that teach positive values in a very universal way. I promise you will love each and every one of them.



I am very excited that today I am able to share these stories with one lucky reader! The Power of Moms website has given me my own copy of this program to review and a copy to give away. With my childhood casset tapes being less than usable in my car, I am so excited to have a digital copy of these stories, along with a parent audio discussion about how to teach your children values and a printable family discussion and activity guide. For complete program information, or to purchase your own copy visit this link. https://hm156.infusionsoft.com/app/storeFront/showProductDetail?productId=25 You can also listen to the first story, honesty, for free!


I am so giddy I can hardly contain myself from bursting into Luke's nap do a happy dance with him.

To enter the giveaway, simply comment on this blog post and tell me what character qualities you find most important to teach your children and leave your email. The winner will be selected Friday at noon, so comment before then!

Half a year old

Luke turned 6 months old this month! Yahoo!!! This has been such a great month filled with milestones and new experiences.

- I absolutely adore his full body smiles. He smiles from his toes to his eyebrows. I often catch this type of smile if I do a dance for him as we listen to Pandora and cook dinner. It is my favorite.
- Sleeps through the night
- Weighs 19 lbs
- Is impossibly wiggly when trying to change his diaper
- Is slightly obsessed with Mom
- Two teeth (He has only bit me once while eating, ouch!)
- Started solids this week. We are doing baby led weaning, which basically means he eats what we eat. We just put big pieces in front of him so his chubby fingers can pick it up and he can go to town. Small pieces would just make him frustrated because at this age babies can only fist their food. If it is soft enough to squish with your fingers, he can eat it with his gums. So far we have only done watermelon, bread, lemons, and baked potato fries. Tonight he will get some steak and more potatoes. Any way you feed your baby is perfect as long as it works for you. This has been a good fit for us. I'm not super into making a separate meal for the baby, so hopefully this helps him learn to eat what we are eating. He has been a rock-star with this so far!
- Jordan's brother is allergic to peanuts so I am going to do some research in the next few days to decide what to do about allergen type foods. (Eggs, strawberries, peanuts ect.) Our dr told us today to avoid all common allergens until 1, but I have read that advise is outdated and the opposite is actually found to be better. I mentioned that to him, and he did give me an explanation about how babies guts are still leaky at this age, but I am going to read the studies myself to decide what to do, and consult him of course. I respect his opinion, but I'm the one responsible to get all the facts and make sure his advise is right for us.
- He had his first stay in a hotel for my family reunion. He did so great the whole weekend. It was so perfect.
- Started to take big boy baths instead of laying in his baby tub, HE LOVES IT!

That is all I can think of for now. Below are far too many pictures:)

Dear five month old Luke

Dear five month old Luke,

You are sent from God to make me better. Each and every day I get to feed you, kiss you, snuggle you and help you learn. You are a quick learner. This month you learned so many fun things. You squeak like a dolphin and roll over like no one's business. Your chubby little fingers went from struggling to hold onto toys to being able to find and play with any toy we've given you. Sometimes you struggle with new shapes, like your big square blocks, but you quickly learn how to manipulate new objects to stay in your grasp. You stick everything into that sweet mouth of yours! You don't have any teeth, yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one pop through after yesterday's fussiness. Thank you for sleeping through the night, 11-13 hours, and taking two, two hour naps, most of the time. I know it is rough when you get those fat legs stuck in your crib bars. All this moving around is tough. The sleep makes mom less crazy, along with Zoloft. It has been so fun to show you new things, like the splash pad and fireworks. Your eyes get so wide and you do your best to take everything in. People always comment on how blue and wide your eyes are. They often think you are nervous about meeting new people or seeing new things, but I think you are just trying to learn as much as you can. You are the joy in my day. Your dad and I still fight over who gets to pick you up from your naps. Dad loves you so much. Only one person can watch your video monitor at a time and Daddy often logs me off so he can watch you sleep, or fight sleep, while he is at work. Thank you for letting me be your mom even though I have a lot to learn. You are the sweetest baby and I am so lucky to be with you!

Love,

Mom

Four months!

Lukey is four months old! Where has the time gone? I can tell you that we haven't slept the time away:) Luke became a great sleeper at 6 weeks old, but then we visited my parents while Jordan went to the Dominican Republic. Luke started fighting EVERY time I tried to put him to sleep. This resulted in lots of lost sleep on his end and mine. We also both cried a lot haha. After a week of this I was talking with my sister, Jen, and decided to go down to two naps to try to resolve things. I am also doing some cry it out at the moment:( Man that breaks your heart. If you think that is heartless take into consideration that yesterday I tried to comfort him, rock him, nurse him, seriously EVERYTHING I knew to help him and he cried for two hours before falling asleep for his afternoon nap. I knew nothing was wrong as we had been to the Dr for a check up this week and during awake time he was happy as a clam. This was happening every time I put him to sleep for 8 days! Now this morning when he started crying as I put him down, I dragged myself out of his room to sit in the hall. He cried for 5 min and fell asleep. His second nap he cried for 20. But COMBINED that is less than he did for one nap yesterday. I just think he is figuring out how to calm himself down to get some Zzzzzs. This is what is working for us right now.

Jordan had a great business trip! Man he missed us and we missed him, but it was so fun to hear about it. He had a hot tub in his room and went running on the beach every morning. I was envious. BUT he did work from 7am-1am every day. He got up around 4:30 just to exercise. He is dedicated.

This week my sister and her family are visiting. It has been so fun! They are at a music camp during the day, but we see them for a few fun hours during the night. Berrys, I'm sorry that I haven't put on make up or real clothes this week. I did today, so you're in for a treat when you get back;)

This has been a great month and I can't wait for more fun changes to come. This month Luke started rolling to his side while he is on his back. He will get the full roll soon! He also laughs, usually only at dad. He is 17lbs and has the best chubby legs. He has started to grab things and I love that! I especially love when he grabs my shoulder and my side as I am holding him. It is like a hug straight from Heaven. If you're lucky he will give you a 5 minute hug, but then he wants to be faced out to see what is going on.

Until next month, pray we get this sleep thing worked out in the next week or so and that I start feeling more human and less zombie.