It Is Just a Season..

On Christmas Eve, I was hosting dinner at my house. My grandmother was speaking to me as I was finishing up the last few details and I was also hurrying Caelyn to go pick up her toys.
She said, nothing ever seems to rattle you. You are always so calm.
I laughed and said yeah, but I was busy, so that was the extent of my answer.

It wasn't until later, a few days later, did I really think about what was said to me.
My grandmother doesn't see me when my face is turning red after a horrendous day of tantrums, no naps, accidents, and meltdowns.
She doesn't see me when I am talking to God, pulling every ounce of strength I have inside of me to calm myself.

I suppose, when compared to how I was two years ago, I have come far. Things don't stress me out this time around. My patience with my kids has grown.
Thank the Lord - I give him every ounce of credit!!
I had a realization when Brayden was born that this baby wasn't a baby forever.
Seems simple, right? Everyone always says it, but who actually thinks about it - hard?
It feels like yesterday that Caelyn was born. I can remember the anticipation, the joy of her first cry, the moment I held her, the sweet smell of her newborn skin...
Yet now, she is this beautiful, full of life little girl who says things beyond her age most days and keeps me on my toes. She is now a loving sister.
I remember people pressuring me to "put her down" and let her "cry it out" and let her fall asleep on her own. All kinds of things that never felt right to me.
I told them no, and let it go.
She is now almost 3 and goes to bed on her own. 
I rocked her til she was 18 months old. I never told people that before I knew the judgement would be insane. I LOVED it and I didn't want to hear criticism for my choice. One day, she said she wanted to go ni ni by herself and that was the end of our rocking.
Boo.

Brayden isn't the best sleeper or napper. We fully cosleep at night and we are trying to get him used to sleeping in his crib for naps before we even consider nighttime.
I'm fine with that.
The days that are sleepless (with teething - its pretty frequent!!)I remind myself, one day I will have an empty nest.
Thats so crazy to think about!
But, 15 years from now, Caelyn will be graduating high school and considering college. She might leave to go away!
Then, Brayden and any other kids that we have.
One day, we will have no kids at home and I will have no kids at my home to keep me busy at night.
I don't think there are any 20 year olds out there that go home to be rocked to sleep by mommy.

I believe God put me in this "season" of my life for a reason. I really believe God is pushing me to develop patience and to appreciate my life.
On days that you have had 5 hours of sleep in 2 days, it is SOOO hard to see into the future. But, I promise it ends. I promise you will look back and smile, thinking of the coos and cuddles you had at 2am. One day, you will be crying because all of your babies are grown not over lack of sleep.

So, grandmother, I think you are right. Little does rattle me. I have picked to look at the bigger picture, not the tiny picture. I pick to see the future. I realize that, while in the moment that darn clicking noise my daughter is making with her tongue is annoying, its not going to matter in a day. There is no use in yelling. What is going to matter is the relationship that I developed with my kids and that I teach and mold my children to become productive, God loving, loving, kind, talented, smart, just-who-God-made-them-to-be children!

I know this is quite rambled together, but I sure hope you can follow my thought process this late at night!

You Are...

(image credit)

 

This post is inspired by a wonderful friend of mine.

 

I think we all have days were we wonder how the heck we got to the point we are. We stand there looking at the destroyed living room, empty pet bowls, dishes overflowing in the sink, one kid having a tantrum over a toy, and the littlest one having a meltdown over who knows what. Add in a maybe whining husband about dinner and floors that are begging to be vacuumed and it makes for a headache to rock your world.

 

Right? We all have days were the things pile up and situations get out of control before we can stop it. This just leaves you feeling like you suck. All you can think is man, I suck at this. I suck. Why did God give me these kids when I clearly can't handle this?

You're wrong. God doesn't make mistakes. Period. End of story. He didn't screw up when he gave you those kids. He made the best decision even if you can't see it during that moment. He gave you those children because He knew that you would be a wonderful mother and would nurture those children into the adults they are meant to be.

