My Go To Book

Besides the Bible... I have a few books that I frequent. When I first found out I was pregnant with my oldest I didn't even know where to begin to look for baby help. I was recommended many books, but the 2 most helpful were Baby Wise and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, thanks Hope! 

So my product today that I am promoting is Baby Wise. They have a whole line of books that are written for their specific developmental stages. I reference these books more than any other, and so far I have found them to be the most helpful.  

I have heard many differing opinions about these books through the years, from it being to strict and unrealistic, harsh or things like that... all I gotta say is you gotta find what works for your baby. Every baby is different. I can speak from experience with that. But I still believe there are basics and great principles and tips you can pull from Baby Wise. That is also one of the reasons I liked reading the Secrets book in addition, because it brought some balance. 

Unfortunately kids don't come in specific manuals, or instructions (that would be awesome though).  So when all else fails I go to the book and implement what I read. More often than not, within a few days I find that it works... it takes patience and a strong will, but it can happen! If you are in the baby rearing stage, don't get discouraged! Stages come and go. My biggest encouragement: Ps. 30:5 "weeping may last in the night, but joy comes in the morning."

There will be break through, you will get a full night of sleep again, they will figure out how to eat well, you will be able to truly enjoy your children, I promise (I am speaking to myself here too, so don't think for a second I have it all together, haha)!! 

Sticks and Stones...

I'm sure you all grew up hearing the phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt them." 

I have come to the conclusion that the above phrase is far from the truth. Words have power to them, and we must learn how to tame our tongues.

As it says in Proverbs  The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

I can't even begin to explain how many people, including myself, I have had to work with in ministry and friendship relationships where one or more ruthless words were spoken over them, and it caused a drastic change in who they were as a person, and how they view reality. 

I don't want to teach my kids that saying. We need to realize how much power is behind the words we speak... and are spoken to us. If something was said to you that effected who you are as a person, how you see reality now, you need to address it and not just say that old saying  "I'm rubber. You're glue. What you say bounces off me and sticks to YOU." Because in reality, words to stick, they stick and begin to build up until they come flooding out one day. 

Let's be a people who speak life over people, not death. Let's be a people who deal with what has/ will be spoken to us, repent for believing lies, forgive people, and not walk through day to day life believing what ignorant people say, but believing what our Creator, God says about us. 

Bedtime Battle Breakthroughs!

The boys have been sharing a room for a couple month now and it's been a battle to get them to settle down each naptime and nighttime to sleep. But here and there I get break through. They only take 1 afternoon nap at the same time now, so I have Eli in a pack n play in the guest room for that one, other than that it's official that they are roommates now. 

It took a while for us to figure out the most effective way to get them to bed, and I think we finally did! We put Eli in there first, around 7pm, and give him time to settle down and fall asleep. He's usually out by 7:30, so that is the time we start getting Aiden ready. We read to him in the guest room and pray in there, and started "whisper time" after reading. This gets him in the quiet mode to then go in his room and quietly lay down for bed. It took a few weeks of being consistent with discipline to get him not to wake Eli up to play, but I think it's finally sticking! There were a few weeks there where they would keep each other up until like 9 or 9:30, but now it's usually quiet in there by 8:30 if Eli happens to wake up. Finally!

Aiden did the cutest thing one night.  They were quiet for a while so I thought they had gone to sleep, then I heard Aiden jumping in his bed. I went in and he laid down real fast, then I went over to Eli's crib to try to get him back to sleep and he was holding  a monkey. 

Aiden had obviously given him the stuffed animal... the cute thing is that Aiden has slept with a stuffed animal monkey since he was about 10 months old and he went to the toy bin and got this one out for Eli and he told me "Eli needs a monkey too." 

I love it. I think it's gonna be worth these tough few months to help break down the selfishness that arises when sharing a room, ultimately for a life time of brothers who love each other and enjoy each other. 

If you haven't seen a picture of their room yet, you can see it here if you click through this album.  (It's a Knights and Castle theme with a quote from the awesome book Wild At Heart)

I Can't Get Enough

Many of you share my love for Chick-fil-a, or atleast know how much my hubby and I love that place. I just can't find anything to complain about with that company (besides too many calories in the milkshake), but worth the flavor!

Anywho... This past Monday (Labor Day) I don't know if you heard, but they had free Chicken Strip Day if you wear a College Logo'd T-Shirt! All you had to do was walk up to the counter or go through the drive thru and if you had a college shirt on they would just hand you a box of their new, bigger 3 pack of Chicken Strips! So we decided to not only go for lunch that day, but we made a trip for Dinner too! haha. 

Not only was that an awesome treat and blessing, but I totally enjoyed my experience there. The Chick-fil-a nearest my house always has a little treat for Babies and Toddlers for free... a little tub of Cheerio's! So that kept my little one happy the whole time. My big kid loves their play area the most. And here's the best part to me- they have little single use Purell hand wipes available for the high chairs and near the play area- what could be better?

Seriously, I have yet to find a fast food chain like this one. Sorry to rub it in for my international friends reading this (or those outside the Southern US for that matter). 

Keep doing what you're doing Chick-fil-a, you got a fan!

Overtired... Fact or Fiction?

The concept of a baby or kid being overtired was something my husband and I still don't get. But let me put those rumors to rest... Overtired is NOT a myth... it is real- oh so real!

So what does Overtired look like?

A screaming kid. A whiny kid. A kid who Can't fall asleep.

What? You may be asking, how does that work... they are too tired, so they can't fall asleep?

Yes. We found out about this concept pretty quickly when our oldest kid was newborn and it still holds true to today, over 2yrs and 9 mo. later.

I think it is similar to the adult version of getting a second wind. When you feel that slump and want to fall asleep so bad, but then miss that window of opportunity and when it's time to finally sleep you're wide awake, but grumpy (sometimes). haha.

So how can you fix this overtired problem?

Put them to naps or bed earlier. Right now we have our youngest going to bed at 7pm, and the oldest around 7:45. A lot of people think that is too early, but not for my kids! If they go to bed much later than that, somehow they take longer to fall asleep and/or they end up waking up earlier the next morning. It seems so backwards.

So what is my point? I am just trying to give some motherhood advice. Put those kids to bed! I have a new saying for my 2 yr old... when he whines, I tell him: "when you whine to me it tells me you are tired, so you need to go lay in bed until you are happy." For my little one... it surprises me still how much sleep they really do need.

Sometimes I think this concept is real for me too...