 

Not only has God given us our beautiful blessings, but He also has given us grace and forgiveness.

God knows that, as humans, we are far from perfect. We WILL screw up daily. Its just a fact. But, when we mess up, we have to get back on that proverbly horse. A bad day doesn't have to dictate your next day. A bad hour doesn't have to dictate your next hour. We have the ability to change our mood and the direction of our day.

How you ask?

 

God.

Simple as that.

Ok, maybe not that simple, but the answer is simple, its the action that is harder!

 

When I get in those days, I stop and go - "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." I say His name over and over again until I've calmed down.

There IS power in the name of Jesus. For reals.

Next, forgive yourself. If God can forgive you, there is no reason you cannot forgive yourself. Realize whatever happened is the past and now is the present. You can't change the past but you CAN change the future.

When the situation is out of control, I observe and pick what is first. Are there crying children? Address them first. Babies come first. Nurse, settle, feed, whatever it is that needs to be done. If they are hungry and dinner isn't ready, give a snack. Yes, I said it. A snack. They might not eat as much at dinner but hunger can change a child's mood from good to meltdown in mere seconds. So, snack.

Next, the dogs - helpless animals at our mercy for food. Take that minute or two and feed them.

Next, address the rest as you can. Bring the kids and involve them into your chores if you can.

 

It will be ok. This I promise. Tomorrow is a new day, an hour is a new hour. Thank God for his blessings daily as you go through the day. Thank God you have that house to clean or you or your spouse has a job to provide.

 

Last thing.

You Are an Awesome Mother. Remember that. When that moment is falling down around you, it doesn't matter. Its ok. You are an awesome mother. You will change the situation. Your children love you even if the house is a mess and dishes aren't washed. They love you when your hair is a mess and their PJs aren't washed. Children are simple; we are the ones that are complicated.

 

Who hasn't watched The Parent Rap on YouTube? Its great, Caelyn loves it. One line at that end says "We're great parents." Its true for us all!

 

 



Sign It Baby, Sign It!

Have you ever heard of Baby Signing Time?

Well.. if you haven't, you sooo need to try it out! I first heard about it on the facebook wall of Babysteals - by the way, if you have never tried that site out, you REALLY REALLY need to! - but all these women were talking about BST or Baby Signing Time. I really didn't understand the craze. I mean, I had heard about teaching babies sign language, but it seemed like a lot of work and I don't know ASL (American Sign Language) so what kind of teacher was I going to be?

Whatever.. So all of these women were talking about it... so I went out and I ordered the volume 1 DVD from Amazon. I think it was like $18 maybe? I was really excited.. We watched it, but she didn't seem too interested. Well, I kept trying, every day I would put the DVD in for a bit. Its like 24 minutes long so I let it play two times. Soon, I realized.. that Caelyn really really enjoyed it! Score one for me.

Well, before we received it, I had learned the sign for "milk" and started using it frequently whenever she was drinking her bottle. Soon, within a few weeks of watching the DVDs, I noticed she would sign "milk" when she actually wanted one. When she was sleepy and it was bed time, we would notice her signing milk.

It has been about 2 months now since I ordered the first DVD and so far, our little girl can sign "milk" "more" "all done" "eat" "diaper" I think thats great! What is amazing is that it really opens up communication. Its strange, but talking is actually difficult for our wee ones. But, they can learn signs.

My grandpa at first asked how would she understand what the words meant. I told him, its just like.. she understands when I say baby come here, but she can't say it yet. She understands tons of words, but can't say them. It is the same concept.

Anyway, it is amazing. Recently, she was very fussy and I asked her what was wrong, what did she want and she immediately signed "eat." She was hungry. Off we went to fill up her belly. Sometimes she signs "milk" but if can mean she is thirsty or is ready to sleep, it depends on the time, as she hasn't learned the sign for "drink" yet.

I would soooo recommend to anyone to try this out! I love that it broadens communication with my daughter. Amazing. Every day she learns more. I can see her trying to learn to sign "grandpa" she has one part of it down when I say "pap pap."

It is important to be committed when you get it though! You will learn the signs lol after watching it a million times! But, we use the signs even when the DVD isn't on! During lunch, we ask if she is all done or wants more to eat. She signs "milk" when she needs a drink.

I promise its awesome!

Have you tried it? Did it work or not? Let me know!

To Clip or Not to Clip

I don't think that I have ever mentioned that Caelyn is tongue tied! Weird, huh? lol

Well, we had spoke to the ENT when she was about 2 weeks old and decided that we would clip her tongue at a year old unless there was problems with her eating. She has always ate fine and is developing fine.
Well, a year old is creeping up on us fast! On the 28th, she will be 11 months and from there, we have about 3 weeks until her appointment to determine the clipping.

The more I have been thinking about it, the more that I have decided NOT to clip her tongue. This isn't a decision I come to lightly at all. I realize that not clipping her tongue COULD lead to possible speech problems, but I also know it is a procedure that can be done at any point in her life. It is an "easy" fix.
The biggest issue I have WITH clipping is that the procedure will be done under general, not local, and I have a lot of issues coming out of general. I recently had a biospy and when I came out of it, my BP dropped really low and I was sick to my stomach and ended up staying in the hospital for an extra few hours. Also, I don't believe in doing something like this when it is not truly needed.
So far, she eats great. We have no problems with any kinds of food. She is quite obviously gaining weight! She babbles and says a few words, along with making a lot of additional pronunciations. For example, she can say her "R's" she walks around saying rara, rara. She just hasn't learned a word with the r yet. I really wish she would say mama, she has before but not on any kind of regular basis.

We made the decision tonight not to clip and just to watch her speech very closely. If she shows any signs of being delayed or having a problem, we will immediately get it clipped, but why fix it now? I have also heard that if she learns to speak with it, she might have trouble relearning her sounds because her tongue would be moving differently!

Oh, the decisions of parenthood! Have any of you experienced this before?

Eating Like a Big Girl

For awhile now, we have slowly been introducing Caelyn to different foods and textures besides baby food. Man, I am so sick of that stuff! I always have to remember to have a good number of jars and a spoon or two with us. Its totally annoying. Not to mention, it all just seems nasty.

Well, about a month ago we really began to notice that she was realizing she wasn't eating what we were eating and began to demand food from our plates. So, we began with bits of chicken, rice, peas, etc. She loves it all.
Now, she has been eating the puffs, lil crunchies, yogurt melts, and baby mummums (I love these things for her!) for awhile, but those items all dissolve in the mouth quickly so the chance of choking is fairly small.

The adventure into real people, big girl food is making my blood pressure sky rocket. I am such a worrier that I constantly worry she is going to choke.

Well, anyway. The transtition is slow but working out well. Her meals are mostly real people food with at least one or two jars of food a day. It is so hard to tell how much food she is actually eating, so a jar at each meal really helps.

With the entrance of table foods, I have begun to try out some Gerber meals. I know I know, they probably aren't the best choice, but... they are quick and easy, which is a bonus because it can be hard to figure out what to make for her that she can chew up for sure.

They look like this, but I promise.. the picture is very deceiving and I am wondering if the food is actual food and not some kind of synthetic, fake food lol. It will not look like this when you take it out of the containers!

But, alas, she loves them. She really enjoys the mac & cheese, but hates the veggies, not that I blame her.

I also try to work some kind of food into each meal that she can eat, whether it be chicken, potato, rice, etc. Her favorite meal thus far was the Chicken Pot Pie Casserole. Well, that would be second to hot dogs, which she devours the whole thing like she is starving.

I am on the search for great, toddler & adult friendly meals! I will let you know how it turns out and what I find.

Being a parent is ALWAYS an adventure!